History of the Jews in Lithuania – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Memory Road in Pabradė

Švenčionys Jewish Community chairman Moishe Shapiro, the Pabradė municipal Culture Center, the Pabradė aldermanship as well as local history teachers Danguolė Grincevičienė and Regina Mateikienė and their students held a “Memory Road” event September 21 in the run-up to September 23, Lithuania’s Day of Remembrance for Jewish Victims of Genocide. They walked the same path taken by those sentenced to death during the Holocaust to the mass murder site near Pabradė (Podbrodz).

Chairman Shapiro spoke about the former Jewish community there and the mass murder. Ždanas Matiušonok performed a work called Memory. Participants placed small stones on the mass grave in memory of the victims.

2023-09-26

We Must Stop Commemorating Those Who Spread Hate and Death for Jews

At a special meeting of the Lithuanian parliament held today to mark the 80th anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilnius ghetto, Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky called for remembering the contributions Jews made to the birth and development of the Lithuanian state before the Holocaust.

“It seems to me the memory of the history of Lithuanian Jews and the Vilnius ghetto has been reduced to official events, excursions and interactive tours for foreigners,” she noted.

Kukliansky said this wasn’t the first time she was forced to remind politicians and the Lithuanian public that plans for the Ponar Memorial Complex and other projects haven’t been completed.

“Every year I speak from this podium, saying there is no monument to rescuers of Jews. … If this is impossible to do for so many decades, let’s at least stop commemorating those who sowed death and hatred of the Jewish people,” Kukliansky told the Lithuanian parliament, foreign ambassadors and other guests.

2023-09-222023-09-26

Yom Kippur at the Choral Synagogue

The Choral Synagogue in Vilnius will hold mincha at 7:00 P.M. and kol nidrei and maariv services at 8:00 P.M. on Sunday, September 24, to mark Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

On Monday, September 25, there will be morning prayer service at 10:00 A.M., followed by a yizkor service at 12:00 noon and mincha and neil at 7:00 P.M.

2023-09-222023-09-26

President Nausėda Unveils Plaque Commemorating Librarian, Bibliographer Antanas Ulpis at YIVO

Photo: YIVO executive board chairwoman Ruth Levine, Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda with wife Diana Nausėdienė and YIVO executive director Jonathan Brent, photograph by Robertas Dačkus

September 19, 2023

As part of his working visit to New York Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda attended the unveiling of a memorial plaque to the Lithuanian librarian and bibliographer Antanas Ulpis at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

Gitanas Nausėda said it is important to preserve the memory of the deeds of Lithuanian librarian, bibliographer and director of the Vilnius Book Chamber Antanas Ulpis and the Paper Brigade because thanks to them thousands of Jewish books and documents were safeguarded during the Nazi and Soviet occupations.

During the Nazi occupation around 20 Jews from the Vilnius Ghetto, the so-called Paper Brigade, hid Jewish books, Torahs and other documents, risking their lives. Later Antanas Ulpis, director of the Book Chamber, saved these unique documents and texts from destruction by the Soviets by hiding them in nooks and crannies at St. George’s Church in Vilnius.

“This is not only an important part of the history of Lithuanian Jews which has been preserved, but also an example of humanism, when evil is countered with good and darkness with light,” the Lithuanian president said.

2023-09-212023-09-21

Schedule of Commemorative Events for the 80th Anniversary of the Anti-Nazi Resistance and Liquidation of the Vilnius Ghetto

European Days of Jewish Culture

Time: Starts at 10:00 A.M. on September 3, 2023
Location: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius; Choral Synagogue, Pylimo street no. 39, Cvi Park (Petras Cvirka Square across the street from the Lithuanian Jewish Community).

Exhibit “Ghetto Children Tell Their Story to Contemporary Children”
Time: September 4 to September 30, 2023
Location: Adomas Mickevičius Public Library, Trakų street no. 10, Vilnius.

Special Concert to Remember Victims of the Holocaust
Lithuanian prime minister Ingrida Šimonytė, patroness
Time: September 6, 2023
Location: Lėlė Theater, Arklių street no. 5, Vilnius.
by invitation only

2023-09-212023-09-21

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Commemoration of Holocaust Victims at Ponar

Commemoration of Holocaust Victims at Ponar Memorial Complex on September 21

Program:

2:40 P.M. March of the Living procession from Ponar railroad tracks to Ponar Memorial Complex, duration about 20 minutes;

3:00 P.M. Ceremony to commemorate Holocaust victims at the main memorial in the Ponar Memorial Complex.

If you’d like transportation, the LJC will provide a bus leaving at 2:00 P.M. sharp from the Neringa Hotel located at Gedimino prospect no. 23 in Vilnius. Those who wish to ride the bus must register by calling Liuba at+370 685 06900 or by sending an email to office@lzb.lt with your full name. Those who haven’t registered won’t be boarded and the bus won’t wait for latecomers.

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2023-09-202023-09-21

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Play “Symphony of Dance from the Jerusalem of the North”

The dance troupe Lietuva and the Prabudimo orkestras present a song and dance spectacular called “Symphony of Dance from the Jerusalem of the North.” The performance is based on Jievaras Jasinskis’s work “Simfonija iš Šiaurės Jeruzalės” [Symphony from the Jerusalem of the North]. The story begins 4,000 years ago and extends till the present. The performance will take place on different dates around Lithuania. Tickets available here.

Schedule:

7:00 P.M. on September 23 at the State Youth Theater in Vilnius, by invitation only.

6:00 P.M. on September 24 at the State Youth Theater in Vilnius

7:00 P.M. on September 27 at the State Drama Theater in Kaunas

6:00 P.M. on October 7 at the Concert Hall in Palanga

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2023-09-202023-09-20

Panevėžys Jewish Community Celebrates New Year

Rosh Hashana is one of the most important Jewish holidays. The new year 5784 has begun. A small picnic took place in the courtyard of the Panevėžys Jewish Community on September 17 with apples and honey and challa bread, and warm wishes were expressed for Jews around the world.

This year for the first time this century Lithuanian Jewish scouts from Vilnius visited the Panevėžys Jewish Community. They were returning from the Žalioji Forest where they had camped for two days with scouts from Panevėžys. The Panevėžys Jewish Community treated them to a tour of the town including stories about the Jews of Panevėžys and the Holocaust.

After a brief rest at the Community, the scouts joined Community members for a holiday meal including the traditional dishes which according to custom should be sampled in greeting the Jewish New Year.

2023-09-202023-09-20

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Conference at Parliament “Communism and Anti-Semitism”

The Lithuanian parliament will host an international conference called “Communism and Anti-Semitism” beginning at 10:00 A.M. on November 28. The organizers of the conference include the Lithuanian Jewish Community, YIVO, the POLIN institute and the Goodwill Foundation. It will be broadcasted on the parliament’s website www.lrs.lt and via the parliament’s youtube channel. Stay tuned for more details.

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2023-09-20

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Short Underground Films

Filmmaker Justinas Lingys’s two shorts “Vilniaus geto gyvybės arterija” [Life Artery of the Vilnius Ghetto] and “Holokausto aukoms atminti” [To Remember the Victims of the Holocaust] will be screened at the Adomas Mickevičius Public Library at Trakų street no. 10 in Vilnius at 5:30 P.M. on September 28.

The celebrated Lithuanian filmmaker takes two approaches regarding the Vilnius ghetto: the actual Holocaust, and the underground city connected by a system of tunnels where life was carried on unseen by the Nazis and Lithuanian collaborators, where people taught children, through which food supplies were smuggled into the ghetto and through which information and news about the war travelled. Jews were also rescued through the tunnels, and when the Vilnius ghetto was liquidated a small number escaped through the tunnels.

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2023-09-202023-09-20

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Play “Ghetto”

The National Drama Theater in Kaunas presents the play “Getas” [Ghetto] written by Joshua Sobol and directed by Gintaras Varnas at 4:00 P.M. on September 24 and 6:00 P.M. on November 14. The theater is located at Laisvės alley no. 71 in Kaunas.

The play centers around Vilnius ghetto inmates who waged a spiritual and cultural war for survival under genocidal conditions, founding the Vilnius ghetto theater in the face of almost certain death.

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2023-09-202023-09-20

Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Film Clips about Ponar and Litvaks

The Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum will host a viewing of scenes about the Ponar mass murder site outside Vilnius from the 9.5-hour-long documentary film Shoah (1985, France) and short film clips from YIVO and the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D. C., touching on Jewish life in Lithuania before the Holocaust. A panel discussion will follow.

The event begins at 6:00 P.M. on September 22 at the Tolerance Center located at Naugarduko street no. 10 in Vilnius.

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2023-09-20

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Play “Dust”

The State Youth Theater located at Arklių street no. 5 in Vilnius presents the play “Dulkės” [Dust] at 6:00 P.M. on September 22, based on the book “Panerių dienoraštis 1941–1943” [Ponar Diary 1941-1943] which is a collection of observations made there by Polish journalist and refugee Kazimierz Sakowicz, hidden in bottles, buried and later recovered after the war and painstakingly deciphered.

The young director of the play Justinas Vinciūnas said he was looking for his own attitude regarding the Holocaust and instead of using literary sources preferred authentic primary sources such as the Ponar Diary.

Sakowicz and his wife were forced out of their apartment in Vilnius and their newspaper press was seized by the Soviets in 1940. He took up residence in Ponar outside Vilnius and observed the daily mass murder operations there. Lithuanian readers are sometimes shocked to learn the mass murder was carried out mainly by Lithuanians with very little Nazi German presence there.

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2023-09-202023-09-20

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Ceremony and Art Installation at Ninth Fort

The Ninth Fort Museum in Kaunas will host a ceremony to honor the victims of the Holocaust murdered there, followed by the unveiling of a commemorative art installation at the museum created by Christian Boltansky and called ANIMITAS accompanied by a dance performance by Erika Vizbaraitė. Those attending will also be invited to view the museum’s malina exhibit. The events begin at 1:00 P.M. on September 22 at the Ninth Fort Museum at Žemaičių highway no. 73 in Kaunas.

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2023-09-202023-09-20

Lithuanian Parliament Empanels Commission of Inquiry for Impeaching Allegedly Anti-Semitic MP

Lithuania’s channel 3 evening news reported Tuesday the Lithuanian parliament has approved forming a commission to investigate allegedly anti-Semitic statements made by Lithuanian MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis on facebook for his possible removal as a member of parliament. According to the evening news program, all opposition parties have refused to take part in the MP’s possible impeachment and are saying this is a move by the ruling Conservative Party to remove an MP who is part of their opposition in parliament.

Žemaitaitis, according to channel 3, says his statements weren’t anti-Semitic and targeted specific public figures rather than the Jewish people as a whole.

His same facebook posts displayed a rabid sort of Russophobia which the ruling coalition of Lithuanian Conservatives and Liberals haven’t criticized, although Lithuania’s criminal code also expressly forbids sowing hatred against Russians. The Lithuanian constitution provides for legal immunity to members of parliament, namely regarding freedom of speech. MPs cannot be convicted of a crime by prosecutors unless the majority of the parliament votes to remove legal immunity for a specific MP, including prosaic crimes such as driving while drunk.

2023-09-19

Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Remembering Vilna Podcast Episode

The Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies present their podcast episode “Remembering Vilna: Voices from the Holocaust” at 6:00 P.M. on September 21 at the National Library located at Gedimino prospect no. 51 in Vilnius. The Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University in the United States currently conserves over 4,000 testimonies by Holocaust survivors. “Remembering Vilna: Voices from the Holocaust” is the third episode of the podcast series “Those Who Were There: Voices from the Holocaust” produced jointly by the Fortunoff center and YIVO in New York. This episode draws upon Hermann Kruk’s diary and other testimonies which detail the destruction of the Jews in Vilnius. Podcast guests also discuss the rise of anti-Semitism in the period between the two world wars, the Soviet occupation of Lithuania followed by the Nazi occupation, the establishment of ghettos, the mass murder of the Jews of Vilnius and the end of the war and what that entailed.

Podcast producers Nahanni Rous and Eric Marcus and hostess Eleanora Reissa will attend the event which will be conducted in English.

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2023-09-19

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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2023-09-19

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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2023-09-192023-09-20

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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2023-09-19

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