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Dear publishers of the Santara, contributors to the journal, friends,

Dear guests and participants of the event,

Word after word, and the new thematic issue of the Santara journal was born. Thanks to you, word after word, the issue reflects on the cherished history and culture of Lithuania, close relationship to the people and the memory of the times, when the fabric of hundreds of years of peaceful life in our multinational state and the whole of Europe was brutally torn apart by the Holocaust.

Since then we have been painfully looking for an answer to the question: How could this happen in a civilised land, which is the land of Goethe, Mozart, Adam Mickiewicz and Čiurlionis?  Today our state - a free member state of the European Union and NATO - is finally the safest ever in its millennial history. But can we realize now what strong love forced composer Geistas, who was not a Jew, to follow his wife to his sure death in Kaunas Ghetto? Or why the family members of Kipras Petrauskas, Čiurlionis, poet Kazys Binkis, and thousands of other Righteous among the Nations risked their own lives, also their relatives’ lives, to rescue the Jews whom they knew personally and even strangers? And why thousands (unfortunately thousands) of other people collaborated with the Nazis and ruthlessly led innocent people like sheep to the slaughter, sometimes even their own neighbours?

It shocks me that while we look for an answer to these questions, some people apparently still ignore them. We should not tolerate such incomprehensible vandalism in our civilised country, as throwing paint at the synagogue. This exposes a painful stigma of Lithuania.

When I bowed my head before the victims of the Holocaust at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, my eye caught the glance of the evergreen trees planted in the Avenue of the Righteous among the Nations.  It would be a great idea to have such an avenue also in Vilnius, the Jerusalem of Lithuania, and, thus, erect a memorial for the Lithuanian-born Righteous among the Nations. By the way, that is also a wish of Icchokas Meras, a Lithuanian Jewish writer, recipient of the Lithuanian National Prize, who lives now in Israel.

This initiative would go very well with the well-known wish that is also the motto of Santara: “let all anger and shouting be far away” (Procul omnis esto clamor et ira). I believe that anger and shouting will really be far away, if we learn to build bridges of concord not only to link state institutions, delegations, but, first of all, to establish direct people-to-people contacts.

I came to believe this when I was on a visit to the State of Israel a few months ago, where I met so many Jews who were fostering cordial feelings for Lithuania. On that day we received hundreds of friends and there was barely room for all of them in the hall, where we were celebrating the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Lithuania and Israel and we celebrated true concord.

I felt good also at the Beit Vilna in Tel Aviv. The association joins together Jewish people originating from Vilnius region. Even the mushroom soup, which we tried there, smelled like Lithuanian forest! I was also deeply moved after the meeting with Litvaks from South Africa. They have established a real Lithuanian town – Shtetl – and carefully preserve their memories about life in Lithuania.

As you know, the Israel-Lithuania Friendship Association IsraeLita that was established this year in Israel invites people to build new bridges based on mutual respect and establish a sister organization in Lithuania. I believe that not politicians, but people in culture could be among the first ones to respond to this invitation. Because, essentially, writers and poets, artists and composers, actors and playwrights have always preserved close ties. And Jewish artists, scientists and entrepreneurs with the Lithuanian background, no matter where they live, have graced this world and also homeland with their talent and wisdom.

I am glad that I was also able to bring from Israel a book by our writer Vanda Juknaitė “Uttered from the Darkness” in Hebrew as a gift for this always hospitable Vilnius Jewish Public Library. I would like to wish for more Lithuanian books in foreign languages to reach broad audience in Israel, the U.S., South Africa, and to become just as popular as the book about Israel “Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle” in Lithuanian. 

I believe that this rich thematic issue of the Santara proves that Lithuanians and Jews share an exceptional passion for their language and literature. It is through the people of Israel that the Holy Scriptures entered this world, while Lithuanians are famous for book-smuggling. This is a good sign, because an appropriate word, book, cultural activity or an open dialogue create stronger links between the peoples than official intergovernmental agreements. So please allow me to take this opportunity to thank all the contributors and commend you on your efforts to promote concord in Lithuania, which we lack so much today everywhere.

In conclusion, I would like to remind you that for the first time in history of our countries, a direct flight from Vilnius to Tel Aviv will be launched in June. I hope that its passengers will know which journal to read during the flight in order to learn about the genuine, open and close face of the Northern Jerusalem.