Global outrage as Lithuania pledges to build conference centre over historic Jewish cemetery
Reneging on previous promises, authorities to move forward with desecration of remains of Šnipiškės Jewish Cemetery
Lithuania has sparked global outrage after reviving a decade-old plan to build a conference centre on top of the historic Šnipiškės Jewish Cemetery, the oldest Jewish burial ground in Vilnius dating back to the 15th century.
Also known as the Piramónt Cemetery, it remains the sacred final resting place for thousands of Lithuanian Jews, including renowned rabbis, scholars, and community leaders who made Vilnius the “Jerusalem of Lithuania.”
Government officials are defending the plans, which have historically been thwarted by outraged Jewish community groups since first proposed in 2015, with claims that a newly built Vilnius Congress Centre could generate up to £115 million annually and create up to 1,200 jobs across the tourism, logistics, and events sectors.
Authorities closed the cemetery in 1948 and most of the graves were destroyed in 1955 and 1956, when the decision was made to build a swimming pool.
In 1971, when Lithuania was still part of the Soviet Union Soviet, officials demolished the remaining grounds to build the Vilnius Concert and Sports Palace. It closed in 2004 and lies derelict, vacant and vandalised. There are no visible remains of the original cemetery.
On 28 July 2025, officials issued a statement that the “fate of the legendary Vilnius Sports Palace is clear: it will become a conference centre, immortalising history.”
The history it seeks to immortalise, however, is that of the founding congress of the Lithuanian Reform Movement in October 1988 and a farewell ceremony for victims of Soviet violence in January 1991.
The announcement adds that “the territory of the former Vilnius Jewish Šnipiškės old cemetery located around the building will also be cleaned up and commemorated.”
Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis representing more than 700 religious leaders across Europe, wrote on Twitter/X: “The decision to convert the #Vilnius Sports Palace—on the historic Snipiskes Jewish Cemetery—into a conference centre is a painful betrayal. @EuropeanRabbis calls on @LithuaniaMFA to respect their historic commitment & reverse this deeply troubling move.”
Speaking to Lithuania’s LRT RADIO, Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman of the country’s Jewish community, claimed they were not consulted. “I fear this project will attract Jews from around the world – not for conferences, but to witness how a civilised democratic country desecrates Jewish graves.”
In a social media statement, the American Jewish Committee said it was “shocked” at the surprise announcement, claiming it “reverses an internationally endorsed decision of the previous government which rightly committed to transforming the site into a place of Jewish remembrance and education.
“As recently as last month, senior Lithuanian officials gave assurances to AJC that the prior plans remained in place. The abrupt nature of this decision raises serious questions and casts a shadow over Lithuania’s stated commitment to Holocaust memory and Jewish heritage. We urge the Lithuanian government to immediately reverse course.”
The news comes days after Israel President Isaac Herzog visited the country on 5th August, writing: “Moved to my core, I stood this morning in Šeduva, Lithuania, where my great-grandfather, Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchak Hillman, was born. In the air, one can still hear the echoes of a town that once pulsed with Jewish life and spirit.
Lithuania’s minister of foreign affairs had shared images from the Paneriai Memorial alongside Herzog, where they honoured the memory of the Holocaust victims, writing: “We must never forget and never allow history to repeat itself.”
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