Learning, History, Culture

Canadian Jews Demand Deportation of Ukrainian Member of Nazi Death Squad

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Jewish groups are calling on Canada to strip citizenship from a 92-year-old man who was once a member of a Nazi death squad.

In a letter to Citizenship Minister John McCallum, the groups say it is time to conclude a 20-year battle to deport Helmut Oberlander.

“As has been clearly established, Mr. Oberlander was a member of one of the most savage Nazi killing units, responsible for the murder of more than 90,000 Jewish men, women, and children during the Holocaust,” states the March 9 letter. “He is here illegally, was associated with a horrific and murderous enterprise for which he has neither demonstrated nor expressed any remorse, and he ought to have his Canadian citizenship revoked immediately,” it adds.

Born in Ukraine, Oberlander immigrated to Canada in 1954 and became a citizen in 1960. Ottawa began trying to strip him of his citizenship in 1995, prompting a protracted court battle.

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Argentine Director Returns to Jewish Roots with “The Tenth Man”

In his new movie, filmmaker Daniel Burman explores the Buenos Aires of his youth and the people who live there
by Igal Avidan

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BERLIN–Usher, who heads a Jewish welfare foundation in Buenos Aires, is an unlikely movie star. But the middle-aged Argentinean Jew, whose real name is Oscar Barilka, is the central figure in Jewish-Argentinian director Daniel Burman’s new feature film, “El Rey del Once” (The Tenth Man).

Usher, playing himself, is almost always off-camera, but he is often heard as he works to bring his son Ariel (played by actor Alan Sabbagh) back to his roots.

“Usher is a real tzadik [righteous person] who doesn’t even know he is one,” says award-winning writer-director Burman, who won the Grand Jury Prize in 2004 for his film “El Abrazo Partido” (Lost Embrace), a comedy-drama about the grandson of Polish Holocaust refugees.

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Jewish Students Deliver Donations to Developmentally Disabled Infant Center

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Representatives of the Vilnius Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium visited the Vilnius Developmentally Disabled Infant Center March 8 and were warmly received by director Viktorija Grežėnienė. The students delivered donations and visited some of the small wards of the center. The donations included a sofa-bed, musical mobiles and educational games which the students purchased with funds raised by a food and crafts fair held on the Tu b’Shvat holiday. Students made their own dishes and snacks as well as art works and sold them to other students during the fair.

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Rain and Low Turnout at Annual Vilnius Neo-Nazi March

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The parade of nationalists and neo-Nazis which has marred Lithuanian independence day celebrations for 7 years in a row went forward this March 11 as well.

Despite attempts by organizers to make the event acceptable and mainstream by calling it “traditional” and “patriotic” and to play down the swastikas and calls for the death of ethnic minorities prominent in earlier years, this year’s march was smaller than last year’s.

From 200 to 300 people, according to estimates by outsiders, gathered at the statue on Cathedral Square at around 4:00 P.M. on March 11, the more important of Lithuania’s two independence days which marks the date in 1990 when the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet parliament declared independence from the Soviet Union. The square was the final point by another march earlier in the day dedicated to celebrating Lithuanian independence and tolerance, which travelled the same route but in the opposite direction, from Independence Square outside the Lithuanian parliament to Cathedral Square. A large trailer painted military colors behind the gathering at the statue for the 4 o’clock march was outfitted with an oven and volunteers dressed as Lithuanian soldiers were still passing out free hot food to children as a variety of Lithuanian ultranationalists, neo-Nazis, biker gang members and various followers milled about waiting for the march.

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Major American Jewish Leader Changes His Mind about Israel

An Amazing Turn for a Major Leader of the American Jewish Mainstream: David Gordis Rethinking Israel

David Gordis has served as vice president of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles (now American Jewish University). He also served as executive vice president of the American Jewish Committee and was the founding director of the Foundation for Masorti Judaism in Israel. He founded and directed the Wilstein Institute for Jewish Policy Studies which became the National Center for Jewish Policy Studies.

David Gordis is president emeritus of Hebrew College where he served as president and professor of Rabbinics for fifteen years. He is currently visiting senior scholar at the University at Albany of the State University of New York. Here is the article he submitted to Tikkun. We publish it with the same sadness that Gordis expresses at the end of this article, because many of us at Tikkun magazine shared the same hopes he expresses below for an Israel that would make Jews proud by becoming an embodiment of what is best in Jewish tradition, history, and ethics, rather than a manifestation of all the psychological and spiritual damage that has been done to our people, which now acts as an oppressor to the Palestinian people. For those of us who continue to love Judaism and the wisdom of our Jewish culture and traditions, pointing out Israel’s current distortions gives us no pleasure, but only saddens us deeply.
–Rabbi Michael Lerner

Reflections on Israel 2016
David M. Gordis

While reading Ethan Bronner’s review of a new biography of Abba Eban, I was reminded of a time when in a rare moment I had the better of a verbal encounter with Eban. It happened about thirty years ago at a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which brought together leaders of American Jewish organizations, sometimes to hear from a visiting dignitary, in this case Eban, Israel’s eloquent voice for many years. I was attending as Executive Vice President of the American Jewish Committee. Eban had a sharp wit as well as a sharp tongue. He began his remarks with a mildly cynical remark: “I’m pleased, as always, to meet with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, though I wonder where the presidents of minor American Jewish organizations might be.” I piped up from the audience: “They are busy meeting with minor Israeli government officials.” A mild amused reaction followed and Eban proceeded with his remarks.

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On 100th Anniversary BMW Expresses Regret for Using Slave Labor to Supply Nazi Arms

by Shiryn Ghermezian

German car manufacturer Bavarian Motor Works (BMW) expressed regret on Monday for using forced labor to help supply weapons components to the Nazis during WWII, the UK’s Daily Mail reported.

Under the National Socialist regime in the 1930s and ’40s, BMW operated exclusively as a supplier to the German arms industry, the company said in a statement. As demand for its aero engines increased, BMW recruited forced laborers, convicts and prisoners from concentration camps to assist in manufacturing them.

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EJC Expresses Deep Concern about Growth of Neo-Nazi Parties in Europe

Dear Friends,

Please find below EJC’s statement following Slovakia’s elections where the neo-Nazi party Our Slovakia gained 14 parliamentary seats, entering the National Council for the first time.

Thank you and kind regards,
The EJC team

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EJC Expresses Deep Concern about Growth of Neo-Nazi Parties in Europe after Our Slovakia Makes Gains in Parliamentary Elections

(Brussels, Monday, March 7, 2016)–European Jewish Congress president Dr. Moshe Kantor has expressed alarm and concern after the latest neo-Nazi party made gains in a European national parliamentary election. A neo-Nazi party named Our Slovakia has gained 14 parliamentary seats in Slovakia’s elections, entering the National Council for the first time. The far-right extremists scored 8 percent in an election that failed to produce a majority result.

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Rina Zak: “Markas Petuchauskas: Theater in the Shadow of Death”

Publisher, translator and editor Rina Zak [Zhak, Žak, Рина Жак], one of the iconic figures in Russian-speaking Israel, is also well known outside of the biggest linguistic community in the country. Rina also engages in educational activities, in the everyday activities of the Geographical Society of Israel and in the periodical press, writing in Isrageo magazine, as well as on facebook, where she posts little-known passages from Jewish and Israeli history. Rina Zak was born in Kaunas and was graduated from the Journalism Faculty of Vilnius University.

We are pleased to offer for your consideration a passage by Rina Zak:

Markas Petuchauskas: Theater in the Shadow of Death

In 2015 he published a book of memoirs of his time as a young prisoner of the Vilnius ghetto called “Price of Concord.”

Strange as it might seem to some, the ghetto was a venue for musical performances and festivals, literary competitions and art exhibitions. There clinics and hospitals, schools and kindergartens, a youth club and a café. There were plans for a museum, a publishing operation… but these ideas were not destined to happen. The Vilnius ghetto lasted only two years, and its population of about 40 thousand people was almost completely exterminated.

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Come Join the March 11 Holiday Procession

Lithuania is celebrating 26 years of the restoration of independence this year. We’re inviting members and friends of the Lithuanian Jewish Community to assemble at Independence Square in front of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library at 11:45 A.M. on March 11 to watch the ceremonial raising of the flags of the three Baltic states and to join the holiday procession from there to Cathedral Square. Together, let’s create a tolerant Lithuania free from stereotypes and hate!

Serious Work Planned at Old Jewish Cemetery in Žaliakalnis District of Kaunas

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A working group for refurbishing the old Jewish cemetery in Žaliakalnis neighborhood of Kaunas met March 3. Under an agreement with the municipal administration, experts from the public agency Registrų centras [Registry Center] performed a survey and inventory of the Žaliakalnis Jewish cemetery. All gravestones were counted (5,808) and every grave was assigned a number and its exact location determined. This work took about 2 months and cost 8,000 euros. It was financed by the city of Kaunas. The work performed so far will allow the next steps to be taken: to photograph each grave, to read and translate headstone inscriptions, to identify the graves (to determine the identity of the people buried) and to create a virtual database. After that’s done, drafting and implementing a technical plan for refurbishing the cemetery will be possible. So far there is no funding for these tasks, so the plan is to approach different foundations, and the idea of recruiting volunteers for grave identification is also being considered.

The municipality is preparing a territorial planning document (designating the plot of land) for the cemetery and is planning to set up surveillance cameras at cemeteries this spring. The cemetery is always mowed and maintained.

Kaunas Jewish Community Members Take to Water for Makabi Swimming Activities

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A large group of Kaunas Jewish Community members are spending their weekends attending swimming exercises held by the Makabi Athletics Club at the newly renovated Girstutis pool complex. The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Goodwill Fund have extended financial support to the Kaunas Makabi Athletics Club so that members can make use of the sports and recreation center.

Bagel Shop Café on Television

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The Catholic newspaper and website bernardai.lt now has a video outlet as well and has presented a feature on the new Bagel Shop Café located at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. The video presentation in Lithuanian, Hebrew and English features short conversations with Lithuania’s two new rabbis on the meaning of kosher food and cooking, as well as a brief interview with Smhuel Levin, the chairman of the Lithuanian Jewish Religious Community, among others.

To view the interview, please direct your browser here.

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Jewish Summer Camp in Hungary Fosters Next Generation of Leaders–and Romance


Photo courtesy JDC

by Cnaan Liphshiz

SZARVAS, Hungary (JTA)–Escaping a sudden downpour in the summer of 2012, Andras Paszternak and Barbi Szendy ran to find cover inside an empty cabin at their Jewish summer camp, Szarvas, 100 miles east of Budapest.

The two senior counselors, then 31 and 36 respectively, chatted as rain drenched the sprawling compound where they had passed every summer since their early teens.

“I suddenly noticed I was holding Barbi’s hand,” Paszternak, a Hungarian Jew from Slovakia, said in recalling the day when he began his romantic relationship with his Hungarian Jewish wife.

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Lithuanian Jewish Community Statement on the March 11 Holiday and Neo-Nazi Chants

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March 4, 2016, No. 197

To:

the honorable Algirdas Butkevičius
Government of the Republic of Lithuania
Gedimino prospect 11
Vilnius 01103

the honorable Remigijus Šimašius
Konstitucijos prospect 3
LT-09601 Vilnius

the honorable Visvaldas Matijošaitis
Laisves alley 96
LT-44251 Kaunas

cc:

Chancellory of the President of the Republic of Lithuania
S. Daukanto square 3
LT-01122 Vilnius

Statement
March 4, 2016
Vilnius

The Lithuanian Jewish Community proposes the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and the municipal governments of the cities of Vilnius and Kaunas take all possible measures to ensure the holiday to mark the 26th anniversary of the restoration of the Lithuanian state does not include neo-Nazi chants, marches and symbols and events of a similar nature.

We would like to underline the importance of this holiday for all of Lithuania’s citizens, including the Litvak community in Lithuania with its unique and long-standing traditions, and the importance of fostering in the international arena an image of Lithuania as a modern state based on democratic principles and celebrating a tradition of multiculturalism over many centuries.

We would like to remind you of the march held by the Union of Patriotic Youth and the Lithuanian National center on March 11, 2015 with permission from the Vilnius municipality. This march featured fascist and racist symbols and chants and slogans promoting ideas of segregation.

The Government and the municipal institutions should continue to make efforts so that neo-Nazi ideas do not become acceptable in Lithuanian society and especially that they shouldn’t be propagated under cover of state holidays and through manipulation of the concept of patriotism.

Sincerely,

Faina Kukliansky
chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community

Fayerlakh Concert

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The Jewish song and dance Ensemble celebrate their 45th anniversary with a concert at the Russian Drama Theater in Vilnius. The concert is scheduled for 6:00 P.M. on March 22. Tickets cost 12 euros for the general public, 9 euros for Community members and 2 euros for students and senior citizens. To purchase tickets, see here.

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Lithuania Pledges Support to Japan’s Bid to Include Sugihara Documents on UN Register

VILNIUS, March 4, BNS–Lithuania will support a Japanese application to include the documents issued by its vice-consul Chiune Sugihara in Kaunas in the UNESCO Memory of the World Program.

“Lithuania supports the initiative. Sugihara’s heroic deed must be remembered, immortalized and promoted as triumph of humanity even in the face of deadly threat. I am glad our nations share values,” Lithuanian parliamentary speaker Loreta Grauziniene said after meeting with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo.

During World War II Japanese vice-consul Sugihara issued Japanese visas to Jewish nationals fleeing Nazi oppression, saving many lives.

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Fayerlakh Concert and Bagel Shop at the Kaziukas Fair in Vilnius

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The opening of Vilnius’s annual street fair will feature a concert by the Jewish song and dance ensemble Fayerlakh, at 5:00 P.M. at the Vilnius Old Town Hall square. The group is promising a whole range of music and performances, including a traditional Sabbath prayer and song.

Don’t forget, the Bagel Shop Café will also be at the fair on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. LJC staff, members and volunteers are all invited to come and help sell Jewish bagels during the fair. It should be a lot of fun and this year the annual street fair will include a Jewish shtetl section.

Makabi Club Book Launch

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A large group turned out for the launch of the new book “Lietuvos sporto klubas ‘Makabi’ 1916-2016” [The Lithuanian Athletics Club Makabi, 1916-2016] at the Lithuanian Jewish Community on the last day of February, 2016. The appearance of the book is a milestone not just for the Lithuanian Jewish Community, but for Lithuanian sport as a whole, because Makabi is the oldest athletics club in Lithuania. The book tells the story of the origins of Makabi a century ago, activities in the first Lithuanian Republic, how the club was reconstituted after Lithuanian independence from the Soviet Union and its activities since then over the last 25 years. It includes information on Makabi’s participation at European and World Maccabiah Games and other sporting events, and showcases athletes. The book is richly illustrated with photographs depicting the history of Makabi.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the club, which began in German-occupied Vilnius. On October 23, 1916, the Makabi Jewish Sports and Gymnastics Association was established in the ancient Lithuanian capital. Kaunas Makabi was established in 1919. The entire Maccabee athletics movement took place as part of the early spread of Zionism.

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Rabbi Heschel’s “Sabbath” Issued in Lithuanian by Catholic Publisher

A new Lithuanian edition of “Sabbath” by Abraham Heschel (1951), translated by Asta Leskauskaitė and published by Katalikų pasaulio leidiniai [Catholic World Publications] was launched at the Vilnius Book Fair last week.

Rabbi Heschel became a rabbi at age 16 and was graduated from the Vilna Mathematics and Natural Science Gymnasium in Vilnius before going on to study under some of the greatest Jewish teachers in Germany. He was arrested by the Gestapo and deported to Poland in October of 1938. He fled to Britain weeks before the Nazi invasion of Poland, and then went on to the United States in early 1940, where he became one of the most important and respected Jewish thinkers of the mid-20th century. His first book, apparently, “Der Shem Hamefoyrosh: Mentsch,” was written when he was a member of the Jung-Vilne group of writers in Vilnius, a book of poems in Yiddish published in Warsaw in 1933. Heschel’s poems attracted attention, including a letter of praise Chaim Nachman Bialik sent to the author from Israel.

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