Interconnected Histories: Searching for Jacob Gens’ Grave and Instead Finding a Forgotten Early 18th Century Cemetery
Jacob Gens, the head of the Vilnius Ghetto Police Force, and eventually the entire Ghetto during the Holocaust, was murdered on 14 September 1943 by the head of the Vilnius Gestapo. Historical documents and Holocaust survivor testimonies indicate that he was killed at a site that became known as the...
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2025-04-01
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| author | Philip Reeder Harry Jol Alastair McClymont Paul Bauman Mantas Daubaras |
| author_facet | Philip Reeder Harry Jol Alastair McClymont Paul Bauman Mantas Daubaras |
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| description | Jacob Gens, the head of the Vilnius Ghetto Police Force, and eventually the entire Ghetto during the Holocaust, was murdered on 14 September 1943 by the head of the Vilnius Gestapo. Historical documents and Holocaust survivor testimonies indicate that he was killed at a site that became known as the Rasu Street Prison, and not the Gestapo Headquarters, as it is widely believed. In 2016, research was completed at the Rasu Street Prison site using ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) to locate subsurface reflection patterns that possibly indicate the location of where Jacob Gens is buried. Intersecting GPR and ERT reflection patterns were discovered and a plan was put in place to excavate that location. The excavation revealed the presence of human remains at 1.45 m below the surface. A skull and upper torso were exposed, and two teeth were collected for DNA and radiocarbon analysis. The DNA from the tooth was compared to Jacob Gens’ daughter’s DNA, and this comparison yielded a negative result, so the human remains were not those of Jacob Gens. The radiocarbon analysis provided a date between 1685 and 1735. In 1705, a plot of land was donated to the Visitation Monastery, which used this plot, and which coincides with the location of the Rasu Street Prison, as a cemetery for the poor. In 1709 and 1710, a plague epidemic was prevalent in Vilnius, as was turmoil and famine associated with the Great Northern War (1700 to 1721). Based on these discoveries, rather than finding the remains of Jacob Gens, it is likely that we found human remains that are part of a forgotten 18th century cemetery associated with the Visitation Monastery. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
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| spelling | doaj-art-6da2c77bc6b3473ca80b8d64bf198cf42025-08-20T03:27:07ZengMDPI AGHistories2409-92522025-04-01521710.3390/histories5020017Interconnected Histories: Searching for Jacob Gens’ Grave and Instead Finding a Forgotten Early 18th Century CemeteryPhilip Reeder0Harry Jol1Alastair McClymont2Paul Bauman3Mantas Daubaras4Department of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Duquesne University, 600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15282, USADepartment of Geography and Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 105 Garfield Avenue, P.O. Box 4004, Eau Claire, WI 54702, USABGC Engineering, 980 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 0C8, CanadaBGC Engineering, 425 1 St. SW #2600, Calgary, AB T2P 3L8, CanadaArcheologijos Katedra, Istorijos Fakultetas, Vilniaus Universitetas, Universiteto g. 7, LT-01513 Vilnius, LithuaniaJacob Gens, the head of the Vilnius Ghetto Police Force, and eventually the entire Ghetto during the Holocaust, was murdered on 14 September 1943 by the head of the Vilnius Gestapo. Historical documents and Holocaust survivor testimonies indicate that he was killed at a site that became known as the Rasu Street Prison, and not the Gestapo Headquarters, as it is widely believed. In 2016, research was completed at the Rasu Street Prison site using ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) to locate subsurface reflection patterns that possibly indicate the location of where Jacob Gens is buried. Intersecting GPR and ERT reflection patterns were discovered and a plan was put in place to excavate that location. The excavation revealed the presence of human remains at 1.45 m below the surface. A skull and upper torso were exposed, and two teeth were collected for DNA and radiocarbon analysis. The DNA from the tooth was compared to Jacob Gens’ daughter’s DNA, and this comparison yielded a negative result, so the human remains were not those of Jacob Gens. The radiocarbon analysis provided a date between 1685 and 1735. In 1705, a plot of land was donated to the Visitation Monastery, which used this plot, and which coincides with the location of the Rasu Street Prison, as a cemetery for the poor. In 1709 and 1710, a plague epidemic was prevalent in Vilnius, as was turmoil and famine associated with the Great Northern War (1700 to 1721). Based on these discoveries, rather than finding the remains of Jacob Gens, it is likely that we found human remains that are part of a forgotten 18th century cemetery associated with the Visitation Monastery.https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9252/5/2/17HolocaustVilniusJacob Gensgeoarchaeologyforgotten cemeteryinterconnected history |
| spellingShingle | Philip Reeder Harry Jol Alastair McClymont Paul Bauman Mantas Daubaras Interconnected Histories: Searching for Jacob Gens’ Grave and Instead Finding a Forgotten Early 18th Century Cemetery Histories Holocaust Vilnius Jacob Gens geoarchaeology forgotten cemetery interconnected history |
| title | Interconnected Histories: Searching for Jacob Gens’ Grave and Instead Finding a Forgotten Early 18th Century Cemetery |
| title_full | Interconnected Histories: Searching for Jacob Gens’ Grave and Instead Finding a Forgotten Early 18th Century Cemetery |
| title_fullStr | Interconnected Histories: Searching for Jacob Gens’ Grave and Instead Finding a Forgotten Early 18th Century Cemetery |
| title_full_unstemmed | Interconnected Histories: Searching for Jacob Gens’ Grave and Instead Finding a Forgotten Early 18th Century Cemetery |
| title_short | Interconnected Histories: Searching for Jacob Gens’ Grave and Instead Finding a Forgotten Early 18th Century Cemetery |
| title_sort | interconnected histories searching for jacob gens grave and instead finding a forgotten early 18th century cemetery |
| topic | Holocaust Vilnius Jacob Gens geoarchaeology forgotten cemetery interconnected history |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9252/5/2/17 |
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