The Escape from the Ninth Fort — Association of Jews of Vilna and vicinity in Israel

On December 25, 1943, Christmas Eve, 64 prisoners and POWs managed to escape from the 9^th Fort - a fortress near the city of Kovna (Kaunas) in Lithuania. The group was condemned to work in a field near the fort to cover up the traces of the crimes committed by the Nazis and their local helpers. The prisoners were destined to be murdered at the end of this awful "work". After the war those who survived would say that this date - Christmas - was their second birthday. Ya'arit Glezer, the daughter of Pinhas Krakinovski, told the story of their escape which demanded courage resourcefulness and determination from the escapees. Her father Pinhas Krakinovski, her mother's youngest brother Abba Discant, and their friends, carried out the cruel job - to dig out the bodies of the thousands of those murdered in the fortress and burn them. Ya'arit brought a personal story straight from Kovna to Beit Vilna. At the same event there was a premiere of a film she shot there, in the fortress. At the event the singers Ada Pashayev and Zhanna Yankovsky who were accompanied by Regina Driker  - members of the Yiddish song  Studio of Nechama Lifshitz performed songs written by Ya'arit's grandfather Moshe Discant. Miri Krausher read two poems written by Rivka Discant- Krakinovski  who was also a partisan fighter.  Many people - friends and family members and many guests gathered at the Vilna house and honored the family and the members of the Association of Jews from Vilna and Vicinity with their presence.

Watch the film