March of the Living 2012 — Association of Jews of Vilna and vicinity in Israel

The Prime Minister of Lithuania: "Israel's Achievements are a Source of Inspiration"

Uzzi Landau, Minister of Energy and Water, thanked the Prime Minister of Lithuania for establishing a fund to return property stolen from the Jews and for his praise of Israel. He later headed the memorial March at Ponary.

Today, two weeks after the Lithuanian government decided to establish a fund to restore stolen property from the Jews to their rightful owners, the Prime Minister of Lithuania met with Uzzi Landau, Minister of Energy and Water, who headed the Israeli delegation of the March of the Living at Ponary.  At their meeting, the Prime Minister officially announced the establishment of the fund.

The money for the restitution fund will be devoted to various projects dealing with public welfare in the Jewish domain; most of the projects will deal with educational, cultural, religious and scientific matters.

The Lithuanian Prime Minister, Andrius Kubilis, expressed his deep admiration for the State of Israel.  He went on to say that Israel's achievements, despite the enemies surrounding  the country, are a source of inspiration for Lithuanians and are harbingers of hope for his country.

He expressed his country's wholehearted support for Israel and his commitment to assist in any possible way on the international diplomatic front. "As a small country we can strongly identify with Israel. I often wonder how other European states in Western Europe are unable to understand your country's condition," he said. "Jerusalem is the eternal response to Auschwitz."

Uzzi Landau thanked the Prime Minister for his government's decision about restitution of property to the Jews and noted that the March of the Living, now in its fourth year, is an important stage in the process of perpetuating the memory of the Holocaust and the internalization of its lessons.

The Lithuanian government has taken further steps including mapping the extermination sites and erecting monuments, sending teachers and students to learn about the role of the Lithuanian collaborators in the extermination of 95% of the Lithuanian Jewish community (of the 250,000 Jews in Lithuania before the war, less than 8,000 survived).

Around noon today the central part of Landau's visit to Europe began with the March of the Living at Ponary where he spoke at the official ceremony, standing above the Valley of Death, in the name of the government of Israel.

"I, Uzzi Landau, am the son of German-Polish parents, who left Europe before the war.  However, many of my family and my wife's family perished in the Holocaust. I stand before you today as Minister of Energy and Water of the State of Israel and as a proud Jew," he said.

Landau said that history has taught us that the attitude of countries towards the Jews living in their midst is a litmus test for the freedom and equality of all citizens of that state. The minister stressed that Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the State of Israel is the everlasting response to Auschwitz, Birkenau and the persecution of the Jews.

Translated from: Dalia Mazori/19/4/2012 NRG