The Mayor of Šiauliai, Artūras Visockas, signed the decree on holding the survey from November 6 to February 6 next year.
The people of Šiauliai will be able to state their position both online and in person at the premises of the municipality or Medelyn, Rėkyva townships during working hours.
It will be asked if “do you agree that the remains of World War II Soviet Union soldiers located in St. near the Cathedral of the Apostles Peter and Paul, would it be transferred to the cemetery belonging to the municipality of Šiauliai?”.
“If 10 percent or more of the city’s residents who have the right to vote express their opinion, the Šiauliai Council will rely on it and make the appropriate decision,” A. Visockas said in the municipality’s report.
On the other hand, the mayor asserted his opinion that the issue of the remains of Soviet soldiers should be resolved at the national level.
According to him, so far no procedure has been prepared that would explain how municipalities should deal with the transfer of the remains of soldiers of the occupation army.
“It is clear that there is a need to create a common position at the national level, because the issue is really serious. The order is prepared only in the case when it comes to the transfer of the victims of the resistance battles, but it is not valid for the soldiers of the occupying army”, asserted A. Visockas.
The municipality of Šiauliai, in turn, prepared a letter to the Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs, the Genocide and Resistance Research Center of the Lithuanian Population and the territorial departments of the Department of Cultural Heritage.
“When changing the legal regulation, taking into account the fact that there are 69 burial places of soldiers of the Second World War of the Soviet Union in 28 municipalities, it is necessary to plan and provide funds for a targeted grant in the 2024 budget of the Ministry of Culture, that is, to finance the transfer of remains,” the letter states.
This soldiers’ burial place in Šiauliai is included in the Register of Cultural Values. It states that 52 soldiers of the Soviet Union who died in World War II are buried there.
The names of 50 soldiers are recorded on the tombstones, the identity of two remains has not been established.
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2024-09-03 14:36:26
