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       On the 26 -27 January, 2012 more than 80 Lithuanian general education schools commemorated the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The vast majority of schools belong to the Tolerance Education Centre network, established at the initiative of the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania. This year a project “The Butterflies” was initiated. The project was meant to commemorate the 1.5 million Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust. Lithuanian teachers were encouraged to talk with their students not only about the tragic destiny of European Jewish children, but also to bethink of Jewish children who were murdered in Lithuania.

      During the commemoration of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day different non-traditional activities: multi-subject lessons, post-film discussions, historical source analysis (Holocaust witnesses’ memoirs, a book published by the Vilna Gaon Museum in Vilnius “Vilnius Ghetto: Lists of Prisoners.” This book contains an alphabetized list of the ghetto Jews and also the names of all of the Jews who were in various work camps in Ashmena, Svencionys County, the Kaunas (Kovno) and Siauliai (Shavel) ghettos. During the analysis of documents the names of children were picked out), school conferences in Alytus, Panevezys and Birzai were organised.

      The International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes was steadily informed about the number of butterflies made, some schools were very active and made around thousand butterflies, some of them made less, but all the butterflies are really impressive. Some butterflies contain the names of children on them.

      Handmade butterflies will be exhibited at the republican exhibition in Radviliskis Vaižgantas Progymnasium. Official opening of the exhibition is foreseen on February 10th at 12 o’clock. After the exhibition is closed the butterflies will be sent to Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel and the Holocaust Museum Houston which has been organising the project “The Butterfly” for several years and seeking to collect 1.5 million butterflies. As a sign of solidarity with Holocaust Museum Houston this year the project will be implemented in Lithuania. It was initiated by the Secretariat of The International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania.