Obj. ID: 46063
Memorials  Bunker Pit (11) in the Paneriai Memorial, Lithuania, 1985

To the main object: Paneriai Memorial in Vilnius, Lithuania, from 1948 to 2015

Memorial name

Bunker-pit of the ‘burning brigade’.

Who is Commemorated?

Prisoners who were forced to burn corpses.

Description:

A pit in the eastern part of the complex was used as a dwelling for the so-called “burners' brigade” of prisoners who unearthed and burned the corpses of victims in 1944. The first members of the brigade escaped from here on April 15, 1944.

The pit is surrounded by a stone retaining wall. In its center stands a 2004 replica of the ladder ramps that were have been used to throw corpses into fires. Two explanatory metal plaques are attached to the wall. A memorial stone stands on the left-hand side of a passageway to the pit. It bears identical Lithuanian and Russian inscriptions.

Inscriptions:

On the memorial stone:

In Lithuanian:

Šiuoje
8-ių metrų gylio duobėje
hitleriniai okupantai
laike kalinius
ir vertė juos kasti
iš žudynių vietų lavonus,
deginti
ir trupinti jų kaulus

In Russian:

В этой
восьмиметровой яме
гитлеровские
оккупанты
держали заключенных,
которых заставляли
выкапывать трупы
и дробить их кости

Translation: In this eight-meters pit, Hitlerite occupiers kept prisoners, whom they forced to dig out corpses and breack to pieces their bones.

On the pit's rim:

First metal plaque:

In Lithuanian:

Šioje vietoje prasidėjo požeminis tunelis,
kuriuo 1944 m. balandžio 15 dieną
pabėgo 11 “degintojų brigados” narių.

In English: 

Here was the start of the underground
passageway used by 11 members of the so-called
burners’ brigade to escape on 15 April 1944.

Second metal plaque:

In Lithuanian:

Kopėčios-trapas, nuo kurio į laužą buvo
metami atkasti lavonai. Kopija, 2004 m.

In English: 

The ladder ramp was used for throwing
unearthed corpses into the f[i]re. A 2004 replica.

Commissioned by

Paneriai Memorial