Aukštieji Paneriai (literally Lithuanian: "a place near Neris"; adapted to Polish: Ponary, Yiddish: פאנאר/Ponar) is a neighborhood of Vilnius, situated about 10 kilometres away from the city center.

Paneriai was the site of the Ponary massacre, a mass killing of as many as 100,000 people from Vilnius and nearby towns and villages during World War II.

During the November Uprising, on 19 June 1831, the Battle of Paneriai took place near the village, in which the forces of Dezydery Chłapowski and Antoni Giełgud were defeated by Russian infantry.

As result of Russia's withdrawal from World War I, and the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the area was occupied by German forces and transferred to Lithuania.

Between July 1941, and August 1944, Paneriai became the mass murder site of approximately 70,000[2] Jews, 20,000 Polish intelligents, and 8,000 Russian POWs.