Every month the Panevėžys Jewish Community celebrates its members’ birthdays and anniversaries. In July and August we congratulated Diana Narevič and Rimantas Rimkus and Jurijus and Svetlana Grafman on their anniversaries.

We also provided and provide material support to our members.

Despite summer vacations, cultural and athletic events are being held and members are participating in Panevėžys regional events and scouting activities.

In the summer we usually have a large number of guests who care about their family histories. They often talk about their families over a cup of tea at the Panevėžys Jewish Community. One of the newer stories is about a family who emigrated to South Africa, then later between 1900 and 1910 they went their separate ways to Canada, China, England and Israel. They came back to Lithuania to learn about the former shtetl where their forebears once lived.

Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman told the visitors about the Jewish community who lived in Panevėžys in the period between the two world wars, showed them a documentary film from 1932 and answered questions. The guests took keen interest in the Panevėžys Jewish Community’s photo exhibition “Fragments from the History of the Jews of Panevėžys.”

Visitors also came from Białystok, Poland, also looking for their roots. They viewed the Community’s photo archives including photographs of Jewish buildings from the pre-war period. They were surprised and pleased the Panevėžys Jewish Community has conserved so much otherwise unavailable and priceless information.

Emanuel Madricki and his colleagues Timotei Rabinek, Miroslov Szvt Belaktion and Żaneta Tvitenberg expressed a great desire to work together with the Panevėžys Jewish Community and to exchange information. They took an interest in our Community’s young people and scouting, and said they had proposals for joint youth activities and projects. They thanked the Panevėžys Jewish Community for our hospitality, for the valuable information and for gifts of packages of matzo bread. They wished the Panevėžys Jewish Community the greatest success.

We also recently received great news: the birth of Nora and Tomas’s third son Aretas. The Panevėžys Jewish Community sent them and proud grandmother Vanda congratulations on the birth.

We wish everyone health and happiness.