The last of the defensive forts built in and around Kaunas to protect the westernmost point of the Russian Empire, work began on the Ninth Fort in 1902 and was completed on the eve of WWI. In 1924 it was turned into a prison, serving this purpose under the Lithuanians, Soviets, Nazis (who along with their willing Lithuanian cronies used it as an extermination camp, see Jewish Kaunas for more) and then the Soviets again for a few years after WWII. The museum was established in 1958, and has grown over the years to include exhibitions on all aspects of the building’s gruesome history. Even a short tour takes over an hour, but the effort involved in getting here and spending time taking everything in is more than worth the effort. Most things are labelled in English and guided tours can also be booked in English. Compelling and highly recommended.

Admission 6/3Lt. 

Ninth Fort Museum comments Add Yours

• Jenifer Aydelotte - Kingston 03 April 2012
  I visited the Ninth Fort in 1988 shortly before the fall of the Soviet Union. It is a somber sobering place and one does well to consider the centuries of wars fought over that piece of land.
• Letitia - Brattleboro 05 January 2010
  It's a bit of a chore to get to the 9th Fort, but definitely worth going there for the sobering history lesson. The museum exhibit is interesting enough, but a tour through the prison itself is a slap in the face. Some benches right near to the killing pits offer a place to sit and reflect on what happened here. If the wind is blowing, the tall trees behind the benches create an unsettling swishing noise that draws attention to the fact that some of them (the trees, that is) are probably old enough to have witnessed the crimes.
• George Williams 01 November 2009
  I visited the Ninth Fort a few years ago. There was a lady in the museum at the bottom of the hill that reminded me of a stereotypical officious Soviet Russian out that one read about during the cold war. The legacy of the USSR lives on in these relics.