“We have a temporary decision. A sign has appeared today, stating that, let’s say, disrespectful actions were made during the Soviet times and this object was built. Until the substation is dismantled, that sign will be there. I really hope that next year the substation will be gone,” Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius told journalists on Monday after discussing the issue with representative of the Jewish Community of Lithuania and the Cultural Heritage Department.
Special signs will also appear at other locations in Vilnius where Jewish tombstones were also used for construction. Some of them will be permanent as the tombstones cannot be replaced at every such location.
All in all, Vilnius authorities have information on 11 buildings in the capital where Jewish tombstones were used for construction. The tombstones have already been removed from six of them.
“There are several problematic locations left,” the mayor said.
Diana Varnaitė, head of the Cultural Heritage Department, said the tombstones used for building the substation should be returned to the cemetery on Olandų Street in Vilnius from where they were taken.
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