For more than 30 years now the Kaunas Jewish Community has thanked rescuers of Jews every spring with a special ceremonial dinner, expressing deep gratitude and appreciation for the bravery and humanity they demonstrated. This the ceremony was held last week.

“Discussing Lithuanian and other European Jewish communities after World War II is impossible without the stories of the rescuers of Jews. If not for them, who are mainly humble and quiet about it, not boasting of their heroism, many of us would not be here in this land, and the dark time of the Holocaust would be even darker,” Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas told the audience this year.

As time passes there are fewer and fewer rescuers remaining, although there are examples of living rescuers such as Righteous Gentile Vladas Palkauskas who is now 93 and still going strong.

Lithuania’s heroes remain largely unsung at the national level, although Žakas singled out Conservative MP Paulė Kuzmickienė for praise for her initiative making March 15 an official day commemorating Righteous Gentile Ona Šimaitė. Šimaitė was the first Lithuanian recognized as a Righteous Gentile by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Service on March 15, 1966.

Žakas also thanked Lilija Kopač and Vincas Kubilius, the makers of the Menora television series on Lithuanian state radio and television, and reporters from the daily newspaper Kauno Diena who usually cover the annual ceremony honoring Lithuania’s Righteous Gentiles. The audience this year included staff from the Ninth Museum in Kaunas and the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum.