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On the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis calls for the continuation of the successful fight against anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of intolerance, the fostering of the memory of the Holocaust victims, the development of education about this tragic page of history and support for the projects of the Jewish culture that is deeply rooted in Lithuania. “On the International Holocaust Remembrance Day we commemorate millions of Jews and other victims of Nazism. It reminds us to join the fight against any form of discrimination, intolerance or hatred. Best way to pay tribute to the Holocaust victims is to make continues effort to ensure that this tragedy would never happen again, also to ensure the respect of human dignity and the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms irrespective of the origin, sex, race, religion or social status,” Ažubalis said.

The Seimas (Parliament) of Lithuania declared 2011 as the Year of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust in Lithuania. The Government has implemented a comprehensive programme commemorating the Holocaust victims, Lithuanian anti-Nazi fighters and saviours of Jews, also preserving and perpetuating the historical and cultural heritage of the Lithuanian Jews.

As part of the Government’s programme, Lithuanian diplomatic service engaged in the organization of the international academic conference in London “No Simple Stories: Jewish-Lithuanian Relations between Coexistence and Violence”. Exhibitions presenting the Jewish cultural heritage ran during this colloquium of historians.

In Prague, Lithuania’s OSCE chairmanship in cooperation with its foreign partners organised the conference “Confronting Anti-Semitism in Public Discourse”. The exhibition “The Jewish World of Yesterday, the Hope of Today” was opened during the event.

Lithuanian embassies, Jewish communities, non-governmental organisations and the global Litvak diaspora commemorated the victims of the Holocaust.

“Lithuania makes sincere and continuous efforts towards perpetuating the memory of the Holocaust victims, fighting against anti-Semitism, fostering tolerance and mutual respect,” Ažubalis stressed.

In November 2011, the international conference “Totalitarianism and Tolerance. Challenges to Freedom” took place in Vilnius. Officials, diplomats, representatives from the academic community, members of minorities and public organizations, clergy, journalists, specialists of Holocaust studies and history from the U.S., Israel, Russia, Ukraine, and Lithuania shared their experience and knowledge at the event.

A special exhibition devoted to Nazi crimes in Lithuania runs in the former Gestapo cell at the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania, a film on the Jewish massacre in Lithuania was produced and can be viewed by visitors at the centre. A publication “Holocaust in Lithuania in 1941-1944” was issued.

“I am certain that in spite of the fairly difficult economic situation, and together with the Lithuanian Jewish community, we shall continue to implement the activities that are important for our historical memory, to foster the Lithuanian Jewish cultural heritage and to strengthen ties with Litvaks living all around the world,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who initiated the launch of the Year of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust in Lithuania together with Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs Emanuelis Zingeris.

After the re-establishment of the state of Lithuania, the historical and cultural heritage of the Lithuanian Jewry is consistently being restored. Last year, an exhibition of Arbit Blatas pictures  was organized at the Lithuanian National Gallery of Art, and an exhibition of pictures by Samuel Bak runs at the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum. The memory of the Vilna ghetto prisoner, world-renowned Yiddish poet Abraham Sutzkever was perpetuated. His book of poetry was published in Lithuanian and presented at the Jerusalem International Book Fair. The historical Jewish ghetto fragments of Vilnius are being restored, the memorial plaque at the old Jewish cemetery in Šnipiškės was unveiled and the remaining fragments of the Great Synagogue were unearthed. Monuments were built for Dr. Tzemach Shabad, one of the founders of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, Romain Gary, the Prix Goncourt winner and writer, Zalman Reisen, a scholar, Danielis Dolskis a composer and performer of popular music in Kaunas. Other works were carried out engaging Lithuanian historians, scholars, and museum employees from various regions of Lithuania. In December, the Jewish Public Library opened its doors in Vilnius.

Since 1994, Lithuania has annually marked the National Holocaust Remembrance Day on 23 September, on the occasion of the anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilna ghetto in 1943. In 2005, the United Nations designated January 27 - the day of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau - as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.