“(Council – BNS) believes that Lithuanian victims in this war must be properly honored and commemorated in Vilnius,” the document reads.
After the resolution is approved, the proposal for commemorating the Lithuanians killed in Ukraine will be formulated by the Historical Memory Commission and returned to the municipal council with it.
The author of the initiative is Aurimas Navys, representative of the faction of the Union of the Fatherland-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD).
“I would think that we should remember these dead Lithuanians, perpetuate their memory,” A. Navys said at the council meeting.
He said that the Russian street in Vilnius might be named following T. Tumos.
“Here is my position, in no way do I want to pressure the (Historical – BNS) memory commission, it will make its own decision as is best,” said A.Navys.
Social Democrat Povilas Pinelis criticized the idea of renaming Rusu Street.
“When you stir up a war, Rusui Street, you politicize without delving into the circumstances, like that Rusui Street (BNS appeared), you engage in fighting, opposition, our Vilnius is full of people of Russian nationality, there are mixed families,” P. Pinelis said.
He suggested honoring not only the dead, but also other Lithuanians who go to Ukraine to help the warring country, who often return with serious injuries.
“The commission should think regarding Vilnius’s respect for all those who participate, help, sacrifice their health and resources, without relying on one or two persons,” P. Pinelis said.
A.Navys answered that the Russian street was given its name in 1907 by the authorities of the Russian Empire.
“As for the immortalization of all others, it should be immortalized all of our Lithuania, because all of Lithuania contributes to this. (…) I would suggest not to confuse two things”, said the council member.
The resolution notes that T. Tum’s death near Bakhmut “encourages us to realize that Ukraine is fighting not only for its own freedom and values, but also for the freedom and values of the entire Western world”, and M. Kvedaravičius’s films “Mariupolis” and “Mariupolis 2” “testify so many defenders” the courage of the Ukrainians, as well as the brutality and crimes once morest humanity and war crimes of the Russian armed forces.”
Kamilė Šeraitė-Gogelienė, the chairwoman of the historical memory commission, previously told BNS that although there is a rule in the capital that people’s memory can be commemorated only ten years following their death, the adoption of the resolution means that the commission is encouraged to make an exception.
According to K. Šeraitė-Gogelienė, the exception is not subject to a time limit, the commemoration of a person’s memory can then be decided even one day following his death.
Tadas Tumas, nicknamed Milžinas, was the first Lithuanian to lose his life in the war in Ukraine. He died on February 23. As announced, T. Tumas was carrying mines to the front lines near Bakhmut together with a Ukrainian, when the car was hit by a Russian drone. T. Tumas was buried in Antakalnis cemetery in the middle of March.
At the age of 45, film director Mantas Kvedaravičius was killed in the spring of 2022 in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, where he arrived while surrounded. The director filmed the documentary film “Mariupolis” in this city in 2015, and before his death he recorded the remaining residents and their stories in the besieged and war-ravaged city.
#politicians #capital #perpetuate #memory #Tumas #Kvedaravičius
2024-03-29 17:46:12
