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On 16 December in Jerusalem, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas took part in the international conference of the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism. Lithuania’s head of diplomacy is on the official visit to Israel.

At the two-day conference, world’s leading politicians, academic figures, NGO representatives and experts will discuss issues related to various manifestations of anti-Semitism and will share best practices of combating anti-Semitism. The conference was opened by Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein and Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs V.Ušackas.

In his address to the participants of the conference, the head of Lithuania’s diplomacy reviewed the history of Lithuanian Jews dating back to the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and as a representative of the generation which was born after the war, the Minister spoke about his own attitude towards the lessons of the Second World War and emphasized the need to fill in the gaps of historical memory, to raise the civil society’s intolerance to anti-Semitism and other forms of xenophobia, to foster deep traditions of harmonious cohabitation of  Lithuanians and Jews, to preserve the globally important cultural heritage of Litvaks.

“A reliable safeguard against anti-Semitism can only be provided by the concerted efforts of all people of goodwill. No one else can do it for us. We all share this responsibility of deterring anti-Semitism from ever becoming a new pandemic,” Minister V.Ušackas noted in his speech.

The Minister stressed that the current generation, which had been born already after the Second World War, could not be held guilty for the crimes of the Holocaust, however, it was the duty of this generation to keep raising this question again and again. “It is not only the memory of the victims of the Holocaust that calls for historical truth and justice. This truth and justice must be restored not only for the Jews, but also for the sake of the citizens of modern democratic Lithuania,” Minister V.Ušackas said.

Speaking about the role of the civil society in preventing the manifestations of anti-Semitism, Minister V.Ušackas said: “We must be patiently working on filling in the gaps in popular knowledge about the Shoah. We also must continue reviewing our own historical myths, shattering the images and stereotypes which damage our historical memory and our national identity. I am convinced that we do have a good chance to build a future free from the mistakes of the past.”

Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs also underlined that Lithuania, having experienced both the horrors of Nazism and the repressions of Stalinism held in deepest respect all the fighters of the anti-Nazi resistance and the anti-Hitler coalition. 

The Minister reminded that not only Lithuanians, but also many Lithuanian Jews, Russians and other nationalities had suffered same historical losses under Stalin’s regime by way of forced deportations, death in the Gulags, confiscation of property, repressions on grounds of religion, language and cultural suppression. Minister V.Ušackas expressed trust that the State of Israel and the Jewish nation all over the world would understand the attempts to jointly pay tribute to the memory of all the victims of crimes by totalitarian regimes, to restore the historical memory and to educate the young generation in the spirit of a firm opposition to totalitarian attitude.

When sharing his thoughts about the future of the Lithuanian-Jewish relations, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs V.Ušackas said: “I believe that Vilnius, which keeps radiating the spirit of Lithuanian Jerusalem even today, will also regain its glory by becoming the capital of the Litvaks of the world. I hope that in Lithuania Jews will always feel the warmth of their home country and enjoy our hospitality.”