A remedy is at hand. The Jewish cemeteries in Vilnius are standing, despite the false claims that they were destroyed. A cemetery is not defined by its tombstones. It is defined by the dead who are buried in the cemeteries. Both in the case of the Old Jewish Cemetery and the Zaretcha cemetery the graves – for the most part – have not been disturbed. Often, we have records of actual burials, who is buried in which row, in a section of the cemetery. Even when cemetery records are lacking, we have literary evidence that records who was buried next to whom, and often preserves the full text of the original tombstone inscriptions. Most important, we have hundreds of photographs of tombstones and of the terrain in both cemeteries, that can be used to restore large sections of the cemeteries.

We don’t need a Jewish museum on the Old Jewish Cemetery grounds; what we need to do is to restore the Old Jewish Cemetery and its successor cemetery, Zaretcha, as well. And that – together with the Gaon of Vilna’s tomb in the Suderves Street cemetery – will surely attract Jewish visitors to Vilnius in numbers never seen before. If you have any doubts, just visit Prague, Warsaw, Krakow, Frankfurt, Mainz, and Worms, where the Jewish cemeteries have been preserved (and in many instances: restored after World War II). It is the heroes of the past that attract visitors, plus the original (and again, in many instances: the restored) tombstones and their inscriptions.

When money is stolen, it needs to be returned.

When property is stolen, it needs to be returned.

As is well documented, the Jews of Vilna paid for their Old Jewish Cemetery. Indeed, in Jewish law, a Jew may only be buried in a cemetery that provides for eternal rest. Any Jewish cemetery must be owned by the Jewish community. You can be certain that the Gaon of Vilna, and all the famous rabbis of Vilna, were familiar with Jewish law – which is why they allowed themselves to be buried in the Old Jewish Cemetery. The cemetery should be returned to its rightful owners, the Jewish community.

The Sports Palace, itself, needs to be dismantled. It serves no purpose. Quite the opposite, it has become an unsafe area, riddled by petty crime and drug dealers. It does not honor the Lithuanian heroes of 1990-1991. Let their memory be properly honored by a new and handsome memorial, perhaps an exact replica of the Television Tower Memorial, at an appropriate place in, outside, or on the walls, of the cemetery, where it can be seen by all.

◊