The dissonant heritage: the case of the Soviet memorial in Antakalnis cemetery, Vilnius

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines dissonant heritage from the perspective of sustainability, i.e. should we maintain and preserve artefacts from our Soviet past, such as the war memorial in the Antakalnis cemetery, which honours soldiers of the USSR who died fighting on Lithuanian soil during the Second World War? Currently, there is an intention on the part of Lithuania’s political authorities to remove this apparently dissonant monument. Its presence – and/or removal – raises more than a few issues of sustainability, including those of the socio-cultural environment, policy(ies) for heritage, and matters pertaining to the legal system. Accordingly, the paper analyses this particular example of Lithuania’s dissonant heritage by reference to the relevant literature, and also by presenting historical aspects of both the cemetery and the memorial. The opinions of the cemetery’s visitors concerning the Soviet memorial are also analysed. The empirical research covers the purposive group of Antakalnis cemetery visitors during All Soul’s Day (2 November 2022).