On June 23 a second sitting of the commission investigating issues associated with Litvak culture and history was held at the Lithuanian Government. Discussion included Litvak heritage, protection of Jewish cemeteries and mass graves, plans for the Ponar Memorial Complex, restoration of property and inclusion of the Lithuanian Jewish Community in centennial celebrations of the restoration of the Lithuanian state.

“Lithuania is proud of her rich history and opulent ethnic culture legacy. That includes synagogues, communal buildings, different documents and other heritage. I can say resolutely that it is very important to us to maintain existing Jewish heritage sites and to adapt them for public use,” first deputy chancellor and chairman of the commission Rimantas Vaitkus said.

On Jewish heritage protection, the deputy chancellor emphasized the importance of cooperation between the Government, the municipalities, the Lithuanian Jewish Community and local communities. The commission again called upon Lithuanian municipalities to register in accordance with the law all Jewish cemetery and Holocaust sites with the real estate registry by January 1, 2017. There are 203 Jewish cemeteries and 207 Holocaust sites in Lithuania currently, while registration with the real estate registry of previously unregistered cemetery and Holocaust sites is on-going currently. The sitting of the commission resolved, with the cooperation of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, to set the main directions in maintenance and renovation of Jewish cemeteries and Holocaust sites, which would help municipalities appropriately maintain and commemorate such locations. It was also agreed, under a plan drawn up by the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture, the Cultural Heritage Department under the Ministry of Culture and the Lithuanian Jewish Community, to protect, renovate and adapt for public use (culture and education) certain Jewish cultural heritage sites.

A comprehensive plan for the Ponar Memorial Complex was also presented to the commission, under which the complex would be renovated by 2018, when Lithuania celebrates the centennial of statehood proclaimed in 1918. The commission resolved to form an international working group for formulating the conception of the museum at the Ponar Memorial Complex.

As participants at the meeting were being presented plans to celebrate the centennial of Lithuanian statehood, chairman Vaitkus invited the Lithuanian Jewish Community to become more actively involved in activities to mark the historic date.

“The centennial of the restoration of statehood is a holiday for the Lithuanian Jewish Community. We are so glad to have our homeland which we love,” LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky said. She confirmed Lithuanian Jews will take an active part in the centennial celebrations, including plans to hold a 5th World Litvak Congress, publish a calendar and commemorate appropriately Lithuanian Jewish history and culture in Lithuanian towns and cities where Jews who helped put Lithuania on the map lived, worked and created.

From the Lithuanian Government web page:
lrv.lt