On the 23rd of September, National Memorial Day for the Genocide of Lithuanian Jews, President Dalia Grybauskaitė presented the Cross of the Knight of the Order for Merits to Lithuania to the Director of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum Jaša Markas Zingeris. Poet, writer, scenarist, publicist, member of Lithuania‘s Writers Union Markas Zingeris works as Director of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum from 2005. He was a Research Co-ordinator in the International Presidential Commission for Investigation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Communist Regimes, worked as special correspodent to Israel, accredited by „Kauno diena“. Faina Kukliansky, Head of the Jewish Community of Lithuania, also was awarded with Cross of the Knight of the Order for Merits for Lithuania. Famous Lithuania‘s artists: Vilhelmas Čepinskis, Dalia Ibelhauptaitė, Juozas Statkevičius and Regina Resnik–Blatas, the widow of the artist Arbit Blatas are also among the people honored with this award.

Director Markas Zingeris and the team of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum