Lithuanian Jewish Community

Lithuanian Historian Linas Venclauskas on the Swastika at LJC

15min.lt

A strong upsurge in anti-Semitism in Lithuania and the world has been noted recently. In early August the Lithuanian Jewish Community closed the synagogue because of possible danger, and a few days ago a swastika made of soil appeared at LJC headquarters. Vytautas Magnus University historian Dr. Linas Venclauskas says the wave of anti-Semitism might have been set in motion by recent disputes on historical figures, but won’t deny the possibility these incidents could increase in number.

Sunday a swastika was arranged in soil poured on the sidewalk next to the LJC building. LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky commented the incident truly caused alarm, especially because it came the week before Lithuania’s Day of Remembrance of Victims of Genocide.

Recent attacks against Jewish communities have been noted around the world. In the USA the number of shootings and other violent attacks inside synagogues has increased.

2019-09-18

Town of Darbėnai Deciding How to Commemorate Jewish Past, Some Ideas Divisive

by Jovita Gaižauskaitė, LRT TV

Residents of the town of Darbėnai in the Kretinga region are deciding how to commemorate the former Jewish population of about 550. The proposals so far have stirred up division in the town: no one wants to showcase that Jews were murdered there.

About 550 Jews lived in Darbėnai before World War II. Now the marked mass murder sites witness to their fate.

There is a plaque commemorating the Zionist Dovid Volfson, considered the inventor of the Israeli flag and the man who gave the modern shekel its name, on one of the houses in the Lithuanian town. Local residents keep coming up with more ideas to commemorate other Jews who lived there.

2019-09-18

On Photography and Memory: Antanas Sutkus Exhibit Pro Memoria to Mark the 7th Anniversary of the Destruction of the Kaunas Ghetto

by Paulius Jevsejevas

Šiaurės Atėnai (No. 17, 2019)

Antanas Sutkus has photographed a wide variety of people over his career, from famous figures such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Jonas Mekas and Marija Gimbutienė to deaf and blind children living on the margins of society.

Even so, the photography in Pro Memoria disturbed me and wouldn’t allow me to build on earlier experience. Not because of some characteristic of the people portrayed, not because of the artistic choices the photographer made, and not because of my own attitudes as viewer. I am disturbed probably because I don’t have any definite words at hand to describe the general photographic situation I found myself in standing in from of these portraits. As I stood looking at those faces at least two different inner voices appeared and engaged in an unnerving inner dialogue.

On one side, we all now know that the people portrayed in this photographs along with hundreds of thousands of others for several long, seemingly endless years were placed beyond the bounds of society, intentionally separated and finally condemned to death. So these people, unlike other Lithuanian people photographed by Sutkus, these people didn’t have any social status at all. The people in the portraits survived, but I cannot forget all those who were murdered, even if I can’t see them: Every face, hand, glance in the series of portraits stands before me like a living body and at the same like a text which contains a story of the dead.

Full text in Lithuanian here.

2019-09-18

Fayerlakh Performs at Peoples Fair

The Peoples Fair took place for the eleventh time in central Vilnius. The goal of this colorful event is to present the crafts, cuisine, traditions, culture and life of Lithuania’s ethnic minority communities.

The fair usually includes music, cooking and crafts workshops. This year the Jewish song and dance ensemble Fayerlakh performed as well.

2019-09-17

On Contexts

by Sergejus Kanovičius
Photo by Paulius Peleckis/BFL © 2019 Baltijos fotografijos linija

Ghettos are good. Herding people into them was an attempt to save the Jews. Honoring the herders is nothing special, just good etiquette. As is the division of property of the murdered.

The installation of plaques commemorating false heroes is a classic of the rule of law. The silence of almost all political leaders is a sign that all of this is to be tolerated and acceptable. Vilnius is decorated with hundreds of portraits of those who wished the Jews well in the ghettos, posters proclaiming Vilnius shouldn’t be the Jerusalem of the North, those wearing white armbands marching from the President’s Office towards the erection of the plaque guarded by the police, Holocaust denial and the revision of history on the lips of politicians and staff from the Genocide Center. Or maybe someone wants a t-shirt bearing pictures of these doers of good to the Jews? They’re not expensive. Patriotism is cheap, just thirty euros apiece. A swastika with flowers in front of the Lithuanian Jewish Community going extinct is just the logical continuation of this.

Everything, acts of good and evil, require favorable circumstances. Those flowers on that swastika are just flowers. They do not differ from those who silently tolerate this entire context, nor from those actively creating it. The dead cannot vote. But this silence regarding the living is telling.

2019-09-172019-09-23

Lithuania Does Not Tolerate Hatred and Vandals

lrv.lt

“Ethnic and religious tolerance always were and will remain important to the Lithuanian state and Lithuanian society. Special attention will be given this in the future as well,” Lithuanian prime minister Saulius Skvernelis said in response to an act of vandalism at the headquarters of the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius.

“These kinds of attacks not only do internal damage to intercultural dialogue traditions fostered over several decades, but do great damage to Lithuania’s reputation in the world.

“Therefore we can say confidently that actions sowing hatred and discord will never be tolerated, and both the organizers and executors of such actions will be brought to account in accordance with the standards of law, international legal norms and the laws of the Republic of Lithuania.

“The Government of the Republic of Lithuania calls upon law-enforcement institutions to investigate this incident quickly, responsibly and fully,” the statement from the Lithuanian Government said.

2019-09-17

US Diplomat Tells Lithuania Not to Glorify Holocaust Collaborators

Photo: Protesters reinstall controversial Noreika plaque in Vilnius. Photo by J. Stecevičius/LRT

US diplomat Cherrie Daniels has warned the glorification of Holocaust collaborators in Lithuania undermines the country’s reputation and the memory of its true heroes, and promotes anti-Semitism.

“Lithuania has been shaped into the proud democracy it is today because of the valiant actions of countless heroes throughout its history,” Cherrie Daniels, special envoy for Holocaust issues at the US State Department, tweeted Monday. “But every country has its dark moments”.

“When confronting difficult issues of the past, it’s important to objectively review the actions of historical figures to determine the impact of their actions, both positive and negative,” she said.

2019-09-172019-09-20

Exhibit on Tadeusz Romer and Jewish Refugees in Far East

The exhibit “Polish Ambassador to Japan Tadeusz Romer and Jewish Refugees in the Far East” will open with an event in the Jascha Heifetz Hall on the third floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community at 6:00 P.M. on September 19.

This mobile exhibit from the Polish Institute was first shown last March at the Sugihara House museum in Kaunas. The authors of the exhibit Dr. Olga Barbasiewicz and Barbara Abraham are to take part in this opening. The exhibit will run till October 19.

2019-09-17

Hebrew Classes for Beginning and Advanced Levels

It’s never too late to learn a new language or renew and enrich your knowledge. Come learn Hebrew with Dr. Ruth Reches beginning October 6.

Sunday:

9:45 A.M. Advanced group
1:00 P.M. group with some knowledge
2:45 P.M. Beginners

Class will be held in the conference hall on the 2nd floor at the Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius. Registration required. Register by sending an email to ruthreches@gmail.com

Everyone is welcome.

2019-09-17

Villon Hotel Creator Bill Brahms Has Reason to Be Surprised in Lithuania

15min.lt

Investor and owner of the Villon corporation managing the Vilnius Grand Resort Ben Brahms doesn’t try to hide the fact his investments over 26 years of operation haven’t paid off. But the investor who lives in London and constantly flies to Vilnius says he plains to build his dream city next to Vilnius in the next 10 years, although in an interview with 15min.lt he had harsh words for Lithuania’s immigration policy.

Full story in Lithuanian here.

2019-09-16

Exhibit of Photo Works by Bartosz Frątczak

The Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum invites the public to the opening of a showing of photography by Bartosz Frątczak called “(Non-)Existence” at the Tolerance Center at 5:00 P.M. on September 19. The opening ceremony is dedicated to marking the Day of Remembrance of Lithuanian Jewish Victims of Genocide.

2019-09-16

Condolences

Solomonas Levinas has passed away. He was born in 1934. Our deepest condolences to his wife Valentina, sons Vladimiras and Leonidas and grandchildren. The members of the Union of Former Ghetto and Concentration Camp Prisoners will not be able to fill the gape left by your loss, but we want to take a share of your pain.

2019-09-16

Children’s Safety Questioned after Swastika Appears at LJC

Children’s events, workshops, clubs and so forth are held often at the Lithuanian Jewish Community, as are Hebrew lessons, chess matches and Jewish holiday events attended by children. The safety of children attending events at the LJC is being called into question by the appearance of a swastika just meters from the front door. Its appearance coincided with the Peoples Fair inside, where children were preparing to give a concert. The goal of the Peoples Fair is to bring together the ethnic minority communities who call Lithuania home.

While the children were getting ready for the concert upstairs, down at the Bagel Shop Café a group of 43 elderly religious Jews from Jerusalem were holding prayers and waiting for breakfast when the swastika appeared, even closer to the front door of the kosher food outlet.

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliaksy said there should actually be reverse discrimination for the Lithuanian Jewish Community considering how small it is now following the Holocaust.

No other state in Europe fails to provide protection and security for its Jewish community.

2019-09-152019-09-17

Swastika at the Lithuanian Jewish Community

A week before Lithuania marks its Day of Remembrance for Jewish Victims of Genocide in Lithuania, a swastika appeared on the sidewalk close to the main entrance of the LJC at Pylimo street no. 2, where some LJC security cameras are pointed.

Who did it and why? As Sergey Kanovich has written:

“It’s not really bad now is it? After all good come quickly after… and it was created by heroes. What after this, a broken window, a match? When the authorities remain silent, evil doesn’t sleep.”

There is no other Jewish community in Europe where the state doesn’t provide protection and security.

2019-09-152019-09-18

Meeting with Students from the Viltis Pre-Gymnasium in Panevėžys

The month of September is marked by a painful historical tragedy and is the month we mark the Day of Lithuanian Jewish Victims of Genocide. The Vilnius ghetto was liquidated over the course of the month of September.

Every year the Panevėžys Jewish Community organizes commemoration ceremonies at the mass murder sites in the Kurganava forest, the Žalioji forest, Krekenava, Raguva and other villages in the Panevėžys region.

The plan this year is to hold a quiz with students on September 24, show a film about the Holocaust from Yad Vashem and to introduce young people to Holocaust survivors. This meeting took place at the Panevėžys Jewish Community in early September with students from the Viltis Pre-Gymnasium.

Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman told the painful history of the Jews of the Panevėžys area.

Local Nazi collaborators murdered Jewish men, women and children throughout Lithuania, in Ukraine and in so many other European countries. Jews will never forget those people who helped and rescued them from the Holocaust.

One wonders why today a small group of Lithuanians is attempting to return to the past and to commemorate the collaborators who murdered and destroyed their fellow citizens.

2019-09-12

University of Illinois at Chicago Hosts Discussion “Narratives of Pluralism in Lithuania Yesterday and Today”

Tuesday evening the University of Illinois at Chicago held a discussion called “Narratives of Pluralism in Lithuania Yesterday and Today.” Speakers included professor Tomas Venclova, Lithuanian minister of culture Dr. Mindaugas Kvietkauskas, Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, YIVO director Jonathen Brent, with teacher of Polish literature and Polish-Jewish relations Karen Underhill moderating. Discussion focused on multiculturalism in Lithuania, changes in ethnic minority communities in Lithuania over the centuries, contributions the ethnic minorities made to founding the modern state and Litvak contributions to the nation’s cultural and political life, as well as Holocaust education and commemoration.

Lithuanian consul general Mantvydas Bekesius thanked professor Venclova, Lithuanian cultural attaché in New York Gražina Michnevičiūtė and all audience members and speakers.

Photos by Sandra Scedrina

2019-09-122019-09-17

Yeshiva Being Restored in Telšiai

by Gintaras Šiuparys

The city of Telšiai has been putting its Old Town in order and has begun restoration of the former yeshiva there.

The remains of the building standing on Iždinės street doesn’t bring to mind the former glory of the world-famous yeshiva. Rabbis from the US, Great Britain, South Africa, Hungary Uruguay and other countries came to learner here. After a fire early in the 20th century, the rebuilt and expanded was huge. At one time up to 500 rabbis and other students studied here.

One of the most famous Jewish religious schools, it operated until the occupation of Lithuania in 1940. Actually it was recreated and still operates across the Atlantic: since November of 1941 the Telshe yeshiva has been operating in Cleveland, Ohio. It follows the same program of study as the former yeshiva in Lithuania.

Full story in Lithuanian here.

2019-09-112019-09-17

Makabi Fun Run Was … Fun!

The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club held its third annual Fun Run on September 8 with 80 runners including a whopping 36 from the Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium under the guidance of PE teachers Vilija Taralienė and Mantas Mikutavičius. Many students’ parents also ran. Runners were able to choose between two courses, one 1.5-kilometers long, the other 3 kilometers.

The run took place on a beautiful fall day and the competitors were in high spirits. Prize winners received unusual prizes this time, including gift certificates and sweets. Everyone received a prize for participating. After the prize ceremony custom-ordered cakes were presented, one for the students from Sholem, their teachers and their parents. The other was for members of the Makabi Club to celebrate their summer victory at the European Macabbiah Games held in Budapest. A third cake was for the large group of volunteers who helped organize the event.

We plan to make the 2020 Fun Run international with European Macabbiah athletes from a number of member-states.

Semionas Finkelšteinas, president
Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club

2019-09-10

Arkadijus Vinokuras: We Are Afflicted by Fear

We are afflicted by Soviet recidivism, i.e., by fear. Fear of the past, fear of a dark history which demands we look upon our own scared face in the mirror. We are afflicted by fear of responsibility. When powerless people are afraid, that is one thing, but it’s entirely different when the people who are afraid are in power.

Gitanas Nauseda, as if he had just fallen to Earth, is proposing to create a Cultural Commission to solve matters of historical memory.

Mr. President, we have two expert institutions which have been doing this for 20 years now. The problem is that one institution, the Center for the Study of the Genocide and Resistance of Residents of Lithuania, or Genocide Center for short, sees no reason to adhere to the international convention defining the crimes of genocide, to which Lithuania is a signatory. Otherwise Jonas Noreika and Kazys Škirpa would have been dethroned long ago. All that is needed is to follow the Convention and hundreds of other documents.

The fact is, the Genocide Center is under the guidance of the right, and thus there are these kinds of politicized decisions. Who will form a new forum? Again, nationalists on the right, who have spent the last 10 years reiterating again and again that the situation is still unclear? Or perhaps it would be more constructive and more credible to convoke independent historians who are not in the pocket of the state and therefore unafraid to issue unpoliticized conclusions?

Full editorial in Lithuanian here.

2019-09-102019-09-15

Keiko Borjeson Concert in Kaunas Honors Righteous Gentile

The Kaunas State Philharmonic held a concert September 6 to honor Righteous Gentile Ona Jablonskytė-Landsbergienė on what would have been her 125th birthday.

Actor and director Aleksandras Rubinovas presented a brief biography of the woman including how she hid Jews during the Holocaust. Her son was present and shared his memories of his mother’s deeds and views.

Jazz vocalist Keiko Borjeson (ボルジェソンケイコ) of Japan, Arvydas Joffe on percussion, Mykolas Bazaras on bass and Tomas Botyrius on sax delivered a program of jazz standards, improvisation and Jewish melodies.

2019-09-09

Israeli President Isaac Herzog Visits Lithuania

On the War in Israel and the Situation in Lithuania