LITHUANIA IS FIRMLY COMMITTED TO FOSTER THE LITVAK HERITAGE AND HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE, SAYS LITHUANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER
Lithuania is firmly committed to honour and remember the more than six hundred years of history of the Lithuanian Jews, their culture, traditions and the victims of the Holocaust, says Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis on the occasion of the Holocaust Remembrance Day. On 22 September, the Lithuanian Consulate General in New York and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York organized a solemn commemoration, during which the Minister’s letter was read. “My people are very well aware of what it means to endure a totalitarian dictatorship, as they were subjected to massacres and exile. On the other hand, we understand just how important it is to be fair to ourselves and to admit our collective guilt for those shameful moments in our national history. Therefore, Lithuania will never try to omit parts of its history to avoid ‘inconvenient’ truths,” said A.Ažubalis. The Minister highlighted the efforts of Lithuania to preserve and perpetuate the 600 years of history of Jews in Lithuania. The Government allotted funds to the establishment of the Jewish Public Library and to the archaeological excavations of the Great Synagogue in Vilnius, significant attention is also given to the reconstruction of the historical Jewish quarter in Vilnius, there are plans to restore the Paneriai Memorial Museum and to put in order the old Jewish cemetery in Šnipiškės. Well-known American baritone Jerome Barry, violinist Yuval Waldman and Lithuanian pianist Edvinas Minkštimas gave a concert. Songs created in the Vilna Ghetto were also performed and the Jewish poetry was read. The event was attended by the Lithuanian Consul General Valdemaras Sarapinas, the YIVO leadership and representatives from Jewish organizations in the U.S. Lithuanian Foreign Minister joined them after the meeting of representatives from the EU, NATO countries and partners. The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research was founded in 1925 in Vilnius and received international recognition. When the Second World War broke out, a significant part of the YIVO’s collections were brought to its New York headquarters. The institute is based in New York to this day. Its primary mission is to foster the Yiddish culture and language. It is expected to open a YIVO study room at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library in Vilnius soon. Last year, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis conferred the honorary award of Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs “The Star of Lithuania’s Millennium” on former Executive Director of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research Carl Rheins for his contribution to the development of relations between Lithuania and the Litvak Diaspora in the United States of America. From the left: pianist Mr. Edvinas Minkštimas, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Mr. Audronius Ažubalis, director of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research Mr. Jonathan Brent, Consul General of Lithuania in New York Mr. Valdemaras Sarapinas, baritone Mr. Jerome Barry
Lithuania is firmly committed to honour and remember the more than six hundred years of history of the Lithuanian Jews, their culture, traditions and the victims of the Holocaust, says Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis on the occasion of the Holocaust Remembrance Day.
On 22 September, the Lithuanian Consulate General in New York and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York organized a solemn commemoration, during which the Minister’s letter was read.
“My people are very well aware of what it means to endure a totalitarian dictatorship, as they were subjected to massacres and exile. On the other hand, we understand just how important it is to be fair to ourselves and to admit our collective guilt for those shameful moments in our national history. Therefore, Lithuania will never try to omit parts of its history to avoid ‘inconvenient’ truths,” said A.Ažubalis.
The Minister highlighted the efforts of Lithuania to preserve and perpetuate the 600 years of history of Jews in Lithuania. The Government allotted funds to the establishment of the Jewish Public Library and to the archaeological excavations of the Great Synagogue in Vilnius, significant attention is also given to the reconstruction of the historical Jewish quarter in Vilnius, there are plans to restore the Paneriai Memorial Museum and to put in order the old Jewish cemetery in Šnipiškės.
Well-known American baritone Jerome Barry, violinist Yuval Waldman and Lithuanian pianist Edvinas Minkštimas gave a concert. Songs created in the Vilna Ghetto were also performed and the Jewish poetry was read.
The event was attended by the Lithuanian Consul General Valdemaras Sarapinas, the YIVO leadership and representatives from Jewish organizations in the U.S. Lithuanian Foreign Minister joined them after the meeting of representatives from the EU, NATO countries and partners.
The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research was founded in 1925 in Vilnius and received international recognition. When the Second World War broke out, a significant part of the YIVO’s collections were brought to its New York headquarters. The institute is based in New York to this day. Its primary mission is to foster the Yiddish culture and language. It is expected to open a YIVO study room at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library in Vilnius soon.
Last year, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis conferred the honorary award of Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs “The Star of Lithuania’s Millennium” on former Executive Director of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research Carl Rheins for his contribution to the development of relations between Lithuania and the Litvak Diaspora in the United States of America.
From the left: pianist Mr. Edvinas Minkštimas, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Mr. Audronius Ažubalis, director of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research Mr. Jonathan Brent, Consul General of Lithuania in New York Mr. Valdemaras Sarapinas, baritone Mr. Jerome Barry
