Members of the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community marked the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Holocaust in Lithuania and the 77th anniversary of the liquidation of the Šiauliai ghetto on July 15.

In late June of 1941 the extermination of Jews began in Lithuania. In the second half of July the perpetrators set up the Šiauliai ghetto, which was “liquidated,” meaning all inmates were murdered, beginning on July 15, 1944.

Members of the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community held a brief ceremony at the monument commemorating Holocaust victims where the ghetto gate once stood, remembering lost family members and friends and laying flowers and the stones at the site, as well as lighting candles in memory of the victims. A minute of silence was observed.

Josifas Buršteinas spoke of the events of that time and Ida Vileikienė, who was born in the Šiauliai ghetto, shared her memories as well.

Šiauliai deputy mayor Simona Potelienė attended the ceremony.