Litvaks – Page 5 – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Embattled PM Has Big Plans for Old Jewish Cemetery

The Lithuanian and Russian news portals madeinvilnius.lt and ru.delfi.lt are reporting Lithuanian prime minister Gintautas Paluckas (Social Democratic Party) has renewed government plans to refurbish the former Palace of Sports complex in central Vilnius and to renovate the Jewish cemetery where it was built and which surrounds the building.

Paluckas is facing calls to stand a confidence vote in parliament following revelations of sweet-heart loan deals and large discounts for real estate purchases.

According to both news sites, Paluckas wants to renovate the large but decrepit building for use as a conference center, the same plan floated by earlier governments. This iteration of the on-going talk of renovation now includes plans by the PM to install a museum within that space for commemorating the first meeting of Sąjūdis there, and victims of the January 13, 1991, Vilnius television tower massacre. Sąjūdis officially became a political party there and went on to contest elections to the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet against the Lithuanian Communist Party led by Algirdas Brazauskas. Original member of Sąjūdis and later Brazauskas supporter Arvydas Juozaitis is currently completing a boom on the history of the early Lithuanian independence movement which includes a detailed description of that founding meeting, according to pre-publiicty from the author himself.

2025-07-242025-07-24

North Americans Visit Ukmergė

Natania Ramba visited Ukmergė this week with her film crew. She’s filming a documentary about Jews from Ukmergė, or Vilkomir in Yiddish.

Her grandfather also came from Vilkomir.

Ukmergė Jewish Community chairman Artūras Taicas was interviewed for the film.

The Jewish population was almost entirely murdered during the Holocaust.

Taicas showed Ramba around the city just a short drive north of Vilnius, including Jewish heritage sites.

They plan to show the film to descendants of Jews from Vilkomir and to Litvals in general in Mexico and the United States.

2025-07-24

Tisha b’Av and the Ongoing Struggle against Lithuanian Holocaust Revisionism

by Grant Gochin, July 18, 2025

Tisha b’Av, observed annually on the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av, is a solemn day of mourning in Judaism, commemorating a series of tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, most notably the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. Over time, this day has also become a time to reflect on other catastrophic events in Jewish history, including the Holocaust, which saw the systematic murder of approximately six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1941 and 1945. For many Jewish communities, Tisha b’Av serves as a moment to mourn the six million victims of the Holocaust, often through the recitation of kinnot, liturgical dirges that lament historical persecutions, including those of the 20th century. As we commemorate these profound losses, however, a troubling issue persists in Lithuania: the government’s ongoing efforts to revise and deny its historical role in the Holocaust, a matter I have confronted through extensive legal action. This article explores the intersection of Tisha b’Av’s remembrance, Lithuania’s Holocaust revisionism and my legal battles to expose this distortion, drawing on insights from my work and the broader discourse on antisemitism.

Tisha b’Av: A Day of Collective Mourning

Tisha b’Av is marked by a 25-hour fast and the recitation of the Book of Lamentations, which mourns the destruction of Jerusalem. Over centuries the day has evolved to encompass additional tragedies, such as the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 and the Holocaust. Religious communities often incorporate special kinnot composed after the Holocaust, such as those by Rabbi Shimon Schwab in 1959 and Rabbi Solomon Halberstam in 1984, to honor the six million Jewish victims. This practice underscores the day’s role as a time to reflect on the enduring impact of antisemitism and the importance of historical truth. The Holocaust as a pinnacle of antisemitic violence is a focal point of this commemoration, making Lithuania’s revisionist policies particularly jarring in the context of Tisha b’Av.

2025-07-222025-07-22

Happy Birthday, Emanuelchik

A very happy birthday to Lithuania’s only Jewish MP, signatory to the 1990 Restoration of Lithuanian Independence Act, philologist, the first chairman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community aka the Jewish Culture Club founded in 1988 and all-around good person Emanuelis Zingeris.

The entire Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes you good health, endless energy and the highest continued success in your life and work. Mazl tov. Bis 120!

2025-07-21

Šiauliai Jewish Community Celebrates 100th Birthday of Leiba Lipshitz

from the newspaper Šiaulių kraštas

The Chaim Frenkl Villa of the Aušra Museum in Šiauliai hosted a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Leiba Lipshitz on July 16. Lipshitz chronicled Jewish life in Šiauliai, researched regional history and was a well-known publix figure. People called him a walking encyclopedia. He survived the Stuthoff and Dachau concentration camps but lost his entire family in the Holocaust. He went back to his hometown and dedicated the rest of his life to documenting Jewish history and life in Šiauliai.

Historian Jonas Kiriliauskas delivered a presentation of Lipshitz and his views on life at the ceremony.

2025-07-21

Lithuanian Jewish Community Appeals to Prosecutor General over Hate Crimes

Unpunished vandals continue to target spaces belonging to the Lithuanian Jewish Community. Last week, for the second time, perpetrators smashed the window of the Community’s Bagel Shop. Security camera footage clearly shows this was not an accident but a deliberate act aimed at one of the most frequently visited spaces of the :LJC. Sadly Lithuanian police seem incapable of recognizing crimes which exhibit the signs of anti-Semitism; instead they prioritize incidents solely based on material damage. While a few dozen or even a few hundred euros might not seem like a large sum, violence motivated by ethnic hatred is a hate crime punishable by imprisonment.

We emphasize this is not the first clearly anti-Semitic incident. Our Israeli flag was stolen and desecrated; glass near the children’s club in the Community building was smashed; the Vilnius Choral Synagogue was vandalized; the Šiauliai Jewish Community has been attacked multiple times and our Bagel Shop has repeatedly become a target for anti-Semites. Regrettably, in none of these cases did the Lithuanian police or prosecutors take meaningful action to identify and punish the perpetrators. This sends a dangerous message to malicious actors: they may spread hatred and endanger members of the community without consequence.

2025-07-172025-07-18

Kaunas Jewish Community Celebrates Volf Kagan’s 125th Birthday with Concert

The Kaunas Jewish Community has the pleasure of inviting you to a celebration of the 125th anniversary of the birthday of Volf Kagan with a concert performed by the Kiryat Ono youth orchestra from Israel.

Kagan came from Balbirishok and served in the volunteer army in the first Lithuanian republic. He fought in the early battles for independence and was awarded the medal Knight of the Order of the Cross of Vytis twice.

The Kiryat Ono youth orchestra’s program includes works by Lithuanian composer Čiurlionis, traditional European and Near Eastern melodies contemporary Israeli music and some excursions into jazz and pop arrangements.

The concert is free and open to the public.

Time: 5:00 P.M., Monday, July 21
Place: Great Hall, Vytautas Magnus University, Gimnazijos street no. 71, Kaunas

2025-07-15

LJC Forges Agreement on Judaica Research with Vilnius University

The Lithuanian Jewish Community has signed a cooperation agreement with Vilnius University for closer collabaoration in Jewish studies and Judaica research, including joint efforts initiating new educational and cultural projects.

LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky said: “This is a great honor and very useful for us … especially with Vilnius University with its centuries of learning and research. Jewish history and culture doesn’t start and end with the Holocaust. There is a millennium of the Yiddish language, a rich history and an abundance of deep and significant traditions which we want to pass on to future generations.”

Vilnius University rector and professor Rimvydas Petrauskas commented: “The Lithuanian Jewish Community is an important partner for us. This agreement is an opportunity to stimulate knowledge of the history and even the present-day of the Jewish community.”

Pro-rector for partnerships professor Artūras Vasiliauskas and organization contact coordinator Daniel Šematovič were also present at the signing of the historic agreement.

2025-07-072025-07-07

Lithuanian Jewish Community Condemns Desecration of Ponar Memorial Complex

The anti-Semitic attack on the Paneriai (Ponar) Memorial Complex commemorating the victims of the Holocaust there victims there is an act of vandalism equivalent to the desecration of graves.

During World War II 96% of Lithuania’s Jewish population, more than 200,000 people, were murdered. Nearly half were killed in Paneriai. There is no Litvak family untouched by the Holocaust, which is why Paneriai is not merely a place where we lay flowers and light candles several times a year. It is a sacred site where every patch of soil covers the bones of the murdered. Here we mourn our loved ones, reliving their terror and suffering each time we visit. It is cowardly and despicable to fight the dead, yet such is the tactic of terrorists, to rape women, to kidnap and torture the elderly, to murder children in front of their mothers. And to smash windows, attack synagogues which also house schools and shoot diplomats. This attack at the Paneriai Memorial Complex is part of a global wave of rising anti-Semitism.

Regrettably the number of anti-Semitic acts of vandalism in Lithuania continues to increase. But no matter what the terrorists do, the Lithuanian Jewish Community will continue to stand firm with Israel in its struggle for survival and its right to self-defense.

We thank everyone who has condemned this attack and we call upon Lithuanian law enforcement and state institutions to take action and identify those responsible for this anti-Semitic offense.

2025-07-032025-07-07

Aleksandra Jacovskytė’s Exhibit Punktyras Now Showing

Aleksandra Jacovskytė’s exhibit Punktyras opened July 2 at the Artifex Gallery of the Vilnius Art Academy. It will run till July 25.

Jacovskytė’s works on display include drawings in pen and pencil made on found scraps of paper, freehand drawings made without plan nor narrative.

Jacovskytė is a lauded artist in Lithuania whose media include drawing, photography, graphic design and even scenography and costumes for the stage. Her work on the play “Always Yours, Anne Frank” earned her recognition in the form of the Golden Cross of the Stage award. Her works are on display in museums and demonstration spaces throughout Lithuania.

Time: July 2-25, 2025
Place Artifex Gallery, Gaono street no. 1, Vilnius

2025-07-032025-07-04

Israeli ForMin Visits Vilnius

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar visited Vilnius Tuesday, met with his Lithuanian counterpart and attended a ceremony in Ponar to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust there.

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky told foreign minister Sa’ar the LJC and the organizations it represents fully support the state of Israel which is defending itself from terrorists who seek to destroy it.

According to LNK television evening news Tuesday, Sa’ar met with Lithuanian foreign minister Kęstutis Budrys and they discussed EU efforts to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza, and the Iranian nuclear weapons program. Budrys, Kukkliansky, Israeli embassy staff and other Lithuanian Foreign Ministry officials accompanied Sa’ar to Ponar, the largest Jewish mass murder site in Lithuania.

LNK reported the Israeli foreign minister at a press conference at the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said “Lithuania is our friend.” He also said both of his wife’s parents are Litvaks from Vilnius. He said this was his first but not his last trip to Vilnius.

Gideon Sa’ar replaced Israel Katz as foreign minister in November of 2024.

2025-07-032025-07-03

Garage

Members of the Kaunas Jewish Community and the public commemorated the Garage massacre last Friday at the location where it happened in Kaunas.

On June 27, 1941, Lithuanians murdered about 50 Jews at the Lietūkis automobile service garage in Kaynas as onlookers watched. They tortured the men by beating them with crowbars and forcing high-pressure water from fire hose down their throats. The victims were pulled off the streets at random for being Jewish. When they had killed all the Jews, they placed the corpses in a pile and one man climbed on top and performed a Lithuanian song on accordion. Some eye-witnesses claimed it was the Lithuanian anthem, other sources indicate it was a different song. Photographs were taken of the massacre as it was carried out. The infamous Garage massacre was one of many pogroms carried out in Kaunas during the last two weeks of June and into July and August..

After the commemoration in situ, kaddish was said for victims of the pogroms and Holocaust at the Jewish cemeteries in the Slobodka and Žaliakalnis neighborhoods in Kaunas.

Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas thanked everyone for participating and the Kaunas municipality for their support.

2025-07-03

Vilna Gaon Museum Presents Samuel Bak Catalog

The Samuel Bak Museum at the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum’s Tolerance Center will host a presentation of a catalog of works of art by Samuel Bak. There will be a number of speakers including Bak himself.

Time: 6:00 P.M., July 2
Place: Samuel Bak Museum, Naugarduko street no. 10, Vilnius

2025-07-012025-07-01

Victims of First Mass Murder Remembered in Palanga

Palanga Jewish Community chairman Vilius Gutmanas, Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, members of the Palanga Jewish Community, Lithuanian MPs Mindaugas Lingė, Dalia Asanavičiūtė-Gružauskienė and Paule Kuzmickienė, Palanga mayor Šarūnas Vaitkus, deputy mayor Akvilė Kiljonienė, Palanga municpal Vulture Department director Robertas Trautmanas, staff from the Jonas Šliūpas Museum and high school students gathered to remember the first mass murder of Jews in Lithuania on June 27.

On June 22, 1941, a Young Pioneers summer camp of mainly Jewish children saw the brunt of the Nazi invasion with a building burnt down from aerial bombardment and children fleeing in panic. On June 26 all Jews in Palanga were arrested and crowded into two synagogues, one designated for females and young children and the other for males. The males were taken out and shot in the city’s main park on June 27. Around 111 people were murdered there that day, including 106 Jews and 5 Lithuanians. Remaining Jews were subjected to mass murder again on October 12, 1941. It is believed more than 400 Jews from Palanga were killed during both mass murders.

2025-07-01

Hundredth Anniversary of Birth of Leiba Lipshitz in Šiauliai

The Šiauliai District Jewish Community invites you to come celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Leiba Lipshitz. The Community and the Aušra Museum in Šiauliai will mark the date with an event commemorating this chronicler of the Šiauliai Jewish community in the 20th century and well-known personality with a presentation by historian Jonas Kiriliauskas.

Time: 4:00 P.M., Wednesday, July 16
Place: The Chaim Frenkl Villa and Museum, Vilnius street no. 74, Šiauliai

2025-07-01

Hundredth Anniversary of the YIVO in Vilnius

An international seminar for Lithuanian teachers dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the YIVO Institute (Jewish Research Institute) in Vilnius was held at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library, and a virtual museum was presented with a prepared methodological manual entitled “Beba’s Story,” based on the story of Beba Epstein, a girl who lived in Vilnius.

The opening of the seminar was attended by library director Aušrinė Žilinskienė, Israeli ambassador Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein, Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, MP Emanuelis Zingeris, diplomats from the USA and Germany and deputy Vilnius mayor Vytautas Mitalas.

The seminar was attended by 40 teachers from different locations in Lithuania who are interested in the history of Lithuanian Jews and the possibilities of using various historical sources in their curricula.

Speakers included Egidijus Aleksandravičius of Vytautas Magnus University, YIVO sirector Jonathan Brent, director of the National Library’s Judaica Center Lara Lempertienė and historian Saulius Sužedelis.

The seminar was organized by the YIVO Institute (USA) in cooperation with the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania, the Martynas Mažvydas National Library, the city of Vilnius, the Goodwill Foundation and the Lithuanian Jewish Community.

2025-06-262025-06-26

Brothers and Sisters in Arms in the Service of Remembrance

by Sergėjus Kanovičius, www.lrt.lt

When a half year ago German ambassador to Lithuania Cornelius Zimmermann asked me whether I’d object to an initiative by which soldiers from a Germany armored brigade would help document Jewish cemeteries in Lithuania, I was at a loss for words. The first thought which occurred to me was, why now Lithuanian soldiers?

But as I sat in the waiting room of the German embassy… Over 14 years in the life of Maceva (Matseva, Hebrew for monument), there’s been a bit of everything–Austrian and German volunteers, Christian, Lithuanian high school students, US embassy staff, visitors from Israel. But Bundeswehr soldiers maintaing Jewish cemeteries and documenting grave monuments? Why?

2025-06-23

Intensive Yiddish Courses Coming This Summer

The Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium in Vilnius will host two weeks of Yiddish course at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels under the tutelage of Dov-Ber Kerler and Anna Vershik–both teachers at the former Vilnius Yiddish Institute’s summer courses–and Yuri Vedenyapin from Poland August 3-15. The cost is €350 per student and registration is open now by clicking the following link:
https://forms.gle/DR4nzbXrDS84TVQ37

Beginners need no knowledge of the language at all but the instructors say knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet would be a big help. For more information, write to: yiddishcourse@ort.lt

2025-06-182025-08-25

Scouting Camp by Boat

ewish scouting leader Michail Adomui Kofman is planning a scouting camp at the Vaitlunkis camp and recreation area in the Panevėžys district to be reached and exited by boat from July 2 to July 8.

The program includes abundant activities, four meals per day, amenities and camp badges and emblems.

The cost is 90 years for the full program, 15 euros per day for part-time participants and a donation of 30 euros from adult volunteers and older scouts. Part-time volunteers are asked to pay 5 euros per day. Parents and guests attending visitor’s day are asked to pay 10 euroes per day. Scout leaders supervising groups of young people are not asked to pay anything. There are discounts for two children from the same family at 75 euros per person, and 3 members of the same family pay just 6- euros each. Discouns don’t apply to adult family members.

2025-06-182025-06-18

Journey to Agartha Scouting Jamboree in Panevėžys

A jamboree of scouts from across the Panevėžys district including a contingent of Jewish scouts met in the Žalioji Forest and camped there from May 31 to June 1.

Almost 150 scouts already on scene greeted a minbus full of Jewish scouts just before the opening ceremony for the campsite.

The scouts were divided into age groups and activities for the youngest included handicrafts and botanical identification. Scouts aged 10-14 played games to increase vigilance, leadership and strategic thinking. Scouts 14-18 honed their skills in constructing shelters (knots, wooden construction, tool safety), built a dug-out bunker and cooked for themselves.

This was the first time Jewish scouts appeared with their new official troop title, the Yitzhak Meir Jewish Scouting Club.

The jamboree was called A Journey to Agartha, the mythical subterranean kingdom popularized in Europe by Ferdynand Ossendowski and René Guénon.

2025-06-18