Macikų lagerio karceris-muziejus

About the museum

The Macikai camp complex is the only place in Lithuania where the imprisonment structures of both totalitarian regimes were intertwined. In 1941 a Nazi German prisoner-of-war camp was set up at Macikai (“Stalag 331”, later “Stalag 1C Heydekrug” and “Stalag Luft VI Heydekrug”), which operated until 1944; soldiers of the Allied countries were held there – according to US military intelligence data, no fewer than 10,000 people.

When the Soviets occupied Lithuania a second time, prisoner-of-war camp No. 184 (1945–1948) and a GULAG camp (1945–1955) operated here, holding civilians, political prisoners, priests, women and children. Today the complex consists of the camp site, the punishment cell, the prisoners’ graves, a bathhouse and possibly a barracks building.

In 1993, on the initiative of the Šilutė branch of the Tremtinių ir politinių kalinių sąjunga (Union of Deportees and Political Prisoners), the Macikų lagerio karceris-muziejus (Macikai Camp Punishment Cell Museum) was set up in the former punishment-cell building; since 1995 it has been a branch of the Šilutės Hugo Šojaus muziejus (Šilutė Hugo Šojus Museum).

Key themes

• Former camp punishment cell with an exhibition
• The only place in Lithuania where Nazi and Soviet imprisonment systems intertwined
• Prisoners’ graves and the camp complex
• History of the Stalag Luft VI prisoner-of-war camp

Permanent exhibition

• Macikų lagerio karcerio ekspozicija – An exhibition in the former camp punishment-cell building on the history of the Macikai camps: the Nazi German prisoner-of-war camp and the Soviet GULAG camp.

Founded

1993

Operated by

Šilutės Hugo Šojaus muziejus, biudžetinė įstaiga

Admission & discounts

Free admission for pre-school children, children from children’s homes, persons with disabilities and one accompanying person, persons aged 80 and over, Lithuanian museum staff and ICOM members. A 50% discount applies to pupils, students, persons of pensionable age (up to 80), victims of political repression and other listed groups.

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