Editing Ninth Fort

{{Short description|Historic fort in Šilainiai elderate, Kaunas, Lithuania}}
[[File:Kauno IX forto vaizdas.jpg|thumb|250px|Aerial view of the Ninth Fort]]
[[File:Kauno IX fortas.jpg|thumb|Reconstructed Ninth Fort]]
[[File:Paminklas IX forte nužudytoms aukoms.jpg|thumb|Monument for the victims]]
The '''Ninth Fort''' ({{langx|lt|Devintas Fortas}}) is a [[fortification|stronghold]] in the northern part of [[Šilainiai elderate]], [[Kaunas]], [[Lithuania]]. It is a part of the [[Kaunas Fortress]], built in the late 19th century. During the [[Occupation of the Baltic states|Soviet occupation]], the fort was used as a prison and way-station for prisoners being transported to [[Gulag|labour camps]]. After the [[occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany]], the fort was used as a place of execution for Jews, captured Soviets, and others.<ref name=muziejai>{{cite web|title=Kaunas' 9th Fort Museum|url=http://www.muziejai.lt/kaunas/forto_muziejus.en.htm|publisher=muziejai.lt|access-date=11 November 2012}}</ref>

==History==
{{See also|Kaunas massacre of October 29, 1941}}
[[File:Kaunas KZ IX. Fort Festung Innen 02.JPG|thumb|Prison cell.]]
[[File:IX Fort (2008-09-20)23.jpg|thumb|Through this door, 62 prisoners escaped on 25 December 1943.]]
[[File:Kaunas Fortress.Ninth Fort 3.jpg|thumb|Observation post]]
At the end of the 19th century the city of Kaunas was fortified and by 1890 was encircled by eight forts and nine gun batteries. Construction of the Ninth Fort (its numerical designation having become its name) began in 1902 and was completed on the eve of [[World War I]].<ref name=lithuania>{{cite web|title=The Ninth Fort|url=http://www.way2lithuania.com/en/travel-lithuania/ninth-fort|publisher=way2lithuania.com|access-date=11 November 2012}}</ref> From 1924 on, the Ninth Fort was used as the [[Kaunas Prison]].

During the [[Soviet occupation of Lithuania|Soviet occupation]] in 1940–1941, the Ninth Fort was used by the [[NKVD]] to house political prisoners pending transfer to [[Gulag]] forced labor camps.<ref name="muziejai" />

During Nazi occupation, the Ninth Fort was a place of [[mass murder]]<ref name=gutenstein>
{{cite web 
|title=KAUNAS, LITHUANIA 
|url=http://www.gutstein.net/kaunas/kaunas-ninthfort.htm 
|publisher=gutstein.net 
|access-date=11 November 2012
}}</ref> and 45,000 to 50,000 Jews, most from Kaunas and largely the [[Kovno Ghetto]], were transported to the Ninth Fort and murdered by Nazis and [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#Lithuania|Lithuanian collaborators]] in what became known as the [[Kaunas massacre of October 29, 1941|Kaunas massacre]].

Notable among the victims was Rabbi [[Elchonon Wasserman]] of Baranovitch. In addition, Jews from as far as France, Austria and Germany were brought to Kaunas during the Nazi occupation, and executed in the Ninth Fort. In 1943, the Germans operated special Jewish squads to dig mass graves and burn the remaining corpses. One squad of 64 people managed to escape the fortress on the eve of 1944. That year, as the Soviets moved in, the Germans liquidated the ghetto and what had by then come to be known as the "Fort of Death". The prisoners were dispersed to other camps. After [[World War II]], the Soviets again used the Ninth Fort as a prison for several years. From 1948 to 1958, farm organizations were managed from the Ninth Fort.<ref name="muziejai" />

In 1958, a museum was established in the Ninth Fort. In 1959, an exhibition was prepared in four cells, telling of the Nazi war crimes carried out in Lithuania. In 1960, the discovery, cataloging, and forensic investigation of local mass murder sites began.

==Museum==
The Ninth Fort museum contains collections of historical artifacts related both to Soviet atrocities and the Nazi genocide, as well as materials related to the earlier history of Kaunas and Ninth Fort.<ref name=planet>{{cite web |title=IX Fortas (Ninth Fort) |url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/lithuania/central-lithuania/kaunas/sights/museum/ix-fortas-ninth |publisher=lonelyplanet.com |access-date=11 November 2012}}</ref>  Most exhibits are labelled in English.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.inyourpocket.com/lithuania/kaunas/sightseeing/Museums-and-Galleries/Ninth-Fort-Museum_51121v |title=Ninth Fort Museum - Sightseeing - Kaunas |access-date=2014-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008110257/http://www.inyourpocket.com/lithuania/kaunas/sightseeing/Museums-and-Galleries/Ninth-Fort-Museum_51121v |archive-date=2012-10-08 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Memorial==
{{main|Ninth Fort memorial}}
The memorial to the victims of [[Nazism]] at the Ninth Fort in Kaunas, Lithuania, was designed by sculptor [[A. Ambraziunas]]. Erected in 1984, the monument is 105 feet (32 m) high. The mass burial place of the victims of the massacres carried out in the fort is a grass field, marked by a simple yet frankly worded memorial written in several languages. It reads, "This is the place where Nazis and their assistants killed about 45,000 Jews from Lithuania and other European countries."<ref name=9Fort>{{cite web | title=History:The Museum | website=Kauno IX Forto Muziejus | url=http://www.9fortomuziejus.lt/istorija/muziejus/?lang=en | access-date=2019-02-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kaunastic.lt/index.php/en/dovan-kuponai/product/40-museum-of-the-ninth-fort.html |title=MUSEUM OF THE NINTH FORT - Kaunas tourist Information centre and cenference bureau |access-date=2014-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023013354/http://www.kaunastic.lt/index.php/en/dovan-kuponai/product/40-museum-of-the-ninth-fort.html |archive-date=2014-10-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category-inline|IX Fort}}
* [http://www.muziejai.lt/kaunas/forto_muziejus.en.htm Kaunas' 9th fort Museum]
* [http://www.gutstein.net/kaunas/kaunas-ninthfort.htm Kaunas Ninth Fort Web Page] by Jose Gutstein
* [http://www.unearthing-project.org Kaunas Ninth Fort Unearthing Project Web Page] by Burkhard von Harder
* [http://www.cincinnatijudaicafund.com/index.php/Detail/collections/82.html Catalog of Medals and Pins Commemorating the Nazi Prison Camp at Kaunas (Lithuania) IX Fortas (9th Fort)]
{{external media|image1=[https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa11919 Mass grave] at the Ninth Fort by [[George Kadish]]}}

{{Holocaust Lithuania}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|54|56|41|N|23|52|14|E|type:landmark|display=title}}

[[Category:Kaunas Fortress]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Kaunas]]
[[Category:Geography of Gulag]]
[[Category:Kaunas in World War II]]
[[Category:Landmarks in Kaunas]]
[[Category:Nazi concentration camps in Lithuania]]
[[Category:Museums in Kaunas]]
[[Category:Prison museums in Lithuania]]
[[Category:History museums in Lithuania]]
[[Category:World War II museums]]