2019 – Page 5 – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Cooperation or Collaboration: Who Deserves a Statue in Vilnius?

by Vytautas Plečkaitis, formerly Lithuania’s ambassador to the Ukraine and Switzerland

Seventy years having passed since World War II, disputes over collaboration with the Nazi regime in Germany continue in Lithuania, in neighboring Poland and in other Central and Eastern European countries.

The generation who grew up in the period of freedom and independence want to know the whole truth about the crimes of the Communist regime and the crimes of the German Nazis and those who collaborated with them and took part in the Holocaust. This is demanded of us by basic human nature, and historical memory of the Jewish community who lived in our land [sic] since the time of Vytautas the Great and who were annihilated hasn’t been fully taken into account.

Full text in Lithuanian here.

2019-10-10

Holocaust “Historian” Pinchos Fridberg Asks the Holocaust Historians of the Genocide Center: Can We Trust Archival Document LCVA f. R-1436, ap. 1, b. 29, l. 13-13 a. p.?

professor Pinchos Fridberg

Comments on the Title of the Article

1. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty called me an Holocaust historian. I won’t deny such words please the ear. They aren’t true, though. I’m actually a pedant: I read very carefully without missing a letter. And at the same time I also think a little bit.

2. The real (infallible) Holocaust Historians work at the Genocide Center. For that reason in the second instance I write Historian capitalized and without quotation marks. The findings of the research of these historians are even carved in granite.

3. To my very odd question “can we rely upon the archival document?” I can give a not less odd reply: who can deny that this document wasn’t created by NKVD agents seeking to discredit collaborators who worked closely with the Nazis?

2019-10-102019-11-04

The Day After the Shootings in Halle and Landsberg

A suspect in the shooting in the eastern German city of Halle was arrested Wednesday according to German police. German chancellor Angela Merkel joined mourners holding a silent vigil at Berlin’s main synagogue Wednesday evening.

At least two people were killed in the shootings Wednesday and at least two more wounded. Eye-witnesses at the shooting in Halle said the local synagogue was one of the targets as Jews there marked Yom Kippur.

Children Invited to Sukkot Event

The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Ilan and Dubi Clubs invite children to a fun gathering at 1:00 P.M. on October 13 called “From Rosh Hashanah to Sukkot.” We’ll “dwell” in the Sukkot booth and have traditional Jewish snacks and treats. Lego engineering teachers will be on hand for building and playing. Come to the Ilan Club at the Lithuanian Jewish Community. Registration is required, so call 8 601 46656 or send an email to sofja@lzb.lt

2019-10-10

Suspected Bomb Found Next to Spray-Painted Swastika in Vilnius

An inscription and swastika were discovered spray-painted on the wall of a building on Balčikonio street in Vilnius between the neighborhoods of Šnipiškės and Baltupiai on Sunday morning. A plastic bag was discovered at the entrance to the residential building containing what appeared to be a homemade bomb. Police and the bomb squad removed the suspected bomb for further investigation.

More information in Lithuanian here.

2019-10-082019-10-17

Yom Kippur, the Day of Spiritual Cleansing and Hope

The tenth day of the Jewish New Year is the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. It is the only day of the year when the Torah calls upon the person to do nothing at all except reflect upon his actions and thoughts. Contrition over one’s sins.

The prayer Kol Nidrei rings out, a symbol of the entire holiday. It is sung loudly three times. Its motif is wonderful, originating in mediaeval Spain, and is beloved by world-renowned symphony orchestras.

Prayers of remembrance for dead parents are also read during Yom Kuppur. Today we add two more parts: for Holocaust victims and for the soldiers who have fallen defending the State of Israel.

Special significance attaches to the final prayer, which is read at evening twilight. This is the time when forgiveness is sought from the Most High. The plea is either accepted or rejected.

The blowing of the shofar horn concludes the Yom Kippur rituals. The traditional Jewish wish is heard: “Next year in Jerusalem.” Everyone wishes every other “gmar khatima tova,” Hebrew for wishing someone a conclusive entry in the Book of Life.

Simas Levinas, chairman
Vilnius Jewish Religious Community

2019-10-082019-10-11

Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community Celebrates Rosh Hashanah

Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community celebrated the advent of the new Jewish year 5780 with a dinner and ceremony. Community chairman Naum Gleizer welcomed participants and wished everyone a good, sweet and healthy coming year. Frida Šteinienė began the celebration by lighting candles and saying a prayer. She reminded participants of the significance and traditions of the holiday.

Traditional foods graced the dinner table, including challa, apples with honey, pomegranates, gefilte fish, chicken liver and chopped herring. Community housewives provided traditional Jewish sweets such as teigalakh, imberlakh and apple pie.

Live Jewish song and dance provided by Vadim Kamrazer enlivened the celebration and the children Sofija, Karina and Natanas also sang.

Young and old appeared to have a great time. Animator and children’s event organizer Simona provided a special program for the kids. Every family received the new 5780 Jewish calendar published by the Lithuanian Jewish Community.

2019-10-082019-10-10

Yad Vashem Says Lithuanian President’s Visit Important to Lithuanian Public

Yad Vashem director Avner Shalev says Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda’s attendance at the World Holocaust Forum would be “important to the Lithuanian public.”

At a seminar dedicated to Lithuanian reporters in Jerusalem, director Shalev said he felt Nausėda would bring back an opinion from Jerusalem which would resonate with Lithuanians. “This is very important to us as well that the Lithuanian president express the importance of remembering the Holocaust and combating anti-Semitism.”

Full story in Lithuanian here.

2019-10-08

Serge Cwajgenbaum Has Died

1946-2019 z”l

The World Jewish Congress joins the European Jewish Congress and our Jewish communities throughout Europe in mourning the passing of long-time EJC secretary-general and friend Serge Cwajgenbaum z”l.

Serge was a pivotal figure for European Jewry who began his communal engagement with the French Jewish students union, joined the WJC in 1974, headed the French section of the World Jewish Congress and then served as director of World Jewish Congress Europe for many years before the founding of the European Jewish Congress in 1986.

2019-10-08

History of the Destruction of the Šiauliai Jewish Cemetery

Nerijus Brazauskas, PhD, has written a history of the destruction of the old Jewish cemetery in the Lithuanian city of Šiauliai up to 2016. The newspaper Šiaulių kraštas has published the study in Lithuanian on their website. He attempts to determine whether the former cemetery, which is state-protected heritage site, should be protected by the Šiauliai Jewish Community or whether it is a matter for the local municipal administration. He details the partial destruction of the cemetery, along with the complete destruction of the Lutheran cemetery, in the 1964-1965 period by the Soviet authorities and calls it an attempt to erase Jews from public memory. He concludes it should be restored and maintained as a sacred site of memory and says both institutional and civic efforts could be harnessed to that purpose.

Full paper in Lithuanian here.

2019-10-072019-10-15

Lost Yanishok: Two Synagogues and the Last Jewish Woman

15min.lt

Note: On October 3 Irena Gečienė passed away. The Lithuanian Jewish Community expresses its condolences to her daughter Jurgita and brother Eduardas.

Before the tragic losses of World War II, Joniškis in northern Lithuania was a very Jewish town known as the shtetl of Yanishok with a vibrant Jewish community. Nothing was left after the Holocaust which only a few Jews survived here, as was the case throughout Lithuania. Now only the two restored synagogues and the only living Jew recall that Yanishok.

They Donned White Armbands and Went to Shoot Jews

Irena Gečienė remembers November 27, 1944, when the war hadn’t ended yet, in the town of Žagarė.

2019-10-072019-10-10

Rosh Hashanah at the Panevėžys Jewish Community

The Panevėžys Jewish Community celebrated Rosh Hashanah September 29 at the Park Café. It began with the lighting of candles, then Community chairman Gennady Kofman read a prayer for the new year, 5780, and Michailas Grafman blew the shofar horn.

Community member ate traditional foods such as apples dipped in honey, pomegranates, gefilte fish and challa bread. Children received presents and learned about Jewish traditions. At the end of the celebration the new Jewish calendar published by the Lithuanian Jewish Community.

Chairman Kofman read out greetings from Israeli president Reuven Rivlin and from Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Yossi Levy. Greetings were also received from LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and the heads of Lithuania’s regional Jewish communities.

2019-10-07

Chaim Frankel Sculpture Vandalized

Local resident reported Saturday evening the statue commemorating Jewish Lithuanian industrialist Chaim Frankel in the Lithuanian city of Šiauliai had been vandalized. Male genitalia were painted on his trousers with what appeared to be white paint. This follows the appearance of a swastika at the Lithuanian Jewish Community headquarters in Vilnius in August. The male genitalia remained on the Frankel statue as of midnight as Sunday turned to Monday, October 7.

LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky commented on the incident: “Maybe the Frankel statue was vandalized by drunken youth, or maybe not, but this again is an opportunity to talk about anti-Semitism, especially as we prepare to participate in International Holocaust Day events in January and to mark 2020 as the Year of the Vilna Gaon and Litvak History in events around Lithuania.”

Lithuanian television channel TV3 ran the incident as their top story on Sunday with an interview with chairwoman Kukliansky, who said Frankel put Šiauliai on the map and his factory later served as a life saver for Jewish ghetto inmates who were allowed to work there, “as in Schindler’s List.”

Speaking directly to www.lzb.lt, Faina Kukliansky said: “This was just one Jewish family whose contribution to Lithuanian industry was priceless and whose memory has been desecrated so brutally just as the Jews were brutally murdered during the second half of 1941.”

2019-10-062019-10-17

Yom Kippur at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius

Yom Kippur ceremonies will be held at the Choral Synagogue, Pylimo street no. 39, Vilnius, according to the following schedule:

Monday, October 7:

6:30 P.M. preparations for Yom Kippur, lessons on the holy day, Kaparot ritual

Tuesday, October 8:

5:30 P.M. dinner before fast
6:10 Kol Nidre
6:20 fast begins

Wednesday, October 9:

9:30 A.M. Shakharit
12 noon Izkor
5:30 P.M. Minkha
6:30 Niila
7:29 fast ends, dinner

2019-10-042019-10-08

Holocaust Commemoration in Švenčionys October 6

There will be a Holocaust commemoration held in Švenčionys on Sunday, October 6. At 11:00 A.M. there will be a remembrance ceremony at the Menorah sculpture in the city park. At 12 noon there will be a commemoration at the mass murder site at the Švenčionėliai military base in Platumai village.

For those wishing to attend, a bus will depart from the Lithuanian Jewish Community at 9:00 A.M. Sunday. Register by calling +370 5 261 3003 or writing info@lzb.lt

Moisej Šapiro, chiarman
Švenčionys Jewish Community

2019-10-042019-10-07

Another Scandal: It’s Becoming Clear Not All Names on Martyrs’ Wall Were Angels

by Vytautas Bruveris for Lietuvos rytas, photo by R.Danisevičius courtesy lrytas.lt

Are all the people murdered by the Soviets whose names are engraved on a building right in the center of Vilnius worthy of this sort of exceptional respect? Documents from researchers which Lietuvos rytas examined raise this question.

They helped in murdering Jews and seizing their property. They murdered and raped family members–women and children–of Soviet collaborators. There was a thief who pretended to be a partisan. Most of them fought on the side of the Nazis and in their military.

These hair-raising shadows darken the biographies of many of the people whose names are inscribed on the outer wall of the former KGB headquarters on Gediminas prospect across from Lukiškių square in Vilnius.

It’s becoming clear the Center for the Study of the Genocide and Resistance of Residents of Lithuania was likely too hasty in so exceptionally honoring people murdered by the Soviet occupiers and many of them probably don’t deserve commemoration.

This is clear from documents the Center itself has.

2019-10-032019-10-04

Rimvydas Valatka on Rehabilitating Lithuanian Nazis as National Heroes

Not Only the Names of Angels Decorate the Wall of Martyrs in Central Vilnius

Another scandal is brewing: it’s becoming clear not just the names of angels decorate the wall of martyrs in central Vilnius

by Rimvydas Valatka, lrytas.lt, from facebook

It would appear the hunger to rehabilitate the looters and murderers of Jews by incorporating them in the ranks of those who have laid down their lives for their country, the partisans, has become a sort of auxiliary to the discipline of history for the Genocide Center.

Six murderers and looters of innocent people commemorated as heroes–this is not just a plaque commemorating General Storm [Jonas Noreika] who collaborated with the Nazis on this question. This is already a very brown matter. Perhaps some Pro Patria Lithuanian teacher will splash brown paint upon the wall?

The forces of the defenders of Nazi collaborators should move quickly to the former KGB headquarters because the historians are beating “our own people.”

2019-10-032019-10-08

Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius Awards Best Teachers of the Year

Photo: Sholem Aleichem teacher Rasa Belgerienė with mayor Remigijus Šimašius at awards ceremony

In anticipation of World Teachers’ Day on October 5, Vilnius mayor Remigijus Šimašius presented awards to Vilnius teachers of the year. The prize commission selected 11 from 42 nominations, with the winners including Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium teacher Rasą Belgerienė.

“Education is undoubtedly one of the most important areas for Vilnius and the country. We want to encourage cooperation between the schools of Vilnius and institutions of higher learning as we create the concept of the modern school. You are crucial as the engines of daily wins, but also of our great shared goals and as forces for reform. I feel pride to see before me so many professionals in their field whose daily work is to raise independent, free and responsible people,” the mayor said.

Full story in Lithuanian here.

2019-10-032019-10-03

Concert to Celebrate 90th Birthday of Grigoriy Kanovitch

A series of several concerts with world-famous performers, composers and material from the works of Grigoriy Kanovitch will be held to celebrate Kanovitch’s 90th birthday. Kanovitch is the author of a number of classics in Jewish literature and is a recipient of the Lithuanian National Art and Culture Prize. Lithuanian Jewish Community members will receive a 40% discount on the ticket price.

For more information, see here.

2019-10-03