EU official calls on Lithuania to take better care of its Jewish cultural sites

  • 2022-09-30
  • BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS – Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission's coordinator on combating anti-Semitism and fostering Jewish life, has called on Lithuania to pay more attention to the maintenance of monuments related to Jewish history. 

Von Schnurbein visited the Vilnius (Vilna) Ghetto and other sites of remembrance during her visit to the Lithuanian capital on Wednesday. 

She paid tribute to the victims of the ghetto partisan resistance by placing flowers and a small visitation stone at the memorial.

The EU official noted that some monuments and objects of importance to Jewish culture are not in the best condition as their inscriptions are faded and hard to read, according to a press release by the Lithuanian Jewish Community (LJC).  

She called for greater attention to the maintenance of this heritage, citing as an example Germany's tradition of dedicating one day a year to keeping Jewish memorials in good condition. 

According to LJC Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, Jewish monuments, buildings and synagogues in Lithuania are maintained and protected on private initiative as no public funding is available for the purpose.