March 15 Is Day of Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews

March 15 Is Day of Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews

This year Lithuania marks March 15 as the day of rescuers of Lithuanian Jews for the very first time. To celebrate this important date, the Lithuanian Jewish Community presents a special plaque to commemorate the rescuers. The plaque, with multiple layers of symbolism and meaning, will be placed on residences where the rescuers lived and hid Lithuanian Jews from the Nazis.

“This is our thanks to the brave people who didn’t falter in the face of danger and who were not just the rescuers of Jews, but, as Icchokas Meras wrote, were also the blossom of goodness of their nation and heroes of the spirit who resisted the murderers,” LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky commented. Her family was also saved from the Holocaust by brave Lithuanians with big hearts, rescuers who number among the 900 Yad Vashem recognizes as Righteous Gentiles in Lithuania.

Plaque designed by the JUDVI & AŠ creative group.

Project author: International Commission for Assessing the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupational Regimes in Lithuania.