(JTA) — The president of Lithuania called the Holocaust a tragedy for the entire country at a ceremony commemorating the 1941 massacre of Jewish residents in Moletai.
“Their memory is an uncompromising obligation for all Lithuanian people to fight against hatred, violence, discrimination and indifference, and to respect and protect those who are around us,” Dalia Grybauskaitė said at Monday’s ceremony in the eastern Lithuania town.
Relatives of the Moletai victims and the Lithuanian Jewish community organized a March of Remembrance prior to the ceremony. Local residents participated in the march.
“This demonstrates that Lithuanians are changing, casting away primitive stereotypes, becoming open and tolerant as they uphold and defend human values,” the president said.
This week, remembrance marches have been organized as well in other Lithuanian cities and towns that saw the massacre of Jews 75 years ago.
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