March of the Living 2021 — Association of Jews of Vilna and vicinity in Israel

Maariv Online 23/9/2021 [Hebrew] - Today (Thursday), September 23, a national anniversary in Lithuania marks the commemoration of the Holocaust of the Jewish people.

On this day, the Jewish community, the Lithuanian Government and the March of the Living organization held a memorial service to mark the beginning of the Holocaust of Lithuanian Jews, and eighty years since the liquidation of the Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. The main ceremony took place in Rudninku Square, which had been the site of the Jewish ghetto during the Holocaust, and from which the March departed by train from Vilna (Vilnius) to the mass grave in Ponar. About 10,000 people, as well as students and adults, including Jewish communities from other European countries as well, attended the central service. Michel Gourary, director of the "March of the Living in Europe," attended the service and gave a speech. In addition to the main ceremony in Vilna, the general public was invited to gather throughout the country where Jewish communities once stood, to hold local memorial services, including memorializing Jews murdered during the Holocaust by the recitation of their names. The service was accompanied by a special memorial lecture on Lithuanian Jews who were murdered. The Prime Minister of Lithuania, Ingrida Šimonytė, said at the ceremony that the Holocaust was not only a Jewish tragedy but a tragedy for all Lithuanians, and that such a tragedy might be repeated: "Outbreaks of violence, incitement and hatred have not passed from the world."

watch video

In the words of Yossi Levy Ambassador of Israel to Lithuania (translated from Hebrew) :

"Today, September 23, the Lithuanian National Holocaust Remembrance Day is full of moving memorial events. This is the day the Vilna Ghetto was liquidated and the rest of its inhabitants transported to Ponar Forest.

At 11:00 a.m. at Rudninko Square, a memorial service was held in the presence of the Prime Minister of Lithuania, the "Umschlagplatz" of Vilna - the de

portation square to Ponar. The Prime Minister of Lithuania arrived at the ceremony and spoke warmly about memory, courage and solidarity. A choir of Lithuanian students sang the "Partisan song".

At 13:00, the March of the Living, including youth and adults, arrived at the Ponar Forest where about 70,000 Jews were murdered, along with another 30,000 non-Jews, most of them Poles; at the foot of the monument stood a military honor guard. Lithuania was represented by the Speaker

 of Parliament, who delivered an emotional speech. Among those present were members of the government (the Minister of Culture, Deputy Foreign Minister, and more), senior officers and almost all the ambassadors. The speech of the ambassadors of the United States an

I spoke about an 11-year-old Jewish girl who crawled out of the pit; about a 15-year-old girl who refused to stand naked in front of the pit; about a 19-year-old girl who dreamed of becoming a poet and was shot in the field. These are all true stories from the inferno. I asked to remove, once and for all, a monument in memory of a Jewish murderer, standing to this day in a small Lithuanian town – something unbelievably shameful.d Germany was very emotional, as always.

At 19:00, a special salute concert was held in the courtyard of Lithuania's Presidential Palace - a powerful work combining pieces of Lithuanian ethnic folklore together with blasts on the shofar and even the music "Hatikva." Remember the name of the talented and promising composer: Yasinski. Hard to pronounce? Obviously, it's in Lithuanian. The amazing string player Yaron Cherniak from Israel participated in the concert. When was the last time someone played the Persian Sitar in Vilna? The concert was broadcast on state television.

Was this not impressive and worthy of admiration?"