Information from the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, URM.lt

A new exhibit called “Lithuanian and Irish Jewish History” opened in Dublin February 3 to mark 2020, the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Vilna Gaon, declared the Year of the Vilna Gaon and Lithuanian Jewish History by the Lithuanian parliament.

The exhibit covers Jewish life in Lithuania from settlement in the Lithuanian Grand Duchy in the 14th century to the present and the history of Lithuanian Jews in Ireland.

Lithuanian ambassador to the Republic of Ireland Egidijus Meilūnas said at the opening ceremony next year will mark the 30th anniversary of the opening of diplomatic relations between the two republics, although Litvaks had brought the two countries together 150 years ago.

The event attracted a large audience, including members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of the Irish and Lithuanian Jewish communities, politicians, cultural and academic figures and reporters.

The exhibit is the first in a series of events scheduled in Ireland to mark the Year of the Vilna Gaon and Litvak History. In mid-February the exhibit travels on to Cork for demonstration at city hall, and a concert by Lithuanian Jewish tenor Rafailas Karpis and Lithuanian pianist Darius Mažintas is scheduled in Dublin featuring Litvak songs. The History Faculty of the University of Dublin also plans to hold a seminar on Lithuanian and Irish Jewish history.

Pranas Morkus and designer Viktorija Sideraitė Alon, the authors of the exhibit, were able to portray exceptional details on Jewish relations with local populations and featured a number of outstanding figures of Litvak origin.

The exhibition was made possible by the cooperation of the Israeli embassy to Ireland, the Irish Jewish community and the University of Dublin.