On May 31 of this year, a monument to Lithuanian political prisoners who suffered and died in this region was unveiled in the Spassky Memorial complex in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Twenty-eight nations have placed monuments commemorating their fallen citizens at the Spassky complex.
The monument is dedicated to thirteen Lithuanians whose remains were transferred from the Rudnikas Cemetery in Lithuania. Attending the ceremony were the general director of the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania, Dr. Arūnas Bubnys and other Centre officials, as well as the ambassadors of over 20 countries and the European Union, and local dignitaries.
In his speech at the unveiling, Lithuanian ambassador to Kazakhstan Gintautas Vasiulis stressed the importance of preventing the further repression and expressed the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine.
The project for the Lithuanian memorial was begun in 2020 by the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania with the invaluable assistance of the Centre’s consultant, architect prof. Algis Vyšiūnas, together with the ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Lithuanian Embassy in Kazakhstan and the Cultural Heritage Service. The project was also supported by Lithuanian Honorary Consul in Karaganda, Vitalijus Tvarijonas.
A commemoration of the victims of totalitarian repression is held every year on May 31 in Kazakhstan. Alkas.lt
Photos: A. Vyšniūnas – Alkas.lt
