Ellen Cassedy to Speak in Vilnius

The Jewish cultural and information center in Vilnius Old Town is proud to continue its brand new summer series of mini seminars in English for the local and international communities, a series of one-hour free and open forums where harmonious exchange of views, traditions and information becomes a fun part of your week.

All are welcome, free coffee at first event; cafe onsite with choice of bagel snacks and drinks available for purchase.

Meeting: Thursday night, July 28, 2016, from 6 to 7 P.M at the Jewish Cultural and Information Center, Mesiniu 3, Vilnius

website http://www.jewishcenter.lt/

facebook https://www.facebook.com/%c5%bdyd%c5%b3-kult%c5%abros-ir-informacijos-centras-136849083044494/

Topic: Jewish Vilne

a lecture, question and answer session with Ellen Cassedy, author of We Are Here, has explored Lithuania’s encounter with its Jewish heritage for ten years. Her book is the winner
of numerous awards. She is a frequent speaker about the Holocaust, Lithuania and Jewish culture.

www.ellencassedy.com

2016-07-212016-07-22

White Rose Exhibit Opens in Kaunas

Kaune paroda “Baltoji rožė”

The White Rose exhibit opened on schedule in Kaunas July 5.

For more information on the anti-Nazi White Rose movement and the exhibit, see earlier posts here, here and here.

Some snapshots from the opening:

2016-07-19

Road to Eden Exhibit in Kaunas

road to eden

The exhibit space on the fourth floor of the Kaunas Castle section of the Kaunas City Museum (Pilies street no. 17) is hosting an exhibit of paintings by Anatolijus Michailovas-Klošaras called “Road to Eden.” The exhibition opened July 7.

The theme of the paintings revolves around World War II in Europe. The paintings fall into three time-periods: pre-war peace, horrors of war and complicated post-war years.

The painter said if we don’t learn from the past the horrors of war could be repeated.

Anatolijus Michailovas-Klošaras was born and raised in Kaunas. His first showing of works was in Kaunas in 1996. He began showing abroad in 2002.

Full story in Lithuanian here.

2016-07-19

Opening Ceremony for Yiddish Summer Course

Vilniaus Jidiš institute, esančiame Vilniaus universitete, liepos 17 prasidėjo vasaros programa 2016

Students, teachers and staff and other interested parties gathered at an opening ceremony for the summer course of the Vilnius Yiddish Institute at Vilnius University Sunday. Director Dr. Šarūnas Liekis welcomed the new students and thanked supporters and teachers from around the world. The courses are arranged in four levels and will end August 12.

2016-07-18

Yiddish Summer Course

The Vilnius Yiddish Institute at Vilnius University proudly announces

The 2016 Summer Program in Yiddish Language and Literature17 July — 12 August 2016

offering four levels of intensive language instruction:

YIDDISH I: for beginners YIDDISH II: intermediate
YIDDISH III: higher intermediate YIDDISH IV: advanced

more information from Indre Joffyte, info@judaicvilnius.com
(Coordinator of Programs at the Vilnius Yiddish Institute)

2016-07-12

Documentary Film: “An Open Door: Jewish Rescue in the Philippines”

You are invited to attend a screening of An Open Door (2015) at the Lithuanian Jewish Community at 5:00 P.M. on July 13, 2016.

While Europe was under the thrall of the Nazis, Filipino president Manuel Quezon and US high commissioner to the Philippines Paul McNutt opened the door to 1,300 persecuted European Jews in the Philippines.

Jack Simke, assistant to the director and award-winning filmmaker Noel Izon, will introduce the film and lead a discussion afterwards. The event will take place in English.

For more information about the film, see here and here.

For more about the Jewish community in the Philippines, see here.

2016-07-052016-07-14

Concerning Statements Made by Daniel Lupshitz in the Name of the Lithuanian Jewish Community

July 5, 2016, No. 282

To: Remigijus Šimašius,
mayor, Vilnius

cc:
Government of the Republic of Lithuania

The honorable Amir Maimon,
ambassador of the State of Israel

Concerning Statements Made by Daniel Lupshitz in the Name of the Lithuanian Jewish Community

July 5, 2016
Vilnius

Recently many people have been inquiring of the Lithuanian Jewish Community (LJC), by whose authority does Daniel Lupshitz speak for the LJC on different Lithuanian television programs?

Through this letter we wish to assure you that there is no such authority granted to Daniel Lupshitz, nor will there be in the near future. We would like to inform all media this person speaks only for himself, and does not represent the LJC or the regional Jewish communities.

If he has been given the authority to speak for the municipality of the city of Vilnius, that needs to be clearly stated.

[signed]
Faina Kukliansky,
chairwoman

2016-07-052016-07-05

The White Rose: German Student Opposition to Hitler in 1942 and 1943

Exhibit opens 6:00 P.M., July 5, 2016 at the Kaunas Multicultural Center, Šv. Gertrūdos street no. 58, Kaunas. Speakers to include Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas, German ambassador to Lithuania Jutta Schmitz and others. Wine will be served after the formal launch of the exhibit.

2016-07-052016-07-18

White Rose Exhibit to Open in Kaunas

The White Rose was the only organized youth resistance group at universities in Nazi Germany (the Edelweiss Pirates and the Swingjugend weren’t specifically university groups and weren’t as organized), established by students and a professor in Munich in June of 1942. Gradually the White Rose movement has come to symbolize all German resistance to Naziism, although it is still not widely known outside Germany.

In their final leaflet distributed in February of 1943, the White Rose society wrote:

“Der deutsche Name bleibt für immer geschändet, wenn nicht die deutsche Jugend endlich aufsteht, rächt und sühnt zugleich, ihre Peiniger zerschmettert und ein neues geistiges Europa aufrichtet. Studentinnen! Studenten! Auf uns sieht das deutsche Volk!”

2016-07-052016-07-18

Call for Recipes

Dear members,

This year the Lithuanian Jewish Community will be actively involved in the European Jewish Culture Day program and is organizing different events to present the Jewish languages and Jewish cultural heritage to the public. European Jewish Culture Day will happen September 4, 2016.

The Bagel Shop Café will have on offer Jewish culinary heritage and is asking you to recall dishes made by your parents and grandparents, to find handwritten recipes (including in Yiddish) and to share them. We will prepare the best examples and offer them to the public during the event, and publish the recipes and descriptions.

2016-07-04

Jacques Lipchitz Exhibit at the Tolerance Center

Skulptūros iš nacionalinio Žoržo Pompidu meno ir kultūros centro jau Lietuvoje

The Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum is proud to present an exhibit of sculpture by Jacques Lipchitz (1891-1973). The sculptures are on loan from the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Chicago Art Institute and museums located around the world. The exhibit opens June 1.

Museum director Markas Zingeris said organizing the exhibit was fraught with difficulties. “This exhibit, dedicated to the 125th birthday of the sculptor, was carefully planned over several years. To put it playfully, it would have been easier to get the president of France here than to borrow sculptures from Paris museums. First we had to convince representatives of the Pompidou Center and the Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme to consent to the transport of 5 sculptures and 2 paintings by Lipchitz. Once we had agreement, we had to ensure proper conditions for transporting the art works, since some of the sculptures are made of very fragile materials,” Zingeris recalled.

2016-06-302016-07-05

Let’s Remember Together: Steps for Life in Riga

The Shamir Association and the Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust Museum are holding an event called Steps for Life on Holocaust Memorial Day in Riga. The event starts at 11:00 A.M. on July 3 at the corner of of Lomonosov and Ebreju streets in Riga. Participants will walk through the Riga ghetto area to the Great Choral Synagogue on Gogola Street. Shamir is inviting those able to come participate and remember, together.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/545798345593250/
facebook.com/samir.latvija
facebook.com/rigaghettomuseum

The Significance of Holocaust Memorial Day in Latvia

2016-06-272016-06-27

Romanian Klezmer Concert

The Romanian embassy in Vilnius and the Lithuanian Jewish Community invite you to a concert by the klezmer group Mazel Tov from Cluj, Romania, called

Rumania, Rumania,

lekhaim briderlakh!

at 7:00 P.M. on Wednesday, June 29, at the Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius

2016-06-202016-06-30

Remember Lietukis Garage

The Kaunas Jewish Community invite you to come and remember the 75th anniversary of the Lietūkis garage massacre in Kaunas in the early days of the Holocaust. We will gather at the monument to the memory of the victims at Miško street no. 3 in Kaunas at 3:00 P.M. on June 24, 2016.

A concert to honor the victims will be held at the Kaunas State Philharmonic at 6:00 P.M., June 26, 2016 with the male quartet Quorum. The event is free and open to the public.

2016-06-192016-06-27

Presentation of Archaeological Finds from Ponar and Great Synagogue in Vilnius

Participating: professor Richard Freund (Hartford University) and Dr. Jon Seligman (Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem)

This team of renowned investigators began work on the Ponar mass murder site near Vilnius in early June. Using non-invasive archaeological methods, they examined a large portion of the site of the largest mass murder in Lithuania.

The archaeologists focused on the tunnel excavated by burners’ brigade and other items of high interest according the museum specialists. A film crew travelled with professor Freund to Lithuania and plan to release a documentary called Lost Vilnius.

The Israeli-American duo also looked at the site of the former Great Synagogue in Vilnius.

The Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum will host their presentation of their findings June 22. The public is invited to attend. The event will be held in Lithuanian and English. The Tolerance Center is located at Naugarduko street no. 10, Vilnius.

2016-06-162016-06-27

LJC Seeks Driver

The Lithuanian Jewish Community is looking to hire an automobile driver. Candidates should hold a B category license, have at least 2 years experience as a chaffeur, have a basic command of English and Russian and have a sense of duty, professionalism and responsibility. Light maintenance will also be required as well as some heavy lifting. Priority given members of organizations under the LJC umbrella. For more information, contact rokas@lzb.lt or call 865209915.

2016-06-152016-07-24

Gruber’s Journey

Dear friends of the Tolerance Center,

As Romania takes over the presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the Romanian embassy in Vilnius and the Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum will present the film Gruber’s Journey (Calatoria lui Gruber, Romania, 2008) to the public at a free screening at 6:00 P.M., June 15, 2016, at the Tolerance Center, Naugarduko street no. 10/2, Vilnius.

The film centers around the pogrom in the city of Iasi in Bessarabia (Moldova) from June 27 to 29, 1941. Film in Romanian with Lithuanian and English subtitles.

Invitation here.

2016-06-102016-06-15

Exhibition of Work by LJC Art Class with Raimondas Savickas

You’re invited to attend the opening of the exhibit of works by students in the Lithuanian Jewish Community’s art class with Raimondas Savickas at 6:00 P.M., June 16, 2016, on the third floor of the LJC at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius.

2016-06-092016-06-19

Jewish Cut-Outs: An Exhibit

Klaidas Navickas, a recognized master who works in the medium of cut paper, is holding an exhibit of his works called Jewish Cut-Outs at Gallery A at the Vilnius Gediminas Technical University library, Saulėtekio alley no. 14, Vilnius, running from June 7 to August 26.

2016-06-09