Lithuania, 1941 — She Was Told to Undress, Then Told to Sing

In the quiet woods of Ponary, just outside Vilnius, thousands of Jews were marched to their deaths by Nazi Einsatzgruppen and local collaborators. Among them was a young girl, no more than thirteen, forced to stand in line with other women. One by one, they were ordered to strip, layer by layer, as the biting winter wind cut through the trees. She clutched her coat tightly — until it was ripped from her hands.

As tears welled up, a soldier sneered, “Sing for us.” Her voice rose — shaking, broken — a fragile lullaby carried on the pine-scented air. Then came the gunshot. She fell silently into the pit beside the others.

No name was recorded. No stone marks her grave. But in the shadows of Ponary Forest, some say you can still hear the faint trace of a song.