Born in 1939 Antanas Sutkus learnt of the mass killing of the Jews already during World War II
from his grandparents. He felt bitterly opposed to the humiliation and human destruction that
occurred in his homeland Lithuania experiencing shame and guilt for the atrocities committed
behind the Vilijampole ghetto gates and the Ninth Fort. During the Sonderaktion 1005 between
1942 and '44 German occupation forces tried to vanish the relics of the victims. In 1988
Sutkus began photographing the Kaunas Jews who had escaped death in concentration camps Pro
Memoria presents a selection of these portraits and evidences the relationships Sutkus forged
with his sitters.As far back as the time of Grand Duke Gediminas (1275-1341) who invited
tradesmen and artisans to Lithuania from various European states the Jews had been offered
protection and support there. Over the next 600 years they took root in Lithuania through their
accomplishments and prayers printing workshops and synagogues libraries and gymnasiums song
and legends. This vibrant branch of Lithuania's cultural history was then violently destroyed
when 200 000 Jews were murdered and thrown into pits on forest edges quarries and death camps.
This book is a tribute to these people and an expression of attempts at understanding
penitence purification and rebirth.
