The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club will convene their annual conference at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius on November 21. Agenda items include the annual report by the president, a report by the revision commission, new election of president and current issues.
Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda Thursday attended a procession and ceremony to commemorate the victims of the Grosse Aktion, the 24-hour period during which almost 10,000 people taken from the Kaunas ghetto were murdered. The commemoration included a “Road of Memory” march which the Lithuanian president said symbolically linked hundreds of locations all over Lithuania.
He and other marchers walked in silence along the route by which almost 10,000 victims were marched from the Kaunas ghetto to their deaths at the Ninth Fort exactly 80 years ago.
“Standing here, we understand better the catastrophe whose true dimensions we will never fathom, and which wiped out Jewish lives in many towns and cities in Lithuania and other countries,” Nausėda said at the Ninth Fort Memorial Complex.
The city of Vilnius is attempting to survey ethnic minority and community organizations within its jurisdiction through an internet poll conducted by the KOG Institute. The poll is here https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6560672/Apklausa with the choice of an interface in Lithuanian, English or Russian, and questions may be addressed to Rūta Matulaitienė, ruta.matulaitiene@koginstitutas.lt
Fania Lindina, a member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and a client of our Social Services Department, has passed away. She was born in 1934. Our deepest condolences to her son Leonidas and daughter Julia.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community, the Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights and the secretariat of the International Commission to Assess the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupational Regimes in Lithuania are currently implementing a project to educate Lithuanian teachers about the Holocaust and human rights.
The goal of the project is to improve quality of education by examining different aspects of the Holocaust and human rights and social justice in light of the main historical events of the 20th century. The project is aimed at teaching new teaching methods and talking about opportunities for including them in the education process.
The lessons and seminars are intended to provide a deeper understanding of the effect stereotypes, superstitions and discrimination have on people, different groups and society as a whole. There is also broad discussion with teachers about Jewish life before the Holocaust and after. The sessions include painful and uncomfortable topics and histories which need to be told to the younger generation.
Silvia Foti will present her book “The Nazi’s Granddaughter: How I Discovered My Grandfather Was a War Criminal” at the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum located at Naugarduko street no. 10 in Vilnius at 3:00 P.M. on Friday, October 29. She is the granddaughter of Jonas Noreika, the Lithuanian Nazi war criminal whom some in Lithuania consider a hero and an example to follow. Also participating in the discussion will be Lithuanian Restoration of Independence Act signatory and chairman of the International Commission to Assess the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupational Regimes Emanuelis Zingeris, International Commission director Ronaldas Račinskas, Jewish Public Library founder and director Žilvinas Bieliauskas, Lithuanian ambassador Marius Janukonis, Vilnius University professor Jurgita Verbickienė and Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky.
The Adomas Mickevičius Vilnius District Public Library located at Trakų street no. 10, Vilnius, is hosting a commemoration to mark the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Holocaust in Lithuania at 6:00 P.M. on Thursday, October 28. Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky; her daughter Ruth Reches, PhD, principal of the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium in Vilnius; Righteous Gentile and Jewish rescuer researcher Danutė Selčinskaja and director of the Andrena publishing house Nijolė Petrošienė will speak about the Jewish experience in Lithuania and discuss the books “Samuelis Kuklianskis: Attorney” and “The Experience of Identity by Holocaust Survivors” by Ruth Reches. The Lithuanian film “Gyvybės ir kančių duobė” [Pit of Life and Suffering] will be shown (duration: 60 minutes). The event will be filmed and photographed.
A soccer tournament was held by the Šiauliai district soccer federation and the Šiauliai Jewish Community on September 23. Four teams competed in three matches each. The Šiauliai Soccer Chain team came in first, followed by the Šiauliai “Police” team, then Šiauliai Makabi, and in fourth the ShAFF team. Thanks to everyone for participating. We hope it becomes a regular thing.
The Šiauliai Jewish Community organized a volunteer clean-up at the Donelaitis cemetery in Šiauliai. Everyone did a great job and many graves were put in good order. Well done!
The Bagel Shop Café baked 75 small and large loaves of challa bread Friday evening as part of the world Shabbos Project. The Sabbath on October 22 was special. The Lithuanian Jewish Community invited everyone young and old to bake challa together with the world Jewish community. Members, friends and a ton of children gathered at the Bagel Shop Café, had fun making and baking challa, and were treated to a performance by the Fayerlakh ensemble. We counted around 75 loaves. Snapshots below.
Photo: Righteous Gentile Genovaitė Černiauskaitė-Dugnienė expresses gratitude in name of Righteous Gentiles.
Righteous Gentile Square at the intersection of Vilniaus and Ežero sttreets at the former ghetto gates in the Lithuanian city of Šiauliai was opened ceremoniously and consecrated last week. The renamed square will showcase the names of people from the city and district of Šiauliai who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. The city of Šiauliai thus becomes the first municipality in Lithuania to honor Righteous Gentiles with a monument. The new park is the fruit of the Jungtis [Connection] project by Šiauliai-resident designer Adas Toleikis and includes artistic allusions to the former ghetto.
“You can’t buy love or tolerance for money, you have to grow it in your heart,” Righteous Gentile Genovaitė Černiauskaitė-Dugnienė said.
Davidas Ščiupakas has passed away at the age of 84. He was born in 1938. An active member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community who sat on the executive board, he held a doctorate in medical science. He served as a member of the governmental Health and Environmental Sciences Committee and authored numerous books and academic articles on medicine. He also taught many medical students.
He helped launch the book “Lietuvos Jeruzalės medikai” [Medical Experts of the Jerusalem of Lithuania] in 2017 which contained recollections from more than 70 authors about Jewish doctors in Lithuania.
Our deepest condolences to his widow Eva and their sons.
The Sabbath begins at 5:46 P.M. on Friday, October 22, and concludes at 7:02 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
As the weather turns colder out, it’s almost natural for us to retire to our kitchens and engage in baking bread. For most of us this is a solitary vocation, perhaps a weekly one, with few around us to enjoy the pleasing aroma of baking bread. This year as in past, the Shabbos Project is inviting people around the world to bake Sabbath challa bread together, if only in spirit. The Bagel Shop Café will host a challa-bread-making event at 5:00 P.M. on Friday, October 22, as part of this world-wide project connecting millions of people in over 1,600. At 6:00 P.M. the Fayerlakh ensemble will perform for participants at that event.
More information here.
The Ilan and Knafaim Clubs of the Lithuanian Jewish Community invite Community children (aged 7 and up) to participate in the Future Live experimental laboratory workshop, for those interested in chemistry and experiments. The chemist Jolanta Pileckienė, PhD, will conduct the activities. The cost is three euros per child. Registration and payment are required by October 22. We will send payment forms to those who register. To register, send an email to avital@lzb.lt. We will meet at 11:45 A.M. at PC Live Cup located at Upės street no. 9 in Vilnius. For more information call Avital Libman at +37064515730.
The Ilan and Knafaim Clubs of the Lithuanian Jewish Community invite Community children and young people to an introduction to the game of chess with trainer V. Dambrauskas at 5:30 P.M. on Thursday, October 21 at the Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius. Register is required. To register send an email to avital@lzb.lt or call Avital Libman at +37064515730.
Some snapshots taken at the presentation of the book “Dešimties stebuklų liudytojai” held at the Lithuanian Jewish Community on October 19.
Šiauliai mayor Artūras Visockas invites the public to attend the opening ceremony for the city’s new Square of the Righteous Gentiles at 10:15 A.M. on October 22 at the intersection of Vilniaus and Ežero streets in Šiauliai, followed by a ceremony for planting Japanese cherry trees at Dainai Part at noon, located at Jonas Jablonskis street no. 16. At about 1:30 representatives of the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum will deliver a talk at the Aušra Museum located in the Venclauskiai manor at Vytauto street no. 89 including a lunch and discussion with actual Righteous Gentiles and their descendants. Please report your intention to attend by calling (8 41) 50 05 31 or by writing an email to agne.areliunaite@siauliai.lt
