Israeli ambassador to Lithuania was among the speakers September 21 at the annual commemoration of Holocaust victims at Ponar outside Vilnius. The annual commemoration marks Lithuania’s Day of Remembrance of Jewish Victims of Genocide and officially falls on the nominal date of the liquidation of the Vilnius ghetto, September 23, although the actual liquidation lasted several weeks.
She said:
Ladies and gentlemen, Madam Speaker, Madam PM, the Chairman of Yad Vashem, honorable Ministers, Members of Parliament, esteemed leaders of the Jewish community, dear Holocaust Survivors and families.
Today, we gather here in Ponar, the last stop of tens of thousands of men, women, and children, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilnius Ghetto. We come together to remember the tragic events of the past and honor the enduring spirit of survival and resilience.
Yitzchak was an only child of the Rudashevski family. He was a talented young man interested in history and literature. When Nazis troops conquered Vilna, he was not yet 14 years old. A few months later he wrote from within the ghetto:
“Wednesday, December 10th. It dawned on me that today is my birthday. Today, I became 15 years old. You hardly realize how time flies … I discover that days and months go by, that the ghetto is not a painful, squirming moment of a dream which constantly disappears, but is a large swamp in which we lose our days and weeks…”
Before the shadow of World War II descended upon Lithuania, It was home to a vibrant Jewish community of more than 200,000 people in around 220 communities that had thrived for centuries. Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, was a renowned center of Jewish culture, studies, and spirituality. Today, we remember the profound loss suffered during the Holocaust, underscoring the importance of preserving its memory for future generations.
I want to extend our gratitude to the Lithuanian government and parliament for their commitment and ongoing efforts to preserve the memory of the Holocaust in various ways. Your words and deeds are a testament of your dedication to the values of tolerance, empathy, and human rights.
Despite ongoing attempts, monuments to nationalistic activists involved in the persecution of Jews still stand in some places, and unfortunately, in just two days, on September 23rd, festivals and celebrations, sadly, will take place in various towns. Therefore, while extremely impressive local tributes exist, there is still a need for public outreach and commemoration efforts.
Education, as we all know, is the most powerful mean to ensure that future generations understand the significance of the Holocaust and the role it played in shaping history. Through education, we can combat ignorance, prejudice, and hatred. “Never again” begins in the classrooms and we encourage the Ministry of Education to increase its efforts to ensure that Lithuanian students have access to comprehensive and accurate information about this painful part of history.