The Day of the Genocide of the Jews of Lithuania has been commemorated in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
The Day of the Genocide of the Jews of Lithuania has been commemorated at the Genocide and Holocaust Centers in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
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The Day of the Genocide of the Jews of Lithuania has been commemorated at the Genocide and Holocaust Center in Cape Town. Members of the South African Jewish and Lithuanian communities gathered to honor the victims of the Holocaust.
"Like every year, today we not only remember the thousands of murdered Lithuanian Jews, but once again we commit ourselves that the lessons of this cruel history will never be forgotten," said Ambassador Rasa Jankauskaitė.
Ambassador R. Jankauskaitė said that we are live in turbulent times, "unfortunately, today we also commemorate other painful massacres, when just a year ago on October 7, Hamas carried out bloody terrorist attacks against Israel, killed more than a thousand innocent people and still holds hostages".
The participants of the event had the opportunity to watch the documentary film "Samuel Bak: Painter of Questions". In it, the artist who experienced the atrocities of the Holocaust in Lithuania spoke about his family's experiences in Nazi-occupied Lithuania, his return to Lithuania, his work and the symbols in his paintings that reflect painful experiences. Ute Ben Yosef, Doctor of Art History from the University of Pretoria, also attended the event and presented the latest her monograph "Art and Life. The story of Samuel Bak".
On 23rd of September, 1943, the Vilnius ghetto was liquidated. On this day in Lithuania, we commemorate the Day of the Genocide of Lithuanian Jews. This year we also commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liquidation of the Kaunas ghetto (8 July, 1944).
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We gathered he Holocaust and Genocide Centre in Johannesburg to pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. This is one of the darkest dates in the history of Lithuania, a catastrophe whose true scale will never be measured. Together with the members of the Jewish community who survived the Holocaust, representatives of Lithuanian and other embassies and descendants of the victims - we remembered that tragedy and bowed our heads to the victims of the Holocaust, as if reminding the world - never again, never forget.
We thank Dr. Ute Ben Yosef for telling the story of the world-famous litvak painter Samuel Bak, the Holocaust survivor in the Vilnius ghetto, and his work, which becomes an unforgettable story about this tragedy.
We bow our heads and thank the Holocaust survivor Lyonell Fliss, who remembered those who had the strength, courage and compassion to save Jews from the Nazi genocide during World War II.
Many thanks to Tali Nates, Director of the Holocaust and Genocide Centre in Johannesburg, for her tireless work and cooperation.
Since 1941, when Germany occupied Lithuania, mass murders began, especially in Paneriai, where thousands of Jews were killed. Out of approximately 200 thousand Jews who lived before the war, most of them were killed.
