VILNIUS, Oct 2, BNS–The people of Lithuania keep discovering more of the rich legacy of the Lithuanian Jews, Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevičius said in New York Friday at a meeting with representatives of American Jewish organizations.

“The people of Lithuania keep discovering more of the rich Lithuanian Jewish heritage, understand the need to preserve it and take pride in the remarkable contributions Lithuanian Jews have made to world culture,” the foreign minister said in a press release Friday evening.

The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry reported the meeting at the Lithuanian consulate in New York discussed anti-Semitism, Iran policy, the Middle East peace process and news about preserving Litvak culture.

Jews settles in Lithuania back in the 14th century and during the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania its capital city, Vilnius, became an important center of Jewish culture. It was sometimes called the Jerusalem of the North.

During the occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany in World War II, over 90 percent of the approximately 200,000 Jews living in Lithuania were murdered.

BNS