Police shot and killed the attacker at the scene on the capital’s Hanevi’im Street. According to police, the assailant was a 16-year-old Arab male.
Emergency workers provided initial medical treatment to a 62-year-old man in moderate condition and a 65-year-old man with light wounds at the site of the attack. Both victims were evacuated to Jerusalem hospitals for further treatment.
Oct 09, BNS – A monument to the Jews who formerly lived in Šeduva, Lithuania, was unveiled in the town on October 9, 2015. “Šeduva can take pride in the extremely long history of the Jewish nation, which started back in 1400s. Jews lived here, worked here and engaged in commerce. The Jewish community in Šeduva has always paid a lot of attention to culture and active community life,” prime minister Algirdas Butkevicius said at the ceremony. He said the monument will not only help remember the Jews of Šeduva but will also give impetus to other cities and towns to keep up and commemorate historic sites, paying tribute to the ethnic minorities who have lived in Lithuania and benefited the country. According to a government press release, the prime minister also visited the renovated Jewish cemetery in Šeduva and monuments in a local forest to victims of mass murder.
A group of volunteers from among the personnel of the Lithuanian Jewish Community gathered October 8 at the old Jewish cemetery in the Vilnius neighborhood of Užupis. Although not that many people turned out, those who did put their backs into it, hauling off brush and saplings. Volunteer director Juozas Labokas of the Regional Park’s Office of Inspector told volunteers of the history of the site and called for more volunteers and volunteer actions so the refurbishment of the cemetery could continue through the winter months. Strong individuals are sought especially, since many of the trees being removed require heavy lifting.
The site located along Olandų street next to the Soviet-era funeral home facility there was a Jewish cemetery where some 70,000 people were buried. The 11-hectare cemetery now falls under the care of the Pavilniai Regional Park. It has been completely overgrown by weeds, bushes and small trees. Now enough undergrowth has been cleared away to reveal some of the surviving Jewish headstones.
The cemetery was the main Jewish burial site in Vilnius from 1831 to 1946. The cemetery was destroyed beginning in 1965.
Currently the Municipal Works and Transportation Department of the Vilnius municipality is undertaking work to refurbish the graveyard. Trees are being removed to provide an aesthetic view of the grave monuments. Currently work is on-going in 4 hectares and volunteers are sorely needed.
The Pavilniai Regional Park webpage says:
The more people who step forward to contribute to putting the old Jewish cemetery in order, the more quickly the territory will be liberated from the brush. We hope for your reply and await your telephone call or email.
telephone: Vida at 8 614 92 522
email: parkas@botanika.lt
A major Holocaust exhibition is being held to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theater in the Tokyo district of Ikebukuro from October 8 to 13. “The Courage To Remember: The Holocaust 1939-1945 — The Bravery of Anne Frank and Chiune Sugihara” was jointly organized by the Soka University and the Simon Wiesenthal Center and is based on the SWC’s educational exhibit “The Courage to Remember.” The new version of the exhibit focuses on Japanese diplomat and hero Chiune Sugihara as well as on the life of Anne Frank. It provides a compelling historical account of the Nazis’ murderous campaign in which 6 million Jews and other victims of the Nazis were targeted and killed between 1939 and 1945, according to organizers, and uses documents, photographs, items which belonged to Holocaust victims and other rare objects to tell the story.
“We have to remember the Holocaust and the suffering of millions of innocent people, to which the diary of Anne Frank testifies,” Lithuanian ambassador to Japan Egidijus Meilūnas said at the opening October 8. “We cannot change the past, but we must learn from it. The courage of noble figures such as Japanese consul Chiune Sugihara, honorary Dutch consul Jan Zwartendijk and other rescuers of Jews set an inexhaustible example of humanity to future generations as well,” he continued.
Chiune Sugihara (1900–1986) was a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul in Lithuania during the early years of World War II. In 1940, he helped Jewish refugees desperately trying to flee persecution by the Nazis by issuing as many as 6,000 transit visas so that they could travel to Japan, though many lacked an entry visas for a third country. Honorary Dutch consul in Lithuania Jan Zwartendijk provided many of the Jews with Sugihara transit visas a final destination in the form of permission to land at the Dutch Caribbean possession the island of Curaçao, which didn’t actually require an entry visa of foreigners at that time.
At a February 3 meeting in Tokyo to launch preparation for the exhibition, Soka University President Yoshihisa Baba stated that the exhibition provides an important opportunity for human rights education, saying, “I feel today’s youth can learn crucial lessons from the tragic history of the Nazi Holocaust. Now is the time to promote tolerance education in Japan and throughout the Asia Pacific region.”
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, thanked embassy representatives for their support and emphasized that the recent 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz has brought the need to remember the horrors of the Holocaust back to public attention.
A previous version of the exhibition focusing on The Holocaust and the life of Anne Frank was shown from 1994 to 2007 throughout Japan and seen by more than two million people.
Japanese state bodies and Japanese NGOs as well as the embassies of the European Union, Lithuania, Poland, Israel, France, the Netherlands, the United States and Germany, the United Nations Information Center and the Soka Gakkai Peace Committee contributed to the exhibition jointly organized by Soka University and the SWC. The exhibition is scheduled to be shown in Hiroshima and other cities in Japan beginning in 2016.
For further information, contact:
The Courage To Remember Exhibition Steering Committee
telephone：+81-42-691-9442
fax：+81-42-691-9300
email： publicrelation@soka.ac.jp
twittter: @soka_univ
Last Thursday, October 1, Israel’s first ambassador to Lithuania visited the Švenčionys region. Ambassador Amir Maimon with assistant Ana Maizel came at the invitation of Švenčionys regional administration board member Darius Velička.
During the official meeting regional administration director Rimantas Klipčius and the heads of administration departments presented the region and its attractiveness to foreign visitors and investors.
Ambassador Maimon expressed the hope Jewish contributions to the region’s and Lithuania’s economic development and prosperity in the pre-war period would be assessed appropriately and that the legacy of Jews who lived there before and after the Holocaust preserved. He called for following all Jewish traditions at Jewish burial sites and for better up-keep of old cemeteries and mass murder sites.
After the reception and meeting at the regional administration, ambassador Maimon and delegation visited an herbal pharmaceutical factory and the Švenčionys Zigmas Žemaitis Gymnasium before noon. In the afternoon the embassy delegation visited the Intersurgical company and the Fisheries Service at Meškerinė village.
Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė visited the Vilnius Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium on International Teacher’s Day. She toured one of the newest schools in Lithuania and chatted with teachers and students. There are 352 students there from Jewish, Lithuanian, Russian, Polish and American families. The language of instruction is Lithuanian and Hebrew is taught.
“What students discover at school remains with them their entire lives,” she said. She called the school one of the best in Vilnius and Lithuania. It was originally established in 1989 at a kindergarten facility in the Viršuliškės suburb of Vilnius. In 2013 the school acquired new premises in the Žvėrynas neighborhood and was renamed the Vilnius Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium.
VILNIUS, October 5, BNS–Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė said she’s very happy with the way Lithuanian patriotism is being taught to students at the Vilnius Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium where many children of Lithuanian Jewish Community members attend.
“This school is also important because people of many ethnicities attend–there is much competition to enter–and it’s a high quality school. As we have seen and heard during our visit, the children are being given a sense of patriotism, as citizens of Lithuania, and that causes great joy,” president Grybauskaitė said Monday at the school. She chose to visit the school on International Teacher’s Day because of its multiethnic make-up, she told reporters, and because it was also Simchat Torah, the Jewish holiday for reading the Torah.
She said she appreciated not just that the school was modern and progressive, but also because it celebrates the traditions, culture and language of the ethnic community. “Today is truly a happy day. I am happy that this day this year coincides with your school’s joy, with the day of reading the Torah. It is a combined holiday for all us,” the president told the audience of students and staff. She also noted the school had scored very high marks in hard science tests of students going on to university, preparing the way for them to study hard science and technology.
BNS
Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevičius met October 2 with directors and representatives of leading US and world Jewish organizations in New York City during the current session of the United Nations general Assembly.
They discussed important issues including UN effectiveness, battling anti-Semitism and other forms of hate, policy on Iran, the Mideast peace process and current issues in safeguarding the Lithuanian Jewish heritage at the Lithuanian general consulate in New York. The Lithuanian foreign minister said ever more Lithuanians are discovering the rich Litvak heritage, understand the need to protect that legacy and take pride in the remarkable contributions Litvaks have made to world culture.
On Friday, October 2, 2015, a statue commemorating the friendship between Mohandas Gandhi and Rusnė resident Hermann Kallenbach was unveiled in Rusnė.
VILNIUS, October 2, BNS–A statue portraying Indian independence hero Mohandas Gandhi and his friend Jewish architect Hermann Kallenbach was unveiled Friday in Kallenbach’s hometown, Rusnė, located in the Šilutė region of Lithuania.
Lithuanian prime minister Algirdas Butkevičius was at the ceremony and called the bronze statue a monument to Lithuanian-Indian friendship and a testimony to the achievements of Litvaks. “Today is unveiled a monument to friendship, between two people and two peoples,” he said, standing next to the almost two-meter-tall statue of the two men on the banks of the Atmata River on the border with Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast. Gandhi and Kallenbach, who left Rusnė in his youth, became friends in South Africa at the beginning of the 20th century.
Gandhi’s great-grandson Tushar Gandhi attended the ceremony and said non-violent resistance unite India and Lithuania. He said Kallenbach was an important spiritual influence on his ancestor.
“Lithuania is still a little-known country in India,” Lithuanian ambassador to India Laimonas Talat-Kelpša told BNS. “This is a good opportunity to bring the attention of Indian society to Kallenbach and Lithuania.”
Lithuanian Holocaust Remembrance Day was observed in the village of Batakiai, Lithuania, on September 23, 2015. A new monument to Holocaust victims was unveiled there.
The event at the Batakiai House of Culture began with a literary musical composition dedicated to the memory of Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Batakiai High School students and teachers performed the composition which was a sensitive treatment of the Holocaust. Tauragė Regional Administration director Sigitas Mičiulis, deputy director Aušrinė Norkienė and Klaipėda Jewish Community chairman Feliksas Puzemskis spoke at the event.
Members of the audience at the event went to the mass murder site in Gryblaukis Forest. Regional administrator Sigitas Mičiulis and Klaipėda Jewish Community chairman Feliksas Puzemskis unveiled the monument to seven Jews of Batakiai murdered in 1941. A moment of silence was held, flowers were laid at the monument and candles lit. Another nearby mass murder site was visited after the ceremony where about 1,800 Jewish women and children were murdered. A moment of silence was held there, too, and flowers and candles were placed by the second monument.
On September 25 the Klaipėda Jewish Community visited Švėkšna for the “Let’s Save the Švėkšna Synagogue” event. A guide provided an excellent tour and told of Švėkšna, its history and important sites. Volunteers took members to the old Jewish cemetery and mass murder sites. The Klaipėda delegation met with the group from Kaunas and were treated to the songs of Vitalijus Neugasimovas.
Members of the Klaipėda Jewish Community along with the rest of the audience were much impressed with the visual presentation on the history of the Švėkšna Synagogue.
Even so, members on the return trip wondered if the money hadn’t been better spent repairing the synagogue roof.
Snapshots here:
https://www.facebook.com/klaipedajewish
The Pavilniai Regional Park administration directed by Vida Petiukonienė is currently clearing growth, brush and trees at the Old Jewish Cemetery in Užupis on Olandų street in Vilnius. Those who drive by can already see how the appearance of the cemetery has changed, it looks like a real cemetery again with clear borders and headstones and fragments of headstones visible. This is only the beginning
We are calling for volunteers to help in this important work.
The regional park director has informed us volunteers are needed to help bring the cut trees and brush to the road. There’s still a lot of work to do, so we’re suggesting not a single day of volunteer clean-up, but a whole season’s worth! Please tell your friends and family and figure out when your group might be able to come and help out. School groups are more than welcome. The director says they are ready to take on volunteers every day.
Everyone is invited. It would be best to have groups of volunteers organized and ready to lend a hand by October 10.
Pavilniai Regional Park director may be contacted directly by email at vida.petiukoniene@gmail.com
or you may contact the Lithuanian Jewish Community’s representative for heritage protection Martynas Užpelkis at paveldas@lzb.lt or by telephone at 8-615 13257
Thank you for your help.
VILNIUS, Oct 05, BNS – Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite on Monday praised Sholom Aleichem ORT Gymnasium, a Vilnius-based Jewish school, for promoting Lithuanian patriotism.
“This school is also important because children of various ethnicities attend it, there’s huge competition to get enrolled and it’s a school of high quality. As we saw and heard during this visit, children are being educated in a very patriotic manner as citizens of Lithuania, and I’m very glad about it,” Grybauskaite told journalists during her visit to the school.
The Lithuanian president said she had decided to visit this school on the World Teachers’ Day because of its multinationalism and also because it coincides with the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah that marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. The president praised Sholom Aleichem ORT Gymnasium for not only being a modern school but also for promoting the ethnic community’s traditions, culture and language. “This day is really a joyful day. I am glad that this day also coincides with Simchat Torah. It’s a dual holiday for us all,” Grybauskaite said in her congratulatory speech, addressing teachers and schoolchildren.
532 children from Jewish, Russian and Polish families attend Sholom Aleichem ORT Gymnasium. Classes here take place in Lithuanian but children are also taught Hebrew. A lot of attention is also paid to Lithuania, its culture and history.
Sept. 30th, 2015
The Israeli Jewish Congress (IJC) sends its heartfelt appreciation to the Jewish Leaders from over 18 countries in Europe & North America, who joined a hundred thousand people across Israel in celebrating the Birkat Kohanim (Priestly Blessing) and the ‘HAKHEL’, a historic gathering for Jewish Unity & Solidarity in Jerusalem on Sept. 30th, which repeats every 7 years.
VILNIUS, Oct 05, BNS – As Japan readies to propose the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to include the work of World War II-era Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara who rescued Jews from the Holocaust in Lithuania into its Memory of the World Register, Lithuania’s Ambassador to UNESCO Arunas Gelunas believes in success of the initiative.
“I believe the chances are high, I think over 80 percent that Sugihara will be included in the Memory of the World Register, as his work is in line with all the humanist ideas defended by UNESCO,” Gelunas told BNS.The Lithuanian ambassador said he had suggested that Lithuania and Japan submit the application together.”Speaking specifically about the support, I have proposed the Japanese mission at UNESCO to submit the application together, an inquiry has been made. The ambassador is currently talking to her ministry and authors of the applications about whether this is possible or whether they want to submit it alone with our support,” said Gelunas.In his words, Sugihara’s inclusion into the register would bring more tourists to Kaunas, the Lithuanian city the diplomat worked in.
While residing in Kaunas during World War II, Sugihara managed to save nearly 6,000 Litvaks, i.e., Jews originating in Lithuania. Putting his career and lives of his family at stake, the Japanese diplomat issued visas that made it possible for persecuted Litvaks to safely travel to Japan. In 1985, the diplomat was awarded the medal of Righteous Among Nations, which the Israeli government confers upon prominent personalities who helped victims of the Holocaust
VILNIUS, Oct 05, BNS – Six synagogues across Lithuania have been listed as cultural objects protected by the state.
Under a decree signed by the minister of culture, state protection was granted to synagogue complexes in Lygumos (the Pakruojis district), Alytus, Cekiske (the Kaunas district), Kaunas, Alanta (the Ukmerge district) and Kurkliai (the Anyksciai district). The synagogues are protected due to architectural and sacral features.
VILNIUS, Oct 2, BNS–The people of Lithuania keep discovering more of the rich legacy of the Lithuanian Jews, Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevičius said in New York Friday at a meeting with representatives of American Jewish organizations.
“The people of Lithuania keep discovering more of the rich Lithuanian Jewish heritage, understand the need to preserve it and take pride in the remarkable contributions Lithuanian Jews have made to world culture,” the foreign minister said in a press release Friday evening.
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry reported the meeting at the Lithuanian consulate in New York discussed anti-Semitism, Iran policy, the Middle East peace process and news about preserving Litvak culture.
http://www.en.ijc.org.il/?p=3880
2 October, 2015
“The Israeli-Jewish Congress (IJC) applauds the decision of European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans to appoint a Special Coordinator for combating Antisemitism in Europe.
This is a long overdue step, which the IJC, together with our partners in the European Jewish community have called for repeatedly since 2014.
With last year being a record for most number of Antisemitic attacks in Europe since the Holocaust, and this alarming trend continuing through 2015, it is imperative that this appointee be empowered with all the necessary political support and tools to take meaningful steps in fighting Antisemitism and work in close cooperation with the Jewish communities of Europe.
We hope that one of the first priorities of the new European Commission Coordinator will be the establishment of a comprehensive and binding definition of Antisemitism in Europe, which is a pre-requisite if this fight is to succeed.
We look forward to continuing working closely with the Commission and our partners in the European Jewish community in this all important mission of combating Antisemitism.”
Israeli researcher Shimon Lev smiles as he recalls receiving an invitation to the unveiling of what has been called “a monument of friendship” between Mahatma Gandhi and his Jewish friend Hermann Kallenbach, in Lithuania on October 2.
Lev, who is completing his doctorate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on perceptions of India in the Jewish world, is the author of a book about the special relationship between the two men, called Soulmates: The Story of Mahatma Gandhi and Hermann Kallenbach.
