Lithuanian synagogue vandalized following memorial for wartime PM

Juozas Ambrazeviciu’s body was exhumed from a cemetery in the United States and reburied in Lithuania last week

(JTA) — A Lithuanian synagogue was vandalized shortly after a memorial ceremony for the country’s wartime prime minister, a Nazi collaborator.

Green paint was thrown at the front wall of the Choral Temple of Vilnius on May 18, Haaretz reported, hours after an official ceremony in memory of Juozas Ambrazeviciu, who was the prime minister of the 1941 Nazi-backed regime in Lithuania.

The two events likely were related, local Jewish leaders told Haaretz.

The Lithuanian government held four days of events over the weekend to honor Ambrazeviciu, culminating in the reburial of his remains on May 20 in Lithuania. His body was exhumed from a cemetery in the United States, where he died in 1974.

Lithuania’s Jewish community, Jewish groups worldwide and some Lithuanian politicians protested the honors.