Jewish leaders fight to preserve Lithuanian cemetery
Delegation meets with ambassador to press its case
A worldwide effort to save a historic Jewish cemetery in Vilnius, Lithuania got a big boost when a group of religious leaders met with a top diplomat to present their case for preserving what is left of the burial grounds.
The delegation of Jewish leaders, which included several rabbis from Brooklyn, recently met Lithuanian Ambassador to the U.S. Rolandas Kriščiūnas in an effort to stop a planned multi-million-dollar development in the Old Jewish Cemetery in the Shnipishok district of Vilnius, the nation’s capital.
The cemetery dates back over five centuries, according to a member of the American delegation.
During World War II, the Nazis cleared the cemetery of many of its tombstones, but thousands of human remains were left untouched beneath the ground. During the time Lithuania was part on the old Soviet Union (1944-1990), a sports palace was built on the cemetery grounds.