A showing of artworks by students in Raimondas Savickas’s latest “in plein air” outdoor art workshop will open to the public at a ceremony at 5:30 P.M. on August 25, 2016, at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. Artworks are to include painting and ceramics. The ceremony and exhibit is open to the public and will be held on the third floor of the Community.
March to Commemorate Murdered Jews of Molėtai, Lithuania on August 29
A march to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the mass murder of the Jews of Molėtai is scheduled for August 29 in Molėtai, Lithuania.
There will be a conference and exhibit at the Molėtai Art Gallery at 3:00 P.M.
A procession will then walk down Vilniaus street in Molėtai at 4:00 P.M.
Unveiling of a monument by Davidas Zundelovičius follows at 5:00 P.M. at the mass murder site and mass grave of the Jews of Molėtai. Teachers Ela Pavinskienė and Roza Bieliauskienė of the Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium in Vilnius have organized an exhibit about cleaning up the old Jewish cemetery in Molėtai with photographs by Yehuda Vagner and Maceva volunteer Marius Lukoševičius.
Holocaust Commemoration in Biržai August 28
A series of events in Biržai, Lithuania, to commemorate the Jewish community murdered there during the Holocaust are scheduled to begin at 11:00 A.M. on August 28. The events include an initial “March of the Living”-type procession culminating in a conference and discussion. For more information, contact Sania Kerbelis at 370 698 85131 or Simona Ražinskienė at 370 699 03023. There is a possibility those needing a ride from Vilnius might be able to get one provided by the Lithuanian Jewish Community; contact info@lzb.lt to find out.
Commemoration in Dusetos of 75th Anniversary of Krakynė Massacre
August 26, 2016, marks the 75th anniversary of the massacre which was perpetrated in the Krakynė Forest (Degučiai alermanship, Zarasai region) when 2,569 Jews from Zarasai region and surrounding areas were murdered.
The unveiling of a commemorative monument will take place where the Dusetos Synagogue once stood on Independence Square in Dusetos, Zarasai district, at 2:00 P.M. We will commemorate the Dusetos Jews who were murdered between 1941 and 1944, visit the mass murder site in Krakynė Forest and distribute a publication called “Desetų žydai” (Jews of Dusetos).
Zarasai regional administration
Dusetos aldermanship
A joint project by the Dusetos aldermanship and parish community
European Days of Jewish Culture: September 4
Come learn about the Jewish cultural and historical legacy. European Days of Jewish Culture, September 4. This time the theme is Jewish languages. Event begins at 2:00 P.M. on the third floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius.
Anniversary of Intellectuals Aktion, Mass Murder of Jews of Petrašiūnai
The Kaunas Jewish Community will mark the 75th anniversary of the murder of the Jews of Petrašiūnai and the Intellectuals Aktion on August 26, 2016. The ceremony will begin at 3:30 P.M. at the stele in memory of the Jews of Petrašiūnai. Then we will move to the Fourth Fort in Kaunas where the Intellectuals Aktion, the first mass murder of Jews imprisoned in the Kaunas ghetto, was perpetrated.
Chess Tournament Dedicated to Memory of Kaunas Chess Club Director Abraomas Šulmanas
The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Rositsan and Maccabi Elite Chess and Checkers Club invite you to a chess tournament dedicated to the memory of Kaunas Chess Club director Abraomas Šulmanas at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius at 11:00 A.M. on August 21.
Tournament director Boris Rositsan, FIDE master
For further information and to register, contact:
info@metbor.lt
tel.: +3706 5543556
Commemoration of the Holocaust in Šeduva, Lithuania
UPDATE: Event organizers are providing transport from Vilnius and several free seats are left! Please register for a place before August 23 by sending an email to info@lostshtetl.com
You are invited to an event to commemorate the Šeduva Jewish community murdered in the Holocaust. The event is on on August 30 and will be a kaddish at the 3 mass murder sites and the old Šeduva Jewish cemetery.
Commemorative program
9:00–9:30 Kaddish at the Jewish mass murder site in Pakuteniai forest
https://goo.gl/maps/tdN5Y3mrWJw
9:45–10:15 Kaddish at Liaudiškiai Jewish mass murder site I
https://goo.gl/maps/fhjnq5ubSfk
10:30–11:00 Kaddish at Liaudiškiai Jewish mass murder site II
https://goo.gl/maps/mYLnGLUmVuK2
11:15–11:45 Kaddish at the Šeduva Jewish cemetery
https://goo.gl/maps/ZuHGdK9EHvF2
12:00–12:30 Coffee break at the Šeduva Culture and Crafts Center
12:45-1:30 Mass at the Holy Apparition of the Cross Church in Šeduva
1:30–2:15 Yiddish song concert by Rafailas Karpis and Darius Mažintas at the church in Šeduva
Download PDF format event program
More here.
Memorial to Samuelis Petuchauskas to Be Unveiled in Šiauliai
A memorial to Samuelis Petuchauskas, deputy mayor of Šiauliai from 1921 to 1940, is to be unveiled at the city of Šiauliai municipality at Vasario 16 street no. 62 at midday on August 29, 2016. Šiauliai mayor A. Visockas is to open the ceremony.
Šiauliai Jewish Community chairman J. Buršteinas and other members are scheduled to attend along with other notable local figures, representatives of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, members of the family of Jackus Sondeckis family and others.
More information to follow.
Summer Camp in Švenčionys
This summer in August, a two-week international camp is being organised in Švenčionys. Our goal is to clean the old Jewish Švenčionys cemetery, remove trash, document gravestones and discover what we are able about Švenčionys Jewish history. We will be teaching our volunteers about Litvak culture, history and Jewish burial traditions in general.
The old Jewish Švenčionys cemetery is one of the oldest Jewish burial places in Lithuania, dating back to the 17th century. The cemetery covers approximately 39,670 sq. meters (47,445 square yards) with existing gravestones estimated to number in the thousands. The number was higher prior to the Holocaust when gravestones were stolen for use in local construction, including for the construction of a horse stable. Much of the remaining cemetery was desecrated. In 1993, the stables were taken apart and many stones returned to the cemetery, and a remembrance monument was built.
Many ornate gravestones survive from the period 1900- 1930, and their condition varies. Many, if not most, are in fragile condition and need urgent repair and restoration.
We do not have data defining dates for the cemetery, we hope to discover that during our work.
The camp is organised in partnership with Action Reconciliation Service for Peace
http://www.actionreconciliation.org/
and will be our second joint project in consecutive years. We expect between 10-15 youngsters will visit Lithuania from Germany and other countries, to volunteer in this effort. More information can be found at https://www.asf-ev.de/en/summer-camps/activities/lithuania.html
If you are interested in the project and/or have any questions, please contact us via info@litvak-cemetery.info or sandra@litvak-cemetery.info
From http://www.litvak-cemetery.info/events/summer-camp-in-svencionys
Note: although the camp started today, there are still free spaces for interested volunteers, with housing and three meals per day provided. Please contact the email addresses above for more information.
Unveiling of Apple Grove Sculpture Park Commemorating Jewish Rescuers at the Litvak Commemorative Garden
Congress of Residents of Šarnelė, 2016
August 13, Šarnelė Community Center, Plungė Region, Lithuania
Educational conference “They Lived in Šarnelė“
10:30 Unveiling of Apple Orchard of Rescuers at the Litvak Commemorative Garden (Medsėdžiai Village, Plateliai Aldermanship);
12:00 Catholic Mass for the Šarnelė village community, for those who perished and those Šarnelė residents who survived deportation, and their friends;
1:00 Agape. Presentation of book by Tomas Viluckas;
2:00 Conference opening;
Road map
Remembering the Murdered Jewish Community of Ukmergė
Commemorative ceremony to remember the Jewish community murdered during the Holocaust in Ukmergė
12:00 noon, Sunday, September 4, 2016
Pivonija forest, Ukmergė
Sponsored by the Lithuanian Jewish Community, the Goodwill Foundation and the Ukmergė Jewish Community
Lithuanian Citizenship for Litvaks
According to various reports in the Israeli media, there has been a sharp increase in South African Litvak applications for Lithuanian citizenship.
Some authors have even mentioned some sort of “Lithuanian Citizenship Programme,” whose existence is unknown to the Lithuanian Jewish Community.
Because of the seemingly increased interest, we are placing some of our earlier reporting back at the top of page one of the English version of the webpage.
We would like to take this opportunity to remind readers the amendment to the Lithuanian law on citizenship, the initiative of both the Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Lithuanian parliament, only removed and changed language which might have led to discrimination against Jews and Litvaks by individual public servants. There is no language about welcoming Litvaks with open arms, unfortunately. The amended law only levels the playing field to make sure Litvaks are treated equally with ethnic Lithuanians and others in the application process.
While the law doesn’t express welcoming Litvaks with open arms, the Lithuanian Jewish Community does welcome Litvaks from around the world, including South Africa, to become members, and does support Litvaks’ bids for Lithuanian citizenship. It has been our honor to have played a part in the amended legislation signed into law by the president of Lithuania last month.
Maya Pennington at the Lithuanian Jewish Community Thursday
Maya Pennington and the Hive!
Come… Hear… Fall in Love!
At 6:00 P.M. this Thursday, August 4, at the Lithuanian Jewish Community (Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius)
About Maya
Singer, actress, composer.
Born in Jerusalem, Maya began learning music when she was 5. She graduated from the Ruben Academy for music and dance High School (majoring in Baroque flute), later studyied jazz voice and multi-disciplinary composition at the Academy of Music and Rimon. In order to supplement her acting training, she took part in courses held by Sadna’ot Habama with teachers from the Royal Academy of Music and Guildford and with teachers specializing in various acting methods. She toured internationally with the a cappella group Voca People (2009-2013), and performed as a soloist with a wide variety of performances, ranging from several performances with the Be’er Sheva sinfonietta to the international Red Sea Jazz Festival 2008, the Jerusalem Jazz Festival 2006, etc. and as a recording artist on several albums, including Ittai Rosenbaum’s “Between Waters and Waters” (2009).
Free Israeli Dance Lessons
photo: Giedre Rozmanaite Photography
The Israeli embassy in Vilnius invites everyone to free Israeli dance lessons in Vilnius! An experienced instructor from Israel will conduct the lessons.
Come to the square in front of the Old Town Hall at 7:00 P.M. on July 28 and 29.
About dance instructor Orly Goldshtein:
Residence: Ramat Ha’Sharon, Israel
New Torah Study Library at Choral Synagogue
We invite all our friends to the inauguration of our new Torah library at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius.
Every synagogue is more than just a house of prayer–it’s also a house of learning. Even more so in Lithuania, where Torah study has always been of the highest priority. Now our synagogue will provide the opportunity to teach Torah in the classic way.
Thanks to the Šeduva Jewish Memorial Fund and their understanding of the importance of this library in Vilnius, the synagogue will now contain a classic Jewish library of more than a hundred books needed by everyone who wants to engage in serious learning.
The Torah (Pentateuch) and the Books of Prophets with all the classical commentaries, Mishnah, Talmud, Rambam, Tur and Shulchan Aruch–if the latter are missing it is impossible to study Torah, to prepare for lessons and to teach those who are resolved to make progress in their knowledge and Torah study.
The Šeduva Jewish Memorial Fund and the Lithuanian Jewish Religious Community invite you to share in our joy and to make a small l’chaim at 7:00 P.M. on August 24 at the Choral Synagogue.
International Day of Remembrance of the Roma Holocaust
August 2 is International Roma Holocaust Remembrance Day. We invite you to mark it with us:
2:00 P.M. Wreath-laying ceremony at Ponar
4:00 P.M. Screening of Papusza, a film about the Roma poet, at the Museum of the Victims of Genocide (Aukų street no. 2A, Vilnius)
Commemoration of Holocaust Victims in Biržai and Molėtai in August*
Biržai: Commemorative ceremony to remember the Jewish community annihilated in the Holocaust, 11:00 A.M. on August 28.
Molėtai: Procession from the Molėtai synagogue to the mass murder site (~1.5 km) where 2,000 local Jews were murdered, marking the 75th anniversary of that event.
*There is a possibility the LJC might be able to provide transportation from Vilnius for those wishing to attend these events. Please contact info@lzb.lt or call 8 5 2613 003 before August 8 if you need transportation.
Preparations Under Way for Švenčionėliai Mass Murder Site Renovation
Work to renovate the Švenčionėliai mass murder site under the current plan is scheduled to begin in August and September, Švenčionys Jewish Community chairman Moisiejus Šapiro says. The period from June to November of 1941 was the most horrible and tragic period in the genocide, when about 80% of Jews in Lithuania were murdered. A ghetto was established in Švenčionys and mass murder operations were begun there. According to different sources, 7,000 to 8,000 Jews were shot across the Žeimena River in Švenčionėliai. A memorial marks the site.
Determining the exact identity of those murdered and buried near Švenčionėliai has been fraught with difficulty. After approaching numerous archives, only the names of seven Holocaust victims buried there were found. Chairman Moisiejus Šapiro is asking Holocaust survivors from the Švenčionys region and the small shtetls there and their children, grandchildren and relatives, wherever they might live now, to tell their stories and send him the names and surnames of those murdered at Švenčionėliai
He can be reached by email at moisa50@mail.ru
Jewish Cultural Event in Anykščiai
The A. Baranauskas and A. Vienuolis-Žukauskas Memorial Museum invites the public to come to the Old Town in Anykščiai, Lithuania, where a celebration of Jewish Culture will be held from 10:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. on July 23.
Synagogue Square music stage: At 11 the Rakija Klezmer Orkestar will perform. At 12:15 tenor Rafailas Karpis takes the stage, followed by Arkadiujus Gotesmanas’s mini-play Story of a Man of God at 1:15. At 2:15 Judita Leitaitė and Jurijus Suchanovas perform songs.
The kosher food restaurant Rishon operates on Sinagogos and S. Daukanto streets and offers Jewish treats, souvenirs and books.
An entire human life-span has passed since the summer of 1941, when Jewish song and prayer went silent in the Anykščiai Old Town, the wind carried off forever the smell of their baking bread and dust covered well-beaten tracks. Jewish names and faces now return to Anykščiai.