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Seimas marked the Day of Genocide of Lithuanian Jews and the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Holocaust in Lithuania

Press release, 23 September 2021 

 

In commemoration of the Day of the Genocide of Lithuanian Jews and the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust in Lithuania, the Seimas called on Lithuanian municipalities to perpetuate all sites of mass murder of Jews, to put old Jewish cemeteries in order, and to set up appropriate direction signs and interpretive displays. The Seimas also invited Lithuanian municipalities to name streets, squares and schools of cities after the Righteous Among the Nations.

 

The respective Seimas Resolution (draft No XIVP XIVP-869(5)) was adopted unanimously by 64 Members of the Seimas. The initiator of the Resolution was Emanuelis Zingeris, Member of the Seimas.

 

In the Resolution, the Seimas stressed that the monuments as well as other commemorative markers of those who collaborated with the Nazis and the Soviets must not remain in public spaces or be commemorated in educational programmes. ‘The Seimas emphasises the need to continue searching for the identities of Jews who perished during the Holocaust in order to perpetuate the sites of massacres with the names of the victims,’ the Resolution reads.

 

The Vilnius City Municipality was invited to name other public spaces of the city after Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese diplomat who 81 years ago issued Japanese transit visas to Jews fleeing war, thus saving thousands of lives. Moreover, the Vilnius City Municipality was also called upon to implement a memorial project embodying the efforts of the Righteous Among the Nations in the place envisaged.

 

The Resolution also contains proposals to the Government, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Commission for Cultural Heritage, and the Prosecutor General’s Office.

 

The Seimas feels the moral duty of the Republic of Lithuania to support the foundation of the statehood of the Jewish people, the State of Israel, given that the majority of the Jewish people perished during the Holocaust.

 

The Resolution notes that effective measures to prevent and combat anti-Semitism include enhanced activities to increase education and raise awareness about the Holocaust, ensuring of the security of Jewish communities and gathering places and regular monitoring of hate crimes against Jews.

 

The Seimas Resolution calls on the Lithuanian Institute of History, the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania and the community of historians to make efforts to open the chapters of life stories of Lithuanian Jews unknown to the public.

 

During World War II, the Nazis and their local collaborators murdered approximately 94 percent out of more than 200.000 Lithuanian citizens of Jewish origin.

 

The Seimas paid tribute to the memory of the Holocaust victims at its sitting by a minute of silence.

 

Rimas Rudaitis, Chief Specialist, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: [email protected]

   Last updated on 09/24/2021 16:11
   Monika Kutkaitytė