Tour Paneriai - Trakai

Duration: 4 hours

Located 10 km southwest of the centre of Vilnius Paneriai is one of the most dreadful sites of the mass execution of Jews during the Second World War. Jews were brought here mostly from Vilnius Ghetto, but Jews from other towns of Lithuania and other countries were also killed here. The forest entrance is marked by a memorial. The text in Russian, dating from the Soviet period, reminds that 100,000 Soviet citizens were killed here. The commemorative plaques in Lithuanian and Hebrew erected later honour the 70,000 Jewish victims. On the 23rd of September 1943 Vilnius Ghetto was liquidated. On this day Lithuanian Jews and very often people of other nationalities gather at the Paneriai Memorial to honour the memory of the victims.

Tour to Paneriai includes a visit to a small museum. Close to the museum there are two monuments, one Jewish (marked with the Star of David), the other one Soviet (an obelisk topped with a Soviet star). From that place paths lead to a number of grassed-over pits where the Nazis shot and later burnt the exhumed corpses.

After the visit to Paneriai Memorial the tour is continued at almost the same direction to Trakai. Name of Trakai Castle reminds us the great times of Lithuanian Grand Dukes. A visit to medieval island castle is included in the tour. Castle was built on the peninsula in the 14^th c. At that time Vytautas the Great, Lithuanian Grand Duke ruled the country. 600 years ago Vytautas brought 1000 families of Karaites from the south of Crimean peninsula. One of the streets in Trakai is named after the small ethnic group Karaites. There are only a hundred of them left in Trakai nowadays. The philosophy of their religion is very close to Judaism. Their language belongs to Turkic language group. It is worth to see the museum of Karaites. During leisure time the tourists can enjoy the nice view of Trakai lakes. The place is very popular among the tourists as well as among local people.