On February 21st, 2013, the presentation of the Lithuanian translation of Ellen Cassedy’s book We Are Here (Mes esame čia, Obuolys Publishers, 2013) took place in the Tolerance Center. The USA Embassy to Lithuania introduced the American writer Ellen Cassedy, who searched for her roots in Lithuania, also making a quest to examine the Lithuanian Jews’ history through her own experience.

We Are Here. Memories of the Lithuanian Holocaust was first published in English in 2012 by University of Nebraska Press. Ellen Cassedy, a journalist, was born and raised in the USA. Her forebears on her mother’s side come from Rokiškis, Lithuania. The book is the story of a woman searching for answers to the tragedy that her people suffered. Cassedy explores how Lithuanian people, Jews and non-Jews confront their past in order to move into the future.  It is a stunning quest made by one person to examine the Lithuanian Jews’ history through her eyes. The writer finds out that the most important thing is not historical facts, but what we decide to do with them. The book has been reviewed in the USA and Israel. Readers  willing to discover E. Cassedy’s story where able to acquire a copy of the book, and get author’s signature.