(April 24, 2021): Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius has effectively squashed a project that would have seen billions of foreign income flow into the city. The losers are the City of Vilnius and Lithuania. The project, billed as the Shnipishok Marshal Plan, involved the redevelopment of the Shnipiskok Jewish cemetery and converting the area into an upscale restored version of yesterday’s Vilnius, while at the same time complying with Jewish law and cultural considerations.

The Shnipishok Holy Site has been the focus of controversy, as state-owned Turto bankas pitches its plan to develop an international conference center, on a 500-year cemetery, on which between 50-70 thousand Jews were buried. Although many of the tomb stones were destroyed and used for building materials during the Russian occupation after World War II, a radar scan revealed the existence of thousands of skeletal remains under the Sports Palace and in the cemetery.

The Vilnius Congress Center proposal has been touted by Turto bankas as being a conference center that will boast lush meadows and host international conferences.

Leading Jewish authorities and international Jewish organizations have protested against the conference center development, stating that the proposal does not comply with Jewish law considerations and lacks legitimate rabbinical supervision.

Many Seimas members have expressed concern about the proposed center’s limitations to be able to execute second stage development for potentially higher demand. Consultant city planners have said that building limitations make it bad investment. It’s not economically cost-effective. More politically motivated participants involved with the project disagree.

Others say that the COVID-19 pandemic has moved business trends towards online Zoom conferencing. “Developing a conference center in these times is a risky business,” said one economist. “We just don’t think planning for a conference center right, now is where the mojo is.”

Conversely, the Shnipishok Marshal Plan was structured to allow an influx of Jewish tourists of biblical proportions. The Ukraine, Prague and Poland are beneficiaries of billions in foreign income every year. COVID-19 lockdowns and closed skies have put this thriving business sector on hold. However, as vaccination campaigns take hold and herd immunity gains traction, economist project that within 6 months, it will be business as usual.

Defenders of human rights had hoped that the Shnipishok Marshal Plan would be a compelling alternative to the controversial Turto bankas Vilnius Congress Center.

Representatives of a Jewish consortium made efforts to pitch the lucrative proposal to the Vilnius mayor and to city councillors, only to have their efforts dismissed out of hand. Opposition party members in the council expressed sorrow and regret that the Mayor and the City were unwilling to hear the presentation.

One retired city councillor who now works part time as a business consultant said that the Marshall Plan proposal was a no-brainer. “It’s a pity it didn’t get through the front door and that the consortium didn’t get a chance to present.”

The Mayor of Vilnius, Remigijus Šimašius and Mr. Dov Fried, chairman to the Save Vilna Coalition, could not be reached for comment. The Save Vilna Coalition is a group of over fifty human rights and Jewish organizations that are aggressively opposing the Turto bankas conference center proposal.

Although the Mayor of Vilnius, Remigijus Šimašius has promoted himself as a mayor who serves the needs of all cultures and all religions, he has been criticized for his Antisemitic antics and Lithuanian styled Holocaust denial or revisionism. Mayor Šimašius promoted Jonas Noreika, a leader in the Lithuanian partisans, as a hero. According to Noreika’s own granddaughter Silvia Foti, Jonas Noreika was no hero and was responsibility for giving orders to slay thousands of Jews in cold blood.

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