Minister Budrys: Thoughts infected with antisemitism give rise to lethal violence – we must prevent hatred

On 4 November, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kęstutis Budrys visited mass murder sites in the Liaudiškiai forest, Radviliškis district, where he paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. The entire Jewish community of Šeduva - about 700 men, women, and children - was murdered in these killing pits in 1941.

"Thoughts infected with antisemitism give rise to lethal violence. The fate of the Šeduva Jewish community is not only a historical fact - it is a painful lesson that obliges us, everywhere and always, to resolutely counter all manifestations of hatred. Remembrance of the Holocaust tragedy is our moral commitment to build a society where respect, empathy, and responsibility prevail," said Minister Budrys.

Massacre sites in the Laudiškiai forest were tidied up at the initiative of the Šeduva Jewish Memorial Foundation in 2014-2015. Two monuments by the sculptor Romas Kvintas have been erected: "The Door" and "Ray - Star", symbolically commemorating the memory of the destroyed community and inviting visitors to reflect on the tragedy of the past and its implications for today's world.

During the visit, the Minister also visited the Lost Shtetl Museum. Opened this year, the museum invites its visitors to explore the Jewish history, culture, religion, and everyday life of Lithuanian shtetls through the stories of the Jewish community of Šeduva.

The idea of the museum came to writer Sergejus Kanovičius. The project was launched in 2014 after the restoration of the Šeduva Jewish cemetery. The Lost Shtetl is not only a centre of cultural memory, but also a space for dialogue among peoples, calling for a rethink of the legacy of the destroyed civilization of Jewish towns.