Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda on Tuesday awarded 38 people, 36 of them posthumously, who saved Jews from Nazi genocide during World War Two with the Life Saving Crosses.
“We have gathered here to honour 38 people - many of them, unfortunately, posthumously - who, despite the danger to their lives and their families, rescued Lithuanian Jews during World War Two. Marked by noble determination and sacrifice, each of their life story is exceptional and unique,” Nausėda said at the state awards ceremony.
“Together, they convey an extremely important message that evil, no matter how great or fierce, is neither eternal nor omnipotent. It cannot overcome a strong human will, armed with sincere compassion and love of one’s neighbour,” he added.
According to the president, as we commemorate the great tragedy of Lithuanian Jews, we not only mourn the victims but also look at those whose actions witnessed the victory of light over darkness.
The 80th anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilnius Ghetto was marked in Lithuania last week.
The Jewish ghetto in the Old Town of Vilnius was established on September 6, 1941, and almost 40,000 people were imprisoned there during its existence. The ghetto was liquidated on September 23, 1943, and victims of the genocide of Lithuanian Jews are remembered in Lithuania on this day.
According to the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania, about 200,000 of the approximately 220,000 Jews who lived in Lithuania before the war were exterminated during the Holocaust.
Over 900 Lithuanian savers of Jews have been recognised as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, the Israel-based Holocaust memorial centre.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
