Lithuanian Jewish Community

Righteous Gentile Awards Ceremony Held at Lithuanian Government

A ceremony to award the title of Righteous Gentile was held in Lithuania’s Government House May 5. The award recognizes those who saved Jews from the Nazis during the Holocaust.

Prime minister Algirdas Butkevičius said at the event the tragedy of the Holocaust 75 years ago took the lives of hundreds of thousands of Lithuanian citizens, our friends, neighbors and loved ones. The numbers would have been even higher if not for those who found the courage at the darkest moments to remain human, Butkevičius said.

“Righteous Gentiles are the real heroes. They risked their own lives and those of their families to provide shelter to people who would been murdered. They disregarded their own situation and paid no heed to reputation, they were led by the voice of the heart. They helped the victims hide, fed them, gave them a roof and embraced them,” he continued.

2016-05-06

Holocaust Commemoration Features Criticism of Lithuanian Government for Denying Litvaks Citizenship

Ponar, May 5, BNS–During the annual commemoration of Holocaust victims Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky Thursday blasted decisions by migration officials not to grant Lithuanian citizenship to Litvaks–Lithuanian Jews–and their offspring who left the country between the two world wars.

During the official ceremony on Holocaust Remembrance Day at Ponar, Kukliansky said Lithuanian officials needed “history lessons.”

The event consisted of a march lasting under 20 minutes with marchers carrying Lithuanian and Israeli flags from the Ponar railroad station to the Paneriai (Ponar) Memorial Complex, where the commemorative ceremony too place. This is the route Jews of the Vilnius ghetto marched before they were murdered in the Ponar forest.

2016-05-06

The Jewish Disease

Miami, May 3, 2016–Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is May 4–5. Targum Shlishi’s support of projects related to Holocaust awareness and education is one of its core areas of giving. For many years, this category was primarily focused on pursuing justice for Nazi war crimes—Targum Shlishi worked with Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office, on many initiatives, including partnering on Operation Last Chance. As time has passed, the focus has shifted to the critical importance of issues around awareness, education, and combatting denial.

“The Jewish Disease is not that in every generation there arises an enemy that seeks to destroy us, as we read just two weeks ago in the Passover Haggadah; that has been our destiny. Instead, the Jewish Disease is that in every generation, Jews, wherever their locale, believe that this time is different,” says Aryeh Rubin, director of Targum Shlishi. “Whether it is thirteenth-century England; fifteenth-century Spain; nineteenth-century Ukraine; twentieth-century Germany; or twenty-first century France, England, or elsewhere, anywhere that Jews have achieved an exalted status in society, a confidence sets in that blocks their sense of historical reality. The details vary—perhaps there are Jews who are advisors to their country’s rulers, or on the highest corporate levels of large multinational companies, or one serves as the finance minister in a democratic state—regardless of circumstance, the refrain is always the same. Over and over, the Jews have stated: ‘It can’t happen here.’ Holocaust Remembrance Day serves to remind us that anti-Semitism has a long history and that it can happen anywhere. And this extreme anti-Semitism of yesterday extends to Israel today.”

Expanding on this, Rubin continues: “Israel is increasingly pilloried in ways that are the current face of anti-Semitism. It is critical that on Holocaust Remembrance Day we do much more than see the Holocaust as an historic event. The terrible truth is that we are in no position to call the Holocaust history. With anti-Semitism steadily rising throughout Europe, we are all obligated to do our job in increasing awareness and knowledge of the Holocaust as well as disseminating truth and countering lies about Israel and the Jewish people. Every year we help support a series of initiatives that are dedicated to expanding awareness of the Holocaust. We are very proud of the important work being accomplished by these programs.”

2016-05-04

Jazz Concert and Discussion May 13

Viačeslavas Ganelinas, Petras Vyšniauskas and Arkadijus Gotesmanas will perform improvisational jazz with a discussion at the JazzCellar 11 Club in Vilnius at 9:00 P.M. May 13. Come meet the legend.

The bar opens at 8:00 and reservations can only be made by telephone, +37068411382.

For more information and to purchase tickets, see:

http://www.tiketa.lt/LT/ganelinasvysniauskasgotesmanas_14621

2016-05-04

Kaunas Jewish Community Celebrate Last Day of Passover

Kaunas Jewish Community members gathered at the Punto Jazz café to celebrate the last day of Passover. They were treated to a surprise concert by the family klezmer group Klezmer Klangen, reportedly performing their first concert in Kaunas ever. The crowd seemed to love them and there was much dancing. The band performed tight songs in Yiddish with good choreography down to their smallest member, four-year-old Ramunė. While the klezmer musicians took breaks, celebrants took to the stage to compete in now-traditional Passover skits. The last day of Passover coincided with the birthday celebration of Veronika Pečkienė who wasn’t forgotten amid the general party-going and was plied with flowers and birthday greetings.

2016-05-04

Campaign for Justice for Holocaust Survivors

Today, the World Jewish Restitution Organization is launching a grass-roots campaign to unite Jewish Holocaust survivors and younger generations in the ongoing effort for restitution of property stolen from Holocaust victims.

Please support this Call to Action and this international call for justice by signing this petition:
http://wjro.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c6386fad48760c74d93ecc4fb&id=7f2893a939&e=700ea8e007

In the Call to Action, Jehuda Evron, an 84-year-old Holocaust survivor and a longtime advocate for survivors and their families, asks younger generations to join the struggle for justice for survivors and their families and to ensure that their efforts continue after the last survivor has perished.

2016-05-03

Mimuna in Israel: A Holiday to Unite All

Mimuna, when Passover is over, when all the doors to the house are open.

When Passover ends, Jews from North Africa celebrate Mimuna. This is a holiday when sweets are made of flour, when post-Passover chametz dishes return. In Morocco, on the afternoon of the last day of Passover, Muslim neighbors bring to the homes of their Jewish neighbors gifts of flour, honey, milk, butter and green beans.

The pictures below portray a Mimuna family holiday spread, including pancakes with butter, margarine and honey, a favorite. The green pastries with almonds contain rings. Everyone wishes one another a successful marriage and much happiness on this day.

Shavua tov! שָׁבוּעַ טוֹב

2016-05-03

Spirit of Jewish Girl Leads New Tour of Kaunas

The story of one Lithuanian who lived in Kaunas in the early 20th century deserves to be made into a film. Instead, a group of Kaunas residents are using it in their intriguing new tour of the Kaunas Old Town. This is the first project of its kind in Lithuania.

Beginning this week locals and visitors will be able to follow this exceptional itinerary through Kaunas called “Spirit Guide through Old Kaunas” with a narration about the story of Kaunas and people living in Kaunas.

An audiovisual tourist guide file at www.atmintiesvietos.lt is available for free download before embarking on this 70 minute tour starting May 5.

Daiva Citvarienė, a teacher from the Arts Faculty at Vytautas Magnus University and the director of the university’s 101 Art Gallery, and a team of professionals created the project.

2016-05-03

Attend the March of the Living

The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to attend the annual March of the Living procession from the Ponar railroad station to the Ponar Holocaust Memorial and the commemorative ceremony following this on Holocaust Day (Yom ha Shoah) on Thursday, May 5.

The march will begin at 12:30 P.M. from the parking lot next to the railroad tracks in Ponar. A bus will take those wishing to attend but this year you will have to register beforehand (see more below). The bus will wait at the base of Kalinausko street in Vilnius near the Lithuanian Jewish Community, next to the Frank Zappa statue and the Central Clinic. Be ready to board by 11:15 A.M. because the bus will depart at 11:30 A.M. sharp.

The Embassy of Israel in Lithuania, the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum and the Lithuanian Jewish Community also invite you to attend events following the March of the Living at the Government House of the Republic of Lithuania including a ceremony to honor Lithuanian Righteous Gentiles at 3:30 P.M. the same day. Government House is located at Gedimino prospect No. 11, Vilnius. Please come early for this event, arriving by 2:30 P.M., with personal identification.

To register for the bus, the Government event or both, please send your intention to attend with your full name to info@lzb.lt or call (8 5) 2613 003 by April 29.

2016-05-03

Vilnius Jewish Community Window Smashed as Passover Ends

May 2, BNS–Police have opened a criminal case in the smashing of a window on the Lithuanian Jewish Community building last week. LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky told BNS the event took place Thursday night at the building on Pylimo street in Vilnius during Passover week.

“At 4:00 A.M. the alarm went off. It’s a large rock, probably torn from the sidewalk paving at the bus stop [across the street]. They threw it into the window where young children gather for the children’s club. Fortunately it happened at night when there were no children, or it would have been tragic,” she said. She said there was property damage. The incident was caught on video and the video material has been given to the police. She said it was surprising the window was broken during the holiday. “It’s difficult for us to assess. Let the police first find who did it. Maybe it’s a coincidence, maybe it was the act of drunk hooligan, but maybe not. But it is a fact we need security. The World Jewish Congress has promised to set up a security system and put plastic over the windows. Promises, promises, and now this happens,” she commented.

Police told BNS a criminal case for property destruction and damage to part of the premises of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum has been filed.

2016-05-03

An Unforgettable Concert

Dutch pianist Marcel Worms performed melodies by interwar Jewish composers at the Lithuanian Jewish Community on April 29, in the same hall where he played 11 years ago. Most of the composers were murdered in the Holocaust, and Worms said if their music was forgotten, they would die a second death.

Works by Rosy Wertheim, Erwin Schulhoff, Gideon Klein, Alexander Tansman, Szymon Laks, Anatolijus Šenderovas, Leo Smit, Dick Kattenburg and George Gershwin were performed. Anatolijus Šenderovas’s “Sonatina” lent a local flavor to the concert.

Concert-goers were got more than just wonderful music: the children of Dutch diplomat Jan Zwartendijk attended. Robert Zwartendijk and Edith Jes spoke about their father who helped rescue at least 2,000 Jews in Lithuania by issuing visas for the Dutch possession of Curaçao, a somewhat fictitious “end-visa” the Soviets demanded of holders of Sugihara’s transit visas through Japan. He and his sister Edith were glad their father was being commemorated and also happy to have a chance to visit Kaunas again, where the Zwartendijk family lived and which Edith, then 13, remembers well.

2016-05-02

The World Blames the Jews, But Never the Terrorists

by Judith Bergman

The scene of the bus bombing on Moshe Baram Street in Jerusalem on April 18, 2016. Photo: Nati Shohat/Flash90.

A disturbingly clear pattern has emerged in the wake of the increase in terrorism around the world, especially in the West. Whenever there is a terrorist attack, the parents, friends and families of the perpetrators are always in “deep shock.” They cannot fathom from where their terrorist offspring, who had always been so “normal and good,” got their inspiration. The parents have absolutely “no idea” what could possibly have prompted the attacks.

It is conspicuous–and pathetic–how uniform these parents of Muslim radicals are in their frantic denial of knowledge and responsibility for raising monsters who go out and commit such atrocities. But the politically-correct mainstream international press never probes deeper and lets the parents off the hook easily. After all, the international mainstream media push and encourage the very victimhood narratives that the parents’ denials and feigned “shock” foster in order to escape further scrutiny. It is astounding that no one in the media seriously questions these uniform denials.

2016-04-29

Rome to Open Jewish Catacombs to the Public

Rome plans to open the 2,000-year-old Villa Randanini Jewish catacombs to the public for the first time between May 1 and June 5 as part of a cultural initiative as one of the several initiatives taken by the Italian Cultural Ministry to promote the scope of the “Jubilee Year of Mercy” declared by the pope.

The Jewish catacombs were discovered beneath the vineyard of Villa Randanini in 1859. The maze of tunnels covers nearly 18,500 square meters (about 199,000 square feet) and has a depth of five to 16 meters (about 16 to 52 feet). The walls have inscriptions in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew providing information about people buried there. The catacombs have been vandalized over time, but still contain many colorful frescoes and tablets with Jewish candelabra depicted. The walls are covered with paintings of birds, dancing maidens, flourishes and grapevines. The catacombs also contain kokhim, a type of Jewish burial chamber.

2016-04-29

Israeli Jazzman Tamir Grinberg Visits Panevėžys

Israeli jazzman Tamir Grinberg visited Panevėžys April 25, giving a performance with his ensemble at the Panevėžys Music Theater to a large and enthusiastic audience.

Grinberg, 21, is already a star in his native Israel and plays at the big clubs and festivals, and in recent years has become better known in Europe as well. He has a loyal fan base in Lithuania. Last year the fiery and lyrical Grinman, scrupulous in his music to a fault and a master of his genre, became the favorite at the Kaunas Jazz Festival. He was declared a young musical phenomenon several years ago, and formed several bands in his teens at music school. Fans say his voice is both interesting and emotional, and that he is faithful to his funk, blues and jazz roots. They point to his stylish retro sound and his incredible energy as the reasons for Grinberg’s success and his cross-generational audience. They say his style doesn’t obey the dictates of time or fashion.

2016-04-29

Condolences

On April 19 Roza Znak, member of the LJC Social Club, passed away. She was born October 6, 1938. Our deepest condolences to her friends and family in this time of pain.

2016-04-29

Condolences

Roza Levit, LJC Social Center member, passed away on April 22. She was born July 9, 1939. Our deepest condolences go to her friends and family.

2016-04-29

Wooden Synagogue in Pakruojas, Lithuania

EEA and Lithuanian state support as well as from the Pakruojas regional administration has been allocated for fixing the wooden synagogue in Pakruojas, Lithuania.

The plan is to house a children’s literature section of the Juozas Paukštelis Public Library in the synagogue and to use it for educational activities and cultural events. The synagogue has no heat and will have to be outfitted with a heating system for year-round use.

A team of architectural experts, cultural heritage protection specialists, restorers and engineers visited Lithuania’s oldest wooden synagogue April 27. This mission organized by Lithuania’s Ministry of Culture was intended to come up jointly with experts the best solution to the heating problem and other outstanding issues at the site. Participants said the meeting was highly productive and hoped similar heritage issues would see the same sort of good practices applied in the future.

From EEA Grants for Culture in Lithuania

Photos from the trip here.

2016-04-29

Jewish Cultural Legacy Presented in Ukmergė

The Big Stone Hotel in Ukmergė Friday evening was the venue for Jewish music and the audience had the opportunity to try some traditional Jewish cuisine items recently included on the hotel restaurant’s menu. The Ukmergė regional administration, the Ukmergė Tourism and Business Information Center and Big Stone Hotel owners Tajana and Filionis August held a symbolic Passover seder to mark the Jewish holiday on April 23, with the requisite four glasses of wine (kosher, by the way).

The celebrants including members of the Ukmergė Jewish Community discussed the next steps in the life of the recently created Jewish Cultural Heritage Association and its Jewish Cultural Heritage Tourist Route, Lithuania’s largest newspaper, Lietuvos rytas, reported.

Full story in Lithuanian here.

2016-04-29

New Space Created for LJC Youth

The Lithuanian Jewish Student Union is pleased to announce the beta phase of the project Moadon Helimudim. We have officially opened the doors to the new educational space where young people can meet daily. It includes computers, internet, wifi connection, and coffee and tea!

Please come in and make use of the new space at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius.

Contact person: Ziv Atlas
For more information write lujsinfo@gmail.com with Moadon Halimudim in the subject line.
The space is open from 5:00 P.M. onward.

2016-04-29

Letter from Director of the Regional Administration of Molėtai

Director of the Regional Administration of Molėtai

March 3, 2016 No. B22-399
re: February 29, 2016 No. 190

To Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community

On Measures to Commemorate Father Jonas Žvinys and Bronius Žvinys

We thank you for the position expressed regarding activities to commemorate Father Jonas Žvinys and Bronius Žvinys. We understand your people’s pain and desire to expose the truth.

We inform you that there has been no discussion in the board of administrators of the Regional Administration of Molėtai on any sort of merits of Bronius Žvinys which might be deserving of commemoration. Regarding the commemoration of the activities of the priest Jonas Žvinys meritorious to Lithuania, his relatives represented by Antanas Žvinys have petitioned multiple times the Molėtai regional administration director and board of administrators and finally the President’s Office regarding the inadequate actions by the director and board of administrators in solving this issue.

The board of administrators of the Molėtai regional administration in considering the commemoration of Jonas Žvinys’s contributions to Lithuania do so based on the fact the President’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania, having investigated the circumstances, awarded him the Order of the Cross of Vytis, 4th degree, in 1999. We don’t have the right to question the decision of the President’s Office, and so long as it hasn’t been proved that he did participate in committing crimes against the Jewish people, the contributions of this person to Lithuania cannot be struck from the record. In view of the doubts concerning this person’s actions, causing great public discussion, however, we will propose to the board of administrators of the Molėtai regional administration not to consider the question of commemorating this person until an investigation is completed.

Respectfully,

Stasys Žvinys, director
Regional Administration of Molėtai

2016-04-29

Israeli President Isaac Herzog Visits Lithuania

On the War in Israel and the Situation in Lithuania