The Jewish community, students and general public gathered on a rainy and overcast January 26 in Panevėžys at the Sad Jewish Mother statue to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman spoke first, saying a lack of concern is the worst crime in the world and is responsible for innocent people dying. The genocide of the Jews of Lithuania is a global tragedy, as is the genocide of the Jews of Europe, which must never happen again, he said.

Students from the Saulėtekis Pre-Gymnasium supervised by vice principal Irena Gasiūnienė laid a wreath at the statue and students from the Rožynas Pre-Gymnasium lit candles. The event was continued indoors with many young people and local residents in attendance. Gennady Kofman presented his new book “Nežūdysi” [“You Can’t Kill Us”] dedicated to the memory of the victims from Panevėžys. The Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum lent their mobile exhibition of 16 unique Vilnius ghetto posters, recovered from various hiding places, trash piles and at a paper recycling factory after the war, to the event and a small presentation was made. The ghetto poster collection is an almanac of the cultural and spiritual life of the Vilnius ghetto. The tragic fate of the ghetto inmates was explained to the young people in Panevėžys. The exhibit will be on public display at the Panevėžys Jewish Community.

Panevėžys city deputy mayor Petras Luomanas also spoke at the event, and said: “There is enough room for everyone in our country. We must get used to the idea of tolerance and live honestly. It will not do to forget the tragic fate of our Jewish neighbors.”

After a screening of a documentary about the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp complex, Panevėžys Jewish Community members and guests held a long discussion about Holocaust events and personal fates.