The pit where the tunnel began(Photo: PBS)
An international research team has located a tunnel in Lithuania used<span style="color: Red;">*</span>by Jewish prisoners to escape Nazis<span style="color: Red;">*</span>during World War II, the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Israel Antiquities Authority announced Wednesday.
The team from Israel, the U.S., Canada and Lithuania used mineral and oil exploration scanning technology to pinpoint the 100-foot-long tunnel located in the Ponar forest about<span style="color: Red;">*</span>10 kilometers from Vilnius, Lithuania.
Since 1944, the Ponar site has held the remains of 100,000 people executed by the Nazis, including 70,000 Jews shot and buried from July 1941 through July 1944.
The prisoners<span style="color: Red;">*</span>dug<span style="color: Red;">*</span>for 76 nights using their hands, spoons and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>improvised tools to make the tunnel.
"As an Israeli whose family originated in Lithuania, I was reduced to tears on the discovery of the escape tunnel at Ponar. This discovery is a heartwarming witness to the victory of hope over desperation," said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Jon Seligman of the Israel Antiquities Authority. "The exposure of the tunnel enables us to present, not only the horrors of the Holocaust, but also the yearning for life."
Eighty Jewish prisoners attempted an escape from the Nazi extermination pits at Ponar on April 15, 1944, the last night of Passover. About a dozen survived the trek out of the tunnel and made it to the forest and river past the camp. Eleven prisoners survived the war and gave testimonies.
"This project represents the new frontier for the study of archaeology and the Holocaust and the integration with national histories," said Richard Freund, professor of Jewish History at the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>University of Hartford. "Geoscience will allow testimonies of survivors—like the account of the escape through the tunnel—and many events of the Holocaust to be researched and understood in new ways for generations to come."
If you want to learn more, science series NOVA will premiere an
exclusive film about the discovery on PBS in 2017.
Powered By WizardRSS.com |
Full Text RSS Feed
