History of the Jews in Lithuania – Lithuanian Jewish Community

The Impossibility of Ignorance

by Grant Gochin, March 19, 2026

In 2018, while already a member of NATO and the European Union, Lithuania’s Parliament (Seimas) formally recognized Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas as the head of the Lithuanian state for the period 1954 to 1957. Lithuania’s defense ministry then placed him in the Heads of State Pantheon and described him as a role model for the country’s officers and soldiers. That is not routine commemoration. It is state canonization inside alliances that define themselves by democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

Once a state does that, the first question is not ceremonial. It is governmental. What public record did Lithuania produce before this elevation showing how Ramanauskas-Vanagas responded to the destruction of Jews in his environment in 1941? Where is the record that he protected Jews, objected to anti-Jewish violence, forbade participation, or punished those who took part? Lithuania’s own official biographies place him in Druskininkai in June 1941 as leader of a self-defense unit and then in Alytus as a teacher from 1941 to 1944. Lithuania has produced no public record of protective action by him toward Jews in that period.

That silence matters because Ramanauskas-Vanagas cannot be sealed off from a documented persecution zone. The Simon Wiesenthal Center warned the Seimas against honoring him. Evaldas Balčiūnas, drawing on archival material cited from the Lithuanian Special Archives and on the work of Arūnas Bubnys, pointed to a July 18, 1941 police report stating that 28 people had already been shot and to evidence that a 38-man partisan unit assisted in establishing the Druskininkai ghetto beginning on July 16. Even on the narrowest reading, this is not an evidentiary void. It is a documented zone of confinement, shooting, and anti-Jewish coercion. Lithuania elevated him anyway.

2026-03-192026-03-20

Faina Kukliansky Elected to General Assembly of European Council of Jewish Communities

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky attended the sixth Summit or European Jewish Leaders in Athens over the weekend, representing Lithuanian Jews, where she was elected to the General Assembly of European Council of Jewish Communities.

The European Council of Jewish Communities holds the event. This time over 250 participants from more than 30 countries attended. They included community leaders, heads of institutions, cultural professionals and members of Jewish communities from around Europe. Israeli president Isaac Herzog and EC president Ursula von der Leyen greeted the gathering. The meeting focused on continuing Jewish life in Europe and served as an opportunity for Jewish leaders to exchange ideas and experience.

2026-03-18

Shavl Celebrates Purim with the Musical “A Modern Story of Esther”

The Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community expanded Purim celebrations this year by inviting the general public from Šiauliai and elsewhere with a musical held at the Laptai Gallery of the Šiauliai Culture Center on March 3. The musical was called A Modern Story of Esther based on the text by Itzik Manger and composer Dov Seltzer. The performance space was packed by audience members. The musical itself is a modern version of the traditional purimshpil.

The play was preceded by a presentation by Community member and actress Jūratė Budriūnaitė-Kamrazer on the history, significance and traditions associated with this Jewish holiday.

Vytautas Magnus University Music Academy students performed in the musical, which was followed by traditional Purim treats including homentashn.

The Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community thanks musical director Audronė Eitmanavičiūtė, musical conductor Sabina Martinaitytė and their team of talent from Vytautas Magnus in Kaunas. They also thank the Laiptai Gallery for providing the space and making the event such a success.

2026-03-172026-03-17

Exhibit on Jewish Vilna

The Films & Coffee café at the corner of Šv. Mikalojaus and Pranciškonų streets in the Vilnius Old Town will host an exhibit by Gediminas Dubonikas and Vytautas Tinteris on the Litvak population of the Old Town before the Holocaust and when Jews were imprisoned in two ghettos there. The exhibit opens at 7:00 P.M. on March 25. Triteris said the exhibit is appropriate for children.

2026-03-17

Day of Rescuers of Jews in Kaunas

The Ninth Fort in Kaunas opened an exhibit called Rescuers on March 15. The opening coincided with Lithuania’s Day of Rescuers of Jews. The museum invited members of the Kaunas Jewish Community, families of rescuers of Jews and Righteous Gentiles and others.

Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas, Palanga Jewish Community chairman Vilius Gutmanas, daughter and granddaughter of Righteous Gentiles Iga Makutėnienė, speaker of Lithuanian parliament Juozas Olekas and Darius Jakavičius, chairman of the Commission on Battles for Freedom and Historical Memory, participated, along with other family members of Righteous Gentiles.

A moment of silence was followed by a reading of the names of rescuers of Jews in the city and district of Kaunas. Students from the Naujalis music gymnasium performed. the Ninth Museum’s Vytautas Petrikėnas and Vytautas Švėgžda, the director of Multimediamark who organized the exhibit, presented it in more detail to the audience.

2026-03-17

Remembering Righteous Gentiles in Panevėžys

The Panevėžys Regional History Museum hosted an event to mark Lithuania’s Day of Rescuers of Jews Sunday. Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman, son of Righteous Gentiles Vidmantas Markevičius and museum director Donatas Juzėnas spoke at the event.

The official Lithuanian commemorative day was first marked on March 15 in 2023. March 15 is the date Yad Vashem recognized Lithuanian librarian Ona Šimaitė for her work rescuing Jews from the Holocaust. Vidmantas Markevičius’s family rescued nine Jews in the Kupiškis region.

Viltis school students read the names of Jews rescued and their rescuers in the Panevėžys district.

The event featured a screening of the documentary film “Irena” about the late Irena Veisaitė. Veisaitė as a girl was rescued from the Holocaust by Stefanija Ladigienė.

2026-03-16

Marking Rescuers Day in Šiauliai

Lithuania’s Day of Rescuers of Jews on Sunday was marked by the Šiauliai District Jewish Community and the Lost Shtetl Museum at an event at Righteous Gentiles Square in Šiauliai which then moved on the museum in Šeduva. Community members, members of the Lithuanian parliament and students from the Juventa school remembered the Righteous Gentiles who rescued Jews from the Holocaust. Conservative MPs Ingrida Šimonytė and Paulė Kuzmickienė provided moving speeches and Pinchas Nol spoke about how the Paluckas family rescued him. Nol spoke by video link from Israel. Juventa students provided a live musical performance.

2026-03-162026-03-16

Faina Kukliansky Presents Autobiography at Vilnius Book Fair

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman presented her book about her life and family “Dainos iš mėlynos užrašinės” [Songs from a Blue Notebook] at the Vilnius Book Fair early Friday afternoon and signed copies for readers. She also held a book-signing event there late Saturday evening.

Covering three generations of Litvaks, the recorded memories move from her grandparents who miraculously survived the Holocaust, her parents in the concentration camps to the youngest generation, Faina and her sister Sulamita, the generation of Jews who came out of survivors of the Holocaust.

The book can be ordered via internet here, here and here.

2026-03-092026-03-09

Danutė Selčinskaja Named Person of Tolerance of the Year for 2025

The Sugihara Foundation awarded Holocaust and Righteous Gentile historian Danutė Selčinskaja the Person of Tolerance for the foregoing year 2025 and awarded writer Sergey Kanovich the recipient of the Leonidas Donskis prize in Kaunas Sunday.

2026-03-09

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 6:05 P.M. on Friday, March 6, and concludes at 7:00 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 5:47 P.M. and completed before sunset at 6:05 P.M. Sunday is International Women’s Day. Wednesday, March 11, is Lithuania’s Day of Restoration of Independence, a national holiday marking the act passed by the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet on March 11, 1990, restating the country’s independence from the Soviet Union.

2026-03-05

Jews of Palanga: An History in Photographs

The Palanga Jewish Community invites you to visit an exhibit of photographs called “Jews of Palanga: An History in Photographs” at the Palanga Youth and Volunteer Center, Vytauto street no. 110, Palanga, opening March 3 and running till March 31.

With more than 20 authentic period portraits of interbellum Palanga, the exhibit tells the story of the Palanga Jewish community’s daily life, urban spaces and communal and cultural sites integrated in the landscape of the Lithuanian seaside resort town.

The exhibit is a joint project of the Palanga Jewish Community and the Palanga Youth and Volunteer Center. Mindaugas Surblys is the curator.

2026-03-042026-03-04

Happy Purim

Dear Community members,

A happy and colorful Purim!

Our ancestors taught us a very important thing: to make use of every opportunity to enjoy life. Even as history has been full of challenges, we chose light, unity and joy. Therefore laughter, music and song ring out in our homes and community today.

May your tables be laden with fruit, your friendships be sincere and your hearts open. May there be no lack of homentashn, symbolizing the ear of the vizier Haman who sought to harm the Jews as a reminder to us that evil and falseness never win, but courage, hope and unity do.

I hope the joy of Purim inspires in us strength, a sense of belonging and togetherness and faith in the future.

Hag Purim sameakh!

Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community

2026-03-032026-03-03

Faina Kukliansky Bio at Vilnius Book Fair

Publisher Alma Littera will present “Dainos iš mėlynos užrašinės” [Songs from a Blue Notebook] at the Vilnius Book Fair Friday.

The book tells the story of the family of the author, Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky.

Readers say the book reads like a film with one frame following another painting a moving picture of the Jewish spirit: culture, heritage, traditions, holidays, cooking, children’s games and communal life. It’s also about a people who were condemned to death who, despite the great love of their families, carry grief from generation to generation, but also boundless courage, resolution, energy and an unstoppable ability to take joy in those things which make up daily life.

“Sometimes people ask me why I spend so much energy on the status of Jews in the world and history, especially since the majority of my people are gone. My only answer is, to safeguard their memory. We no longer have our parents’ candelabra which held the Sabbath candles in every Jewish home. All we have left is memory and respect,” Faina Kukliansky said.

The public is invited to the presentation with Faina Kukliansky who will sign books from 1:30 to 3:30 P.M. on Friday and from 6:30 to 8:30 P.M. on Saturday in Hall 5 at the Alma Littera Stand at the Litexpo pavilion in Vilnius. The Vilnius Book Fair starts Thursday.

2026-02-262026-02-26

Małgorzata Quinkenstein Presents Book “Stronger than Fear”

Author Małgorzata Quinkenstein will speak at a presentation of her book “Stronger than Fear” at the Lithuanian Jewish Community. The book features 36 portraits of Righteous Gentiles from France, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and other countries and testimonies from rescued Jews. The interview with Quinkenstein is to take place in Polish with simultaneous translation to Lithuanian. Registration is required, click here.

Time: 1:00 P.M., Friday, March 6
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius

2026-02-232026-02-23

Visitor from DC Looking for Roots in Panevėžys

Harold Closter who lives in Washington, D.C., and his son Yulik Gurvich visited the Panevėžys Jewish Community looking or information on Closter’s great-grandfather Zvi Hirsh Avraham and Closter’s mother Milke Ginzberg, both of whom lived in Panevėžys before the First World War. The Panevėžys Jewish Community’s archive had matches for both surnames but further information such as street addresses couldn’t be determined, because Kloster didn’t have their dates of birth, marriages or death.

Kloster is a folklorist and historian. He said it was important to him and his son to see where their ancestors lived.

Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman recommended they apply to the Lithuanian State Archive which conserves material documenting Jews living in Lithuania since the 17th century. Kofman and Kloster made plans to stay in contact.

2026-02-10

Sixteenth Liova Taicas Tournament Held in Šiauliai

The 16th Liova Taicas sports tournament was held in Šiauliai Sunday. Participating were four soccer teams, two basketball teams, 5 volleyball, 6 chess and 6 ping-pong teams. Israeli embassy staff formed one of the basketball teams competing. As in earlier iterations of the games, the Ukmergė Jewish Community participated, having become an integral part of the annual tournament.

2026-02-102026-02-10

International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust in Panevėžys

The Panevėžys Jewish Community, deputy mayor Deividas Labanavičius, continuing-education students and visitors from Kupiškis as well as local residents marked the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust on January 27.

“The Holocaust reminds us to the depths to which hate, apathy and ignoring human dignity can lead. As we remember the victims, we take responsibility for preserving human respect, for strengthening tolerance and for passing on historical memory to the future generations. This is a duty, leading to a mature and responsible society,” deputy mayor Deividas Labanavičius said.

Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman spoke about the incredible mass murder of almost all Lithuanian Jews and noted more than 600,000 Jews had fought against Nazi Germany, many of them falling on the battle field or returning home disabled. “We also remember those who at risk to themselves and the lives of their families rescued Jews from certain death,” he said.

2026-02-03

Remembering Holocaust Victims in Šiauliai

International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust was marked in Šiauliai January 27. People gathered at the location of the ghetto gates at the intersection of Ežero and Trakų streets. Members of the Šiauliai Jewish Community, local officials and local residents attended. Candles were lit at the monument marking the former ghetto gates. The attendees then moved on to Righteous Gentile Square.

2026-02-03

Palanga Jewish Cemeteries: Inscriptions, Records, Territories

Information from Mindaugas Surblys, Palanga Jewish Community

When fire ran rampant in Palanga in 1830, old burial pinkhas were destroyed, dating back to 1487. Beginning in 1831 burial records were kept for the new Jewish cemetery at the edge of town. For a time two Jewish cemeteries operated in tandem in Palanga, the old one since 1487 till 1892, located inside Birutė Park. The new cemetery was instituted near Naglys Hill.

There are ten remaining headstones (matsevot) of different sizes made from granite and cement with inscriptions in Hebrew letters. Three headstones are broken in their upper sections. One is splintered with fragments lying on the ground. Many of the surviving monuments are difficult to read.

Several inscriptions are legible and correspond to the burial records of the Palanga Jewish community. The inscriptions match the information in the pinkhas, for example, “Here lies our dear and honored father who was famous for his charity work and high moral character, Natan Frank, son of Hirsh (Tzvi), deceased on Rosh Hashanah, 1935” (partial translation).

2026-02-022026-02-02

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