[National Museum of Lithuania owns another part of this diary. (D3776)]
paper, ink, pencil, 18 pages
Handwritten
Killings at Paneriai documented day by day. Fragments of diary handwritten by pencil on 15 pages of various sizes. 3 calendar pages from 1941 with days marked.
Kazimierz Sakowicz (1894–1944) was a polish journalist from Vilnius. From July 1941 to November 1943, Sakowicz wrote a secret diary recording the mass killings seen from his home and elsewhere in Paneriai. Today, this diary is one of the most important sources in the history of the Holocaust and other Nazi crimes in Paneriai.
Kazimiero Sakovičiaus dienoraštis apie masines žudynes Paneriuose
Sakowicz buried his notes in soda water bottles near a veranda of his house, where they were found after the war. His complex notes were ordered and deciphered in the ’90s by Rachel Margolis PhD, an employee of the Vilna Gaon State Museum. It was discovered that notes form the period between November 1943 to July 1944 were missing.
Entry written by Sarune Sedereviciute based on survey
Kazimierz Sakowicz (2005). Ponary Diary, 1941-1943: A Bystander's Account of a Mass Murder. Yale University Press.