News – Page 31 – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Jewish Communities Warn of Urgent Threat amid Alarming Rise in Anti-Semitic Attacks at Austrian Parliament Conference

September 11, 2024

Brussels, September 11, 2024–The European Jewish Congress (EJC) strongly endorses the joint statement issued at the Austrian Parliament conference addressing the disturbing rise in anti-Semitism following October 7th as an affront to democracy and human rights, and are supported by parliamentarians and policymakers from across the world.

The conference titled “Never Again? Democracy Cannot Tolerate Antisemitism” organized on the initiative of Austrian National Council president Wolfgang Sobotka convened parliamentarians from 22 nations, including speaker of the Israeli Knesset Amir Ohana, members of the European Parliament, EU officials and Jewish community leaders from around the world, to confront the escalating anti-Semitic threats with a united and decisive response.

The joint statement condemned the alarming surge in anti-Semitic violence, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and calling for stringent oversight of online anti-Semitism and reinforced security for Jewish institutions. It also underscored the pressing need to address the growing anti-Semitic climate on university campuses.

2024-09-16

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 7:22 P.M. on Friday, September 13, and concludes at 8:31 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

2024-09-12

Win Two Tickets to Valeria’s Klezmer Chariot

Valeri’a Klezmer Chariot from Sweden is holding their premiere concert in Lithuania in Vilnius. The band’s repertoire runs the gamut of musical genres, blending klezmer with jazz, funk and Balkan rhythms. The band includes Valeria Conte doing lyrics and clarinet, Sara Fridholm on accordion, Stian Grimstadt on tuba and Tomas Norberg on drums.

Lithuanian Jewish Community members have the unique opportunity to win two tickets to the concert by going to https://rb.gy/sxmpm5 and indicating their name and the name of their other preferred concert goer. Winners will be announced Saturday. Other LJC members will receive a discounted ticket price of 15 euros by registering here. Tickets can also be purchased at Bilietai.lt with the first 30 tickets going for 39 euros.

For further information, media contacts and etc. call any of the following numbers:
+370 677 00699, +37064536403, +370 61801331, +370 671 76502.

Time: 7:00 P.M., Sunday, September 15
Place: Third floor, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius

2024-09-11

Twelve Thousand Pivonija Holocaust Victims Remembered

People gathered at noon on the first Sunday in September for the annual commemoration of the approximately 12,000 Jews murdered in the Pivonija Forest outside Ukmergė (Vilkomir) this year as in years past. Ukmergė Jewish Community chairman Artūras Taicas began the ceremony with an address and Kaunas Jewish Community member Iseris Šreibergas said kaddish. Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kuklianksy, members and heads of regional LJC affiliates, local politicians, local school children and ambassadors to Lithuania including Israel’s Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein attended the ceremony.

2024-09-10

Visitor to Panėvežys

Brendan Cohen from Melbourne, Australia, visited the Panėvežys Jewish Community August 30. He had sent genealogical documents to the Community before his trip. Cohen sought to learn which of his relatives had been murdered in the Holocaust in Panėvežys and surrounding areas. Chairman Gennady Kofman received the guest and shared the results of searches of the Community’s archives.

2024-09-10

Two Events Held in Honor of Chaim Frenkel

Last Sunday two events were held in honor of Chaim Frenkel in Šiauliai: a stele marking the first soccer stadium in Šiauliai was unveiled in the central part of the city and the fourth Chaim Frenkel soccer tournament was attended by 10 soccer teams including Šiauliai Makabi. Frenkel helped build the soccer stadium in the period between the two world wars..

2024-09-10

Dance Symphony from the Jeursalem of the North

A music and dance play based on Jievaras Jasinskis’s “Symphony from the Jerusalem of the North” is returning to the stage for two performances.

Time: 6:00 P.M., September 19
Place: Alytus Town Theater, Alytus, Lithuania

Time: 6:00 P.M., September 24
Place: Saulė Concert Hall, Šiauliai, Lithuania

2024-09-10

Condolences

Yelizaveta Rodionova passed away September 9. She was born in 1927. Our deepest condolences go to her son Viktoras and other members of her family.

2024-09-10

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 7:39 P.M. on Friday, September 6, and concludes at 8:50 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Monday, September 9, is also the Day of the Victims of the Holocaust and of Racial Violence in Slovakia, commemorating the day in 1941 when the puppet government of the Nazi protectorate of Slovakia issued a decree on the legal status of Jews in the country. This decree, known as the Jewish Codex, led to the deportation of Jews from the country, ultimately resulting in the murder of approximately 70,000 Slovak Jews.

2024-09-062024-09-06

Gunman Killed in Munich near Israeli Consulate on Anniversary of Black September Massacre

BERLIN–Police in Munich say they thwarted a potential attack on Jewish targets Thursday after they shot and killed a man who was firing a rifle near the Israeli Consulate and a museum documenting Nazi Germany.

Police have not offered details on the suspect. Some German media outlets reported he was a juvenile from Austria police had previously investigated for alleged ties to Islamic extremism.

Germany’s public broadcaster Deutsche Welle verified the authenticity of cell-phone videos shared online which show a younger male carrying a rifle fitted with a bayonet before and during the shootout.

2024-09-062024-09-06

Benjamin Netanyahu: I Have Red Lines But They’ve Become Redder

Netanyahu Dismisses Claims of Imminent Cease-Fire Deal

by Peter Aitken, Fox News, September 5, 2024

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted that holding the Philadelphi Corridor is key to long-term peace

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined “Fox & Friends” to discuss his efforts to rescue hostages and maintain red lines with Hamas.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday morning dismissed reports negotiators were close to agreeing a cease-fire deal.

“It’s exactly inaccurate,” Netanyahu told “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade during an interview. “There’s a story, a narrative out there that there’s a deal out there … that’s just a false narrative.”

Netanyahu stressed that Israel has agreed to several deals proposed by the negotiators from the US, Egypt and Qatar but that each time the deal lapsed because Hamas “has consistently said no to every one of them.”

Full story and video here.

2024-09-062024-09-06

Efraim Zuroff Leaves Simon Wiesenthal Center

Last Nazi Hunter Efraim Zuroff Resigns from Simon Wiesenthal Center, Vows to Fight Anti-Semitism

by Eyal Green, Jerusalem Post, September 4, 2024

Efraim Zuroff, the last Nazi hunter, steps down after 38 years at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, pledging to continue fighting anti-Semitism.

Unofficially known as the last Nazi hunter, Efraim Zuroff has stepped down as director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office after 38 years, Zuroff announced September 3.

Efraim Zuroff was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1948 and dedicated his life to identifying and bringing to justice Nazi war criminals who had evaded justice for decades. His interest in Holocaust studies began early, and after earning a degree in history from Yeshiva University, he moved to Israel in 1970 to work at Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust memorial, the Jerusalem Post reports.

2024-09-062024-09-06

Righteous Gentiles Exhibit Opens in Šiauliai

An exhibit of photos and bios of Lithuania’s Righteous Gentiles opened this week in the courtyard of the Šiauliai District Jewish Community in Šiauliai this week, attended by the Israeli ambassador to Lithuania, local politicians, members of the Jewish community and the general public.

2024-09-05

Visitors in Švenčionys

Mother and son Eudenta and Samull Virine from Canada visited the Nalšia Museum in Švenčionys on August 21 where Švenčionys Jewish Community chairman Moshe Shapiro gave them a guided tour including viewing implements and artifacts from Jewish homes, the history of the region and a new exhibit on the fate of the Jews of Švenčionys. Eudenta’s mother was born in Švenčionys.

They sought archival information about the families of Leiba and Abraham Alperovitch and Mengel Bushkanietz with the help of historian and museum specialist Nadežda Spiridonovienė. The museum has very little information regarding these surnames but they are recorded as living in Švenčionys in a Russian Empire census conducted before World War I.

The two visitors also viewed the Menorah statue in the town’s central park. They went on to visit a Jewish mass murder site in nearby Švenčionėliai.

2024-09-05

Packed Hall for Concert Commemorating Kaunas Ghetto Liquidation

The Kaunas Philharmonic was packed for a concert last week ending a series of commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the destruction of the Kaunas ghetto. The Kaunas Jewish Community thanked all involved in making the final concert a success including former resident of Kaunas now of Toronto Atis Bankas and the audience.

2024-09-05

Nikki Haley Calls on Kamala to Recognize Hamas as Terrorist Organization

Former governor of South Carolina, US ambassador to the UN and Republican presidential candidate now pledging her support to candidate Donald Trump Nikki Haley posted a tweet on X decrying the current administration’s lack of clarity on Hamas following the recent mass-murder of 6 Israelis and promises by Hamas to murder remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza:

Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American citizen was executed in Gaza. Seven Americans are still being held hostage by the same terrorists who murdered Hersh.

It’s unacceptable. America should demand Hamas and their funders, Iran, release the hostages immediately. Harris and Biden need to acknowledge Hamas is a terrorist organization and treat them like, rather than pressuring Israel.

–Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) September 2, 2024

Vice-president and president of the US Senate Kamala Harris snubbed Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu when he addressed the US Congress assembled earlier this year. She has courted the pro-Hamas protestors at US universities and the large Muslim populations in Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois in order to secure an electoral college victory in November. The Biden-Harris administration has also restricted weapons exports to Israel to pressure Netanyahu into a US-engineered peace plan with Hamas while publicly proclaiming support for Israel’s right to self-defense. The newly-elected Labour Government in the United Kingdom under prime minister Keir Starmer announced this week they were banning weapons sales to Israel as well.

The United States State Department recognized Hamas as a terrorist organization in 1995 under the Bill Clinton administration.

Full story in Russian here.

2024-09-042024-09-04

Criminal Case against Former MP Žemaitaitis Begins

On Tuesday the Vilnius Regional Court began hearing a criminal case against former MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis who is accused of inciting hatred. Prosecutor Justas Laucius speaking on behalf the state prosecution noted that in his facebook posts, the politician spoke disparagingly of people of Jewish origin, accusing them of committing a massacre in the village of Pirčiupiai and the “Holocaust of Lithuanians,” ELTA reports.

Žemaitaitis stated in court he is currently unemployed and registered with the Employment Service. He also said he is currently a candidate for parliamentary elections to be held in the fall.

Prosecutor Laucius read out the indictment, indicating that Žemaitaitis is accused of inciting hatred towards persons of Jewish nationality, mocking persons of Jewish nationality and publicly approving of international crimes, denying them or grossly belittling them.

2024-09-04

Lithuanian President Casts Doubt on EU Proposal to Sanction Israeli Ministers

Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda says he has doubts concerning a proposal by EU foreign minister Josep Borrell to impose sanctions on members of the Israeli government. According to the Lithuanian head of state, EU member states do not have a common approach to the conflict in the Middle East.

“Fanning discord is bad, no matter where it comes from. I have serious doubts about Mr. Borrell’s initiative. It seems to me that he himself does not believe in the success of this initiative,” Nausėda told reporters on Monday.

“The EU is united by different states with different approaches to this conflict,” he stressed.

Last week Borrell proposed the 27 EU member states impose sanctions on Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Courtesy delfi.lt

2024-09-042024-09-04

Bodies of 6 Hostages Murdered by Hamas Found in Rafah

Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, Almog Sarusi discovered in Gaza tunnel; families forum urges protests; autopsy finds all 6 had gunshot wounds

The bodies of six hostages abducted alive by Hamas on October 7 were recovered from a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah overnight, shortly after they were murdered by terrorists, the Israel Defense Forces announced Sunday.

The hostages were Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Ori Danino, 25, Alex Lobanov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Almog Sarusi, 27.

2024-09-032024-09-03

News from Šiauliai

Last week the Šiauliai Jewish Community received a guest from Australia. Brendan Conen from Melbourne came searching family roots. Specifically, his grandparents and great-grandparents who were born in Šiauliai, Pašalotas, Pumpenai and Varniai. He was looking for their addresses in order to view their homes. On Sunday he planned to visit the Šiauliai Jewish Community to help in the group-cleanup of the courtyard and garden and to help out in receiving visitors to the Righteous Gentiles exhibit which just opened.

2024-09-02