Seimas calls on national institutions to focus more on fostering the memory of Holocaust victims and participants of the anti-Nazi resistance in ghettos

Press release, 26 September 2023

In commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto and in appreciation of the centuries-long contribution of Lithuanian Jews to global culture and the building of the State of Lithuania and the contribution of Lithuanian Jewish volunteer servicemen to the restoration of Lithuania’s statehood in 1918–1920, the Seimas has adopted a resolution, which invites the national institutions and bodies to focus more on fostering the memory of Holocaust victims by paying tribute to the participants of the anti-Nazi resistance in ghettos.

In the Resolution, the Seimas calls for naming schools, streets and squares in cities and towns after participants of anti-Nazi resistance in Lithuania’s ghettos and the Righteous Among the Nations, who rescued their Jewish neighbours. The Resolution also recommends that the President of the Republic confers military ranks and awards to the participants of the Lithuanian ghettos’ anti-Nazi resistance posthumously.

The Seimas calls for, following the example of Plungė, Kėdainiai, Biržai and other municipalities in Lithuania, marking the sites of massacres by indicating the names of the victims rather their numbers and dates only. It also calls on Lithuania’s municipal councils to refrain from giving street names, erecting monuments or setting up other places of remembrance in order to perpetuate the memory of persons who allegedly collaborated with the Nazi totalitarian regime and to refrain from holding commemoration events dedicated to their remembrance. The Resolution requests that the information references of road signs to old Jewish cemeteries and sites of massacres be updated throughout Lithuania.

The Resolution calls on Germany to start the search and return to Lithuania of the Jewish cultural property removed from Lithuania by the Nazi occupation authorities and calls on Russia to return the property of Lithuanian citizens of Jewish origin expropriated by the Soviet occupation authorities and the financial assets of the Jewish People’s Bank.

In the Resolution, the Seimas invites responsible governmental institutions to step up the development of joint educational, cultural, research and defence projects in cooperation with the State of Israel.  Moreover, the Seimas proposes setting up an international council for the creation of an exhibition at the Paneriai Memorial.

The Government of the Republic of Lithuania is invited to announce that the events commemorating the anniversary of the liquidation of Lithuania’s ghettos will be held across Lithuania throughout the year, to encompass the 80th anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto on 23 September 1943 and the 80th anniversary of the liquidation of the Kovno Ghetto and the Shavli Ghetto in July 1944.

The Resolution proposes amending the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Memorial Days and proclaiming the 23rd of September the National Memorial Day for the Holocaust of Lithuanian Jews and their Resistance against the Nazis.

In the Resolution, the Seimas condemns statements by politicians containing racist or anti-Semitic elements and proposes that Lithuania’s law enforcement institutions be guided by the definition of anti-Semitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

The Resolution, initiated by Emanuelis Zingeris, Member of the Seimas, was adopted unanimously by 111 votes in favour.

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