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All Lithuania Vilnius Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights

Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights

This former KGB building is now a museum memorializing the people who suffered during the Soviet regime.

Vilnius, Lithuania

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Confinement cell.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Museum of Genocide Victims.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Lavatory.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Censored letter written to a birch bark sent home from a Siberian prison camp.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Equipment with undefined purpose.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Water confinement cell. Round platform in the middle was the only dry place where prisoner had to balance himself.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Showers.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Museum of Genocide Victims.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Museum of Genocide Victims.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Confinement cell.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Museum of Genocide Victims.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Museum of Genocide Victims.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Stamping devicer and parcel stamps.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Infrared and ultraviolet radiation devices to detect cryptograms and chemical substances.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Self-made torture devices.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Special purpose phone in the cellar, only to receive orders.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Each country annexed by the Soviet Union was tightly controlled by the local Committee of State Security to prevent any kind of activity against the communist policies. These seemingly common buildings were used to persecute and torture those who were regarded as a threat to the government. Now, some of these former KGB headquarters serve as museums to tell the stories of those who suffered during this era in history.

You can learn about the sufferings of Lithuanian people in the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights (until 2018, known as the Museum of Genocide Victims). It's a somber, but important, reminder of the past.

Technically, the big building can be divided into three parts. The lower section includes cellar compartments used to keep, torture, and execute detainees. More than 1,000 prisoners were executed in this building, and most of the bodies were buried nearby.

The middle section of the building tells the stories of the resistance movement and deportations. It includes documents, photographs, and the personal belongings of people who were sent to prison camps in Siberia.

The upper part is basically its own little museum inside the larger museum. Surprisingly, the KGB itself had a small museum here to display the letters of commendations and honors employees could receive for their work, which is now displayed as part of the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights. There's also a selection of various technical appliances that were used to spy on people.

Related Tags

Communism Museums Museums And Collections Spies Soviet History Prisons

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The standard entry fee is 6€ per adult. See its website for up-to-date opening hours and admission fees. 

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ahvenas

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bradhooker, manuelelg

  • bradhooker
  • manuelelg

Published

February 11, 2019

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  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Genocide_Victims
Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights
2A Aukų g.
Vilnius, 01400
Lithuania
54.687965, 25.270596
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