Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has noted that the contemporary Lithuanian society is “mature and strong enough” to face the legacy of Holocaust in the country.
Earlier in June, in Lithuania, the conference “A divisive past: the Soviet-German War and narratives of mass violence in East Central Europe”, was held in memory of professor Irena Veisaitė, a Holocaust survivor.
Ms. Šimonytė stated: “I tend to believe that the maturity of society is also measurable as to whether it can accept from historians truth, which can at times be awkward or which can call for revisiting or rethinking of what has already been established, or it wants that the historians weave one or another collective narrative or mythology, where our side involves only heroes, victims or observers, at worst, but, God forbid, certainly not executioners or collaborators”.
“We have been living in freedom for three decades now and we are strong enough not to treat every awkward question, every doubt expressed and every different perspective as a threat. (..) It is also particularly true of a country that had lost much of its Jewish population during the Holocaust, where antisemitism resurfaces under the guise of new masks,” the Prime Minister added.
