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On 21 September Seimas (Parliament) of the Republic of Lithuania, expressing its sincere respect for the victims of the Holocaust in Lithuania, stressing that the loss of Lithuanian Jews during the occupation by Nazi Germany is a tremendous tragic part of our common history, condemning the genocide perpetrated against Jews by Nazis and their collaborators in Lithuania during the occupation by Nazi Germany, and continuing the policy of harmonious co-existence of nations and fight against any manifestations of anti-Semitism as stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, resolved  to declare the year 2011 as the Year of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust in Lithuania. 

By the same it proposed to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania to draft and approve a programme of the Year of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust in Lithuania having the purpose of expressing remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust, honoring the residents of Lithuania who fought against Fascism and rescuers of Jews, restoring and perpetrating the historical and cultural heritage of Lithuanian Jews.

At the same day Speaker of the Seimas, Irena Degutienė, participated at the official ceremony dedicated to the commemoration of Lithuania’s Jews Genocide victims at the Paneriai Memorial in Vilnius. Speaker of the Seimas expressed her hope that the majority of the Holocaust survivors and the deceased left this world still believing in the enlightened and righteous side of the human soul. The leader of the Lithuanian Parliament honoured all those who cherished that hope and rescued the very essence of humanity by rescuing the Jewish people.

“In my thoughts, I sincerely embrace everyone who still feels the pain, whose memory keeps drifting back to the middle of the 20th century, to the time of death of their parents, brothers, friends, and relatives. I sincerely offer my condolence to them and I bow my head in the memory of the Holocaust victims here and in all the cemeteries worldwide. I bow my head to the living; I bow my head to the deceased“.

Minister of Culture, Chairman of the Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee, members of the Parliament, representatives of the governmental and local authorities, leaders of the Jewish communities, diplomatic corps and non-governmental organisations took part in the ceremony as well. This event was animated by the Unit of Honour of the Lithuanian armed forces and the teachers and students from Lithuanian schools.

Students and teachers from more than 90 schools took part in the commemoration events in 32 cities throughout the country. The special educational initiative “Everyone has a name” dedicated to the Genocide of Lithuanian Jews and coordinated by the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania has been launched. 

Photos by Olga Posaškova