The Kaunas Jewish Community visited Balbieriškis and Prienai, Lithuania at the invitation of Balbieriškis Tolerance Center director Rymantas Sidaravičius on the European Day of Jewish Culture, September 4. The delegation toured a Balbieriškis Tolerance Center exhibit on the history of the Jews of the town and reflecting the center’s current relationships and friendships with Jews from around the world. They also toured the town, where Jewish homes and buildings from before the war still stand, and honored the memory of the dead with a prayer at the old Jewish cemetery in Balbieriškis.

Representatives then went to Prienai and honored Holocaust victims there. In Prienai they attended a museum event dedicated to the European Day of Jewish Culture. The museum event included a stirring presentation of the history of the Jews of Prienai, funny stories from Jewish life from before the war, significant achievements, good relations between Jews and other town residents and the Holocaust. The event included passages in Hebrew and Yiddish. The hosts made the delegation feel right at home at every stop on their visit, as if they were visiting old friends.

The Kaunas Jewish Community sincerely thanks Balbieriškis Tolerance Center director Rymantas Sidaravičius, Balbieriškis primary school principal Stasys Valančius and school teacher Reda Valančienė, Prienai Regional History Museum director Lolita Batutienė, senior museum specialist Anelė Razmislavičienė, Prienai mayoral advisor Jūratė Zailskienė and Krašto vitrina [Regional Showcase] public organization director Vaclovas Sinkevičius for their care, concern and efforts to remember, preserve and revive the Jewish history of their region, for the intelligent and emotional event and for their wonderful hospitality.