The Ilan Club invites children to another animation workshop this Sunday, May 12, at 1:30 P.M., at the Ilan Club on the second floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius.
Registration is required. Send an email to sofja@lzb.lt or call 8 601 46656
We will create scenes for an animated film. We will draw, move and film and use this material to create animated characters. The children themselves will be the main characters in the cartoon.
Lithuanian Jewish Community members gathered at the Jewish cemetery on Sudervės road in Vilnius May 8 to commemorate those who fell fighting the Nazis and the victims of fascism.
They assembled at a monument to Vilnius ghetto FPO (Fareinikte partizaner organizatsye) leader Yitzhak Vitenberg and partisan Sheyna Madeisker.
LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky recalled the number of Jews living in Lithuania before the Nazi occupation and the horror and tragedy of the majority who were murdered. Jewish partisan Fania Brancovskaja spoke in Yiddish about the painful experience of the war and the loss of family. “Do not forget those who were murdered, they fought for your freedom,” she said.
The Litvak Scouting summer camp will be held from July 28 to August 2 this year. Stay tuned for further information.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community laid a wreath at the base of a memorial to the soldiers who died during World War II at the cemetery in the Vilnius neighborhood of Antakalnis on May 9, Victory Day in Russia, correspond to May 8, Victory Day in Europe, in Western Europe, the United States and Canada. It was just after midnight Moscow time on May 9,1945, that Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies. In Western Europe it was still May 8. About 500 people including veterans and their family members assembled at the cemetery this year to mark the 74th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Israel began marking Israeli Memorial Day the night before with sirens Tuesday night, remembering the 23,741 Israeli soldiers who have fallen and the 3,150 victims of terrorism. Soldiers and all observers bowed their heads in a minute of silence for the victims.
President Reuven Rivlin recalled the horrific events being commemorated and the tension in Gaza. The Israeli president and chief of Israeli defense forces spoke at an official state event at the Wailing Wall.
Last year 95 soldiers were killed defending their country. The total figure of 23,741 includes 40 disabled veterans who died due to complications from injuries and wounds sustained during military service.
Memorial Day was marked during a time of increased tension following an attack by hundreds of rockets by Islamic militants in Gaza against Israel. The conflict escalated over the weekend when the Israeli military struck more than 350 targets in the Gaza Strip in response. According to the Israeli military Palestinians shot 700 rockets into Israel starting on the morning of May 4 and the Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system shot down 240 of these. Four Israelis were killed and several more were severely wounded, with dozens more also wounded.
Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Amir Maimon published a piece on the Lithuanian news website 15min.lt in Lithuanian about the reality of living with a 15-second warning of impending missile attack. The article is here.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to greet the Sabbath with guest and artist Raimondas Savickas on the 100th birthday of his father and celebrated Lithuanian painter Augustinas Savickas at 6:00 P.M. on May 10 on the third floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community.
With sadness we report the death of Arkadij Buchman on May 7. He was born in 1931. Our deepest condolences to his wife and loved ones.
The Goodwill Foundation which allocates monies compensated by the Lithuanian government for seized Jewish communal property is acquiring the premises which were state property on Pylimo street in Vilnius and is considering the acquisition of more properties in other Lithuanian cities.
This week the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture registered a draft Government resolution under which the building at Pylimo street no. 4, worth almost one million euros, would be transferred to the Goodwill Foundation. This is the headquarters of the Lithuanian Jewish Community as well, which is currently leasing the building.
The transfer will take place by a reduction in the monetary compensation which the state is supposed to pay and which comes to about 3.6 million euros annually. “We want there to be enduring residual value for the Jewish communities after compensation ends. The buildings and real estate are residual durable goods,” Goodwill Foundation director Indrė Rutkauskaitė told BNS.
United States president Donald Trump said the United States supports Israel 100% regarding missile attacks from the Gaza Strip and says Israel is defending its citizens. He warned the leadership in Gaza missile attacks would only cause more misfortune, and called upon Palestinians to make use of the opportunity for peace being presented.
The Hebrew and English summer day camp in Vilnius is a summer camp for younger children where they will receive fun lessons and get a chance to use their knowledge of the Hebrew and English languages, to play with people their own age and dive into the wonderful and enthralling world of learning.
It is for children aged 6 to 11. The camp will run from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. from June 10 to 14.
Children will engage in four academic hours of Hebrew and English activities in the morning. According to age and level of proficiency, language group activities will work on all four aspects of language acquisition: listening, reading, writing and speaking.
Activities and excursions in the afternoon are oriented towards fostering creativity and learning about the social and cultural environment. Children will be guided by camp leaders at the creative workshops in carrying out creative tasks.
Snacks, lunch and excursions are included in the cost for the camp.
For more information and to register, contact Ruth at +37068689530.
Photo: Lilija Valatkienė: Skliutauskaitė’s canvasses enchant with their freedom of improvisation and virtuosity
Today we visit painter, graphic designer and puppeteer Adasa Skliutauskaitė. Life hasn’t spared her pain, loss and disappointment. As if in response to that, as if to ransom that guilt, destiny has given her talent, optimism, a great sense of humor and longevity. On May 5 Adasa turned 88.
“To a genial artist, a good friend and an incomparable utterer of profanity, with the the most profound appreciation and gratitude,” the dedication of Grigoriy Kanovich’s book Candles in the Wind reads in praise of that book’s illustrator, Adasa Skliutauskaitė.
Full story in Lithuanian here.
Eta Gurvičiūtė is a long-time member of the Community and worked at the LJC’s Medical Consultation Center for many years.
Dear Eta, the Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes you good health and all the warmth you have given to others. We always remember you and sincerely congratulate you on your birthday. May the coming years bring you happiness, strong health and fun.
Mazl tov! May you live to 120!
Probably all of us wanted to learn how to make animated cartoons in our childhood. This dream came true at the Ilan Club with married couple Jurijus and Milana Rozovskis. On Sunday, April 28, children were invited to make a cartoon with them. Ilan Club was transformed into a real animation studio.
The group decided to animate the classic Russian fairytale Turnip (репа) well known in Lithuanian translation (Ropė). They added to the story with new characters and they themselves became protagonists in the tale.
Milana and Jurijus told and showed the children how make the animation characters move and have facial expressions. The children enthusiastically listened, drew, cut out, painted and posed for the animated film.
Milana answered a few questions for us as well:
Milana, was this activity your idea?
The Lithuanian Jewish Community, corporation code 190722117, will hold a reporting and elections conference at the Lithuanian Jewish Community at Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius, at 12 noon on May 28, 2019.
Agenda:
1. Election of LJC conference chair and secretary;
2. Adoption and confirmation of independent audit of LJC and financial report for 2018;
3. Confirmation of report on LJC activities for 2018;
4. Election of LJC executive board.
Representatives (delegates) of LJC association members are invited to attend the conference. More detailed material on the planned conference is available for viewing at the LJC at Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius.
For more information write info@lzb.lt or call (8 5) 261 3003.
Compared to earlier extravaganzas this year the Sholem Aleichem school in Vilnius held a remarkably low-key celebration of Yom Ha’Atzmaut or Israeli independence day on May 9, commemorating Israel’s 71st birthday.
Two years ago a dance troupe juggled flaming objects in tandem followed by a mass overflight of drones. Last year was also special to mark 70 years of independence. This year teachers and staff held a small commemoration ceremony inside the school during the day with voluntary attendance by students, followed by games and a picnic on the athletics field. A sound system provided the appropriate Israeli songs for the occasion and there was a tripod set up over live coals where a woman in a peasant costume cooked fresh bread. Parents brought picnic foods and set them on benches outside according to the class their child or children were in. A small game took place on the court where children threw balls lined with velcro at a similarly velcroed target. Those who made it within two rings of the bullseye received a candy. Participants appeared to have a great time just because parents and children had a chance to meet and socialize.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community in response to a difference of opinion regarding a monument commemorating Adolfas “Vanagas” Ramanauskas unveiled in Chicago underlines our support for the struggle by the Lithuanian nation for an independent Lithuanian state. The LJC does not question making monuments to honor those who fought for Lithuanian freedom so long as the facts don’t testify to more controversial facts implicating such fighters as Holocaust perpetrators. In the cases of Jonas Noreika, Krištaponis and Kazys Škirpa such facts are known. At the present time the LJC has no reliable information implicating Lithuanian partisan leader Adolfas Ramanauskas in Holocaust crimes.
by Paul Kirby, BBC
A monument to a Lithuanian hero in the US city of Chicago has prompted a row over World War Two after criticism from Russia and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas commanded Lithuania’s resistance to Soviet occupation after World War II.
But the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which researches the Holocaust, says he also led a vigilante gang which persecuted Jews after the 1941 Nazi invasion.
Lithuania has accused Russia of making false statements.
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it had summoned the Russian embassy representative in Vilnius in protest and called on Moscow to stop spreading disinformation about Ramanauskas’s “impeccable reputation.”
It has also accused the Simon Wiesenthal Center of making false accusations.
But Efraim Zuroff, the Center’s head in Jerusalem, said that Lithuania had to confront its history. “They’re not telling the people the truth and they’re not facing the truth,” he told the BBC.
Full story here.
In a referendum in just a few days Lithuanian voters will decide whether people who have taken citizenship of another country meeting certain criteria may remain Lithuanian citizens. If the measure is adopted then the institution of dual-citizenship would include more people and provide migrants the opportunity to preserve their legal and political ties with their country of origin, Lithuania. The situation remains unclear for those who have lost Lithuanian citizenship already. Kaunas resident Karolina shared her thoughts with us regarding the issue.
Please tell us a little bit about yourself, your family history and when you left Lithuania. What were the circumstances surrounding your leaving?
My name is Karolina. I’m 27. I was born and raised in Kaunas until I was four-and-a-half-years old. My parents decided to leave Lithuania for Israel in 1997, to make use of the right of return to Israel by people of Jewish origin (aliyah). My grandfather and uncle were already living in Israel then.
How did it go, moving to Israel? What were your first impressions?
We will be commemorating the 74th anniversary of the end of World War II March 8.
At 12:30 P.M. we will honor the victims of the Nazis and the memory of the main ghetto resistance figures, teachers and children.
There will be a bus leaving from the Community (Pylimo street no. 4) at 12:00 noon.
The Ukrainian capital Kiev is hosting an international forum for discussing the most urgent Jewish issues in Europe, the USA, Canada and Israel from May 5 to 7. The conference also marks the 20th anniversary of the Confederation of Ukrainian Jewish Communities.
Representatives of global Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Restitution Organization, European Jewish Congress, World Jewish Congress, American Jewish Committee and others are attending the international meeting of Jewish leaders.
The forum will focus on the results of the Ukrainian election, fighting anti-Semitism, strengthening peace and security, historical memory and Ukrainian international relations. Forum participants are also discussing the concerning situation in Israel vis-à-vis military hostilities.
