We wish a very happy milestone birthday to our long-time member and WWII veteran Tatjana Archipova-Efros. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Litvak Descendant Jenny Kagan Opens Interactive Holocaust Exhibit in Kaunas
Litvak descendant and artist Jenny Kagan has opened an exhibit telling her family’s story during the Holocaust. The “Out of Darkness” exhibit’s main motif is that of a box, the one in which her parents Joseph and Margaret hid, among the few survivors of the Kaunas ghetto. Through interactive objects and audio/video installations the exhibit tells her family history. She told BNS she wanted to provide exhibit goers with a real emotional experience. She added that while the story is a narrative, she comes from a theatrical background and decided to make the experience a theatrical one. The exhibit was first installed in the atmospheric Viaduct Theatre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 2016.
Full story in Lithuanian here.
Memory Wars
Lithuanian Archive reference LCVA R683, aprašas 2, byla2 lapas 80
“Memory Wars” are fought worldwide. The United Nations and Jew-haters everywhere appear to have reasonable certitude that Jews do not have much of any historical link to Israel, and should not “occupy” Israel. History is a tool of propagandists, able to be rewritten to fight any current conflict and to re-frame a national identity. Soviets did it, North Korea does it, Putin does it, Lukashenko in Belarus does it. But no government in the world has developed historical revisionism into the art form that Lithuania has. They have created an entire government agency to rewrite history, called “The Genocide Center.”
Lithuanian Government
The following is an excerpt from a text by the Center for the Study of the Genocide and Resistance of Residents of Lithuania (the Genocide Center) titled “On Accusations against Jonas Noreika (General Storm), March 27, 2019, Vilnius”:
Five EU Countries Who Shouldn’t Be Throwing Stones
Efraim Zuroff
Accusing Russia of rewriting the Holocaust for its current propaganda is fair, but not when you’ve always whitewashed the Holocaust for your own purposes
Several days ago I was shocked to learn that five heads of state from Lithuania, Romania, Estonia, Latvia and Poland, all post-Communist Eastern European countries, had recently beseeched the leaders of the European Union to step up efforts to “preserve historical memory.” It was addressed to the European Council president, European Commission president and the Czech prime minister, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
For the past three decades since their transition to democracy, these countries have excelled in grossly distorting their own respective histories of the Holocaust. Yet the quintet of leaders now maintains that the Kremlin “is seeking to rewrite history and use it to justify its aggression against sovereign states.” Thus they urge the bodies of the EU to take a leadership role in “preserving historical memory and preventing the Russian regime from manipulating historical facts.” They contend that this concern “is particularly relevant in light of Russia’s intensive use of history for propaganda purposes in the context of the war in Ukraine.”
Full editorial here.
Tisha b’Av on Saturday
Tisha b’Av, the 9th day of the month of Av on the Hebrew calendar, falls on Saturday, July 6 this year.
Tisha b’Av commemorates the destruction of the First Temple of Solomon ca. 587 BCE and the Second Temple in 70 CE in Jerusalem and is traditionally a day of fasting and mourning. Observance includes five prohibitions, the main one being a 25-hour fast. The Book of Lamentations is read in the synagogue followed by the recitation of kinnos, liturgical dirges for the Temple and Jerusalem. Since the day has become associated with other major Jewish tragedies, some kinnos recall other events, including the murder of the Ten Martyrs in ancient Rome, pogroms against medieval Jewish communities and the Holocaust.
According to tradition, the sin of the Ten Spies is the real origin of Tisha B’Av. In the Book of Numbers, 13:1-33 when the Israelites accepted their false report of the Promised Land, they wept, thinking God could no help them. The night the people wept and wailed was the ninth day of Av, which then became a day of weeping and misfortune for all time, according to tradition, following which the Jews were made to wander the desert for 40 years.
Video from Opening of Exhibit of Interwar Litvak Photographers Mausha Levi and Shimon Bayer
The Maironis Museum of Lithuanian Literature and Faina Borovsky organized an exhibit of the photography of interwar Litvak photographers Mausha Levi and Shimon Bayer which opened July 28 at the museum located at the Old Town Square, Rotušės aikštė no. 13, in Kaunas. The exhibit is part of the Kaunas, Capital of European Culture 2022 program. The video below shows the opening of the exhibit, visited by both Gercas Žakas, chairman of the Kaunas Jewish Community, and Robert Gilchrist, US ambassador to Lithuania.
Litvak Descendant Jenny Kagan Comes Back to Kaunas: How Can You Live Here When You Know Any Passerby Might Have Beaten Your Father to Death?
Lithuanian state radio and television has published an interview with Jenny Kagan:
As Margarita Štromaitė, born in Kaunas, wrote in her memoirs, her future husband she met in the ghetto, Juozas Kagan and his mother Mira were rescued by Vytautas Rinkevičius’s family: “Regardless of the deadly danger, which threatened his entire family, he set up a hiding place for us in the attic of the forge. It was where the straw was, separated by an imaginary wall.” Twenty years after the Holocaust Margarita met her only surviving relative, her brother Aleksandras Štromas. In 1965 she and Joseph had a daughter, Eugenia. Or Jenny.
Jenny Kagan will be in Kaunas beginning August 4 for the exhibit “From Darkness” which is part of the Kaunas Capital of European Culture 2022 program, which will present her family history in subtle artistic techniques including text and audio, revealing previously unknown pages from the story of Kaunas.
This is also the story of the humanness and light we require to survive as a civilization. The exhibit will be held at Gimnazijos street no. 4 in Kaunas as part of the Histories Festival of the Kaunas Capital of European Culture 2022 program.
Full interview in Lithuanian here.
Panevėžys Jewish Community Celebrates 30th Birthday
On July 24 members, partners and friends of the Panevėžys Jewish Community gathered to celebrate the organization’s 30th birthday. Chairman Gennady Kofman thanked active members of the community in carrying on Jewish tradition and preserving Jewish heritage and gave special thanks to supporters and partners for their contribution in expanding the Community’s activities.
Community members recalled how the Community was formed and paid respects to its first chairman, the journalist Anatolijus Fainblumas, and others. Sincere words of gratitude went to Righteous Gentile Jonas Markevičius’s son Vidmantas and daughter Janina, who have helped promote the Community as well in the local community. Thanks were given to executive board members Jurijus Grafman and his wife Svetlana. Deep gratitude was expressed for the Lithuanian Jewish Community and its chairwoman Faina Kukliansky.
Chairman Kofman told the 30-year story of the Community. On July 8, 1991, the Panevėžys Jewish Community was officially reconstituted and articles of incorporation filed at the Panevėžys municipality. Goals and duties were set then: “To develop the national consciousness of members, to raise the level of culture and spirituality, to conduct our activities based on exemplary behavior and sincerity, to cooperate with all sorts of democratic organizations and religious confessions,” etc.
Thank You to Faina Kukliansky
Dear chairwoman,
I am sincerely grateful to be part of the program “Support for Rescuers of Jews during World War II.” I would like to give a big thank you to senior coordinator Ema Jakobienė, social programs department director Michail Segal and to your entire wonderful collective, thanks to whom I am receiving material and financial support.
My parents, Stasė and Pranas Karalevičiai, rescued 19 citizens of Jewish ethnicity during the war. As a six-year-old I also contributed to this honorable activity to the extent that I could. I was awarded the Life-Saver’s Cross which was presented by president Valdas Adamkus.
Respectfully,
Elena Čepanonienė
Semeliškės, Lithuania
Limmud in the Woods 2022
Happy Birthday to Gennady Kofman
The entire Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman a terrific milestone birthday. He has done so much to collect and share information about the city’s once numerous Jewish community, and always finds the time and energy to meet and help travellers looking for their roots and to teach school children and the wider community about the Holocaust. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Condolences
Richard Freund passed away in Charlottesville, Virginia, on July 14 due to complications involving a bone-marrow transplant he received 18 years ago. He was 67. Freund was a frequent visitor to Vilnius and a friend of the Lithuanian Jewish Community. Besides annual summer digs at the Great Synagogue site in Vilnius, revealing many new facts and the existence of surviving elements and a few surprises at that site, he also headed the non-invasive investigation of the escape tunnel dug by the brenner kommando at Ponar, Jews who were forced to exhume corpses, burn the flesh and crush the bones, who themselves were slated for death upon completion of their task aimed at hiding Holocaust crimes. The rediscovery of the tunnel was featured in an hour-long documentary by NOVA on the American public television network PBS. Freund also led the effort to map the lost Jewish shtetl of Rumshishok (Rumšiškės) just outside Kaunas flooded in the post-war period to create a hydroelectric generation station, and worked on a number of other Jewish sites in Lithuania. He also used non-invasive techniques to investigate the Warsaw ghetto in 2021.
Freund always found the time in the middle of his work to explain his finds to interested on-lookers, and presented his findings to the Lithuanian Jewish Community in a series of presentations in Vilnius.
We mourn his loss and extend our deepest condolences to his widow Eliane, his three children Eli, Ethan, and Yoni and his many other family members and friends at the University of Hartford and around the world.
Lithuanian Team at Maccabiah World Games Opening Ceremony
The Lithuanian Makabi delegation along with 10,000 other participants marched in the opening ceremonies for the 21st Maccabiah World Games in Israel.
We are very proud of our athletes who this year are the sole representatives of the Baltic states at the Jewish Olympics. Good luck!
Condolences
We are sad to report the death of our volunteer, medical doctor and otorhinolaryngologist (head and neck medicine) Valentina Barsukaitė on July 13. She was born in 1938. We extend our deepest condolences to her daughter, Veronika, and her many friends and colleagues.
Who Are the Degenerates Now?
Grant Gochin
In a study by the UN titled ”History under Attack,” António Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, stated: “Understanding the history of the Holocaust is crucial to safeguarding our future. This is particularly crucial as we see some seeking to rewrite history or to whitewash and rehabilitate those who committed crimes against humanity. If we fail to identify and confront the lies and inhumanity that fueled past atrocities, we are ill-prepared to prevent them in the future.” This article borrows heavily from this UN study.
UN Findings
The UN finds that Holocaust distortion is just as pernicious as Holocaust denial. Holocaust distortion depends upon and spreads antisemitism. It threatens the ability to remember and learn from the past by misrepresenting the historical record. It is an attack on truth and knowledge. It feeds on and spreads antisemitic tropes and prejudices, and threatens our understanding of one of the most tragic and violent histories–the genocide of six million Jews.
Jewish Headstones Removed from Vilnius Hill
Jewish headstones used to construct stairs up Vilnius’s Tauras Hill (Góra Bouffałowa aka Tauro kalnas) during the Soviet era began to be removed Monday, the Vilnius city municipality reported.
Illegible headstones will be taken to the old Jewish cemetery in the Šnipiškės neighborhood next to the Palace of Sports for alleged safe-keeping, according to Vilnius city officials. Those with legible inscriptions will be brought to the old Jewish cemetery on Olandų street for research. According to the city, the removal of the headstones was coordinated with representatives of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and Lithuania’s Cultural Heritage Department.
Photograph by Saulius Žiūra.
Full text in Lithuanian here.
Condolences
Michail Rositsan passed away July 11, 2022. He was born in Belarus in 1955 with roots in Lithuania. He completed a law degree in Lithuania, founded a business and often travelled across the Atlantic. He founded a factory producing mannequins which were exported to dozens of countries and his business card contained an address in Vilnius and in Toronto. In 2014 he served as Israel’s honorary consul in Lithuania. Together with his brother Boris he founded the Rositsan and Maccabi Elite Checkers and Chess Club in Vilnius. His brother served as president of the club and passed away in 2021. Our deepest condolences to his family and friends.
Vilna Gaon Mausoleum Now State-Protected Heritage Site
MadeinVilnius.lt
Lithuanian culture minister Simonas Kairys has added the mausoleum containing the remains of the Vilna Gaon at the Sudervės road cemetery in Vilnius to the list of cultural heritage sites. protected by the state.
In his order he wrote the mausoleum is important in terms of public dignity and should be protected because of its architectural, historical and commemorative significance.
The site and surrounding territory now has a protection status intended to maintain authenticity.
The rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman, known as the Vilna Gaon, lived in the 18th century and is considered one of the most remarkable commentators on the Talmud.
Full story in Lithuanian here.
Vilnius Approves Restoration of Jewish Street
MadeinVilnius.lt
The city of Vilnius wants to reconstruct historical Žydų or Jewish street and decorate the territory of the former Great Synagogue with architectural accents recalling the 16th century. The Vilnius municipality and the Vilniaus Planas group of architects back in May presented the public proposed projects for the restoration of Žydų street and the Shulhoyf. The Vilnius city municipality approved a project this week.
The contours of historical Jewish street were established more precisely according to the location of fragments of street paving boards discovered. The current street trajectory has changed from the historical one and the proposal is to return it to its original course through the deconstruction and removal of existing street and sidewalk pavement. The paving stones on Stiklių street, which becomes Žydų street, would continue on into Žydų street, according to the current plan.
Judith Tsik Was Born July 7 in Gargždai
The Yiddish poetess Judith Tsik, also known as Yehudis and Yudis and the pen-name Judika, was born July 7, 1898, in Gargždai, Lithuania.
Encyclopaedia Judaica:
YUDIKA
YUDIKA (Yudis (Judith ) Tsik; 1898–1988), poetess. She was born in Gorzhd (Gargždai), Lithuania. Poverty forced her family to send Tsik to live with an aunt in Eastern Prussia, then annexed to Germany.