In Ponarach, which is now the territory of Vilnius, 80 years ago a Lithuanian peculiar “shulis” task force collaborated with Germany ended the killing of innocent people. By the German order of the Lithuanians they shot about 70 1000 people. Most of them were citizens of the Republic of Poland, mainly Jewish, besides indigenously Polish. Representatives of Vilnius intelligence and many priests were brutally murdered there.
Ponary was this, before the war, a tiny charming village, having a recreational character, about 10 kilometres from Vilnius. There was a large railway line and a road connecting Vilnius to Grodne. erstwhile Polish Kresy occupied the Soviets at the beginning of the war, they decided to build a military base of liquid fuels in Ponara. To this end, 7 immense pits were dug, in which they planned to bury the fuel tanks. This investment was not carried out, as in June 1941, Vilnius was occupied by the Germans, who saw Ponary as the site of mass crimes.
In the first phase of extermination, since July 1941, Poles of judaic origin were shot. The Germans engaged Lithuanian soldiers to execute in Ponara. They formed an execution squad named in Lithuanian – Ypatingasis borys – or peculiar division. The local population called them contemptuously “ponar shooters” or shaulis.
This branch was subject straight to SD (the safety Service of Reichsführer SS) and Sipo (German safety Police). It was a large formation, including respective 100 Lithuanians collaborating with Germany. For their “murdering” services they received money from the occupiers. In addition, the Germans allowed them to sale clothing on the market, stripped of their victims before execution.
During the execution in Ponara, most of the population was displaced from this village. The area where the pits of death were fenced was guarded by guards. Minefields were established around the execution site. All so that no 1 will know of the crimes committed there. However, these safeguards managed to avoid AK scouts.
– Our commanding officer said we had to learn about the crime in Ponarach and that's why he sent us there sometimes. We were climbing trees. We had binoculars with us. respective times I've seen Lithuanian shaulis shoot people in Ponarach. It was a shocking experience for me, a young boy. – said Edward Zujewicz, a soldier of Vilnius AK.
In 1944, as the Red Army approached Vilnius, As part of an action to cover up the traces of their crimes, the Germans directed a peculiar commando to Ponar, whose members extracted the bodies of the murdered and burned them to dust or sprinkled with corrosive lime. According to German documents, 180 tons of lime was brought to Ponar to destruct human bodies.
About what happened in Ponarach, we know the most from the notes of this village Kazimierza Sakowicz, writer and soldier of the AK. These notes, in the form of a book, late released an IPN. They are the fruit of the reflection that Sakovich conducted from the window in the attic of his house. He recorded both what he saw and what he heard from others. He hid notes in bottles and buried them in the garden. They were found after the war. Kazimierz Sakowicz was killed in 1944 by shaulis.
It is estimated that Poles accounted for a large percent of all victims shot in Ponarach. Among them were people sentenced to death by the decision of the German courts, detained during street captures and hostages selected from among Polish elites on the basis of alleged proscription lists prepared by the Lithuanian police of Saucuma.
W Ponarach was shot by students of Vilnius gymnasiums, scouts, intelligence representatives, priests, professors of Stefan Batory University, AK soldiers. World-famous scientists were murdered: prof. Kazimierz Pelczar, a pioneer of Polish oncology and prof. Mieczysław Gutkowski, a prominent expert in treasury and taxation law. The victims were besides lawyer Mieczysław Engiel, doc. Wanda Rewińska, geographer and well-deserved scout activist and Fr Romuald Świrowski – typical of the Episcopate at the Provincial Council of ZWZ-AK.
The Shaulis were inactive drunk. The Germans gave them free alcohol to suppress their human conscience. They could execution respective 1000 people 1 day— This is Edward Zuniewicz, witness to the shootings in Ponarach.
The Lithuanians don't commemorate a pontar crime. There is no museum dedicated to it. Only memorative plates are on site, funded mainly by Poles. On 25 September at 12.00 a.m. in the Polish 4th in Ponarach will be celebrated Mass, and there will besides be a Memorial Appeal with the participation of the Polish Army. The celebrations are organised by the Union of Poles in Lithuania in cooperation with the Office for Combatants and Repressed People and the Ponar household Association. Partner of the event is the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in the Republic of Lithuania.
Adam Białous
