Permanent Exhibitions - Kauno IX forto muziejus

Nazi Occupation

1941–1944 In 1941, the Soviet occupation of Lithuania was replaced by the Nazi occupation. Kaunas Ninth Fort was turned into a mass murder site. In a reconstructed prisoners’ cell, one can see imprisonment conditions and the last pre-mortem records of the condemned, preserved on the walls of the fort.The expositions devoted to this period reveal the rise of anti-Semitism in Central Europe and focus on the foreign Jews killed in Kaunas Ninth Fort. Visitors are introduced to the fate of the prisoners of Kaunas Jewish Ghetto. One of the expositions tell about the diplomats who saved Jews: Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese envoy to Lithuania, and Jan Zwartendijk, the Dutch consul in Lithuania. One can experience the grim life of Kaunas Ghetto in the experiential installation “Kaunas Ghetto Hiding Place.” The exhibition “The Great Action” commemorates the most massive mass murder in Kaunas Ghetto. Here you can also find out everything about the legendary escape from the Ninth Fort.

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Permanent Exhibitions

Soviet Occupation

1940-1941 and 1944-1990 First Soviet occupation (1940-1941) When the Soviet occupation began in 1940, political prisoners were imprisoned in the Ninth Fort before being deported to remote areas of the Soviet Union. The exposition offers visitors an opportunity to get acquainted with the famous Lithuanian public figures who were imprisoned in the Ninth Fort during this period, including engineer Juozas Enčeris, teacher Kazimieras Baršauskas, the leader of the Lithuanian Young Farmers’ Circles, Vladas Tiškus, one of the founders of the Lithuanian merchant fleet, Teodoras Reingardas, a doctor of philosophy and journalist Pranas Dielininkaitis and other persons’ indictment files, documents, photographs of imprisonment sites, letters written in Soviet camps and other personal belongings.Second Soviet occupation (1944-1990)The exposition is under preparation.

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Permanent Exhibitions

Kaunas Hard Labour Prison

1924–1940 During the period of the first independent republic of Lithuania, a branch of the hard labour prison was established in Kaunas Ninth Fort in 1924. Criminal and political prisoners were imprisoned here, and from 1934 onwards, female prisoners were imprisoned here as well. The expositions give visitors the opportunity to get acquainted with the prisoners’ activities, daily life and punishments as the three punishment cells used at the time can be visited: “Wet”, “Resort” and “Concrete sack.” The prisoners’ walk and farmyard are separated by a meeting house, where visitors can see the conditions under which prisoners met their relatives. Visitors are always escorted from the fort to the prisoners’ walking yard by Jurgis, a long-time museum “employee” in the uniform of a prison warden.

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Permanent Exhibitions

Kaunas Fortress

1879–1918 The history of Kaunas Fortress is revealed in the authentic spaces of the Ninth Fort. The expositions in the Fort’s barracks and the semi-caponier introduce visitors not only to the construction of the Ninth Fort but also to the construction of other objects of Kaunas Fortress, their modernisation and unrealised projects. Visitors have the opportunity to walk through the underground communication galleries together with the tour guides and see the artillery guns used during the First World War and their models. The Fort’s barracks also offer a glimpse into the subsequent fate of the fortress buildings and authentic artefacts from the First World War period in Lithuania.

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