On 27 January, an artistic conference “The Lost and Rediscovered History of the Jewish Community of Lithuania” was held in Ariogala for the communities of the Tolerance Education Centres.
The traditional event takes place every year on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day – 27 January. Opening the event, Arvydas Stankus, headmaster of Ariogala Gymnasium, welcomed the fact that the artistic conference for school communities was taking place in Ariogala. Ronaldas Račinskas, Head of the Secretariat of the International Commission, also highlighted the long-standing partnership with Ariogala Gymnasium. Students from 11 Tolerance Education Centres performed mini-plays, video projections, and literary compositions at the conference. The themes of the performances were related to the history of Lithuanian Jews: from the life of the Jewish community before the Second World War to the Holocaust, with stories about the Jewish rescuers and the other part of the Lithuanian population – the Nazi collaborators who participated in the Holocaust.
Ambassador Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein, Ambassador of the State of Israel, who attended the conference, told her family’s story about her paternal grandparents who survived the hell of the Auschwitz concentration camp but lost their relatives and loved ones.
Gercas Žakas, chairman of the Jewish Community of Kaunas, who spoke at the event, expressed his hope that those students who come to the Ariogala event, prepare the presentations, and take part will not be anti-Semitic and will not have unfounded myths or stereotypes.
Although the presentations at the artistic conference were about the history of Lithuanian Jews, Ingrida Vilkienė, coordinator of the educational programmes, gave a short presentation on historical information about the Auschwitz concentration camp and invited people to join the World Jewish Congress’ global initiative #We Remember.
Dainius Babilas, Director of the Department of National Minorities, who was a guest at the conference, wished the students—participants of the conference—to become the “discoverers of history” because while preparing to participate while gathering information, new details and stories are discovered, which perhaps were not known or thought about before.
Students from 11 Tolerance Education Centres presented creative compositions at the event. The conference was attended by a large number of guests: representatives of the Raseiniai Municipality, the Ambassador of the State of Israel to Lithuania, the Deputy Consular officer of the United States of America, the Director of the Department of National Minorities, members of the Jewish Community of Kaunas, representatives of the Raseiniai Museum of the History of the Raseiniai Region, and friends and partners of the Tolerance Education Centres in Panevėžys, Kaunas, Kėdainiai and Josvainiai (Kėdainiai dstr.).
During the conference, which brought together the communities of the Tolerance Education Centres, an agreement was signed on the establishment of a new Tolerance Education Centre in the Nemunas School in Kaunas. Therefore, it is symbolic that the new 178th centre was inaugurated on 27 January.
Arnas Zmitra, deputy mayor of Raseiniai municipality, who also works at the school, was very precise about the need to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day: “Today, we talk about the Holocaust to learn certain lessons of history. That is why we need to talk!”
The traditional conference for school communities was organised by the Secretariat of the International Commission together with the Tolerance Education Centre of the Ariogala Gymnasium. On 27 January, the event was held for the tenth time in Ariogala.
Tolerance Education Centres have been celebrating International Holocaust Remembrance Day since 2007, on the initiative of the Secretariat of the International Commission.