On 26 August, a commemoration was held in Prienai to remember the local Jewish community that was destroyed 83 years ago.
The commemoration event began with a presentation by Lolita Batutienė, Director of the Prienai Regional Museum, about what happened in that pine forest 83 years ago. She recalled how the Jews of Balbieriškis, Birštonas, Jieznas, Stakliškės, and Veiveriai were brought to Prienai and later brutally murdered on the outskirts of Prienai.
The audiance was addressed by Alvydas Vaicekauskas, Mayor of the Prienai municipality; Faina Kukliansky, Head of the Lithuanian Jewish Community; Gercas Žakas, Chairperson of the Kaunas Jewish Community; and Ingrida Vilkienė, Coordinator of Educational Programmes of the International Commission Secretariat.
Later, the Kėdainiai Regional Museum hosted a presentation of a travelling exhibition about the Myra Yeshiva students’ escape from the Holocaust after receiving “life visas” from the Japanese diplomat Sugihara and the Dutch Consul Jan Zwartendijk.
The date of the destruction of the local Jewish community is commemorated in Prienai every year. The Prienai Regional Museum organises the commemoration event in cooperation with the Prienai Municipality and the Tolerance Education Centre of Balbieriškis Primary School.
