VILNIUS - Around 100 people gathered in Vilnius on Monday to take part in a Holocaust remembrance march, and they say this tragedy of the past must never be forgotten must never happen again.
Simonas Strelcovas, director of the Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History, says not everyone knows or remembers the significance of January 27, so it is important to set a good example.
"We need a good example to show that it is meaningful. As long as we remember it (the Holocaust - BNS), the memory of those who died and those who resisted will live on," he told reporters.
"What we are creating, what the museum is creating, this new tradition, judging by the fact that the number of people is growing every year, it makes sense to me. (...) Young people, schoolchildren, are already coming, which means it is important for them. Foreign missions, passers-by are joining in, I think it is important," he said.
Carrying placards reading "We remember", the marchers walked from the Samuel Bak Museum to the territory of the former Great Vilnius Ghetto.
Onute Ronaitiene, a 42-year-old history teacher, told BNS that she marks this day every year, doing educational activities with her students at school or outside.
"The 10th graders who joined us today are now studying these topics (about the Holocaust - BNS) and they were really shocked by the memories they heard, and I am still shocked by them, even though I have been teaching this for many years. To remember, to honor, to feel that spirit of togetherness is important. And the children want that," the teacher said.
"WE NEED TO THINK VERY SERIOUSLY"
Aivaras Poska, the 32-year-old head of the museum's exhibitions department, who also took part in the march, told BNS that the commemoration was particularly relevant now "when anti-Semitic sentiments are more pronounced here in Lithuania".
"These events, in fact, which took place quite a long time ago, they are not events that happened in vain or by chance. They signal important changes in societies, in mindsets, and I think the commemoration of this is particularly relevant today. We have to constantly remember it so that such mistakes are never repeated by the whole of humanity," he told BNS, pointing out that hate speech is a problem all over the world, not only in Lithuania.
"All societies, all countries around the world need to think very seriously and give some thought to that sense of empathy, to the person next to you and where such hatred or incitement to hatred can lead us," Poska said.
Remigijus Zemaitaitis, the leader of the Nemunas Dawn party, part of the ruling bloc in Lithuania, is currently on trial for anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. The part is represented by three ministers, which has led to criticism from Lithuania's foreign partners and Jewish communities.
Ronaitiene stressed that "individual statements" should not be seen as a common position of Lithuania on this issue.
DARKEST PERIOD IN GERMANY'S HISTORY
The march held to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was also attended by foreigners, including representatives of the embassies of Germany, the US, Italy, Ireland, Poland, Sweden and Canada.
"My team and myself, we are participating in this march of the living to remember the atrocities which where committed during the Holocaust. I would say the darkest period of German history. We orchestrated this crime against humanity and we have assumed the historical responsibility for it. And its up to us and to everyone else to stand against anti-Semitism so that we never ever see the repetition of what happened in the past," German Ambassador to Lithuania Cornelius Zimmermann told reporters.
Also partaking in the march, Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas said that the best thing we can do is to ensure that "this black spot in the world's history will never be forgotten".
January 27 is Holocaust Memorial Day. On this day in 1945, Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp where at least 1.1 million people, mostly Jews but also Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and others, were murdered. In 1947, it was declared a national memorial site.
2025 © The Baltic Times /Cookies Policy Privacy Policy