Wooden Synagogue in Alanta Renovated
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LJC, International Comminission and Olga Lengyel Institute Holding Holocaust Seminars for Teachers
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LJC Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky Speaks at Commemoration of Grosse
Aktion in Kaunas
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Šiauliai Opens Righteous Gentile Square at the Intersection of Vilniaus and Ežero Streets at Former Ghetto Gates
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"Symphony from Jerusalem of the North” Mark Day of Lithuanian Jewish Victims of Genocide in Presidential Courtyard
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The renovated synagogue in Žiežmariai will become a new cultural center. The first synagogue in appeared sometime between 1690 and 1696. In the 19th century there three synagogues. Not surprising, since the majority of the population were Jewish. This synagogue which has survived and has now been renovated stands in the southern part of town between Vilniaus and Žalgirio streets, with the Strėva river flowing from southeastward from there.
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The Lithuanian Post Office has issued a stamp commemorating 300 years since the birth of the Vilna Gaon
The Lithuanian Post Office has issued a stamp commemorating 300 years since the birth of the Vilna Gaon
with a face value of 0.81 euros, enough to mail letters abroad.
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Lithuania Marks 300th Anniversary of Birth of Vilna Gaon, 2020 Named Year of the Gaon and Litvak History.
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Most important events at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in 2018
Most important events at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in 2018
Revival of Jewish Scouting in Lithuania: The first new Litvak scouting camping trip with children from Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Panevėžys and Molėtai took place August 24 to 26.
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Jewish newspapers and advertisements from Vilnius in the period between the two world wars. Jews and other minorities were given equal rights in the reconstituted Lithuanian state. Yiddish thrived with many newspapers and books published in the language.
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Moyshe Kulbak Lecture

Moyshe Kulbak Lecture

The Judaica Research Center at the Lithuanian National Library presents a lecture by Center director Lara Lempertienė at 6:00 P.M. Tuesday, October 28, on Yiddish poet and novelist Moyshe Kulbak called “I Am This City: Moyshe Kulnak’s Vilnius” in :Lithuanian.

Lempertienė for many years has worked with Jewish texts from Lithuania and Europe and has research manuscripts in the National Library’s Judaica collection. She was graduated from Vilnius University as a philologist, studied at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and was a visiting scholar at Oxford University’s Hebrew and Judaica Studies Center. She earned a doctorate for her thesis “Rabbinical Exegesis in the Context of Traditional Jewish Education in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.”

The lecture will take place at the Vytautas Kasiulis Art Museum in Vilnius where an accompanying exhibit of art by Tania Mourad is on display touching on the Holocaust experience and Litvak poetry, with street graffiti transcribed into the Yiddish alphabet. For more information, call +370 5 261 6764 or send an emial to the museum at kasiulio.muziejus@lndm.lt.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Tuesday, October 28
Place: Vytautas Kasiulis Art Museum, Goštauto street no. 1, Vilnius

Litvaks in the Cape Town Archives

Litvaks in the Cape Town Archives

Lithuanian diplomat Dainius Junevičius will present his research on Litvaks in the Cape Town, South Africa, archives he and others conducted in 2024 at the Vilnius Jewish Public Library at 5:30 P.M. Tuesday, October 30.

The research project by the Lithuanian Literature and Art Institute sent the team to the Kaplan Jewish Research Centre at University of Cape Town and the Western Cape Archive where they discovered thousands of documents regarding Litvak immigration to South Africa and Litvak life and achievements in South Africa.

Junevičius was Lithuanian ambassador to the Republic of South Africa from 2021 to 2023. The presentation will be in Lithuanian.

Time: 5:30 P.M. Tuesday, October 30
Place: Vilnius Jewish Public Library, courtyard, Gedimino prospect no. 24, Vilnius

Documentary on Jakov Gens

Documentary on Jakov Gens

The Vilnius Gewish Public Library will screen the documentary “The Commandant’s Daughter” featuring the recollections of Ada Gens, daughter of Vilnius ghetto Jewish Police chief Jakov  Gens (aka Yakov, Jacob, Jokūnas Gens) at 6:00 P.M. Wednesday, October 22. Jakov Gens’s great-grandson Alexander Phibbs is to speak at the event.

Gens as de facto ruler of the Vilnius ghetto made controversial and lasting decisions for the survival of a remnant of Vilna Jewry. His post-Holocaust legacy was as nemesis to the FPO underground partisan organization, although Gens died in Gestapo custody. Gens displayed a clear preference for Hebrew over Yiddish as the language of the Jews in the future state of Israel.

Great-grandson Alexander Phibbs says heard his grandmother’s stories as a child but didn’t attach greater historical significance to them then. Phibbs began doing his own Holocaust research in 2008 and came across his grandmother Ada’s testimony to the US Holocaust Museum, and realized how little he really knew about Jakov Gens and the role he played in the Vilnius ghetto.

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YIVO and the Making of Modern Jewish Culture

YIVO and the Making of Modern Jewish Culture

The Science and Encyclopedia Publishing Center of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library and the Judaica Research Center there are pleased to announce the publication of a Lithuanian translation of Cecile Esther Kuznitz’s acclaimed monograph “YIVO and the Making of Modern Jewish Culture: Scholarship for the Yiddish Nation.”.

The book presentation will take place at 6:00 P.M on October 21 in the Conference Hall (5th floor) of the National Library. The event will feature the author Cecile Esther Kuznitz, professor of history and director of Jewish Studies at Bard College; Laimonas Briedis, cultural geographer and Vilnius researcher; and Jolanta Mickutė, scholar of Eastern European Jewish history. The discussion will be moderated by Lara Lempertienė, director of the Judaica Research Center.

Originally published in English in 2014, “YIVO and the Making of Modern Jewish Culture” is the first comprehensive history of the YIVO founded in Vilnius in 1925. As the only in-depth study of the institute’s activities in Vilnius before World War II, the publication of a Lithuanian translation is a long-awaited and significant cultural event.

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Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday

Vytautas Landsbergis celebrated a birthday last week. We wish the father of modern Lithuanian independence strength, health and continuing energy and enthusiasm, and thank him for his friendship. Mazl tov. Bis 120!

Righteous Gentiles Mažylis Family Remembered in Kaunas

Righteous Gentiles Mažylis Family Remembered in Kaunas

Liudas Mažylis and the Kaunas Jewish Community will unveil a plaque commemorating Righteous Gentiles Antanina and Pranas Mažylis on the façade of the Pranas Mažylis Birth Center in Kaunas next week. The couple hid Jews during the Holocaust at the birth center including Lilijana Levintoffskytė, Isakas Judelevičius, Grigorijus Teperis and Bela Gurvičiūtė.

“Back then in our family even thought about whether to hekp these poor people. WE just had to, that’s all,” the couple’s daughter Liūda Mažylytė-Rasteikienė recalled later.

Time: 2:00 P.M., Friday, October 24
Place: Putvinskio street no. 3, Kaunas

Celebration of Dolskis and Gorbulskis

Celebration of Dolskis and Gorbulskis

The Kaunas Jewish invites you to a celebration of the 135th anniversary of the birth of the crooner Daniel Dolskis and the 100th anniversary of the composer Benjaminas Gorbulskos with a concert by the Lithuanian Symphonic Horn Orchestra and others. Besides old favorites and lesser known works by both men, there will also be a presentation of the biographies of both men. The concert is free.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Monday, October 27
Place: Kaunas State Philharmonic, Ožeškienės street no. 12, Kaunas

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Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 6:15 P.M. on Friday, October 17, and concludes at 7:07 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 5:57 P.M. and completed before sunset at 6:15 P.M. Saturday is World Menopause Day, created in 2009 by the International Menopause Society to encourage menopausal women to seek support and medical treatment available but perhaps unknown to them to ease this difficult period in the human life cycle.

Condolences

Jozelis Traubergas has passed away. He was born in 1940 and was a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. Our deepest condolences to his wife and children.

Sukkot in Panevėžys

Sukkot in Panevėžys

In spite of poor weather, members of the Panevėžys Jewish Community celebrated Sukkot in the traditional way with a booth set up in the Community’s courtyard.

The holiday brought together members new and old who discussed current events and shared family stories.

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Jäger Report Documentary in Palanga

Jäger Report Documentary in Palanga

The Palanga Jewish Community and Lithuania’s Onternational Commission for Assessing the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Ocuppational Regimes will screen a documentary film called “Following the Jäger Repor” at 2:00 P.M. on Tuesday, October 28 at the Kurhaus Theater, Grafų Tiškevičių alley no. 1, Palanga. The documentary will be followed by a discussion with historian Stanislovas Stasiulis. TYhe film was directed by Boris Maftsir, and Rony Katzenelson ftom Israel.

The Jäger Report is a report Wehrmacht officer Karl Jäger made for his superiors in Berlin detailing the number, location and gender of Jewish mass murder victims in the early months of the Holocaust in Lithuania, the fall of 1941 when almost all Lithuanian Jews were murdered by Lithuanians and Germans. In some cases affitional information was provided, e.g., the entry for July 4, 1941, for Kaunas noted the murder of two American citizens.

Holocaust Victims Remembered in Švenčionys

Holocaust Victims Remembered in Švenčionys

The first Sunday in October is the traditional date for remembering Holocaust victims from the Švenčionys region at the Menorah monument in the city park in Švenčionys.

The Menorah monument marks the border of the ghetto where local Jews were held before being murdered at Platumai village.

Švenčionys Jewish Community chairman Moshe Shapiro, Choral Synagogue cantor Shmuel Yaatom, members of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and local officials took part in the ceremony.

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Hamas Fails to Release Bodies

Hamas Fails to Release Bodies

Hamas has delivered the remains of four hostages murdered in captivity instead of the 28 sets of human remains called for within 72 hours of the ceasefire coming into effect. Media analysts say while Hamas may be unable to locate all remains this number is below the amount which could’ve been expected, and Hamas is using the dead bodies as a bargaining chip.

Israeli health officials say some of the 20 men released were tortured over their two years of captivity.

Factions opposed to Hamas inside Gaza are engaged in firefights with the terrorist organization, according to media reports. Hamas claims it still has 7,000 fighters who have reemerged from hiding after the ceasefire which went into effect four days ago.

Natalja Cheifec on Golda Meir

Natalja Cheifec on Golda Meir

The internet discussion club continues with a look at the biographical drama Golda about late Israeli prime minister Golda Meir and what she did during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. To insure a more fruitful discussion, try to watch the film before the meeting. To get zoom credentials. click here.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, October 16
Place: internet

Hostages Freed

Hostages Freed

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at a special session of the Israeli Knesset with US president Donal Trump in attendance announced all living hostages helf by Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza had been released at around 12:30 P.M. local time.

Sukkot in Šiauliai

Sukkot in Šiauliai

Last Thursday members of the Šiauliai District Jewish Community celebrated Sykkot with a sukka in the courtyard where members dwelt, handled the four species, prayed, shared blessings and ate. The sukka is open for the entirety of Sukkot which ends on Tuesday (or Wednesday, depending on your tradition and inclination). Members and friends are invited to come and dwell.

Daniel Fradkin and Nijolė Beniušytė to Perform

Daniel Fradkin and Nijolė Beniušytė to Perform

The international duet of Nijolė Dorotėja Beniušytė on harpsichord and violinist from Israel Daniel Fradkin will perform with a chance for the audience to hear a rare instrument, the mysterious viola d‘amore. The program includes works by Handel, J.S. Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Jiří Antonín Benda/

For tickets and more information in Lithuanian, click here.

Time:6:00 P.M., October 23
Place: Samuel Bak Museum, Naugarduko street no. 10, Vilnius

Nechama Lifshitz Song Contest Concert

Nechama Lifshitz Song Contest Concert

Contestants will perform in the fifth International Nechama Lifshitz Song Contest at the Lithuanian Jewish Community at 6:00 P.M. on October 28. There will be snacks, coffee and an opportunity to meet the contestants following the concert.

Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 6:32 P.M. on Friday, October 10, and concludes at 7:23 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 6:14 P.M. and completed before sunset at 6:32 P.M. October 12 is Columbus Day.