March 15–Day of Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews

While Lithuania highlights 924 recognized rescuers, the deeper truth—illustrated even in the record of figures like my grandfather, Jonas Noreika—is that the country’s Holocaust history is largely a story of persecution and murder, not rescue.

March 15 was designated by the Lithuanian parliament to be observed annually with ceremonies honoring Lithuanians recognized as Righteous Among Nations for saving Jews during the Holocaust.

The date March 15 was chosen because on March 15, 1966, Ona Šimaitė—a Vilnius University librarian who helped Jews in the Vilna Ghetto—became the first Lithuanian recognized as Righteous Among Nations by Yad Vashem.

On March 15, as Lithuania again turns toward commemorating rescuers of Jews, I think of the unbearable burden of knowing that my own blood is implicated in the slaughter of Jews. I think of the people my grandfather helped deliver to humiliation, dispossession, ghettoization, and slaughter. And I think of the few Lithuanians who chose a different path and saved Jews when doing so meant real risk. I honor them. I do not honor my grandfather.

I am sorry that members of my family were involved in the slaughter of Jews. There is no comfort in lineage when lineage carries guilt. There is no refuge in patriotism when patriotism is used to bleach murder. I cannot undo what........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)