Two serious cases of vandalism in Lithuania - The Holocaust memorial in Ponary was vandalized twice in just four days: the monument was twice spray-painted with the letters ZV, symbols of the Russian operation in Ukraine.
A monument erected to commemorate the well-known historical massacre in Ponary, in which about 70 Jews and another 30,000 other victims (mostly Poles) were murdered, was desecrated twice last week.
The members of the Jewish community in Lithuania became aware of the vandalism, its representatives exchanged internal correspondence about the above-mentioned incidents among its members, and these correspondences reached Israel Today.
The group's reports indicate that the first act of vandalism took place on March 31 and the second at the end of only four days on April 3.
The first incident became known to the community through local media reports;
The morning after the incident, a local publication appeared, according to which the Vilna police received a report from an unknown source about the looting of the monuments at the site, with the arrival of community representatives to the site - the symbols have been cleared and the situation is back to normal.
In the second case, too, which became known to the community through a report by one of its members on social media, in which the symbolic letters were again spray-painted - the state hurried to "clean up" the place and no trace of the incident remained.
As of this moment, there are no suspects in the commission of the acts.
According to various estimates, the incidents were carried out by Lithuanian nationalists or as a Russian provocation.
A source in the community says that the incidents meet the community in a delicate and complex situation: "There is a heavy deliberation in the community how to deal with this thing. The community is afraid and afraid of what might happen next. It is in a sensitive situation. .
Kindergarten students in Russia ready for demonstration in support of invasion of Ukraine (illustration), Photo: From social networks
Dr. Ephraim Zuroff, director of the Shimon Wiesenthal Center, told Israel Today that: "The attempt to link the local Jewish community with the Russian invasion of Ukraine is completely distorted and false.
It could serve as a motivation for anti-Semitism and encourage attacks on Jews and all Jewish institutions. "
He added: "Current vandalism is reminiscent of the false accusations of Bolshevism that fueled the cooperation of tens of thousands of local Eastern European collaborators in World War II and their active participation in the murder of hundreds of thousands of Jews. We call on local authorities to stop and punish these ugly perpetrators as soon as possible." .
The Ponary massacre site is located about 10 km south of Vilnius. The killings were carried out by departments of Lithuanian volunteers.
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