Lietūkis Garage Massacre Memorial

Kaunas


This small memorial in the courtyard marks the spot where, on June 27, 1941, during the first days of the Nazi occupation of the city, Lithuanian 'patriots' wearing the white armbands of the Lithuanian Activist Front (LAF) killed 70 or so Jewish passers-by, by beating them to death with crowbars and torturing them with the insertion of high pressure water hoses into various orifices until they burst. The spectacle was attended by a cheering crowd of onlookers.

In 2011, when Kaunas' small Jewish community marked the 70th anniversary of this massacre, the Lithuanian government chose to honour the memory of its perpetrators.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Kaunas attractions

1. Museum of Deportation & Resistance

0.07 MILES

The Museum of Deportation & Resistance documents Lithuania's struggles with foreign oppression, between 1940 and 1990. The spirit of resistance was…

2. Kaunas Mosque

0.2 MILES

This small mosque is one of four in Lithuania and the only one made of brick in the Baltics, constructed here to replace the original wooden mosque from…

3. Mykolas Žilinskas Art Gallery

0.26 MILES

This art museum on three floors is based on the private collection of Mykolas Žilinskas, but is now operated by the National Čiurlionis Art Museum. The…

4. Statue of Man

0.28 MILES

The statue of ‘Man’ in front of the Mykolas Žilinskas Art Gallery was modelled on Nike the Greek god of victory; it caused a storm of controversy when its…

5. Kaunas Museum for the Blind

0.28 MILES

The catacombs of St Michael the Archangel Church are set up to let you experience a short spell as a person without sight.

6. St Michael the Archangel Church

0.29 MILES

The Soviets turned this blue-domed neo-Byzantine church, which fills the sky so dramatically at the eastern end of Laisvės alėja, into a stained-glass…

7. Jan Zwartendijk Memorial

0.33 MILES

This untitled installation by Giny Vos, unveiled in 2018, is a memorial to the Dutch diplomat Jan Zwartendijk, who saved thousands of Jewish lives during…

8. Sugihara House

0.37 MILES

Kaunas-based Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara (1900–86) saved around 6000 Jewish lives between 1939 and 1940, issuing transit visas to stranded Polish…