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No museum possible in Vilnius Sports Palace - rep of US Jewish organization

BC, Vilnius, 27.04.2017.Print version

The Vilnius Sports Palace, which has been built on an old Jewish cemetery, is not an appropriate location for a Museum of Jewish History, say members of the Jewish communities fo Lithuania and the United States.


"There is a consensus that Jewish cemetery is not a proper place for a museum," Andrew Baker of the American Jewish Committee, who holds a high position in the foundation granting compensations for Jewish property, told Vilnius journalists on Thursday.


"We do think that the site should include some presentation about the history of the cemetery, about the people who were buried there," he added.


Baker is the board chairman of the Good Will Foundation administering compensations for Jewish communal property. Under a 2011 law, Lithuania is committed to paying over 37 mln euros over a decade in compensations for property appropriated by totalitarian regimes.


The representative of the American Jewish Committee expressed hope that the territory of the cemetery would be preserved as a memorial place or a park.


Faina Kukliansky, the leader of the Jewish Community of Lithuania, has said that "the opinion on the matter is unanimous."


"In our understanding, the place is not suitable for a museum of history of Jews of Lithuania," she added.


The Sports Palace complex is in the territory of an old Jewish cemetery, which was in use between 1500s and 1900s – the greater portion of the cemetery was destroyed during the construction of the Sports and Concert Palace in 1970s, all surface boundaries of the cemetery were also erased.


The idea of reconstructing the palace had drawn criticism from some Jewish organizations, voicing concerns that the building would host festive events and breach the Jewish tradition that prohibits disturbance of remains.


Negotiations on the new design of the Vilnius Congress and Sports Palace were terminated in February amid corruption suspicions. Representatives of the government and the Lithuanian capital's municipality recently suggested establishing a Jewish museum in the premises.





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