News

Joint Statement by the Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum on the Ceremonies for the Reburial of Juozas Brazaitis (Ambarazevčius) 2012-05-17

On May 19 and 20 of this year rites to re-inter Juozas Brazaitis (Ambarazevčius), the head of the Provisional Government of Lithuania, and commemorations and events in connection with this will take place in Kaunas.

Every person has the right to leave this world maintaining their inherited traditions and religious convictions. The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum do not protest and are not expressing dissatisfaction over the return of the mortal remains of Juozas Brazaitis (Ambarazevčius) to Lithuania.

Nonetheless, we are deeply hurt because of the ceremonies and events surrounding the reburial ceremony of this controversial political figure. This figure is connected with the actions of the puppet Provisional Government of Lithuania and with the calls by the Lithuanian Activist Front for inciting the mass murder of Jews which led to the execution of barbaric “justice” by the mob.

We believe that every country should foster the correct memory of the generations. By officially commemorating these sorts of people, Lithuanian Holocaust education programs and the historical truth presented in them are distorted. It is our opinion that this compromises contemporary Lithuania. We are deeply saddened that the Lithuanian state has expressed such disrespect to her citizens who were murdered here and who survived the Holocaust—to Jews.

Anniversary of Day of Victory against Fascism in World War II 2012-05-17

World War II veteransOn May 8 the Lithuanian Jewish Community hosted an event to commemorate the 67th anniversary of the Day of Victory against Fascism in World War II. The event, called “And the Liberated World Remembers...,” was held in the Jascha Heifetz Hall at the Lithuanian Jewish Community building in Vilnius. The first half of the evening was a ceremony to honor World War II veterans and a concert. Žana Skudovičienė, the force behind the event and the master of ceremonies, congratulated and thanked the veterans, who entered the hall led by children.

Skudovičienė said the end of the war has two significances for the Jewish people. First, it was the end of the Catastrophe, Holocaust, Shoa. The gas chambers at Auschwitz, Babi Yar, represent only a small portion of the six million murdered who did not live to see the end of the war. At the same time, she said, the political situation that formed after the war allowed for the creation of the independent State of Israel, with its capital in Jerusalem.

The eyes of the veterans seemed to reflect the entire tragic experience of World War II. They sang together with the singers on stage, Michailas Jablonskis and Liubov Voroncova, songs about the war and listened enrapt to the soloists Šlomi and Osnat Dvorkin, and works by violinists from the Balis Dvarionis Music School Jokūbaso Račiūnas and Dina Novikova (with their teacher, Irina Kirzner), and watched Jewish dances performed by the Fayerlakh children’s group.

The Vilnius Jewish Community and Jewish businesspeople ensured each veteran was honored individually, and each was presented with a group portrait, gifts from the businesspeople and flowers. We would like to thank the following for the support they gave:

• IDW and its president Michailas Rositsanas
• Veika and its director Jakovas Etinas
• Piliuona and its director Igoris Šifrinas
• Letėjos gastronomija and its director Simonas Ceitlinas
• Auksinė Dovanėlė and its directors Ilja and Markas Šmuilovičius
• Lukas Jurevičius
• Dima Chitrovas
• as well as those businesspeople who preferred to remain anonymous.

Event to Mark 64th Anniversary of Israel’s Independence 2012-05-14

Israeli ambassador to Lithuania and Latvia Hagit Ben-YaakovThe Israeli Embassy to Lithuania and Latvia held an official event on May 10, 2012, to mark the 64th anniversary of the foundation of the State of Israel, with Israeli ambassador to Lithuania and Latvia Hagit Ben-Yaakov, embassy staff, members of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and representatives of Lithuanian politics and members of the Lithuanian diplomatic corps in attendance. The event began with the national anthems of Israel and Lithuania, followed by ambassador Hagit Ben-Yaakov’s congratulations to all assembled in accent-less Lithuanian on the occasion of Israeli Independence Day. The ambassador said she was pleased with twenty years so far of productive cooperation between Lithuania and Israel and bilateral economic, political and cultural relations, and expressed wishes for continued cooperation between the two states, peace in the Middle East and the success of all who assembled for the event. The Israeli Embassy to Lithuania and Latvia gave every attendee a present: a book about Israel and Israeli cuisine called “Israel a la carte.”

Event to Commemorate the Kaunas Jewish Community 2012-05-14

Students of the Rasa Gymnasium in Kaunas, Lithuania, directed by Dalia Jasionienė, performed an artistic composition in the French language.At 11:00 A.M. on May 8, 2012, the mass murder field at the Ninth Fort in Kaunas hosted a commemorative event dedicated to the 68th anniversary of the murder of 878 French Jews there. Deported Convoy association here, French ambassador to Lithuania Maurice Berniau and a large number of members of the Kaunas Jewish Community attended the event. Students of the Rasa Gymnasium in Kaunas, Lithuania, directed by Dalia Jasionienė, performed an artistic composition in the French language called “Coming Back to Remember.” After the official program, members of the audience visited the museum exhibit on the murdered French Jews and a digital exhibit with biographies and testimonies was unveiled. This project was financed by Deported Convoy association here.

Victory Day in Kaunas 2012-05-14

On May 9, the Kaunas Jewish Community’s War Veterans Department held an event to celebrate Victory Against Fascism Day. The event was attended by members of the department, widows of veterans and a portion of the Kaunas Jewish Community. War Veterans Department chairperson Šmuelis Šragas delivered a short speech, after which the audience honored those who fell with a minute of silence. Kaunas Jewish Community chairperson Gercas Žakas and other guests at the event expressed warm words of gratitude to the World War II veterans and their widows. Military and entertaining songs were performed by Leonidas Levinas, with the audience joining in. Afterwards guests sat in common and ate a celebratory meal.