VILNIUS, September 28, BNS–Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė Wednesday awarded nearly 50 persons with Life Saving Crosses for rescuing Jews from the Holocaust during World War II.

The majority, 44, were awarded posthumously.

Speaking at the ceremony at the President’s Office, Grybauskaite invited all participants to stand in a minute of silence to honor the memory of Israel’s former president Shimon Peres who passed away earlier that day.

“Today we lost a person who is dear to world peace, humanity and Lithuania. He is the second Litvak we lost this September. We just bid our last farewell to professor Leonidas Donskis,” the president said.

She called those who rescued Jews across the country a bright ray of light in the history of World War II.

“All of the rescue stories are shocking. They witness to the ability of people
to make sacrifices. For another person, for a child of a strange family, as if he were your own. Risking everything you have, everything you cherish and value,” Grybauskaitė commented.