On the 15th of November, the “Road of Memory‘ took place in Vilkaviškis to commemorate the Jews of Vilkaviškis who were killed 80 years ago.
The commemoration event started at Jonas Basanavičius Square, from where the participants and guests of the event marched the main streets of the town to the place of the Holocaust victims within Vilkaviškis.
Unique stands were arranged at the Holocaust victims‘ site with the names of Jews who lived in Vilkaviškis, photos of the people who lived there, and an image of the former synagogue. In his speech, the Mayor of Vilkaviškis, Algirdas Neiberka, emphasized that much effort had been put in recent years to make as many reminding signs as possible about the Jewish community in Vilkaviškis. The chairman of the Kaunas Jewish community, Gercas Žakas, addressed the students and teachers who participated in the event, saying that there were too few talks about the rescuers of Jews and recalled several stories of rescuers related to the region of Vilkaviškis. Ronaldas Račinskas, Head of the Secretariat of the International Commission, spoke about the ‚Road of Memory ” project, which traveled across Lithuania in 2021. The head of the international commission was pleased that, despite the cold weather, on the 15th of November, municipal employees, Vilkaviškis city community, and a large group of teachers and students from several schools were participating in the “Road of Memory“.
After the “Road of Memory‘ event in Vilkaviškis, the presentation of the book “Holocaust in the Province of Lithuania in 1941‘ (author Dr. Arūnas Bubnys) published by the International Commission in 2021 took place in Salomėja Nėris‘ Basic school. The book was presented by Ronaldas Račinskas, Head of the Secretariat of the International Commission, and Ingrida Vilkienė, Deputy Head of the Secretariat and Coordinator of Educational Programs.
The “Road of Memory“ event in Vilkaviškis was organized by the Secretariat of the International Commission together with the municipality of Vilkaviškis district and the Tolerance Education Center in Salomėja Nėris‘ Basic School.
Photos by Ieva Šlivinskienė