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Today in History: SS unit starts 100,000-person massacre in Vilnius

7/2/2026

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Summary

Story summary

In July 1941, a German SS unit entered Vilnius and, alongside Lithuanian Ypatingasis burys squads, launched the Ponary massacre. Over the next three years they killed up to 100,000 people—about 70,000 Jews, thousands of Poles and roughly 8,000 Soviet POWs—at the Ponary railway site near the city.

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Story summary

In July 1941, a German SS unit entered Vilnius and, alongside Lithuanian Ypatingasis burys squads, launched the Ponary massacre. Over the next three years they killed up to 100,000 people—about 70,000 Jews, thousands of Poles and roughly 8,000 Soviet POWs—at the Ponary railway site near the city.