OPINION | OLD VILNA JEWISH CEMETERY AT PIRAMÓNT: SAGA OF 2015-2026 | EARLIER OPPOSITION | 2023-2024 “WORKING GROUP” ON VILNA CEMETERY | LIST OF MEMBERS | MOUNTING OPPOSITION TO NEW “MUSEUM PROJECT” | THE USCPAHA | THE CPJCE | THE AJC | THE CER | THE GWF | CEMETERIES & MASS GRAVES | CHRISTIAN-JEWISH RELATIONS | HUMAN RIGHTS
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by Andrius Kulikauskas
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VILNIUS—On June 10, 2026, in Vilnius, Lithuania, the Seimas Committee on Culture voted unanimously to postpone until the autumn session further deliberation of the bill “On the Further Utilization of the Vilnius Concert and Sports Palace”. The Soviets built this palace in the middle of Vilnius’s oldest Jewish cemetery.
Screenshot from official Seimas recording of the session on the fate of Vilnius’s Old Jewish Cemetery
Committee Chairman Kęstutis Vilkauskas acknowledged the “truly many letters” (“tikrai … daug labai”) which they received from all around the world. “Gerbkime kapines” (Respect Cemeteries) received 37 copies of letters — impactful, rational, emotional, personal — from Lithuania, United States (New York, Idaho, Florida, New Jersey, Minnesota, California), Netherlands, Belgium, Israel, United Kingdom, Australia, from Jews and Christians, Litvaks and Lithuanians and friends.
The Chairman invited Edmundas Kulikauskas to speak on behalf of “Gerbkime kapines”. Edmundas distilled our message into two words: Restore justice (Atstatykime teisingumą).