On 26 August a commemoration event was held in Prienai to remember and commemorate the local Jews who were murdered 81 years ago.
On 26 and 27 August 1941, Jews from Prienai, Balbieriškis, Stakliškės, part of Jieznas, and other places were killed in Prienai. The commemoration event began with the observance of a minute of silence. Lolita Batutienė, Director of the National Museum of the Region, reminded the audience that every year commemoration is held at this site to remember the peaceful members of the local community who were murdered.
The event was addressed by Alvydas Vaicekauskas, Mayor of the Prienai District Municipality, Ingrida Vilkienė, Coordinator of Education Programmes of the Secretariat of the International Commission, Gertz Jacques, Chairman of the Jewish Community of Kaunas, and Andrius Kupčinskas, Member of the Seimas of Lithuania.
The event commemorating the tragic events of Lithuanian history was attended by the staff of the Prienai Municipality, teachers and students from Balbieriškis, members of the Kaunas Jewish community, Rymantas Vitas Sidaravičius, the coordinator of the Centre for Tolerance Education at the Balbieriškis Cultural Centre, representatives of the Prienai Regional Museum, and some teachers from Jieznas, Kalvarija, and Kaunas.
After the commemoration at the site of the victims of the Holocaust, the organizers and guests went to the center of Prienai, where, in front of the Prienai bus station, memorial stones were unveiled for former residents of Prienai: Bencion Ben Šakov and Libe Gene Šakovienė–Kacaite.
