The first meeting took place today of a special commission appointed by the Lithuanian Government for considering issues connected with the culture and history of the Jews of Lithuania, with participants from state institutions, the Lithuanian Jewish Community and representatives of international Jewish organizations.

The first item was discussion of long-term protection and conservation of Jewish cemeteries and mass graves of Holocaust victims. Some mass murder sites haven’t been located yet and these and others lack appropriate commemoration. Likewise many Jewish cemeteries are left untended and unprotected. State institutions proposed an action plan to provide for the legal registration and necessary documentation of the cemeteries and mass grave sites. It was reiterated that under legal requirements now in force the municipalities must conclude this legal registration by the end of 2016.

Historical buildings, first and foremost synagogues, and books, newspapers, archive documents, TOrah scrolls and other ritual items are Jewish heritage objects in Lithuania. These represent the shared Lithuanian and global Jewish cultural heritage. Today’s discussions focused on restoration of synagogues and other Jewish heritage sites with an emphasis on the need to include information about Jewish life and culture in Lithuania. Ongoing cooperation between the YIVO Jewish research institute, Lithuania’s Martynas Mažvydas National Library and Lithuania’s Central State Archive was also underlined at the meeting.

Commission members agreed on the need to make greater efforts to teach Lithuania’s children about the history of Lithuanian Jews, including Jewish contributions made in Lithuania and the world and the Holocaust in Lithuania. This entails a thorough examination of current curricula and textbooks as well as consideration of other sorts of activities including student tours at museums and historical sites.

Jewish representatives pointed out many failures in current Lithuanian legislation on restoration of private property  arising because of residence or citizenship requirements which prevent some Holocaust survivors and their heirs from making application for restoration of property or from receiving a succssful outcome in such petitions. The meeting resolved to examine this situation in more detail in order to find the most appropriate solutions to this problem.

Participants included representatives from the American Jewish Committee, the Committee of Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe, the Lithuanian Jewish Community, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and the World Jewish Restitution Organization.

Lithuanian institutions are represented at the commission by the Interior, Justice, Foreign Affairs and Culture and Education  Ministries and the Association of Lithuanian Municipalities.

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Contact: Lithuanian Jewish Community

Address: Pylimo g. 4, Vilnius 01117, Lithuania

Tel.: (8 5) 2613 003, email: info@lzb.lt

The respected haredi leader Rabbi Haim Greinman died on Friday aged 89 and was buried in Bnei Brak on Sunday morning with tens of thousands of people present at his funeral procession despite heavy rain.

Greinman was born in Vilna and came with his family to Mandate Palestine in 1935, where he became a student of Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz, known as the Hazon Ish, one of the leaders of the haredi community in the early state period.

Large numbers of police and emergency services personnel were present at the mass funeral procession which was coordinated with officers from the Gush Dan region in order to avoid the tragic consequences of the funeral for Rabbi Shmuel Wosner last week in which two people were killed and others badly injured.

jerusalempost.com

Eli E. Hertz
UN Security Council Resolution 242 adopted on November 22, 1967, is the cornerstone for what it calls “a just and lasting peace” that recognizes Israel’s need for “secure and recognized boundaries.” The resolution became the foundation for future peace negotiations.

No other nation in the world, acting rationally, has relinquished territories acquired from an aggressor in an act of self-defense.

To the Editor:

Your Feb. 7 front-page dispatch from Donetsk, Ukraine, rightly points to critically increasing need in eastern Ukraine, a humanitarian crisis expanding every day (“Shivering, Hungry and Tearful in Rebel-Held Eastern Ukraine”).

In addition to the thousands of elderly and desperately poor Jews we care for in the conflict zone, we also see an increasing trend in the need for our services among working families suffering from unemployment and economic ruin as a result of violence and chaotic conditions in the region, with nearly 1,000 people added to our aid rolls in the last month.

By Penny Blumenstein

On April 24 Armenia and the world mark the tragic anniversary, this year the 100th, of the genocide of the Armenians perpetrated by forces of the Ottoman Empire. The victims are honored on this day. The 100th anniversary was commemorated with the slogan “I remember and demand” and with forget-me-not flowers as its symbol. The meaning of forget-me-nots is clear from the name: not to forget, to remember and to recall. A solemn commemoration took place along with celebrations around the world at the Cathedral in Vilnius, with a Mass conducted by archbishop Gintaras Grušas and Apostolic nuncio to Lithuania Pedro Lopez Quintana. Foreign diplomats and high-ranking officials were in attendance including Israel’s new ambassador to Lithuania Amir Maimon, as were members of the Lithuanian parliament, Lithuanian Jewish Community chair Faina Kukliansky and director of Vilnius’s Jewish school the Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium Misha Jakobas. Many countries recognize the Armenian genocide of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire, but the modern state of Turkey denies it was a genocide. From 1915 till 1923 1.5 million Armenians died.

Moshe Arens, Israel’s former Defense Minister, said that with every year that passes, the State of Israel becomes more independent than the previous years. His comments were made in an interview with Israel’s Walla news on Wednesday.

Though he admitted that Israel – just like all other countries in the world – is not entirely independent, because of the increased interconnectedness of the world’s nations as a result of globalization, he said that, “When I look at Israel in 2015 and compare it to the State of Israel when I served in senior positions in public service, I have no doubt that we have become more independent.” Arens added that Israel is “stronger militarily” than it was in the past, and therefore “less dependent on external security assistance.