Announcements

Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Film “Samuel Bak: Painter of Questions”

Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Film “Samuel Bak: Painter of Questions”

The Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum will screen the documentary film “Samuel Bak: Painter of Questions” following a discussion of the film and the artist. The film was made by Christa Singer in 2003 and looks at the life and work of Samuel Bak through the prism of his childhood in the Vilnius ghetto. In the film he returns to Vilnius, walks the streets of the ghetto and visits Ponar where his father and grandparents were murdered. The film is in English and there won’t be subtitles in Lithuanian. The event begins at 6:00 P.M. on September 21. The Tolerance Center is located at Naugarduko street no. 10 in Vilnius.

imdb entry here.

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Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: March of the Living

Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: March of the Living

The March of the Living this year will include marchers who begin the trek to Ponar from Rūdninkų square in the former ghetto in the Vilnius Old Town, located across the street and kitty-corner from the Greek embassy. The marchers are set to gather on Rūdninkų square at 1:00 P.M. on September 21. Most will take the train or private transportation to reach Ponar. Actually marching from Old Town to Upper Ponar on foot would take several hours at least. The LJC will provide a bus for those needing transportation. For more information, see the top of the English-language version of this webpage.

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Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Special Sitting of Parliament

Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Special Sitting of Parliament

The Lithuanian parliament, or Seimas, will hold a special sitting and ceremony to honor the anti-Nazi resistance in the Vilnius ghetto and Holocaust victims. The ceremony will be livestreamed on the parliamentary website www.lrs.lt and via their youtube channel. It will begin at 10:00 A.M. on September 21. The Lithuanian parliament is located at Gedimino prospect no. 53 in Vilnius.

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Exhibit “Wandering Stars, the History of Jewish Theater in Lithuania”

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Exhibit “Wandering Stars, the History of Jewish Theater in Lithuania”

The exhibit uses modern technology in light, audio and visual installations to tell the little-known story of Jewish theater in Lithuania, presenting the stars of the stage in Kaunas and the founders behind the ghetto theater in Vilnius. It goes on public display at the Museum of Lithuanian Theater, Music and Cinema at Vilniaus street no. 41 in Vilnius on September 20.

Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Loïc Salfati’s Documentary Secrets of the Great Synagogue

Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Loïc Salfati’s Documentary Secrets of the Great Synagogue

Loïc Salfati’s documentary film “Secrets of the Great Synagogue of Vilnius” will be screened at 6:00 P.M. on September 20 at the Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum at Naugarduko street no. 10 in Vilnius. The film uses archival documents, testimonies and interviews with archaeologists from Israel, Lithuania and the USA to reveal hitherto little-known facts about the Great Synagogue which stood more or less intact for centuries, was heavily bombed during World War II and razed by the Soviet government in 1950. The director will talk about his film before the screening. The film is in Lithuanian and English with Lithuanian subtitles for the English-language segments.

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: The Holocaust, Anti-Semitism and Remembering for the Future

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: The Holocaust, Anti-Semitism and Remembering for the Future

Historian Christoph Diekmann, film-maker Saulius Beržinis, independent Holocaust archive founder and director Darius Staliūnas and Lithuanian History Institute historian Tomas Balkelis will hold a panel discussion moderated by Dina Porat from Yad Vashem about the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and commemorative policies at the National Martynas Mažvydas Library at 5:00 P.M. on September 20. Before the discussion begins, Beit Vilna director Mickey Kantor, Israeli ambassador Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein and National Martynas Mažvydas Library director Renaldas Gudauskas will deliver brief addresses. The panel discussion will be followed by brief speeches by Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and representatives from Lithuania’s International Commission to Assess the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupational Regimes in Lithuania.

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Readings and Activity for Children

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Readings and Activity for Children

Vilnius’s Adomas Mickevičius Public Library will host a reading from 3rd and 4th grade students in Lithuanian from the book “Akmenėlis” [Little Stone] by Marius Mickevičius by professional actors telling the story of friendship, hope and fear experienced by children imprisoned in the ghetto, with a talk about the stone as a symbol for remembering and commemorating history, followed by an activity where every child will be invited to paint a stone. It happens at 11:00 A.M. on September 19, and then again at the same time on September 21, at the Adomas Mickevičius Public Library at Trakų street no. 10 in Vilnius.

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Walking Tour of Vilnius Ghetto through Eyes of Children

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Walking Tour of Vilnius Ghetto through Eyes of Children

Guide Gina Justina Raibužytė will lead walking tours of the Vilnius ghetto focusing on how it appeared to the children trapped inside, starting from the Adomas Mickevičius Public Library at Trakų street no. 10 in Vilnius, at 11:00 A.M. on September 18, 11:00 A.M. on September 20 and 12:00 noon on September 22. Registration via internet is required by filling out the form here: https://forms.gle/ZrosR3TYVB3wF6bc7

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: City of the Living, City of the Dead Photo Exhibit

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: City of the Living, City of the Dead Photo Exhibit

This is a photography project authored by Robert Wilczyñski where archival photos of the Warsaw ghetto are superimposed on the current, rebuilt Polish capital, accompanied by texts taken from diaries, testimonies and other sources documenting daily life, suffering and death in the Warsaw ghetto as well as the Warsaw Uprising. Pawel Freus is curator of the exhibition. The exhibit went on display September 12 at the Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum located at Naugarduko street no. 10 in Vilnius and will run till December 15 of 2023.

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Exhibit “Children of the Ghetto Tell Their Stories to Children of Today”

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Exhibit “Children of the Ghetto Tell Their Stories to Children of Today”

This September Lithuania and the world marks the 80th anniversary of the liquidation and uprising of the Vilnius ghetto back in 1943 when several thousand Jews imprisoned and still suriving there were sent to concentration camps and murdered. At the same time, Jewish underground paramilitary forces attempted to stage a defense, and several hundred left to join the Soviet partisans battling the Nazis and their local collaborators in Lithuania and elsewhere.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community is proud of the courage and unbreakable will of the prisoners of the Vilnius ghetto and invites you to celebrate their memory in a series of events to be held throughout September into mid-November this year.

The exhibit “Children of the Ghetto Tell Their Stories to Children of Today” is one such on-going event which began September 4 at the Adomas Mickevičius Public Library at Trakų street no. 4 in Vilnius and which will run till September 30. It consists of brief sketches of the life of children in the Vilnius ghetto with guidance and access to books by children about the Holocaust for those interested in learning more.

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Ponar Escape Tunnel

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Ponar Escape Tunnel

This event is a tour featuring the escape tunnel dug by prisoners held underground at the Ponar mass murder site whose gruesome job was to exhume, burn and crush into dust the 70,000-150,000 corpses of Jews murdered there by Lithuanians and Nazis over the course of three years. After their task was completed, the enslaved members of the so-called burners team–Jews and Soviet POWs–would also be murdered and disposed of there. Some members of the team escaped on April 15, 1944, through the tunnel they excavated more than 30 meters long using spoons and sticks. The tour begins at 12:00 noon on September 16 at the Ponar Memorial Complex outside Vilnius.

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Rosh Hashana Fast Approaching

Rosh Hashana Fast Approaching

The Jewish New Year 5784, Rosh Hashana, is coming up quickly this Friday, September 15 on the Gregorian calendar, at sundown at 7:18 P.M. According to Jewish tradition, the first man Adam was created on the first day of the Jewish month of Tishrei, and, according to tradition, he was exiled from the Garden of Eden on the same day for disobeying God. Since then God has held court on humans every year on this day. The Creator makes decisions on this day about who is included in the Book of Life and who is not, and how the coming year will bring success for every person, so religious Jews spend the day praying for God’s favor and mercy.

The Vilnius Jewish Religious Community and the Lithuanian Jewish Community invite you to celebrate Rosh Hashana at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius with us.

Program:

Friday, September 15

7:00 P.M. Rosh Hashana at the Choral Synagogue

Saturday, September 16

10:00 A.M. Shacharit
7:00 P.M. Mincha
8:30 P.M. Evening prayer service

Sunday, September 17

10:00 A.M. Shacharit
7:00 P.M. Mincha.

Invitation to Kabalat Shabat

Invitation to Kabalat Shabat

The Lithuanian Jewish Community and Bnei Maskilim followers of Progresive Judaism invite you to a Kabalat Shabat ceremony and celebration of the eve of the Jewish New Year, 5784.

This warm, comfortable and moving gathering is a great entree to Rosh Hashana.

We will meet at 8:00 P.M. on Friday, September 15, in the hall on third floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius.

Let’s Celebrate Rosh Hashana Together

Let’s Celebrate Rosh Hashana Together

The Lithuanian Jewish Community greets you on the occasion of the upcoming Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, 5784, and invites you and your entire family to come celebrate with us starting at 4:00 P.M. on Saturday, September 16, at the newly renovated Hotel Conti located at Raugyklos no. 7 in Vilnius.

The program includes greetings, a performance by the Fayerlakh Jewish song and dance ensemble, holiday meal (you can choose a meat or fish dish during registration, another concert called Zingen Mir a Lidele in Yiddish with the sololists Rita Alterman, Mariya Dushkina, Michailas Jablonsky and Leonardas Zenkevičius, plus much more.

Tickets are 25 euros for adults and 10 euros for children aged 13 and under. To register or receive more information, send an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt or call (+370) 678 81514 between 10:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M. on weekdays.

Commemorating Holocaust Victims in Švenčionys

Commemorating Holocaust Victims in Švenčionys

This year the Švenčionys Regional Jewish Community will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the largest mass murder operation in the Švenčionys district on October 1. Švenčionys Regional Jewish Community chairman Moshe Shapiro invites everyone to attend.

Program:

11:00 A.M. Remembrance ceremony at the Menorah statue in the Švenčionys city central park;

12:00 noon Opening of new exhibit at the Nalšia Museum;

1:00 P.M. Remembrance ceremony at the mass murder site in Platumai village in the Švenčionėliai rural district.

Last Israeli Dance Workshop for Now

Last Israeli Dance Workshop for Now

Julija Patašnik is planning to hold her final Israeli dance lesson of the summer season at the Israeli street food kiosk in Petras Cvirka Square this Friday with beginners at 5:00 P.M. and more advanced dancers at 6:00 P.M. The food kiosk is closing for fall this Sunday evening. Stay tuned for more classes and workshops with Julija at other locations.