Dear Mr. Kulikauskas,
A relationship between groups of people should certainly be built on mutual respect. To this end, inflammatory language should generally be avoided and points of agreement should be emphasized. However, all of this presupposes relatively normal circumstances and acceptance of basic facts of history. The truth is, Lithuanian people largely supported the indiscriminate murder of Jews in Lithuanian during the Second World War. While only a small minority of Lithuanians actually participated in those murders, a much larger percentage of population actively cheered them on. The few who opposed the slaughter were routinely ridiculed and marginalized.
Until these basic realities are widely accepted in Lithuania, meaningful dialog with the Jewish people is not possible. Moreover, acceptance of these realities is very important, in my view, for the health of the Lithuanian nation. A similar process has proved quite beneficial for Germany. |
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