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A ceremony to honor the victims of the genocide of the Jews of Lithuania was held at the Ponar Memorial Complex on September 23. The event was organized by the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Defense Ministry, the Lithuanian Jewish Community, the International Commission to Assess the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupational Regimes in Lithuania and the Vilnius municipality.

A minute of silence was observed and wreaths and flowers were laid at a monument to Holocaust victims. Students sang the Vilnius ghetto anthem. Vilnius ghetto inmates shared their thoughts. A cantor performed kaddish and an Israeli choir performed songs and hymns.

Before the ceremony participants in the Way of Memory civic initiative read the names of people murdered at Ponar, including the age and profession of victims, bringing the dead and the living closer together.

The topic of the Holocaust is very important to Lithuania where during World War II 95 percent of all Jews living here were murdered. Jewish culture with deep roots in Lithuania was killed along with the people. September 23 is a date for commemorating the genocide of the Jews of Lithuania. In 1943 the Vilnius Jewish ghetto was liquidated on that date.

The Lithuanian Ministry of Culture has initiated a comprehensive overhaul of the Ponar Memorial Complex to preserve the memory of the victims there from 1941 to 1944 and to preserve historical memory of the Holocaust for future generations. The plan is to preserve as many surviving elements as possible at the existing memorial and to re-create authentic elements, and to set up a new visitor center with a modern museum space.

Full item in Lithuanian here.