During the genocide activities, mostly women, children and elderly were staying in the village, as men were at work. Residents were rounded up in one place and were shot by several people at once. Even children were not spared. A three-year Terenia Bałandówna was finished off with a headshot from the gun of one of the criminals. On this gloomy day 39 people lost their lives in the Glitiškės village, including nine children and two pregnant women. Only few survivors managed to hide from the Lithuanian police. According to their accounts it was a "massacre full of hatred."
I have mentioned this sorrowful anniversary not only in remembrance of the past but also in order to warn current generations against sowing resentment towards national minorities in Lithuania. So as the blindness and hatred, which are based on the grounds of nationality, would not be awakened by the ghosts of the past. History is life's teacher, those who understand that, avoid making the same mistakes again. Therefore, while building a young Lithuanian statehood, people should not base it on negative emotions directed against national minorities and, especially, against the Poles. The prejudices and stereotypes should also be avoided as they have a tendency to ruin the relationships between people and states.
Discriminatory actions undertaken by Lithuanian authorities are visible with the unprotected eye. No one even tries to hide it. Even more so, Lithuania's state institutions are broadly involved in the violation of Polish minorities' rights. It is incomprehensible how far from the European standards the country - a member of the European Union - has withered away. The anti-minority's education law, the penalties for the use of bilingual signposting, a ban on using surnames in the original language in the documents, difficulties for Poles in rendering the seized land during the communist era - those are all examples and the proof of existing discrimination and hostile treatment of national minorities in Lithuania. Furthermore, it is also a violation of standard rights protection of national minorities that is mentioned in the Europe Council's Framework Convention. Such behaviour is a denial of the EU values that promote multiculturalism, multi-ethnicity and multilingualism.
Lithuania is being engaged with the syndrome of the young state. Instead of building a multi-national society on positive values that stimulates the growth of connectivity, it establishes divisions. In a world of simple, black and white laws, it is easier to govern and mobilize the so-called "us". A simple division into "us" and "them", however, is a trap. It stokes the reluctance and hostility in the society, what is the perfect environment for the birth of chauvinism. Chauvinism is not a cure or a good recipe for solving problems of Lithuanian identity, and the current battle with everything what is Polish, is a dead end.
In a country where 16% of the population are ethnic minorities there has to be a law that protects the rights of national minorities. Furthermore, there is no place for statements such as the ones said by the President of the Central Electoral Commission of Lithuania, who during his visit to the Polish Parliament stated that "it is extremely cumbersome and problematic that in two of Lithuania's municipalities (in Vilnius and Šalčininkai regions) for many years, there has been EAPL party's monopoly."
This fragment of the speech shows that the democratic choice, which is guaranteed and exercised for years by Vilnius residents, is questioned, and sounds like some kind of a threat when stated by the head of the Electoral Commission. That is a sign of disrespect for what is the essence of democracy, that is, for the election itself. Lithuanian politicians, if wanting to have good relations with Poland, should consider the words of Prime Minister Tusk said during his visit to Vilnius: "the relationship between Poland and Lithuania will be as good as the Lithuanian state's relations with the Polish minority."
One has to learn from history. Connect rather than divide people. Protect and not persecute minorities. Do not spoil relations with neighbours, as in the twenty-first century building a national identity on an anachronism is only a historical antagonism. Accepting this truth will help to avoid future tragedies such as the one in Glitiškės village where the hatred fuelled by years has found its outlet.
Dr. Bogusław Rogalski,
Political scientist, advisor for the international affairs at the European Parliament's ECR faction.