Lithuania commemorates the 80th anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilnius ghetto on Friday September 22. During the period of Nazi occupation, from 1941 to 1944, the majority of the 200,000 Jews who resided in Lithuania were exterminated. Since the country’s return to independence, the memory of this tragedy has been increasingly recognized, but much remains to be done.
1 min
With our correspondent in Vilnius, Marielle Vitureau
In the alleys of the former Vilnius ghetto, a small group sets out to discover the Jewish history of Lithuania. Gina guides them: “ We will pass in front of the old gates of the ghetto, then stop in front of the theater to talk about its history, then discuss the fate of the ghetto library. So that history does not repeat itself, it is very important to remember this. »
Of the 33,000 Jews massed in the Vilnius ghetto, only a minority survived. Today, plaques indicate important places. Some historical inscriptions in Yiddish are still legible on the walls. Hidden during the Soviet erathe Shoah is taught at school, artists have taken up this subject.
But for the historian Zigmas Vitkus, it still much to do : “ There is a lack of modern museums in Lithuania that would tell about the history of those who saved the Jews, about the history of the Jews in Lithuania. The creation of a museum means that the subject matters to us. »
A first museum on Jewish traditions should open by the end of the year. But the exhibition on the site of one of the largest massacres of Jews in Paneriai is still waiting to be modernized.