photo: mass murder of Jews in Šiauliai in 1941
by Liepa Želnienė
It will perhaps never be known exactly how many Jews were murdered in Lithuania in the 1940s, or how many Lithuanians collaborated in perpetrating the Holocaust. Historians say we must first define whom we will include: those who pulled the trigger, those who stood guard at the mass murder sites, prepared the killing pits, or those who forced Jews into the ghettos, or those who stole Jewish property?
Full story in Lithuanian here.
by Mindaugas Jackevičius, www.DELFI.lt
Avoiding the subject of the Holocaust and research in this field, Lithuania is in danger of becoming a nation of Jew-killers in the eyes of the world. Statements like that were aired at a conference held at the Lithuanian parliament Monday, where participants reiterated we still don’t know the true number of Jews murdered, or of the people who rescued Jews in Lithuania. MP Arvydas Anušauskas said at the conference people tend be very conservative in talking about the number of Lithuanian Holocaust perpetrators. He said it was difficult to calculate who took part in mass murder operations, for example, some people’s names are duplicated because they participated at different locations. There was also discussion of who should be included as perpetrators: should they only include people who fired weapons, or also those who transported the victims to the mass murder sites or otherwise aided the process.
Full story in Lithuanian here.
Where: NGA Auditorium, Konstitucijos prospect no. 22, Vilnius
When: 6:00 P.M., Tuesday, June 7, 2016
On June 7-8 National Gallery of Arts presents the program of contemporary Isreali video art ‘The Floodgates Within: Video Art from Israel’ curated by Chen Tamir, curator at the Center for Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv. Chen Tamir will present two evenings of video from Israel. Designed to complement one another, these two events will situate Israeli contemporary art within historic, social, and political contexts, and offer a wide overview of experimental video-based art from this unique country.
The National Gallery of Art presents an exceptional 2016 summer event, the exhibition Positive Images for Field and Forest by the contemporary Israeli artist Sharon Ya’ari. It is one of his biggest personal exhibitions in Europe and his first in Lithuania.
VILNIUS, June 6, BNS–Not only those who pulled the trigger should be considered perpetrators of the Jewish genocide in Lithuania–they should include the individuals who transported Jews and guarded the sites of massacres, a local historian says.
Alfredas Ruksenas, a specialist of the Genocide and Resistance Research Center of Lithuania, said that the number of genocide perpetrators could be calculated very roughly.
“Shooters of Jews should include all participants of the operations, even if they did not pull the trigger but facilitated the operations,” Ruksenas said at a discussion at the parliament on Monday.
In his words, the battalions that were conducting the genocide are known, however, establishing a specific person or contribution is a difficult task.
The Eurasian Council on Foreign Affairs reports Suma Chakrabarti, president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), concluded a tour of Central Asia last week which included visits to Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
The EBRD has several offices throughout Central Asia, and to date has invested over €6 billion in Kazakhstan alone. During his visit to Astana, Chakrabarti met with Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev to discuss EBRD-Kazakh cooperation in sectors such as infrastructure and transport, as well as with Prime Minister Karim Massimov and other key ministers.
The EBRD president praised Kazakhstan’s political development and multi-party system, and stated that, having invested more than €1.2 billion in 2015–a record for the Central Asian region–the bank plans to maintain its ambitious operational targets, and invest over €700 million in Kazakhstan during 2016. He participated in the 9th edition of the Astana Economic Forum on May 26th, and co-chaired the Foreign Investors Council devoted to the Astana International Financial Centre on May 27th, alongside president Nazarbayev.
Previously Chakrabarti met with Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov on May 23rd, receiving an invitation to participate in a UN conference on transport and transit corridors taking place in the country in November; and with Azeri president Ilham Aliyev during a visit to Azerbaijan on May 24-25th.
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry reports deputy foreign minister Mantvydas Bekešius met May 27 with a group of journalists from Israel. The group was visiting Lithuania from May 25 to 29.
The deputy minister said Israel is an important partner to Lithuania in the Middle East and the countries share common values. He said friendship between people continues to grow, that this encourages better knowledge of one another, and that that contributes to growth in business contacts and tourism.
The journalists were interested in successfully expanding relations between Lithuania and Israel, business opportunities, Jewish community current events and the agenda of Lithuanian foreign policy, according to a statement released by the ministry. They also asked about challenges arising in the EU over the migration crisis, the UK’s upcoming referendum on quitting the EU and the Ukraine problem, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said.
On January 8, 2017, Lithuania and Israel will mark 25 years of diplomatic relations.
Full story in Lithuanian here.
The Abi Men Zet Zikh and the Social Club of the LJC invite members to meet on the eve of Shavuot at 1:00 P.M. on Thursday, June 9, on the third floor of the LJC. Rabbi Shimshon Izakson will talk about the rise of King David and there will be traditional Shavuot dishes.
Registration is required. Please contact Žana Skudovičienė by telephone at 867881514 between 10:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. during the work week.
The Vilnius Art School for Children and Youth, the first independent private art educational institution in Lithuania, was created by Jūratė Stauskaitė in 1991.
Over its 25 years of history, the school has turned become a versatile and innovative artistic education resource where everyone gets a chance to express their individuality through freedom of expression and creativity, which are important in all professions.
Since 1991 several thousand pupils have attended and completed school programs. School staff have published various teaching aids and textbooks for other schools. The school has taken part in numerous artistic educational initiatives and charity events held by the Vilnius municipality and state authorities, and remains true to its main objective: to raise creative members of society.
by Daniel Lutrin
It was gratifying to see a recent article regarding the plight that Jews of Lithuanian origin (Litvaks) are facing when applying to have their Lithuanian citizenship restored. The article, however, does not hone in on the critical matter at hand, namely the extent to which Lithuanian bureaucrats have gone to deny Jews of their ancestral right to citizenship.
In the background, a meticulous selection process has been underway which is nothing more than a modern manifestation of the same anti-Semitism which saw 95 per cent of Litvaks murdered in the Holocaust (the highest in all of Europe).
Denying Litvaks citizenship has been made easy in Lithuania by declaring, based on nebulous case law, that those Lithuanians who left the country during its years of independence (approximately 1919 to 1940) were not persecuted and are therefore not eligible for dual citizenship.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the elite chess and checkers club Rositsan and Maccabi invite you to a chess tournament at the Lithuanian Jewish Community at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius at 11:00 A.M. on Sunday, June 19.
The event is dedicated to the memory of interwar Lithuania’s third president and Righteous Gentile Kazys Grinius.
Tournament director: FIDE master Boris Rositsan
For more information and to register, contact: info@metbor.lt, telephone +3706 5543556
The Gesher Club of the Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to come celebrate the Sabbath with Rabbi Kalev Krelin, who will deliver a talk called “Shavuot: A Holiday without an Exact Date or Meaning” at the kosher restaurant Rishon, Tilto street no. 3, Vilnius, on Friday, June 10. To buy tickets or for more information, contact Žana Skudovičienė by telephone at 867881514.
The Povilas Matulionis Pre-Gymnasium and the Kupiškis Ethnographic Museum held a conference at the school May 30 called “The Kupiškis Jewish Community: Connections between Past and Present.” Participants included Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman, Lithuanian MPs Aleksandras Zeltinis, who spoke first, and Sergejus Jovaiša, Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Amir Maimon, Kupiškis regional administration head Dainius Bardauskas, regional administration assistant director Aurimas Martinka, Kupiškis culture, education and sports department director Violeta Aleknienė and Povilas Matulionis Pre-Gymnasium principal Rimvydas Latvys.
MP Zeltinis said the former synagogue, now the Kupiškis public library, would be restored at his initiative. Ambassador Maimon delivered the first paper and called current relations Israel and Lithuania wonderful and warm. Historian Arūnas Bubnys gave a presentation on the mass murder of the Jews of Kupiškis during the Holocaust. Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman spoke about the Holocaust and righteous gentiles who rescued Jews.
A large group of students and teachers from Jerusalem visited the Panevėžys Jewish Community May 26. Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman told the guests about the community’s activities in the Lithuanian city, including social welfare programs, and educational programs conducted with local schools. He also told them about the history of the city and of the Jews there. The guests appeared keenly interested and wanted to know what Jews there thought about Israel. A nun from the sisters of the Love of God was also at the meeting and showed guests pictures of Righteous Gentiles students had made at Marija Rusteikaitė Gymnasium.
The Lithuanian Jewish Students Union reports of two new paid internship available at the European Union of Jewish Students and at the Transatlantic Institute of the American Jewish Committee.
1. The EUJS is looking for a new communications officer. The communication officer manages EUJS’s internal and external communication strategies and creates online content for social media with the aim of broadening media coverage and outreach.
2. The American Jewish Committee’s Transatlantic Institute in Brussels http://www.transatlanticinstitute.org offers an exciting opportunity to experience what advocacy with the European Union is like. You can work as a fully contributing member of their experienced international multidisciplinary team, discover firsthand how the EU’s common foreign policy is made and get to know some of the main players.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance adopted a definition of what anti-Semitism means at their conference in Bucharest from May 23 to May 26.
Mihnea Constantinescu, IHRA’s chairman, said: “All IHRA member countries share concern that incidents of anti-Semitism are steadily rising and agree that IHRA’s member countries and indeed IHRA’s experts need political tools with which to fight this scourge. IHRA’s 31 member countries–24 of which are EU member countries–are committed to the Stockholm declaration and thereby to fighting the evil of anti-Semitism through coordinated international political action. … By adopting this working definition, the IHRA is setting an example of responsible conduct for other international fora and hopes to inspire them also to take action on a legally binding working definition.”
Mark Weitzman, chairman of IHRA’s committee on anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial which proposed the adoption of the definition in 2015, said: “In order to begin to address the problem of anti-Semitism, there must be clarity about what anti-Semitism actually is. This is not a simple question.”
Dear Friends,
The European Jewish Congress mourns the sad loss of our dear friend Sami Herman, the former President of the Jewish Community of Turkey.
He passed away following a long illness, at the young age of 66. Sami Herman will be remembered as a distinguished leader of the Jewish community of Turkey who dedicated much of his life to the well-being of its community.
Moshe Kantor and all the EJC team join in sending our deep condolences to Herman’s family and to all his close ones at this sad time.
May they be comforted among all the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
Kind regards,
The EJC Team
Marija Kuprove-Berg will perform at the Tolerance Center, Naugarduko street no. 10/2, at 6:00 P.M. on Thursday, June 2, 2016. Violinist Vytautas Mikeliūnas will also perform. A lecture will be held in English as well. The event is being held by the Lithuanian Literature and Folklore Institute and the Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum. Entrance is free to the public.
Dr. Marija Kuprove-Berg’s repertoire includes songs in all the minority languages of Lithuania, including Yiddish, Ashkenazic Hebrew, Romany, Tartar and others, and embraces Karaïte musical traditions as well.
by Sergejus Kanovičius
First, the Litvaks died. Almost all of them.
Then began the first division of property stolen from them (with the “honorable” role played by general Vėtra in this).
After World War II, the Soviets legalized this theft, and no one was supposed to mention it, or even hint of it.
After March 11, 1990, that theft was legalized once again, by limiting dual citizenship and introducing into law the statement that “rights to surviving real estate are restored only to citizens of the Republic of Lithuania.” When I made an application for restoration of citizenship, I was told in a friendly way to include in the application the demeaning statement: “I don’t have any inherited property in the Republic of Lithuania.” And how could I inherit those pits on the margins of forests and villages? How could I inherit those two hundred graves where parents and grandparents lie buried? I don’t have any “property” except for this. Although others might. The fathers of independence have done everything to “protect” us from the completely legitimate property claims of Lithuanian Jews and Vilnius Poles–such an innocent desire that this time everything really would belong exclusively to, sorry, our people.
Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Amir Maimon delivered a birthday greeting to Holocaust survivor, Vilnius ghetto prisoner and Jewish partisan Fania Brancovskaja at a small ceremony Friday, May 23, calling her an enduring miracle of hope and passion for everyone. He said her life was spoken of proudly and she serves as an inspiration and reminder to the younger generation.
