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On 26 January, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis started his visit to Paris and visited the Shoah Memorial.

“The Holocaust is a tragedy that shocks every time we recall it. The events in the history of the Shoah must not be allowed to sink into oblivion. The Shoah Memorial in Paris serves as a shining example of how to perpetuate the memory of the catastrophe and educate our younger generations on the horrors of the Holocaust,” said Lithuania's Foreign Minister.

On the eve of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Foreign Minister laid a wreath on the memorial crypt, saw the  Holocaust exhibition and bas-reliefs by the Litvak artist Arbit Blatas that decorate the entrance of the memorial.

The Foreign Minister presented to the memorial a collector coin dedicated to the 300th birth anniversary of the Vilna Gaon that was minted in Lithuania.

The Shoah Memorial  (Mémorial de la Shoah) was opened to the public in 2005, in the old Jewish quarter - the Marais. The Contemporary Jewish Documentation Center (CDJC) was the seed from which the memorial eventually grew. The foundation of the CDJC dates back to 1943. The permanent exhibition retraces the history of the Holocaust. Each year, the Shoah Memorial commemorates the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. The commemoration ceremony is attended by the highest officials of France and other countries.
 
On 27 January, the Foreign Minister will visit the photo exhibition “Lest We Forget” at UNESCO headquarters. The exhibition features a selection of portraits of Holocaust survivors and other victims of the Nazi regime (for more information, please visit here).

Photos: Ludo Segers