Announcements

Court Order to Hand Documents Over to Vilnius Jewish Community Invalidated

The Vilnius Jewish Community has been involved for some time now in trying to demand through the courts certain documents–namely the membership rolls of the Vilnius Jewish Community and a collection of financial accounting documents–from Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, who served as chairwoman of the Vilnius Jewish Community as well until May of 2017.

The annual reporting and election conference of the VJC on May 25, 2017, resolved not to consider the agenda item of confirming the VJC financial and activities report for 2016, and the new VJC leadership was elected without giving account to VJC members of the use of funds in 2016. The new leadership of the VJC was obligated, of course, to take on all functions in connection with managing VJC financial and membership issues.

It remains unclear on what basis and for what motivations the new VJC leadership attempted to demand from LJC chairwoman Kukliansky a signed draft of the VJC’s financial accountability if it wasn’t considered and confirmed at the May 24, 2017, conference by those who drafted it, now the leadership of the VJC executive board. Currently a portion of the membership of the VJC are also challenging in court the legitimacy of that conference’s decisions.

On June 6, 2018, the Vilnius City District Court issued a decision ordering Kukliansky to turn over to the plaintiff the list of members of the VJC and the draft financial accounting statement for 2016. On July 31, 2018, the Vilnius City Regional Court annulled this decision, stating the lower court had misapplied procedural legal norms and had failed to take into account all the circumstances of the case. It was noted the alleged lack of the outdated list of VJC members and financial accounting draft documents didn’t present any objective barriers to the current VJC leadership in carrying out institutional activity.

Announcement

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky receives visitors from 10:00 A.M. to 12 noon on Wednesdays. Community members and other interested parties should register beforehand with LJC secretary Liuba Šerienė by telephone at (8-5) 261-3003 or +370 685 06900.

Regarding Jonas Noreika

The Lithuanian Jewish Community celebrating this year our 30th anniversary along with celebrations of the Lithuanian independence movement, and commemorating the 75th anniversary of the destruction of the Vilnius ghetto, is concerned by continuing discussions on the commemoration of the memory of Jonas Noreika, aka General Vėtra.

Information has come to our attention demonstrating Noreika was a direct and enthusiastic participant in perpetrating the Holocaust in Lithuania:

a. “…extant documents signed by Noreika for the concentration and isolation of Jews…”

b. On August 22, 1941, Noreika sent a letter to all the aldermen and town burgermeisters [mayors] of the the Šiauliai district for the removal of all Jews and half-Jews from the rural districts, towns and cities to ghettos. This was supposed to be accomplished between August 25 and 29, with Jews also sent to a ghetto in Žagarė. Inventories of property left behind by the Jews was to be delivered to the administrator (Noreika) by August 29. (Lithuanian Central State Archive f R-1099, ap.1, b1,l 156).

c. Noreika administered seized Jewish property. His letter of September 10, 1941, titled “Orders for the Liquidation of Tangible Property of Jews and Communists” was sent to district aldermen and burgermeisters. He wrote a portion of the property (good furniture, rolls of cloth, unused bedding) was to be preserved until a subsequent order on their allocation, a portion was to be sent to schools, rural districts, post offices, shelters, hospitals and other institutions, and a portion was to be used for victims of the war, to be sold at auction. Farm inventories were to be rented out to temporary tenants. Monies generated from the sale of property was supposed to be sent to the treasury of the Šiauliai district administration (Lithuanian Central State Archive f. R-1099, ap. 1, b. 1, l 239). On December 3, 1941, the burgermeister of Žagarė reported to the head of the district of Šiauliai (Jonas Noreika) on progress in dealing with Jewish property seized (Lithuanian Central State Archive f. R-1099, ap. 1, b. 9. 136-137).

This information proves Noreika collaborated with the Nazi regime and contributed to the persecution of Lithuanian Jews, and this person can in no way be portrayed as a Lithuanian hero.

We believe the Lithuanian people, now celebrating 100 years of statehood, are mature enough to accept the whole of historical facts and the state is capable of accepting responsibility for this public display of disrespect to historical truth.

The LJC is concerned that until now a commemorative plaque to Jonas Noreika is still displayed prominently on the outer wall of the library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences in central Vilnius. According to the information available to us regarding the circumstances of erecting this plaque, it seems it was done illicitly, without regard to standard procedures used in such instances.

It doesn’t surprise us that the director of the Adolfas Damušis Center for Democracy (Adolfas Damušis was a minister in the pro-Nazi Provisional Government of Lithuania in 1941 and a member of the leadership of the Lithuanian Activist Front), Vidmantas Valiušaitis, has undertaken a defense of Noreika in the public sphere.

The active and systemic apologetics for the anti-Semitics actions of the Lithuanian Provisional Government and the LAF have misinformed and desensitized the Lithuanian people, degrade Lithuania’s reputation and have become a stimulus for the development of propaganda campaigns by states not friendly to Lithuania.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community asks the institutions responsible to take quick action to solve this political, ethical and legal problem and to pay due respect to the victims of the Holocaust. We are asking for the plaque to Noreika to be taken down before the Lithuanian Day of Remembrance of Jewish Victims of Genocide on September 23.

Bima Found at Great Synagogue Site in Vilnius

The international team of archaeologists from the USA, Canada, Lithuania and Israel working at the site of the former Great Synagogue in Vilnius have located the central feature of the synagogue, the bima, as well as the outer back wall and part of the synagogue floor.

The bima is the central feature of synagogues. It is the platform upon which the rabbi reads the Torah and leads prayer, to which and from which the Torah scroll is taken from the Ark and returned to it.

The bima at the Great Synagogue site was discovered directly under the Soviet-era school built over the site in 1958.

The archaeological dig has been going on for several years and is currently being led by Israeli Antiquities Authority archaeologist Dr. Jon Seligman and Lithuanian archaeologist Justinas Račas. The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Goodwill Foundation are supporting the dig.

Earlier non-invasive archaeology revealed the presence of the mikve, or ritual bath, complex on the northern side of the site. Digging revealed multi-colored floor tiles and green oven tiles. It is believed to be a male mikveh based on historical documents.

The press and the public are invited to visit the site at 2:00 P.M. tomorrow, Thursday, July 2018, located at Vokiečių street no. 13A (formerly ulica Żydowska or Žydų gatvė no. 6) in Vilnius to get a better look at this unique site and the discoveries made there.

The archaeological group, Vilnius mayor Remigijaus Šimašius and Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky are scheduled to attend the press conference, among others.

Contacts for further information:

Dr. Jon Seligman: seligman.jon@gmail.com

Zenonas Baubonis and Justinas Račas: z.baubonis@gmail.com

Monika Antanaitytė, LJC: telephone +37067240942, info@lzb.lt

Chess Tournament

A chess tournament will be held at the Lithuanian Jewish Community at 11:00 A.M. on Sunday, July 29. Tournament director: FIDE master Boris Rositsan. The tournament is open to the public. For more information and to register, call 8 655 43 556 or send an email to info@metbor.lt

Lithuanian Jewish Community Asks Pope Francis to Remember Holocaust Victims in Lithuania

The Lithuanian Jewish Community values the upcoming visit to Lithuania by His Holiness Pope Francis as an important gesture of recognition and an historic event as our country celebrates 100 years of independence this year.

The Pope’s visit coincides with the National Day of Remembrance of the Genocide of the Jews of Lithuania, September 23. Seventy-five years ago on this day the final liquidation of the Vilnius ghetto was carried out: men, women, children and the elderly were deported to concentration camps in Poland, Germany, Estonia and Latvia and sent to the Ponar Forest to be shot. The destruction of the Vilnius ghetto is a symbol of the Holocaust in Lithuania. This tragedy not only cost thousands of Lithuanian residents their lives, but also ruined the great intellectual potential of society and deprived us of an important part of the identity of our state.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community calls upon the Lithuanian public and the leaders of global Jewish and Catholic communities and organizations to join us in asking Pope Francis to pray for the lives lost in the Holocaust and for the Righteous Gentiles of Lithuania, and to remember the innocents unfairly condemned and murdered at the Ponar Memorial Complex Jewish mass murder site on September 23, 2018.

Association of Italian Jewish Communities president Noemi Di Segni has called upon Pope Francis to commemorate victims of the Holocaust during his visit to Lithuania on September 23.

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Alanta Synagogue Hosts Memory Exhibit

by Vaidotas Žukas, Bernardinai.lt

Jews constituted the majority of the population of the towns of the Molėtai region before World War II. In 1941, however, the Nazi regime issued a verdict against the Jews, the descendants of David were to be abused, tortured and shot… And only God knows how many people from this beautiful lake country contributed to the rescue of their neighbors and vice versa, informing upon them, betraying and shooting them. The Nazis only sent a few Germans to Molėtai. Lithuanian lowlifes performed all of the arrests and shootings of Jews.

There is a bright side, though, to this tragedy: there were also several hundred rescuers of Jews in the Molėtai area, since it took the conviction, daily work and risk-taking in the face of death of several dozen people to hide and protect one Jew. Respect to them!

The Alanta synagogue is one of only several surviving wooden synagogues in Lithuania; it hasn’t been destroyed and wasn’t burned down, but it’s still not in good order and unrestored. During the Soviet era grain and fertilizer were stored there. The cut-up wooden walls of the synagogue and the tin roof still with bullet holes from the war witness to both the Holocaust and the continuing reluctant position taken towards Jewish religious and historical heritage in Lithuania.

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Burning Stones in the Kaunas Ghetto

The Kaunas Jewish Community and artists from the Kiemas Gallery in Kaunas invite you to the opening ceremony of the Burning Stones project to commemorate the Slobodka Jewish ghetto in Kaunas (1941-1944) at 1:00 P.M. on July 15, 2018, at A. Kriščiukaičio street no. 21 in Kaunas.

“You stand before the gates of the Vilijampolė [Slobodka] Jewish ghetto which operated from 1941 to 1944. Beyond them stretched the territory of death. The stylized stones in the mosaic commemorate the Jewish historical and cultural heritage; while the sun rises and sets, the memory of those who lost their lives in the ghetto, the thousands of Lithuanian citizens of Jewish origin will remain in our minds and those of future generations. The portrait of boys embracing called Neighbors symbolizes the importance of friendly relations between Lithuanians and Jews in the context of those days, closeness, common ground, the ability to forgive. The color clouds floating by remind us of the course of time and, despite the scope of the tragedy which occurred, of hope, and reminds each of us of our responsibility to insure it never happens again.”

–Vytenis Jakas, creator of the Burning Stones project

The project was financed by the city of Kaunas. The opening ceremony will be financed by the Goodwill Foundation.

Screening of The Good Nazi at Tolerance Center

Come see the Lithuanian premiere film “The Good Nazi” about Righteous Gentile Karl Plagge at the Tolerance Center, Naugarduko street no. 10/2, Vilnius at 5:30 P.M. on July 12, 2018. Major Karl Plagge was in command of the HKP slave labor camp on Subačiaus street in Vilnius. The camp repaired and maintained German military vehicles. Plagge saved a number of Jews there. The event includes a discussion with the filmmakers and visiting archaeologists. Sponsored in partnership with the US embassy in Vilnius. Film and event in English, all are welcome, entrance is free.

Great Synagogue Excavation to Resume

Dr. Jon Seligman of the Israeli Antiquities Authority has announced excavation of the Great Synagogue and the former complex of surrounding buildings known as the Shulhoyf in Vilnius will resume this summer July 9 and will continue till July 27. Those interested in volunteering should contact Dr. Seligman, address below.

The Great Synagogue and Shulhoyf of Vilna (Vilnius): The 2018 Season
A Research, Excavation, Preservation and Memorial Project

A Quick Summary of the Work until Now

The successful outcome of the preliminary excavation of 2011, the 2015 ground-penetrating radar survey and the 2016 excavation showed us the potential of continued excavation at the site to uncover further sections of the Great Synagogue and the surrounding buildings. Given the resources available to the team, we decided to initially concentrate on issues relating to the water system of the shulhoyf that developed in and around the Great Synagogue in the 18thcentury. Written sources inform us that a pipeline was established in 1759 to bring water from the Vingrių springs, that belonged to the Dominican friars, to the synagogue complex. It supplied water to the communal “well,” and apparently to the bathhouse constructed between 1823 and 1828 that included a miqve and a public lavatory.

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LJC Invites Children to Summer Camp Amehaye 2018

Lietuvos žydų (litvakų) bendruomenė kviečia vaikus į dieninę vasaros stovyklą „Amehaye 2018“

The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites children aged 5-10 to the Amehaye 2018 summer camp at the Karvys manor estate in Paežeriai village in the Maišiagala aldermanship in the Vilnius region from July 16 to 27. The program includes educational activities and walks. Facilities will be provided for naps for the younger children and breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served daily.

Cost for one child is 160 euros, or to register two children at once 150 euros apiece. The cost for one week is 80 euros. Children in the LJC social program receive a subsidy. Registration is open till July 10.

Electronic registration form here.

For more information and to register, contact Sofja Sirutienė by email at sofja@lzb.lt or call +37067257540, or contact Žana Skudovičienė at zanas@sc.lzb.lt or call +37067881514.

It’s Unfair to Say All Lithuanians Murdered Jews

The Lithuanian Jewish Community has never said or claimed and never will that all Lithuanians are murderers of Jews. Although approximately 95 percent of Jews in Lithuanian were murdered in the Holocaust with the help of local collaborators, it’s not fair to label the entire Lithuanian people with the offensive and shameful accusation of murderers.

This is especially not fair to those who remained steadfast and passed the most difficult trial of being human. Those brave Lithuanians who seemed to find themselves in a hopeless situation and nonetheless found within themselves the power to fight antihuman ideas and Nazi doctrine. We can speak the names today of more than 800 of these quiet heroes although certainly the names of more have been lost to time.

Marking on June 25 the massacre of Jews at Lietūkis garage in Kaunas, honoring the memory of our ancestors and their rescuers, the LJC cannot remain indifferent when several days ago in the heart of the capital a celebration was held, while flags of mourning should have flown in the country to remember the first victims of the Holocaust in Lithuania.

On June 21, 2018, the municipality of the city of Vilnius published on their internet page an invitation to mark the anniversary of the June 23 uprising in which, among other things, that in June of 1941 revenge was exacted for the deportation of family members to Siberia and other northern regions of the Soviet Union, and that the sons and daughters of our nation, relying only upon their own bravery and themselves, were able to drive out the hated occupier and at least briefly (from June 22 to 28, 1941) restore Lithuanian statehood and the independence lost due to the culpability of their politicians and military leaders.

Should we really be encouraging the celebration of revenge, should we really utilize hate in the alleged goal of uniting the nation? Even after 70 years have passed since the end of the war, these sorts of phrases, recalling those during the Holocaust, remain painfully familiar.

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Educational Plein Air

July 31-August 4, 2018

The Savickas Art School of the Lithuanian Jewish Community is holding their 4th plein air outdoor drawing and painting workshop. Spend 5 days and four nights in the company of famous artists surrounded by nature. Raimondas Savickas, Ramunė Savickaitė-Meškelienė and specials guests from Israel and Lithuania will be on hand to give advice. The setting this year is the Karvys manor estate on Lake Karvys in Paežeriai village near Vilnius.

Registration is open till noon on July 16. To register or for further information, contact Žana Skudovičienė by email at zanas@sc.lzb.lt or call +370 678 81514.

Honor the Lietūkis Garage Victims

The Kaunas Jewish Community invites you to come and honor the victims of the Lietūkis garage massacre at the monument commemorating these horrific events (Miško street no. 3, Kaunas) at 5:30 P.M. on June 25. Excursions to other Holocaust sites, the Slobodka ghetto, the old Jewish cemetery in the Žaliakalnis neighborhood and the Seventh Fort will follow the commemoration.

Happy Birthday to Grigory Kanovich

Happy birthday to Grigory Kanovich who celebrates his 89th this week.

This year the re-established Lithuanian Jewish Community celebrates its 30th anniversary. Looking back on the time of national revival, back to 1989 when the founding meeting of the Lithuanian Jewish Cultural Association took place, we remember Grigory Kanovich was elected the organization’s first chairman. Kanovich is an internationally acclaimed writer, winner of Lithuania National prize in Art and Culture for 2014, an honorable citizen of Jonava, chairman emeritus of the LJC and the recipient of the Order of Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, third degree. He currently lives in Israel.

We appreciate our first chairman (1989-1993) and writer, author of the novel “A Kid for Two Pennies” which was adapted and performed by the Little Theater in Vilnius as “Smile Upon Us, Lord,” and which won first prize at the Baltic and Northern European Theater Festival. It was truly an unforgettable play and several generations of people find much meaning in it.

Living in Israel, Grigory Kanovich wrote the novel “Jewish Park,” recognized best Israeli novel in Russian in 1997.

The entire Lithuanian Jewish Community is so proud of you, beloved Grigory, and we all wish you the happiest birthday from the bottom of our hearts, and wish you great health, happiness and love.

Court Rules on Number of Votes in Lithuanian Jewish Community Ballot

Every associated member will have one vote in future annual conferences of the Lithuanian Jewish Community. This was the verdict issued this week by the Vilnius District Court in a suit on future representation within the LJC.

The LJC followed this order of voting in elections last year and this year according to the Lithuanian law on associations, ballots which chose the leadership of the organization and confirmed annual financial and activities reports.

LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky said: “The Lithuanian Jewish Community in its activities is based on law and the clear verdict by the court allows us to finally solve the issue regarding decision-making by the board and member representation at the conference. I hope this will facilitate cooperation in our common work because hindering governance organs from carrying out their work and the campaign of libel are not the proper measures which should be undertaken in the stated interest of concern for Jews. Now, having a decision from appellate court, I invite all organizations constituting the Community to consider how to heal discord among Jews and how to look for ways towards consensus.”

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Kaunas Mayor Invites Public to Unveiling of Zwartendijk Monument

Kaunas mayor Visvaldas Matijošaitis has issued public invitations to attend a ceremony to unveil a monument to WWII-era Dutch diplomat Jan Zwartendijk across from the Knygų Ministerija bookshop at Laisvės Alley no. 29 in Kaunas at 3:30 P.M., Friday, June 15. Zwartendijk issued the so-called Curaçao final-destination visas to Jews fleeing the Holocaust in Lithuania.