Lithuania's Jewish partisan bunkers face threat from German military base construction

Deep within Lithuania's Rūdninkai Forest lie the remnants of underground bunkers, a testament to the Jewish partisans who fought against the Nazis during the Holocaust. These makeshift forts, hidden among trees and swampy thickets, are now facing an uncertain future due to the construction of a new German military base in the area.

Approximately 400 Jews escaped the Vilnius ghetto during the German occupation and established resistance operations in this forest, launching attacks against Nazi forces. After World War II, the story of these Jewish partisans was largely subsumed by Soviet propaganda, shrouding the bunkers in mystery. For decades, Jewish former partisans and their descendants have visited these forts, the only memorial to their resistance in Lithuania.

However, recent months have seen the installation of signs forbidding entry and demarcating the area as dangerous. Lithuania is finalizing the construction of a military base for German troops, part of NATO's efforts to bolster its eastern flank following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. This base, located strategically near the borders with Belarus and Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, will house around 5,000 German soldiers.

Aušra Mikulskienė, a Jewish history tour guide from Vilnius, notes that access to the eight standing forts, which are not marked on maps, is becoming increasingly difficult due to these new restrictions. She worries that the temporary construction barriers will become permanent, effectively blocking access to these historically significant sites. The bunkers, neglected and unprotected by the Lithuanian government as cultural heritage sites, are deteriorating, and the impending military activity raises concerns about their preservation and the continued ability for descendants to connect with their history.

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You cannot easily find the forts, so those who know how to get there, we just go. But now, there are ‘don’t enter’ stickers and stop signs. It’s becoming impossible to get there because they are closing all of the forest.