*alt_site_homepage_image*
en

WORKING GROUP HEADED BY THE LITHUANIAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRESENTS SUGGESTIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT ON THE FORMER JEWISH CEMETERY IN ŠNIPIŠKĖS

On 22 September, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas, who heads a working group composed by Prime Minister, presented suggestions to the Government of Lithuania regarding the issue of the former Jewish cemetery in Šnipiškės. The suggestions were drafted taking into consideration the geophysical investigation, which was carried out in the territory of former Jewish cemetery in Šnipiškės on 25 June through 5 July by Israel contractor company Geotec and geotechnical consultant Arieh Klein. The investigation was carried out by order of the Strategic Planning Committee under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania.

On 3 September, the results of this investigation were officially presented at the Lithuanian Geological Survey under the Ministry of Environment. 

Geophysical investigations were carried out at fourteen chosen areas within the territory of former Jewish cemetery in Šnipiškės. During the investigations 30 geophysical anomalies were registered, 8 out of them are of the second degree of reliability and, in the opinion of the Israeli specialists, 5 more anomalies most probably indicate remaining ruins rather than burial-ground.

In compliance with the newest data of the geophysical and archaeological research, also with regard to the disapproval of the representatives of the Conference of European Rabbis and of the Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe to continue the archaeological research in the territory of former Jewish cemetery in Šnipiškės, head of the working group P.Vaitiekūnas presented such suggestions to the Government of Lithuania:

·  The Government of Lithuania should state that a comprehensive preparatory work was carried out by all the Lithuanian institutions responsible for solving this problem -  historical, geophysical, cartographical and archaeological material was collected. This allowed demonstrating the good willingness of Lithuania to the international Jewish community in solving the issue of preservation of the former Jewish cemetery in Šnipiškės.

·  The Government of Lithuania should indicate that former Jewish cemetery in Šnipiškės has gained legal protection and in compliance with the decision of the Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture the cemetery is listed in the Register of Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Lithuania.

·  The Government of Lithuania should continue the dialogue with the representatives of the Conference of European Rabbis and the rabbis from the Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe as well as with other Jewish organisations, searching for a possibility to specify the boundaries of the former Jewish cemetery in Šnipiškės  as an object of cultural heritage under protection.

·  The Government of Lithuania should initiate an idea that competent Lithuanian institutions – Vilnius City Municipality, Governor Administration of Vilnius County, the Ministry of Culture – with the participation of the representatives from the Jewish community and the owners of the territory of former cemetery would organize an  open international competition for arranging the abovementioned territory and for the monumentalization of the former Jewish cemetery. Taking in account the results of the competition, the suggestions regarding the planning of the territory of the former Jewish cemetery in Šnipiškės should be drafted.