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VILNIUS, Sep 24, BNS – Painful history lessons cannot be forgotten, and manifestations of Anti-Semitism cannot be tolerated, Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas, Vydas Gedvilas, said at a commemoration of the 70 th anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilnius Ghetto in the parliament on Tuesday.

"Onetime anti-Semitic manifestations and attacks, none of democratic countries are safe from, cannot be tolerated. They must be strongly condemned, first of all, by politicians, and receive legal response. We must say a strong "no" to Anti-Semitism and other manifestations of hatred and intolerance," Gedvilas said.

He underlined that one needs to know his past to be able to create a future "with neither a place nor an opportunity for the repetition of atrocities of the past."

"These are not my thoughts. These are words I heard from Israeli President Shimon Peres who was on a visit to Lithuania more than a month ago. The president's main thought and message was as follows: let us remember the past but do not live in it. Let us remember it to be able to create a future," the Lithuanian parliamentary speaker said.

It is very important to preserve the historic memory of the Holocaust, remember and respect victims of the Jewish genocide, educate the young generation, Gedvilas was quoted in a statement by the Seimas Public Relations Unit.

Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman of the Jewish Community of Lithuania, said Jewish issues are becoming issues of the whole of Lithuania today. In her words, relations between the Jews and Lithuanians are still rather complicated but Israeli President Shimon Peres' recent visit to Lithuania strengthened Lithuanian-Israeli relations and gave an impulse to Lithuanian-Jewish relations.

The commemoration in the Lithuanian parliament was attended by former Vilnius Ghetto prisoners Fania Brancovskaja, Markas Petuchauskas, Simonas Malkesas.

Lithuania marks the 70 thanniversary of the liquidation of the Vilnius Ghetto on Monday.