The condemnation of the Lithuanian government by Jewish organizations abroad for allowing construction on a former Jewish cemetery, highlighted on TBT's front page July 10, appears to be based on an unfortunate error of fact. The cemetery in question was destroyed by the Soviets to build a sport complex including the Sport Palace (a hideous, sloped cement building that still stands) and a building housing an indoor pool (built by German POW), recently demolished. It was the Soviets who desecrated the cemetery, removing the bodies and callously re-using the tombstones in other buildings. There is a monument nearby, built since re-independence, commemorating the old cemetery.
I lived nearby for seven years and often used the old indoor pool where the current construction now is. There is simply nothing much left there to desecrate.
Thomas Wilbur
