In the forest near Ponary, outside Wilno, in pits the Soviets had dug for aviation fuel tanks, the German Einsatzkommando 9 began mass executions of Jews in July 1941. By the end of 1941, in successive operations in the Wilno ghetto, most of Wilno's Jewish population had been killed here. By July 1944, according to the most recent estimates, about 80,000 people had been murdered at Ponary, the overwhelming majority of them Jews, along with Soviet prisoners of war, Poles and Roma.
1941
- 24 June 1941EventThe Germans take WilnoOn 24 June 1941 the Wehrmacht entered Wilno. That same day Lithuanian “activists” killed Jews in the streets, and the Germans took Jewish and Polish hostages.
- 2 July 1941EventThe Ponary massacre beginsOn 2 July 1941 Einsatzkommando 9 reached Wilno. In early July executions of Jews began in the pits at Ponary, and they went on for three years.
- 31 August 1941EventThe Great Provocation in WilnoOn 31 August 1941 the Germans staged a “Jewish attack” on soldiers in Wilno. In reprisal thousands of Old Town Jews were rounded up and shot at Ponary.
- 6 September 1941EventThe Wilno GhettoOn 6 September 1941 the Germans drove the Jews of Wilno into two ghettos in the Old Town. Thousands detained on the way were shot at Ponary.
- 1 October 1941EventThe Yom Kippur actions in the Wilno GhettoOn Yom Kippur, 1 October 1941, Germans and Lithuanians seized thousands of Jews in both Wilno ghettos. By 21 October the whole small ghetto lay dead at Ponary.
- 24 October 1941EventThe yellow permits actionOn 24 October 1941 an action began in the Wilno Ghetto against people without yellow work permits. Within a week several thousand of them were killed at Ponary.
- 3 November 1941EventActions in the Wilno Ghetto in NovemberOn 3 November 1941 the Germans ordered yellow-permit holders out of the large Wilno ghetto and combed it. Over a thousand people were killed at Ponary.
- 3 December 1941EventActions in the Wilno Ghetto in DecemberBetween 3 and 22 December 1941 Germans and Lithuanians took people from the Wilno Ghetto to Ponary three more times. At least 850 people were killed.