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World Jewish News
Valdas Adamkus: Holocaust is also the pain of Lithuania
23.04.2009
On Tuesday, the President of the Republic of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus participated in the Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony at the Paneriai Memorial in Vilnius. The ceremony was also attended by survivors of this tragedy: Litvaks
from Israel, France and Germany, as well as Israel's Minister of Social Affairs Isaac Herzog and Israel's Ambassador to Lithuania Chen Ivri Apter.
The President of Lithuania said he bowed his head before the Holocaust victims.
"The pain of the Holocaust is also the pain of Lithuania because we lost Lithuanian Jews with whom we had lived together for centuries, suffered together the devastation caused by the occupiers of our land, and together we worked for a more just and more beautiful state," said Adamkus. "Unfortunately, the historical tradition of our two nations living together in peace was painfully tarnished by those who sold their conscience by collaborating with the Nazis."
The President underlined that many Lithuanian people risked their lives and the lives of their family members to save Jews from the hands of butchers. According to Mr. Adamkus, those people felt a duty to witness by their own life that, even in the face of death, humans must remain humans and that truth can never be killed.
"I believe that the lessons of history are important for today's generation of democratic Lithuania. Therefore, those who have survived this terrible tragedy and all of us have a duty to let the world hear about the pain and suffering that happened, to never again allow the truth to walk the path of shadows, and in moments of immense sorrow to reach out, open our hearts and embrace truth," President said.
According to the President, life stories of the Righteous of the World light up hope that together we will be able to create a better and a more just world.
"I firmly believe that we, Lithuanians and Jews and all the people of good will, will do everything in our power to preserve our common human values, promote the unique Litvak heritage and educate the young generation in the spirit of mutual understanding," President Adamkus said.
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