Matt, Lena, and Kids: Dyventas Fortes

Today we spent at Dyventas Fortes (Ninth Fort). This fort was built in 1911 and was used by the Soviet Union in protecting the city. There were originally 8 forts built around the city. This was the last one built and the only one maintained. I was under the impression we were going here to learn about the Holocaust and the part the Fort played in it. I was confused throughout the tour because they barely mentioned it. The Fort itself is amazing. It is a jail in the front and then has a series of tunnels in the rear. (They did not allow us to take pics.) There were actually 64 Jews that escaped December 25, 1943. 10 of them remained at large, the last one dying 5 years ago (he was only 21 at the time and was one of the masterminds behind it all.) He has written a book that I want to read.
In 1941 the Nazi's took over and executed 50-80,000 Jews. (The reason for the unsure numbers: The Nazi's destroyed all evidence of what they had done there as soon as they could see they were not going to win the war. When the Soviets took power again they had the graves excavated and claim they found closer to 80,000 remains. The details are sickening and either number is disgusting. With the details they gave us on the tour I don't believe you could tell what was left of one person so I guess I question the larger number, although I know what Hitler was capable of.) There is so much history of the country here. Sorry if it seems like I am blabbing about things but it is stuff I want to remember so I can study if I get the chance.

We drove around looking for Matt's old apartment. We found the one Renaldas lived in when they baptized him. We could not find the one that Matt lived in. It was frustrating for him. He took us inside one of the buildings and made us ride the elevator with him. I was scared the whole time. He loved it!

We picked up our laundry on the way out of town. I was impressed! Neatly folded and smelled good too! We ate and then hit the road to Polanga. Polanga is a resort style town along the shores of the Baltic Sea. It is densely populated with trees and mosquitos!! Along the way we passed a lot of farm land and quite a few holsteins!! We tried to visit with farmers but no one was home. We talked with their neighbors and found out that they have automatic milkers and milk very few cows- 20 or so. Their milk is picked up every other day. The countryside is beautiful!! Beautiful!! Polanga is beautiful too! Matti and I ran down to get pictures of the sunset @ 10:00 pm. It is 11:00 now and I can still see the outline of the trees out my window. More from here tomorrow!

Front view of Ninth Fort