Feb. 10th, 2015, Israel's Ambassador Amir Maimon told participants at a Holocaust event that "preserving the memory of the Holocaust is more important today than ever before."

After the "horrors of the Holocaust" many thought that anti-semitism would finally disappear. "This has not happened," Ambassador Maimon told participants.

"Hatred of Jews appreared to take a brief respite after World War II for a few decades. It is now returned in full force," he said.

As Mykolas Romeris University Rector Prof. Alvydas Pumputis, Vice-Rector for Research & International Relations Prof. Inga Žalėnienė and other academics and guests listened, the Ambassador delivered an emotional speech.

He said Jews in Europe and elsewhere are "being slandered and villified" just for being Jews.

"Around the world, Jewish communities are increasingly living in fear. It's not just the Jewish people, but the Jewish state as well," he said.

"The major task" of the remembrance is not just about the Holocaust, "but to remember the way we used to live together in the same place as equal citizens."

The Israeli Ambassador, residing in Vilnius, was one of several speakers that addressed participants at the event marking the Holocaust and organized by MRU's newly-established Tolerance Center.

Other speakers included: Seimas member Emanuelis Zingeris, Lithuanian TV personality Nijolė Baužytė, Jewish Gymnasium Director Miša Jakobas, author Markas Zingeris and International Commission for Evaluation of the Crimes of Nazi and Soviet Occupational Regimes in Lithuania Executive Director Ronaldas Račinskas. The event was moderated by MRU Law Faculty Lecturer Juozas Valčiukas.

 

After the first part, MRU's Theatre performed "Vilnius Ghetto," a play directed by Theatre Head Julius Dautartas.

The Holocaust in Lithuania, then Nazi-occupied, resulted in the killing of about 90% of Lithuania's Jews. About 190,000-195,000 Lithuanian Jews of 210,000 were exterminated before the end of World War II.