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On Friday, September 20, the Fourth World Litvak Congress was launched in Vilnius. The Congress is attended by descendants of Jews from Israel, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Argentina and Brazil. The Congress is dedicated to commemoration of the seventieth anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto in 1943.

The Seimas of Lithuania designated 2013 as the Year of Remembrance of the Vilna Ghetto and the Government drafted a broad programme to honour the memory of the victims of the Vilna Ghetto. In 1994, the 23rd of September was declared National Memorial Day for the Genocide of Lithuanian Jews.

Over fifty events will be taking place during the Congress on September 20-25.

On September 22, an international conference on Historic role of the Litvaks in Lithuania and Perspectives for the Future Litvak Diaspora followed by a round table discussion with ambassadors stationed in Vilnius took place.

On September 23, a ceremony honouring the victims of the Holocaust at the Paneriai Memorial will be held.

On September 24, a ceremony at the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania in commemoration of the seventieth anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto will take place. Speaker of Parliament Vydas Gedvilas, Chair of the Lithuanian Jewish Community Faina Kukliansky, Director of the International Historical Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania Ronaldas Racinskas, Director of the Genocide and Resistance Research Department at the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania Arunas Bubnys and former Vilna Ghetto prisoners Fania Brancovskaja, Markas Petuchauskas, Simonas Malkesas will deliver speeches during the event.

Before World War I, 33 percent of Jews lived in Lithuania, while during the interwar - 7.8 percent; in the Holocaust about 90 percent Jews were killed, at present approximately 4,500 Jews live in Lithuania.

Source: ELTA