“S. Nėris worked in the occupation-political structures and the central structures of the occupation government and actively participated in making decisions that had an impact on the occupation-political structures, consolidating the Soviet occupation,” its chairman Vitas Karčiauskas told BNS following the commission’s meeting on Wednesday.
Together with other writers, S. Nėris created poetry and prose praising the Soviet government. In 1940, as a delegate of the People’s Seimas, she went to Moscow with a request to accept Lithuania into the Soviet Union.
The verdict on the name of the poet’s streets was adopted by the commission only following receiving a certificate from the Lithuanian Genocide and Resistance Research Center (LGGRTC).
The granting of the same certificate was requested on Wednesday when deciding the issue of the memorial plaque in Vilnius to the controversial diplomat and officer Kazi Škirpa.
“We decided to contact the center, despite the fact that there is enough material. (…) First of all, we will not list everything that is in the monographs, and the public must understand why one or another decision is made, so in controversial cases, when decisions are made regarding persons important to the history of Lithuania, (…) we ask for a conclusion so that it can be to present it together with the decision”, said V. Karčiauskas.
K. Škirpa’s critics point out that there were manifestations of anti-Semitism in his activities during the Second World War, and the Lithuanian activist front led by K. Škirpa raised anti-Semitism to a political level and this might encourage part of the Lithuanian population to get involved in the Holocaust.
At that time, the officer’s supporters emphasized his contribution to the creation and consolidation of an independent state – on January 1, 1919, he and a group of Lithuanian volunteers raised the Lithuanian tricolor on the tower of Gediminas Castle.
At the meeting, the De-Sovietization Commission also discussed the issue of the memorial plaque to Jonas Noreika-General Vētra located in Šiauliai, but the decision was not adopted without the required number of votes.
“We did not agree on matters of wording. The discussion is not over, the decision has not been taken. Since the project and conclusions are working documents, I would not like to comment too much,” said the head of the commission.
“We haven’t found a consensus yet on what decision we have to make: whether we have to remove the board in Šiauliai or state what actions Noreika performed,” he added.
A few years ago, the commemorative plaque dedicated to General Vētra caused great resonance in Vilnius.
By the decision of the then mayor of the capital, Remigijaus Šimašius, the plaque dedicated to J. Noreika was removed from the Vrublevskii library, because there are data that during the Second World War, as the head of Šiauliai County, he signed documents regarding the establishment of the Jewish ghetto and the management of Jewish property. Defenders of the memorialization of General Vētra emphasize his later anti-Nazi and anti-Soviet activities.
Later, a newly made commemorative plaque was hung on the library.
On Wednesday, the Commission once once more considered the issue of the names of Veterans and Partisans streets in Visaginas. It was previously established that they can remain, but the head of LGGRTC Arūnas Bubnys, who makes the final decision, instructed the municipality to replace them.
As a result, it was decided to consider this issue once more at the next meeting, inviting the head of the center.
The ban on promoting totalitarian, authoritarian regimes and their ideologies has been in force in Lithuania since May last year.
According to him, symbols of totalitarianism and authoritarianism must be removed from public spaces – monuments, names of streets, squares and other public objects, other symbols.
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2024-04-29 06:18:48
