Noninvasive Archaeology: Using Ground Penetrating Radar to Locate Jewish Holocaust Sites in Vidzgiris Forest near Alytus, Lithuania

Keywords: Holocaust, Archaeology, GPR, Lithuania
Abstract Type: Poster Abstract

Abstract

The Holocaust was the systematic killing of six million European Jews among others deemed undesirable by the Nazis regime during World War II. Between 1941–1944, 60,000-70,000 Jewish people were killed near Alytus, Lithuania and buried in mass graves in the Vidzgiris Forest. The exact location of these mass graves is disputed amongst existing archival evidence and eyewitness testimonies. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) offers a means of detecting, and therefore locating, these burials. GPR is a non-invasive method that utilizes electromagnetic pulses to create subsurface profiles, allowing the user to image objects or sediment horizons underground. GPR was applied to a large trench-like physical feature, which measured 5m wide and exceeded 100m in length. The trench is a potential burial site based on physical landscape features and direct mentions in the literature, however, it currently contains no insignia or memorial. In an investigative effort, 48 parallel GPR lines were collected 0.25m apart along the trench using PulseEKKO PRO 500 MHz antennae, and a 0.02m step size triggered by an odometer wheel to create a 12x12m grid of data. Local elevation data was recorded using the Topcon RL-H4C self-leveling laser and receiver. Parabolic features indicative to that of other burials were then identified using the EKKO_Project 5 computer processing program. The feature represented by these parabolas extends the entire width of the grid, 1.7m below the surface. Further non-invasive investigations are suggested to find the full scale of this subsurface feature, accounting for Jewish religious practices forbidding the excavation of the deceased.