Holokausto atminties vietos Žemaitijoje: memorializacijos problemos

LTLietuvoje (taip pat ir Žemaitijoje) žydų žudynių atminimui skirti paminklai dažniausiai yra suvokiami lietuvių visuomenės istorinei sąmonei būdingomis kategorijomis - kaip „blogio simboliai" bei „blogio istorijos" ženklai. Kita vertus, nepaisant besiformuojančios Holokausto atminties (arba atminimo) vietų tyrimų krypties lietuviškoje istoriografijoje dominuoja ganėtinai stereotipiška Holokausto atminties vietų, kaip „istorinės reikšmės paminklų", įamžinančių Lietuvos žydų genocido aukų atminimą bei perduodančių šią tradiciją kitoms kartoms, samprata. Atrodo, kad tokia samprata nėra pakankama. Todėl pagrindinis šio tyrimo tikslas yra atskleidžiant Holokausto atminties vietų sampratos turinį pabandyti atsakyti į klausimą: ar egzistuoja Holokausto atminties vietų sistema Žemaitijoje? Reikšminiai žodžiai: Holokausto atminties vietos, atminimo kultūra, memorializadja, Lietuva, Žemaitija. [Iš leidinio]

ENDespite the emerging trend of research on Holocaust remembrance sites, the Lithuanian historiography is dominated by a rather stereotypical conception of Holocaust remembrance sites as "monuments of historical significance" that commemorate the memory of the victims of the genocide of Lithuanian Jews and pass on this tradition to the next generations. It seems that this concept is not sufficient. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to try to answer the question: is there a system of Holocaust memorial sites in Samogitia? This research is not empirical, as the sites of Holocaust memory in Samogitia have been meticulously recorded in Joseph Levinson's Book of Pain and in the Atlas of the Holocaust in Lithuania compiled by M.Jakulytė-Vasil. It is therefore more oriented towards theoretical generalisations. The teaching part of the article is divided into two sections: the peripeteia of the concept of Holocaust memorial sites and the system of Holocaust memorial sites in Samogitia?The first chapter provides an overview of the general problem of the definition of Holocaust memorial sites. The second chapter also attempts to answer the question of whether there is a system of Holocaust memorial sites in Samogitia from a theoretical point of view, but also analyses the criteria that characterise this system.The paper concludes with a final thesis highlighting that: 1) Holocaust memorial sites in Samogitia (as well as in Lithuania) can be treated as an indispensable part of the Holocaust remembrance culture. However, the potential of the tradition of Holocaust remembrance sites supported by Holocaust remembrance groups and communities in Samogitia has not yet been fully exploited - it can be stated that the system of Holocaust remembrance sites in Samogitia is still in its formative stage; 2) Recently, there has been a growing number of non-institutionalised or noncentralised projects for the (re)management of Holocaust memorial sites in Lithuania (Samogitia is no exception), which have been initiated either by local interest groups (sometimes also by district-level authorities) (e.g., the Holocaust memorials in Samogitian Naumiestis (2015) and Gargždai (2020)), or by individual initiatives. The main leitmotif of such projects is usually the (re)management of such "black heritage" sites according to Western standards of commemorative culture, with a particular focus on the representational aspect. In such cases, old memorials, usually dating back to the Soviet era, are transformed by changingtheir monumentalist solutions, their concept or their entire meaningful content. In this way, Holocaust memorial sites are not only redesigned, but also new memorials are created (the case of the Holocaust Memorial in Jurbarkas is mentioned here). This is an important moment that shows that local communities are able to structurally modernise the Holocaust memorial sites that are relevant to them according to the new needs, not only by reshaping the layer of Holocaust'memorial culture', but also by rethinking the history of the Holocaust and by increasing the prerequisites for empathy towards the Holocaust victims.However: 3) As A. Zeltser, a renowned scholar of Holocaust "memorial culture", points out in one of his monographs, Unwelcome Memory: Holocaust Memorials in the Soviet Union, Samogitia was a specific region of the Soviet Union, where some of the sites of the massacre of the Jews began to be marked not in accordance with the canons of the Soviet culture of remembrance and propaganda of monuments, but in line with the local customs and traditions. In his opinion, this is what led to the appearance of monuments with symbols and epitaphs in the post-war period at many Holocaust sites in Samogitia, emphasising the memory of Jews as the target group of victims of the "Nazis and their local collaborators" (e.g. Stars of David, inscriptions in Yiddish or Hebrew). And although in later periods most of these epitaphs were replaced by Soviet fables, Zelceris is convinced that local communities, in their collective memories over time (over the course of several generations), have retained a "true relationship" with such sites and the monuments marking them. It is thus suggested that this type of Holocaust memorial site can be considered as a signifier of early symbols of Holocaust memory. Zelceris observes that in today's context of cultural transformations of Holocaust remembrance, it is very important to understand the importance of such "authentic monuments" and to strive to preserve their integrity, materiality, spatial composition and other solutions. [From the publication]