The anti-Semitic attack on the Paneriai (Ponar) Memorial Complex commemorating the victims of the Holocaust there victims there is an act of vandalism equivalent to the desecration of graves.

During World War II 96% of Lithuania’s Jewish population, more than 200,000 people, were murdered. Nearly half were killed in Paneriai. There is no Litvak family untouched by the Holocaust, which is why Paneriai is not merely a place where we lay flowers and light candles several times a year. It is a sacred site where every patch of soil covers the bones of the murdered. Here we mourn our loved ones, reliving their terror and suffering each time we visit. It is cowardly and despicable to fight the dead, yet such is the tactic of terrorists, to rape women, to kidnap and torture the elderly, to murder children in front of their mothers. And to smash windows, attack synagogues which also house schools and shoot diplomats. This attack at the Paneriai Memorial Complex is part of a global wave of rising anti-Semitism.

Regrettably the number of anti-Semitic acts of vandalism in Lithuania continues to increase. But no matter what the terrorists do, the Lithuanian Jewish Community will continue to stand firm with Israel in its struggle for survival and its right to self-defense.

We thank everyone who has condemned this attack and we call upon Lithuanian law enforcement and state institutions to take action and identify those responsible for this anti-Semitic offense.