Dear Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I think it is a very significant fact that Sweden, a country often associated with the heroic activities of the well-known Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg who saved Holocaust victims, and a country associated with the rescue of Danish Jews, hosts the International Forum on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research.

Fifty years after the horrible tragedy of the Jewish nation, we cannot succumb light-heartedly to the temptations of historic oblivion. The Holocaust, or any other kind of genocide, must keep the human mind awake to its terrible instance so that by joint efforts we could prevent similar human tragedies from happening again and that the voice of millions of people killed only on grounds of their ethnic origin, would arouse the conscience of modern generations. No less important is to try to disclose reasons why such events were possible in the history of mankind.

A boy named Yitzhak Rudashevsky from the Vilnius ghetto recorded in his winter diary of
1943: “I believe in the future.” Neither he nor many other Lithuanian Jews, however, were
destined to see that future! I think that if the younger generation in Lithuania as well as in the whole of Europe fails to learn in depth from what happened to Jews, it would be the same as to step into the new millennium morally deaf and blind!

The Jewish community remarkable for its culture and intellectual achievements, was almost totally wiped out in Lithuania during World War II. After Lithuanians, it was the second largest ethnic community in the prewar state. So far, no one can explain why this happened in Lithuania, a country with no anti-Semitism throughout its recorded history. Before World War II the Jewish community in Lithuania was the happiest one in Europe during the prewar period: there were no Jewish pogroms, no hail of anti-Semitic abuse in the press, and their culture and social activities flourished. I am hurt and ashamed to hear that sometimes Lithuania is mentioned in the foreign press in relation with the tragedy of Jewish people during World War II. At that time Lithuania was nothing more but a geographical notion. Unfortunately, during those hard times certain Hitler’s Holocaust policy executors turned up in our society and collaborated with Nazi occupants.

There must be no term of limitation for these criminals, there should be no place for forgiveness or oblivion. All kinds of genocide executors must stand trial for their atrocities. It is a moral duty one has to assume in the 21st Century. In our search for answers to a great number of questions concerning the Holocaust in Lithuania, an international commission, upon the initiative of the President of Lithuania, was set up to investigate the crimes of the occupation regimes and present findings on the issue to why the Holocaust had happened in Lithuania, who enforced it, how it could had happened that nine out of ten Lithuanian Jews living in peace and harmony perished in the country which was never known for its anti-Semitism.

On the other hand, I admire those Lithuanians who were our Wallenbergs and Korchaks, our Righteous among the Nations. The memory about those people who were firm in their spirit is the source of our strength. More and more names of the Righteous are rediscovered in Lithuania. Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, hosts in its heart the National Jewish Museum with the gallery of the Righteous. We are proud of many Lithuanian families mentioned as the Righteous among the Nations in the Yad- Vashem memorial. Shortly after Lithuania reestablished its independence, the first legal acts approved the protection of the earlier neglected Jewish cemeteries and the installment of memorial stones at the Jewish massacre places, and boards indicating the places where the Jewish cultural assets were destroyed.

Presently, fifty years after the forceful oblivion, Lithuania opens yet unknown pages of various Jewish tragedies in Lithuania and elsewhere in Europe. The rights of the Holocaust victims - former Lithuanian citizens - and the historic justice obligate us to address difficult challenges and solutions, which lay ahead of us. On this occasion I would like to invite people from the West and from the East involved in the Holocaust research to work in our archives and depositories of documents. Alternatively, it may be that investigations will require from the Lithuanian researchers to go to Germany, USA and other Western and Eastern countries.

Today the Lithuanian schoolbooks contain pictures from the Holocaust in Lithuania and
some Nazis documents, and extracts from the diaries of the Holocaust victims. On the 23 of September we fly our national flag with mourning black ribbons thereby commemorating the day of the Jewish Holocaust, the day when the Vilnius Ghetto was destroyed. This is the national mourning day, which is commemorated by the citizens living in a modern state. The very essence of this Remembrance is, however, more than just an attribute of the state, it is a constant reminder to the voice of our conscience!

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am confident that the Stockholm Forum will
enrich our memory of the Holocaust with new ideas, new content, will reinforce the necessity to adhere in politics to the principles of universal democracy, human rights and moral values.

May I wish this forum every success and also announce that in autumn Vilnius will host, with the support and approval of Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the International Forum on the Looted Cultural Assets of the Holocaust Victims. This forum is initiated by very committed and active representative of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mr. Emanuelis Zingeris. Vilnius is not accidentally chosen since it for long used to be among the most significant cultural centres of Jews across Europe, and before World War II Vilnius was referred to as Jerusalem of Eastern Europe. We believe that Vilnius Forum will get relevant attention and involvement of governments, international organisations as well as scholars and NGOs. Lithuania is also interested to participate in the Task Force on the Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research. This future forum could become the first concrete liaison project of co-operation with the Task Force.

I am confident that by the joint efforts of the international community the tragedies of the
Twentieth Century will not be repeated in the newly commencing age. This new century shall be far more secure and human!

Thank you for your attention.