Ninth Fort

The Ninth Fort is one of a ring of fortifications built to defend Kaunas in the late 19th century when the city was part of the Russian Empire. During World War II, the fort was used as a detention and execution site where over 50,000 people — the vast majority of them Jewish — were murdered. Today, the fort operates as a museum documenting both its military history and its role in the Holocaust. The exhibitions are moving and well-presented, covering the destruction of Kaunas's Jewish community and the broader context of Nazi and Soviet repression in Lithuania. The site is dominated by a monumental 32-meter-high Soviet-era concrete sculpture, created in 1984 to commemorate the victims. While artistically controversial, its raw, angular form and sheer scale make a powerful visual statement. The contrast between the brutal fortress architecture, the somber museum exhibits, and the dramatic memorial creates one of the most impactful historical sites in the Baltic states.