The Rokiškio teatras association is carrying out a project to commemorate the Olkin family from Panemunėlis, Lithuania. The family was murdered in the Holocaust. The Panevėžys Jewish Community is a partner in the project. The play Nutildytos Mūzos [Silenced Muses] based on real events will be performed at 4:30 P.M. at the Rokiškis Regional History Museum on September 8 as part of the project. At 6:30 P.M. a statue commemorating the poetess Matilda Olkin will be unveiled at the Panemunėlis railroad station. A monument to commemorate the murdered Olkin and Yoffe families will be unveiled at Šeduikiškės village at 7:30 P.M. All events are open to the public.
Condolences
Moisejus Benderskis has died. He was born April 8, 1937, and passed away on August 11, 2017. He won many chess championships and prizes over the years. The Lithuanian Jewish Community mourns his passing with the Kaunas Jewish Community, where he was a member.
Great Synagogue Listed on Cultural Treasures Registry
information from the Cultural Heritage Department under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania and other sources
A commission for assessing cultural heritage real estate from the Cultural Heritage Department has provided legal protection to the remains of the Great Synagogue in Vilnius. The Great Synagogue of Vilnius was one of the largest religious institutions in Eastern Europe. It was renowned as an important Jewish spiritual and educational center and put Vilnius on the map as a center of Jewish scholarship. The Cultural Treasures Registry lists the construction (fragments of brick wall dating from the 18th century and entrance to the synagogue, southwest wall fragment with niche for the aron kodesh and eastern wall fragment), architectural features, remains of the former building complex including mikvehs dating from the late 19th century, a utility trench on Žydų street and cultural strata as valuable and protected features of the synagogue complex.
Originally the site hosted a wooden synagogue, believed to have been built around 1573. It burned down and was replaced at least once. In 1630 and 1633 royal grant was issued to allow a brick and mortar synagogue to be built there.
Congratulations to Feliksas Puzemskis!
Klaipėda Jewish Community chairman Feliksas Puzemskis has been appointed chairman of the Ethnic Minorities Council of the city of Klaipėda. The Lithuanian Jewish Community congratulates Feliksas on the important appointment and wishes him the highest success in this new post!
Monument Commemorates Jewish Community of Žagarė, Lithuania
A metal apple tree was “planted” at the Litvak Commemorative Garden in the Žemaitija National Park by the Jakovas Bunka Charity and Sponsorship Fund to commemorate the former Jewish community of Žagarė, Lithuania. The metal sculpture was made by Artūras Platakis. Rabbi Kalev Krelin, Jewish rescuer family member Leonas Levinskas and Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Amir Maimon attended the ceremony in mid-August in Medsėdžiai village near Plungė, Lithuania.
Events for September at the Panevėžys Jewish Community
September 20
Competition “Who? What? Where?” for students at the Panevėžys Jewish Community, Ramygalos street no. 18, Panevėžys. The theme of the contest is Holocaust events in Lithuania. The competition starts at 2:00 P.M. There will be six teams from schools and gymnasia in the area. Each team will have 5 members and 1-2 teachers from each educational institution. In total 35 participants will compete.
September 22
Rosh Hashanah celebration at the Rojaus paukštė café, Respublikos street no. 4a. Starts at 6:00 P.M. Please register by September 12 with Zinaida Zaprudskaja to attend this event.
September 23
Commemoration of Jewish Genocide Day: at 1:00 P.M. there will be a commemoration at the statue of the Jewish mother on Atminites square; at 1:30 P.M. there will be an excursion to the Holocaust mass murder site in the Kurganava forest; at 2:00 P.M. there will be an excursion to the Holocaust mass murder site in the Žalioji forest; at 2:30 P.M. there will be a screening of a documentary film about Auschwitz at the Panevėžys Jewish Community, Ramygalos street no. 18, Panevėžys.
Please register with Zinaida Zaprudskaja by September 12.
A bus will carry visitors to the sites, departing from Atminities square at 1:30 P.M.
All events are supported by the Goodwill Foundation.
Kaunas Jewish Community Throws Party for Righteous Gentile
On August 20 the Kaunas Jewish Community threw a birthday party for Righteous Gentile Aldona Radzevičienė (maiden name Norvaišaitytė), who just turned 90. KJC chairman Gercas Žakas and KJC Rescuers Committee chairwoman Judita Makevičienė attended the festivities. Mrs. Radzevičienė didn’t just sit passively through all the well-wishes and gift-giving, but got up and danced the waltz and even performed a song.
Although she doesn’t make a big deal of it, as a young teenage Mrs. Radzevičienė helped her parents Uršulė and Juozas tremendously and the entire family took part in rescuing Alper Kirkilovski, Haim Chernevski, the sisters Shenke and Tzipke Vėberytė and the Shavel family from Kaunas in the Vilkaviškis region of Lithuania during the Holocaust. The had a hideout in the forest during and during the winter they slept in the barn. Juozas Norvaišaitis was arrested by the Nazis after neighbors informed on him. He was deported to Saxony in Germany and nothing further was ever heard of him. All of the Jews the family rescued survived the Holocaust. The father, mother and Aldona Radzevičienė were recognized as Righteous Gentiles in 2001.
Happy birthday to Aldona Radzevičienė, to whom we bow our heads. May you live to 120!
The Litvak Whose Initials Grace Lincoln’s Arm
If you look very carefully at a penny, you’ll notice something you’ve probably never seen before: initials pressed into the dark underline of Lincoln’s bicep. Those initials stand for Victor David Brenner—the Jewish-American engraver, medalist, and designer of the Lincoln cent.
Brenner, born in Lithuania in 1871 and immigrated to the US in 1890, quickly became one of the country’s premier medalists. So premier, in fact, that a Lincoln design Brenner had made—Lincoln was a hero of his—attracted the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt, who commissioned him to produce the design to commemorate Lincoln’s 100th birthday in 1909. Before 1909, no American coin ever held the likeness of a real person—only allegorical figures like Liberty—so the inclusion of bona fide human being was fairly radical.
Since its first pressing, Brenner’s cent has been the longest running design in Mint history. Though there was a snafu: about halfway through its first year, people complained that Brenner’s initials were too large. Even the New York Times carped, saying why not throw Brenner’s address and even a picture onto the penny, too?
Ten years later, an updated penny minimized VDB, and stuck it just below Lincoln’s shoulder, where it remains, mostly hidden, today.
Full story here.
#AtmintisAtsakomybeAteitis
US Author Writes Book of Childhood Impressions of Vilnius
by Ramūnas Gerbutavičius, Lietuvos rytas
“Vilnius is the city of my youth and I have put down roots in the city. Your mother is the first person in your life, and your hometown is your first love, happy or tragic,” Anna Halberstadt said.
The 68-year-old woman was born in Vilnius, educated in Moscow and lives in New York. She wrote poems as a child but never showed them to anyone. She works as a therapist, helping immigrants adapt to American culture. Poetry returned to her thoughts after many years, following the unexpected death of a friend. In 2014 her first book of poems, Vilnius Diary, was published, and was translated into Lithuanian this year.
“Meeting Russian literature teacher Rosa Glintershick at the Salomėja Nėris Gymnasium [in Vilnius] really affected my literary life. When I was 14 I began attending her Russian literature group.”
Full story in Lithuanian here.
A Jewish Orphan from Lithuania Who Became a Household Name in America
In 1897 a 16-year-old Jewish orphan from Lithuania named Lena Himmelstein arrived in New York City and found work in a sweatshop for $1 a week. After her first husband David Bryant died at a young age, Lena supported herself and her son by making and selling tea gowns. When she applied to open a bank account, someone misspelled her name as “Lane.” The clothing line Lane Bryant was born.
In 1907 a customer asked Lena to design her something to wear during pregnancy, unheard of at a time when pregnant women were usually secluded until after birth. With some elastic and an accordion pleated skirt, Lena invented maternity wear. Her dresses were a hit, though she often had to be inventive about advertising, since American society still couldn’t accept the shape of a pregnant woman.
Soon she branched out into creating fashions for plus-sized women as well. She met an eager audience. Together with her second husband and business partner Albert Malsin, Lane Bryant broke new ground by selling stylish, ready-to-wear clothing in larger sizes while offering employee benefits such as insurance plans and pensions.
Respecting all body types and the needs of employees, not a bad legacy for a poor orphan from Lithuania.
Full story here.
#AtmintisAtsakomybeAteitis
Lithuanian Jewish Community Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky’s Address to Conference on Commemorating Great Synagogue of Vilnius
Executive director of the Lithuanian Jewish Community Renaldas Vaisbrodas delivered the following address by chairwoman Faina Kukliansky to a conference called “How Should We Commemorate the Site of the Great Synagogue of VIlnius?” on August 4, 2017:
Dear participants of the international conference How Should We Commemorate the Site of the Great Synagogue of VIlnius?”,
Thank you to the organizers for the opportunity to deliver a keynote speech in the name of the chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community.
I’d like to use this opportunity to address the conference and ask: who could answer the question posed by this conference better than the Jews of Lithuania? Thanks to the initiative and active efforts of the Lithuanian Jewish Community recently, important Litvak heritage monuments and symbols of culture again enjoy the possibility of being restored in our country, recalling the great past of the Jerusalem of Lithuania and preserving it for future generations.
Israeli PM Netanyahu to Visit Lithuania
Vilnius, September 4, BNS–Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevičius invited Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Lithuania and the Lithuanian ministry reports the Israeli PM accepted the invitation made Monday.
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry issued a press release which described Netanyahu emphasizing positive trends in bilateral economic cooperation, including volume of trade, increases in the tourism sector and successful cooperation in science, research and development and innovation. The two men also exchanged views on possible dangers in both regions and agreed to stimulate bilateral cooperation in the energy, defense and cyber-security spheres.
“A special connection binds Lithuania to Israel. We always emphasize, and always receive agreement from Israel on this, that this is more than just traditional politics,” Linkevičius said. He also noted this year marks the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, and that there have been a plethora or events, initiatives and visits in Lithuania to mark this important occasion.
The Lithuanian formin also met with Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, and meetings are scheduled with Knesset chairman Yuli-Yoel Edelstein and other political figures as well.
Linkevičius is visiting Israel at prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s invitation. The Israel prime minister has Litvak roots. Among other family members, his grandmother hails from Šeduva, Lithuania.
Lithuanian Shtetlakh: European Day of Jewish Culture Celebration September 3 at LJC
Press release
The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites the public to attend an event dedicated to the Jewish shtetls of Lithuania to commemorate and remember together this period of Lithuanian history, interesting and dear to us but cut short by the Holocaust and which has become a subject of academic interest and heritage protection.
The theme of this year’s European Day of Jewish Culture on September 3 as confirmed by the Cultural Heritage Department to the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture is “The Diaspora and Heritage: The Shtetl.” This is an intentional, mature and topical choice for a country where the life of the largest ethnic and confessional minority, of the Jews, thrived namely in the Lithuanian shtetlakh until 1941.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community will host an event called “Shtetlakh of Lithuania” on the third floor of the community building at Pylimo street no. 4 on September 3 to celebrate the European Day of Jewish Culture in 2017.
The event will kick off with a bagel breakfast and a presentation and tasting of authentic Jewish recipes at the Bagel Shop Café on the first floor at 9:00 A.M. Following that everyone is invited to attend a short Yiddish language lesson. A brunch awaits the graduates at the Bagel Shop Café. At 2:00 P.M. guest speakers will begin delivering free public lectures on the shtetlakh of Aniksht (Anykščiai), Eishishyok (Eišiškės), Sheduva (Šeduva) and Vilkovishk (Vilkaviškis) and what remains of them. A challa-baking lesson and presentation of the Bagel Shop Café’s new ceramics collection begins at 4:00 P.M. The Jewish song and dance ensemble Fayerlakh will perform a concert at 6:00 P.M.
The Rakija Klezmer Orkestar will also perform a concert at 3:00 P.M. in the Šnipiškės neighborhood of Vilnius.
More information available here.
“The reality in Lithuania is that If you want to learn more about the material and immaterial cultural heritage of a given town in Lithuanian (including the architectural features and aura of buildings, demographic changes and consequent changes in the structure of the town, changes in political structure and the ensuing canonization of ideologized development patterns), you will, unavoidably, run into the word ‘shtetl.’ You will find no better opportunity to understand what this is and to discover the shtetl in the features of buildings still standing in the towns than the events for the European Day of Jewish Culture on September 3,” director of the Cultural Heritage Department Diana Varnaitė said.
The word shtetl is an old Yiddish diminutive for shtot, city, meaning town. The towns of Lithuania where Jews comprised half or the majority of the population, characterized by Litvak energy and the bustle of commercial activity, are often called shtetlakh, the plural of shtetl. It’s thought shtetls evolved into their modern form in the 18th century. Malat, Kupeshok, Zosle, Olkenik, Svintsyan, Vilkomir, Gruzd, Eishyshok, Utyan–these are just a few of the surviving Lithuanian towns.
Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky recalls her parents’ shtetl:
“We didn’t travel to my grandparents’ village in the summer. We didn’t have any ebcause they were murdered in the Holocaust, or had moved from their shtetlakh to Vilnius or Kaunas because they could no longer live there without their loved ones and friends lying in the pits together with the bodies and souls of the other unfortunates.
“The Kuklianskys who survived, however, my father, my uncle who hid in trenches from the Nazis near the shtetl of Sventiyansk, were rescued by local village people, but for their entire lives longed for their home on the banks of the Ančia River in Veisiejai, Lithuania. There was no place happier or more beautiful than their native shtetl. Perhaps because their mother hadn’t been murdered yet.
“The eyes of my mother, who was born in Keydan (Kėdainiai) and spent her childhood in Shavl (Šiauliai), her eyes used to just shine when she remembered how they used to go to the ‘spa town’ of Pagelava near Shavl in horse-drawn cart.
“The shtetls… are no more. Now there are cities and towns, but they have no rabbis, no yeshivas, synagogues or Jews… all that remains is love for the place of one’s birth, but love is stronger than hate. The memories remain, too, and without them we wouldn’t be commemorating the shtetls and their inhabitants.”
Those who seek to find the traces of the lost and concealed presence of the Jews only have to find their way to the center of a Lithuanian town, to the old town, where the red-brick buildings still stand. All of the old towns of the small towns were built by Jews. The same goes for the former synagogues, schools, pharmacies and hospitals.
Cultural heritage experts tell us market day and the Sabbath were the main events of the week in the Lithuanian towns. Both were observed. After the Holocaust the shtetlakh were empty, the Jewish homes stood empty even if they still contained family heirlooms and the items acquired over lifetimes. Non-Jewish neighbors often moved into these houses and took over the property. Now no one uses the word štetlas in Lithuanian, it sounds exotic and needs to be translated to miestelis.
Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium Principal Miša Jakobas Greets Pupils on September 1
Dear school community, dear high school students and first-graders,
So summer has fled the fields, leaving behind its warmth and rays, as if telling us: “meet the autumn,” and Lithuania in the fall celebrates September 1, the Day of Knowledge. As gymnasium principal I may take joy in the great achievements and shared victories of our school. I hope and believe in the future we will be one of the best, one of the most beautiful and one of the most tolerant schools in Lithuania, not just in Vilnius. I am glad today that we finally have a first-grader named Sarah. This name is emotive and special to me as a Lithuanian Jew. And I am glad we have such an extraordinarily beautiful community, moms and dads who love and take care of their children. I am glad the school community includes a scholar and members of parliament, PhDs and professors, medical doctors and business people. I feel good that everyone understands the importance of knowledge and are prepared to lead their children into the world of knowledge at the Jewish school. I am glad children of different ethnicities have a place at this school and I wish we could have a lot more students, but all those who desire to enter wouldn’t fit in a single school. I have to apologize to those who did not get in. Let’s hope one way or another the gate can open, it is not locked shut. This year we have 420 students, a large number, a great responsibility, the work will be difficult, but we are prepared for everything.
On the Competition Which Took Place in 1990 for Commemorating the Great Synagogue
I report the information about the international tender held in 1990 for rebuilding the Great Synagogue, the architect Tzila Zak’s project being recognized the best and her winning the tender is false.
Honorary Lithuanian Jewish Community chairman Grigory Kanovich (the following document incorrectly spells his surname Konovich), Grigorijus Alpernas and I did not participate as judges in the commission and the use of our names is wrong.
It is possible other alleged members of the jury commission have been listed without their knowledge as well.
Daumantas Levas Todesas
0 monument competition announcementJewish Solidarity
by Rabbi Berel Wein
One of the hallmarks of the story of the Jewish people over the millennia of our existence has been the fact that Jews, no matter what their political persuasion or level of religious belief and observance, always seem to care for one another. Though there always were divergent interests and different agendas present in the Jewish world, when Jews were in mortal danger the Jewish world somehow rose to attempt to help and defend our brethren who were threatened.
Many times our efforts were too little and too late. That certainly was the case regarding European Jewry during World War II. Till today, there is much controversy and bitterness, academic dispute and political debate regarding what was done and what more could have been done to rescue Jews from the jaws of the Holocaust.
It is a topic that gives us no rest and provides no proper solution. I remember how my own family personally anguished over the destruction of my uncles, aunts and cousins. They always asked themselves if more could have been done to somehow extricate them from Lithuania before 1940.
Conference “Jews of Palanga” in Palanga, Lithuania
The Palanga Spa Museum is hosting on September 4 an academic conference called “Jews of Palanga: A Lost Part of the City Community.” The museum is organizing the conference with the Baltic Regional History and Archaeology Institute of Klaipėda University. The event will begin at 10:00 A.M. on Monday, September 4 and the address is Birutės alley no. 34a, Palanga, Lithuania.
Organizers ask those who wish to participate to register by calling 8 4 605 7216.
German President Frank Steinmeier, Wife Elke Buedenbender and LJC Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky Commemorate Holocaust Victims at Ponar
German president Frank Steinmeier and wife Elke Buedendender commemorated Holocaust victims at Ponar in Lithuania August 25 with Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky.
Chairwoman Kukliansky said the Jewish community was grateful to the German president for the honor he paid to Holocaust victims and that Ponar remains a symbol of the Jewry of Lithuania murdered during World War II. She also remarked the Nazi regime was responsible for the Holocaust and not all the German people. She characterized modern Germany’s attitude towards Nazi crimes as exemplary. Germany continues to support financially Holocaust survivors in Europe, providing for their health care and other needs. Lithuanian Jews also receive funding from the German state allocated for Holocaust survivors. These funds are distributed through various organizations.
Kukliansky and the president of Germany also addressed the problem of the second generation, meaning the children of survivors, often of parents who took up arms to fight the Nazis and those who survived due to the goodwill of others, as well as the children of those who survived by being deported and evacuated to the Soviet Union. These children in Lithuania grew up with a real experience of Holocaust trauma, they heard talk at home of the loss of family members and entire families, the loss of homes, the need to hide and flee and the experience of survivors who found it difficult to obtain employment after the war in Soviet Lithuania using a Jewish surname. Many feared anti-Semitic attacks after the war. Relatively recently scholars and specialists have begun looking at the this post-traumatic experience by the second generation who also suffered from the Nazi regime, and who in post-Communist countries often experience hardships and poverty in old age. There are plans to review German criteria for distributing compensation. Currently many funds allocate monies, subsidies and grants. Now there is consideration of taking care of the second generation of survivors as well.
from the German press on August 25 with additional LJC photographs (without watermarks):
German President Frank Walter Steinmeier on Official Visit to Lithuania
EPA photographer FELIPE TRUEBA
German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier, his wife Elke Buedenbender and chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community Faina Kukliansky participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Ponari Holocaust memorial in Vilnius, Lithuania, on August 25, 2017. Steinmeier is on an official four-day tour visiting the Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to strengthen diplomatic relations with Germany. The Baltic region is an important ally in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Kaunas Jewish Community Commemorates 76th Anniversary of Mass Murder at Prienai and Surrounding Areas
On August 26 members of the Kaunas Jewish Community attended a commemoration of the mass murder of Jews in Prienai and the surrounding towns of Birštonas, Stakliškės, Jieznas, Balbieriškis and others 76 years ago. Also attending were Prienai regional administration head Egidijus Visockas and Balbieriškis Tolerance Center director Vitas Rymantas Sidaravičius. KJC chairman Gercas Žakas shared his thoughts and thanked those in attendance. KJC member and Kaunas ghetto inmate Fruma Kučinskienė spoke about the love affair between German composter Edwin Geist and Prienai resident pianist Lyda Bagrianskytė, about their friends and about their rescuers, Prienai resident doctor Juozas Brundza and Kaunas resident Františekas (Pranas) Vocelka. Balbieriškis primary school principal Stasys Valančius, teacher Reda Valančienė and their students also attended the event.
After the painful memories members of the KJC had a chance to speak with event organizers in an informal atmosphere. The Kaunas residents also visited Jewish sites in Prienai, although not many survive: the famous Bagrianski mill listed on the Lithuanian registry of cultural treasures, the former synagogue, a Jewish primary school and the ever-more-beautiful Birštonas spa.
Stories of Vilner Life Accompanied by Music
Arkadijus Gotesmanas, photo from the press release.
Klezmer music festivals are scheduled from August 10 to October 5 in Vilnius, Klaipėda, Kaišiadorys, Joniškis, Merkinė and other Lithuanian towns which will include a nine-concert series called Music for Failed Plays adapted from Abraomas Karpinovičius’s collection of tales The Last Prophet of Vilnius, festival organizers said in a press release.
Avant-garde jazz percussionist and modern music performer Arkadijus Gotesmanas is the force behind the festival. He says he wants to introduce the Lithuanian public to the original writer Abraomas Karpinovičius (1918-2004) who wrote in Yiddish.
His work commemorates the former Jewish life of Vilna, the Jewish drama theater and the Jewish community. Often his characters are odd, for example, Gedalkė Kantorius, who believed melodies could be frozen in a teapot and kept till spring, or the folklorist at the Halle market in Vilnius who collected profanities, or Rokhala who claimed to be a member of the royal court, or the woman who drew banknotes for the future state of Israel outside the Great Synagogue.