The commemoration began at the Paneriai Memorial, where about 450 students and teachers gathered, representing as many as 19 schools from Vilnius, Alytus, Josvainiai, Kaunas, and Marijampolė. The event was also attended by Members of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania Paulė Kuzmickienė and Radvilė Morkūnaitė–Mikulėnienė; Arvydas Daunoravičius, Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Rasa Kaučikienė, Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs; Shimon Pesah, Deputy Ambassador of Israel; and other distinguished guests.
Ronaldas Račinskas, Head of the Secretariat of the International Commission, moderated the event, presented the concept behind the “Road of Memory” project, and invited attendees to walk the Road of Memory from the Paneriai Memorial to the railway station, then continue the march through Vilnius to Rūdninkų Square. Mr Račinskas emphasized that the march from Paneriai was, in a sense, a way to bring the history of the once-thriving Jewish community back to Vilnius, where street names, certain buildings, and commemorative plaques serve as reminders of that community.
When the march reached Rūdninkų Square, a commemoration ceremony was held, during which the history of the Jewish community that lived in Vilnius before the Second World War was recalled, as well as the establishment of the ghetto in 1941 and its liquidation on 23 September 1943. During the commemoration, Emanuelis Zingeris, Chairman of the International Commission, addressed the participants of the “Road of Memory“, describing them as a ‘movement of good people’. Michel Gourary, a long-standing partner of the International Commission and head of the March of the Living organization, who also spoke at the event, emphasized the importance of knowing about the people who did good deeds and saved others during the darkest days of the Holocaust. Israeli Ambassador Shelly Hugler Livne, who attended the commemoration, welcomed young people’s participation, describing it as a ‘living history lesson’ that passes on historical information.
The highlight of the event was the word ‘I KNOW’, formed from small stones brought by the students with the names of murdered Jews inscribed on them, signifying that the history and historical facts heard during this event will be remembered by the young people who took part. At the end of the commemoration, the song “Jerusalem“, sung by the students of Vilnius “Saulėtekis“ School – a multifunctional center, resonated with emotion, as if to remind us that, before the Second World War, Lithuanian Jews referred to Vilnius as the ‘Jerusalem of Lithuania’.
The “Road of Memory“ event, dedicated to the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide of Lithuanian Jews, was organized by the Secretariat of the International Commission in cooperation with its international partner, the European March of the Living organization.
What the foreign press has to say about this:
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-909946
https://www.jwire.com.au/lithuanian-students-retrace-holocaust-routes-in-march-of-the-living/
