H.E. Simon Butt's speeach

Still on the subject of the opening launch of the Surviving History: Portraits from Vilna exhibition in Vilnius...

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the speech given by H.E. Simon Butt was really good. So I have reproduced it here:

“I am very pleased that the British Embassy is, with Ireland, one of the embassy co-hosts of this important exhibition opening.

Why important? Because the context of the exhibition is a uniquely horrible event in 20th century history, and indeed the whole of human history- the Holocaust (Shoah), and specifically, the Holocaust in Lithuania. It is an event which must never be forgotten and which must be remembered afresh for each generation.

Second, important because of the perspective, the exhibition and accompanying documentary bring to the narrative of that event, to the process of remembering. It is possible to read all the facts, the terrible lists of locations, numbers killed and on what dates.

But every human life is a collection of experience, of emotions and of individual characteristics. These are all snuffed out when that life is lost. And every community, however small, is a collective experience with its own features which are also lost when the community is destroyed or dispersed. And here, the story is told through an awareness of the importance of that individual and community experience.

This gives the story a greater sense of immediacy, and a more tragic and personal dimension. And so the images may remain with us for longer and add an element of emotion to the experience of learning, understanding and remembering.

Our sense of solidarity with those who survived is also enhanced, along with our respect for the dead.

So I congratulate the organisers of the exhibition and documentary film on their achievement. I hope we can dedicate this event to the contemplation and remembering of what has been lost, as well as to the courage and fortitude of those who survived.”