On 23 September, an official ceremony to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust was held in Paneriai on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of Lithuanian Jews.
The commemoration was attended by heads of state, politicians, foreign diplomats, representatives of various institutions, and members of the Lithuanian Jewish community. Fania Brancovskaja, a former prisoner of the Vilnius ghetto who escaped from the ghetto shortly before its liquidation on 23 September 1943 and who died a few days ago at the age of 102, was repeatedly mentioned in the speeches.
In her speech, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė stressed the importance of combating anti-Semitism and hate speech, which is increasingly heard not only in other countries but also in Lithuania. In his speech, the President of the International Commission, Emanuelis Zingeris, recalled the importance of the commemoration and expressed his satisfaction that today more than a hundred centres for tolerance education are organising commemorative events to commemorate the victims of the genocide of Lithuanian Jews. The President of the International Commission also said that at the same time as the event in Paneriai, the Road to Memory event is taking place in Balbieriškis, where two Tolerance Education Centres have invited the students of Balbieriškis Primary School, teachers, and the whole community of the town to take part in a procession to commemorate the Jews who lived in the town and the destruction of the Jewish community in 1941.
The official ceremony commemorating the victims of the Holocaust is held every year at the Paneriai Memorial on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of Lithuanian Jews.
