Holocaust

Vytautas Mikalauskas Art Gymnasium Students Commemorate Holocaust Day in Panevėžys

Vytautas Mikalauskas Art Gymnasium Students Commemorate Holocaust Day in Panevėžys

Panevėžys students marked International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman was invited to speak at the event.

“Today like never before young people must know, understand and remember. This is the only hope that this indescribable horror not repeat itself, it is the only way to bring us out of darkness,” Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor Elisa Springer said.

At the event, Elena Adelina Kofman served as moderator, and said the systematic mass murder and genocide of the Jews, also known as the Shoah, saw the greatest percentage of victims over a very short period in Lithuania. Around 96 percent of Jews were exterminated in Lithuania, around 200,000 people. She said that made this commemoration especially important.

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Lithuanian Prime Minister Marks Holocaust Day

Lithuanian Prime Minister Marks Holocaust Day

Lithuanian prime minister Ingrida Šimonytė issued a statement on the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, January 27, saying: “There is no statute of limitation on crimes against humanity, and as the years pass the scope of the tragedy becomes ever clearer. We lost a large community who built Lithuania to the Holocaust and the loss of that community made us impoverished. This painful testament compels the generations to carry shared responsibility for what happened, the burden of that, and to exert all efforts to insure it is never repeated. I invite everyone not just to remember the tragedy of the Holocaust today by paying tribute to the calendar, but to remember every day to practice tolerance and human respect.”

Speaker of Parliament Calls for Remembering Lessons of Holocaust

Speaker of Parliament Calls for Remembering Lessons of Holocaust

Speaker of the Lithuanian parliament Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen issued a statement on the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.

“The Jewish Italian writer Primo Levi who was a Holocaust survivor wrote about a female friend of his who survived the Birkenau concentration camp. Giuliana Tedeschi saw the crematorium chimney from the window in her cell and asked an older female prisoner what was burning there. ‘We are burning there,’ she answered. This isn’t just the tragedy of six million Jews of the world, but our own–every country’s–painful history which deeply cut into Lithuania as well.

“But lately it seems the lessons of this history have been forgotten, with the inability to do without anger and ultimata, when the firing of weapons is heard along national borders and human dignity is crowded out. The world cannot allow for death to become more dear than life again. I believe we have the will to remain people,” she said.

EJC Live-Streaming Event for Holocaust Day

Dear Friends,

We would like to remind you about EJC’s online International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration, which will be held tomorrow at 4PM CET.

The event will be available live on EJC website <http://www.eurojewcong.org>, as well as on YouTube <https://www.youtube.com/user/eurojewcong> and Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/Eurojewcong/>.

No registration is required. The event will appear live on all the above-mentioned channels shortly before the scheduled time.

Thank you in advance.

Kind regards,

Raya and the EJC team

Invitation to Mark International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

Invitation to Mark International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

January 27 is International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, recalling the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites Lithuania’s educational and scientific community to join us in the campaign #WeRemember/#MesPrisimename and to remember the victims, eye-witnesses and heroes of the Holocaust who lived in the cities and towns of Lithuania.

We invite you to engage actively in International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust and to spread the news about the importance of this day among the various educational communities and institutions of general, higher and professional learning. Assign the activities of this day to teaching young people about the memory of Holocaust victims and organize encounters with the older members of the Jewish communities who remember and won’t let these horrific periods of history slip into oblivion. We invite you to pay special attention to remembering those who rescued Jews. Their courage set an example of humanity for future generations.

You can find educational materials, testimonies and stories told by survivors and other useful information which will help present the story of the Holocaust in an interactive and understandable way to young people on the Lithuanian Jewish Community’s webpages lzb.lt, lzb.lt/en and lzb.lt/ru, and at our virtual initiative @AtmintiesKalendorius on our facebook page.

You can also take part in the campaign by visiting the mass murder sites in your local area and by taking photos there and posting them to your social media with the hashtags #WeRemember and/or #MesPrisimename. Take a photo of yourself holding a piece of paper or a sign with the inscription #WeRemember and/or #MesPrisimename. Also, on the eve of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, join the global campaign by adding a #WeRemember frame to your social media profile. Frames can be found at #WeRemember and/or #MesPrisimename.

#WeRemember #MesPrisimename #Neveragain #NiekadaDaugiau #HolocaustMemorialDay

Thank you,

Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community

#MesPrisimename@80 in Šiauliai

#MesPrisimename@80 in Šiauliai

The International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust is on January 27. It commemorates the date the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was liberated and the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust in Europe. In Lithuanian entire Jewish communities in cities and towns were exterminated.

The Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community invites residents to come to monument marking the site of the Šiauliai ghetto at the corner of Vytauto and Žalgirio streets at 12 noon on January 27 to light candles and remember the victims of the Holocaust.

At 12:30 we’ll move to the Square of Righteous Gentiles to honor the heroes of the Lithuanian nation who rescued their Jewish fellow citizens during World War II. At 1:00 P.M. we will light candles at the site of the former second ghetto at the corner of Trakų and Ežero streets.

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Filmmaker Emilis Vėlyvis Calls Izaokas Best Lithuanian Art Film in 30 Years

Filmmaker Emilis Vėlyvis Calls Izaokas Best Lithuanian Art Film in 30 Years

LRT.lt, August 30, 2021

Jurgis Matulevičius film debut “Izaokas” has been playing for three weeks now at Lithuanian movie theaters and has received much praise from average moviegoers and film-industry colleagues as well, according to a press release by the makers of the film.

“Although the category of art film is not my favorite, the film Izaokas is in my opinion the best work in this category over the last 30 years of Lithuanian cinema. Bearing in mind that this is the first full-length feature by the director, he should be given another medal as well for talent,” film director Emilis Vėlyvis said.

Full article in Lithuanian here.

The film tells the story of an LAF volunteer who murders a Jew named Izaokas, or Isaac, during the Lietūkis garage massacre in Kaunas in 1941 and who is haunted by the memory for years. The IMDB entry for the film says:

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UN General Assembly Adopts German-Israeli Proposal against Holocaust Denial

UN General Assembly Adopts German-Israeli Proposal against Holocaust Denial

Deutsche Welle

Ambassadors of Israel and Germany say denying the Holocaust threatens peaceful coexistence worldwide. Their appeal comes 80 years after the Wannsee Conference where Nazis discussed the extermination of Europe’s Jews.

The UN General Assembly on Thursday adopted a resolution proposed by Israeli and German ambassadors rejecting and condemning any denial of the Holocaust.

The 193-member assembly agreed on the proposal without a vote with only Iran distancing itself from the text. The assembly also urged social media companies to “take active measures” to fight anti-Semitism online.

“The General Assembly is sending a strong and unambiguous message against the denial or the distortion of these historical facts,” German UN ambassador Antje Leendertse said. “Ignoring historical facts increases the risk that they will be repeated.”

Full story here.

Yad Vashem Budget Increased by 29 Million Shekels

Yad Vashem Budget Increased by 29 Million Shekels

As expected, the Israeli Government approved an increase to the budget of the Yad Vahsem Holocaust Commemoration and Research Institute on Sunday, January 23, increasing the institution’s budget by 29 million shekels for 2022 to combat anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. It was reported earlier the budget increase was needed because of flagging donations.

#WeRemember/#MesPrisimename 2022

#WeRemember/#MesPrisimename 2022

On January 27 International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust will be marked around the world, recalling the death of six million Jews in the Holocaust.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to participate in the event and to remember the victims, eye-witnesses and rescuers who lived in Lithuania’s towns and cities.

Remembrance of the suffering Holocaust victims experienced compels us to accept shared responsibility to prevent crimes against humanity. We invite you to get involved by visiting the mass murder and mass grave sites where you live, or by sharing the hashtag #WeRemember or #MesPrisimename on your social media accounts.

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Jonas Noreika Was Holocaust Perp, Not Righteous Gentile, Granddaughter Says

Jonas Noreika Was Holocaust Perp, Not Righteous Gentile, Granddaughter Says

Jonas Noreika: Savior or slayer of Jews?
by Silvia Foti

My maternal grandfather was declared a Rescuer of the Jews by the Lithuanian Genocide Resistance and Research Centre. This division is funded by the Lithuanian government, dedicated to establishing and enforcing the legal and official historical narrative of the nation.

The context of the pronouncement was the impending launch of my memoir The Nazi’s Granddaughter: How I Discovered My Grandfather Was a War Criminal. Reluctantly, I had come to the horrific conclusion that my grandfather, Jonas Noreika, was involved in the murder of 8,000 – 15,000 Jews in Lithuania. The book launch in March 2021 coincided with multiple lawsuits against the government of Lithuania, accusing them of Holocaust fraud; these were filed by Grant Gochin, the descendant of some of my grandfather’s victims.

Father Borevičius

A single testimony, given by the Lithuanian priest, Father Jonas Borevičius, was the well from which this decree about my grandfather was drawn. His deposition was given 40 years after the Holocaust in a court in Chicago.

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Wannsee Conference: The Nazi Regime’s Blueprint for the Holocaust

Wannsee Conference: The Nazi Regime’s Blueprint for the Holocaust

On January 20, 1942, details about the extermination of Europe’s Jews were discussed. Even 80 years later, the minutes of the Wannsee Conference send chills down the spine.

In March of 1947 as officials from the German Foreign Ministry tried to justify their actions at the Nuremberg Trials, Robert Kempner made a coincidental discovery. Amid the masses of documents left behind by the Nazis, a cover page piqued the curiosity of the assistant US chief counsel. A stamp in red ink is clearly legible on the page: “Secret Reich Matter.”

Under the nondescript title “Minutes of Meeting,” 15 pages serve as evidence of the systematic execution of European Jews. It is a record of the Wannsee Conference, which took place on January 20, 1942. It is the 16th set of minutes–the only one remaining of a set of 30.

At noon on that day, 15 men who had accepted an invitation from Reinhard Heydrich, head of the dreaded Reich Main Security Office, arrived to a lavish villa in the posh Berlin suburb of Wannsee. The temperature outside was -12 degrees Celsius (10 F), and the frigidness behind what was discussed within the walls of that villa still sends chills down one’s spine today.

Full story here.

Litvaks Who Came Back

Litvaks Who Came Back

The Martynas Mažvydas National Library and its Judaica Center will open an exhibit of photographs, present a book about and hold a discussion on Lithuanian Jews who came back to Lithuania from concentration camps on at 6:00 P.M. January 26. The event will be hosted by director of the Judaica Center Lara Lempertienė and the discussion panel will include several Lithuanian historians and academicians. The discussion will be held in Lithuanian.

“The main target of my searches was people’s faces,” Kęstutis Grigaliūnas, author of the book “Lietuvos žydai, grįžę iš nacių konclagerių” [Lithuanian Jews Who Returned from Nazi Concentration Camps] which will be presented, said in a press release on the library’s facebook page.

The library said the event is closed to people without proof of vaccination and that all faces must be covered by “at least an FFP2-level respirator,” except for people who are unable to cover their faces with such masks due to medical conditions, who must wear plexiglass face shields instead. The library also said attendees must use hand disinfectant and maintain physical distance at the event, and that registration is required.

Who Turned Anne Frank In? New Book Takes Fresh Look

Who Turned Anne Frank In? New Book Takes Fresh Look

The story of Anne Frank has captivated millions of readers, but no one knows how the Franks hidden in an Amsterdam annex were discovered in 1944. A team of cold-case researchers has just published a new theory of who might have done it and why.

A cold case team that combed through evidence for five years in a bid to unravel one of World War II’s enduring mysteries has reached what it calls the “most likely scenario” of who betrayed Jewish teenage diarist Anne Frank and her family.

Their answer, outlined in a new book called “The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation” by Canadian academic and author Rosemary Sullivan, is that it could have been a prominent Jewish notary called Arnold van den Bergh, who disclosed the secret annex hiding place of the Frank family to German occupiers to save his own family from deportation and murder in Nazi concentration camps.

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Silvia Foti Book on Grandfather to be Launched at Vilnius Book Fair

Lithuanian publisher Kitos Knygos has announced the impending launch of SIlvia Foti’s book about her grandfather Jonas Noreika in Lithuanian under the title “Vėtra Lietaus šalyje” [Storm in the Rain Country].

“Journalist Silvija Kučėnaitė-Foti (born 1961) grew up in Chicago’s Lithuanian community hearing about her grandfather’s achievements fighting for Lithuania’s freedom. He was initiator of the June Uprising, imprisoned at the Stutthof camp by the Nazis and killed by the KGB when he returned to Lithuania,” Kitos Knygos wrote on their facebook page.

“Before she died, her mother asked Silvia to complete her mission, to commemorate General Storm in a book. Silvia agreed. Later when she was travelling in Lithuania she discovered people who believed Noreika as head of the Šiauliai district during the Nazi occupation perpetrated Holocaust crimes. Silvia, who considered her grandfather an important hero of the Lithuanian nation, found this incredible: could her family really have hidden from her salient facts in Noreika’s biography?

“In this literary memoir the author presents her 20-year-long investigation of her grandfather’s actions in 1941. This is the story of the author’s own difficult road to learning the truth about her family. Foti relies upon Noreika’s correspondence, orders signed by him, documents issued by the Lithuanian Activists Front and KGB and other documents. The book includes compelling portraits and recollections from Noreika’s fellow travellers.

“This will be an authorized and checked edition. Martas Geležauskas translated from English, Darius Pocevičius translated Russian-language KGB documents and Asta Bučienė and Aira Naiuronytė edited the text. Kazimieras Dainovskis did design.”

Lithuanian publisher’s facebook page here.