Announcements

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Short Underground Films

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Short Underground Films

Filmmaker Justinas Lingys’s two shorts “Vilniaus geto gyvybės arterija” [Life Artery of the Vilnius Ghetto] and “Holokausto aukoms atminti” [To Remember the Victims of the Holocaust] will be screened at the Adomas Mickevičius Public Library at Trakų street no. 10 in Vilnius at 5:30 P.M. on September 28.

The celebrated Lithuanian filmmaker takes two approaches regarding the Vilnius ghetto: the actual Holocaust, and the underground city connected by a system of tunnels where life was carried on unseen by the Nazis and Lithuanian collaborators, where people taught children, through which food supplies were smuggled into the ghetto and through which information and news about the war travelled. Jews were also rescued through the tunnels, and when the Vilnius ghetto was liquidated a small number escaped through the tunnels.

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Film “Jerzy Orda: Anarchista w duchu św. Augustyna”

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Film “Jerzy Orda: Anarchista w duchu św. Augustyna”

“Jerzy Orda: Anarchistas pagal šv. Augustiną” aka “Jerzy Orda: Anarchista w duchu św. Augustyna” [Jerzy Orda: The Anarchist Who Followed St. Augustine] (2022, Lithuania) is a flim about the man Jerzy Orda who said he was a Vilniusite by choice and whom others called an “integral humanist” and “a man of paradoxes.” During the period between the two world wars, he called himself “an anarchist inspired by St. Augustine.” He also rescued people from the Holocaust and was posthumously awarded Lithuania’s Order of the Life Saver’s Cross. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion at the Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum at Naugarduko street no. 10 in Vilnius starting at 6:00 P.M. on September 26. The film consists of recollections and interviews in Polish and Lithuanian and there will be Lithuanian subtitles for the Polish segments.

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Play “Ghetto”

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Play “Ghetto”

The National Drama Theater in Kaunas presents the play “Getas” [Ghetto] written by Joshua Sobol and directed by Gintaras Varnas at 4:00 P.M. on September 24 and 6:00 P.M. on November 14. The theater is located at Laisvės alley no. 71 in Kaunas.

The play centers around Vilnius ghetto inmates who waged a spiritual and cultural war for survival under genocidal conditions, founding the Vilnius ghetto theater in the face of almost certain death.

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Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Film Clips about Ponar and Litvaks

Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Film Clips about Ponar and Litvaks

The Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum will host a viewing of scenes about the Ponar mass murder site outside Vilnius from the 9.5-hour-long documentary film Shoah (1985, France) and short film clips from YIVO and the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D. C., touching on Jewish life in Lithuania before the Holocaust. A panel discussion will follow.

The event begins at 6:00 P.M. on September 22 at the Tolerance Center located at Naugarduko street no. 10 in Vilnius.

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Play “Dust”

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Play “Dust”

The State Youth Theater located at Arklių street no. 5 in Vilnius presents the play “Dulkės” [Dust] at 6:00 P.M. on September 22, based on the book “Panerių dienoraštis 1941–1943” [Ponar Diary 1941-1943] which is a collection of observations made there by Polish journalist and refugee Kazimierz Sakowicz, hidden in bottles, buried and later recovered after the war and painstakingly deciphered.

The young director of the play Justinas Vinciūnas said he was looking for his own attitude regarding the Holocaust and instead of using literary sources preferred authentic primary sources such as the Ponar Diary.

Sakowicz and his wife were forced out of their apartment in Vilnius and their newspaper press was seized by the Soviets in 1940. He took up residence in Ponar outside Vilnius and observed the daily mass murder operations there. Lithuanian readers are sometimes shocked to learn the mass murder was carried out mainly by Lithuanians with very little Nazi German presence there.

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Ceremony and Art Installation at Ninth Fort

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Ceremony and Art Installation at Ninth Fort

The Ninth Fort Museum in Kaunas will host a ceremony to honor the victims of the Holocaust murdered there, followed by the unveiling of a commemorative art installation at the museum created by Christian Boltansky and called ANIMITAS accompanied by a dance performance by Erika Vizbaraitė. Those attending will also be invited to view the museum’s malina exhibit. The events begin at 1:00 P.M. on September 22 at the Ninth Fort Museum at Žemaičių highway no. 73 in Kaunas.

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Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Remembering Vilna Podcast Episode

Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Remembering Vilna Podcast Episode

The Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies present their podcast episode “Remembering Vilna: Voices from the Holocaust” at 6:00 P.M. on September 21 at the National Library located at Gedimino prospect no. 51 in Vilnius. The Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University in the United States currently conserves over 4,000 testimonies by Holocaust survivors. “Remembering Vilna: Voices from the Holocaust” is the third episode of the podcast series “Those Who Were There: Voices from the Holocaust” produced jointly by the Fortunoff center and YIVO in New York. This episode draws upon Hermann Kruk’s diary and other testimonies which detail the destruction of the Jews in Vilnius. Podcast guests also discuss the rise of anti-Semitism in the period between the two world wars, the Soviet occupation of Lithuania followed by the Nazi occupation, the establishment of ghettos, the mass murder of the Jews of Vilnius and the end of the war and what that entailed.

Podcast producers Nahanni Rous and Eric Marcus and hostess Eleanora Reissa will attend the event which will be conducted in English.

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Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Film “Samuel Bak: Painter of Questions”

Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Film “Samuel Bak: Painter of Questions”

The Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum will screen the documentary film “Samuel Bak: Painter of Questions” following a discussion of the film and the artist. The film was made by Christa Singer in 2003 and looks at the life and work of Samuel Bak through the prism of his childhood in the Vilnius ghetto. In the film he returns to Vilnius, walks the streets of the ghetto and visits Ponar where his father and grandparents were murdered. The film is in English and there won’t be subtitles in Lithuanian. The event begins at 6:00 P.M. on September 21. The Tolerance Center is located at Naugarduko street no. 10 in Vilnius.

imdb entry here.

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Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: March of the Living

Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: March of the Living

The March of the Living this year will include marchers who begin the trek to Ponar from Rūdninkų square in the former ghetto in the Vilnius Old Town, located across the street and kitty-corner from the Greek embassy. The marchers are set to gather on Rūdninkų square at 1:00 P.M. on September 21. Most will take the train or private transportation to reach Ponar. Actually marching from Old Town to Upper Ponar on foot would take several hours at least. The LJC will provide a bus for those needing transportation. For more information, see the top of the English-language version of this webpage.

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Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Special Sitting of Parliament

Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Special Sitting of Parliament

The Lithuanian parliament, or Seimas, will hold a special sitting and ceremony to honor the anti-Nazi resistance in the Vilnius ghetto and Holocaust victims. The ceremony will be livestreamed on the parliamentary website www.lrs.lt and via their youtube channel. It will begin at 10:00 A.M. on September 21. The Lithuanian parliament is located at Gedimino prospect no. 53 in Vilnius.

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Exhibit “Wandering Stars, the History of Jewish Theater in Lithuania”

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Exhibit “Wandering Stars, the History of Jewish Theater in Lithuania”

The exhibit uses modern technology in light, audio and visual installations to tell the little-known story of Jewish theater in Lithuania, presenting the stars of the stage in Kaunas and the founders behind the ghetto theater in Vilnius. It goes on public display at the Museum of Lithuanian Theater, Music and Cinema at Vilniaus street no. 41 in Vilnius on September 20.

Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Loïc Salfati’s Documentary Secrets of the Great Synagogue

Eightieth Anniversary of the Liquidation of and Uprising in the Vilnius Ghetto: Loïc Salfati’s Documentary Secrets of the Great Synagogue

Loïc Salfati’s documentary film “Secrets of the Great Synagogue of Vilnius” will be screened at 6:00 P.M. on September 20 at the Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum at Naugarduko street no. 10 in Vilnius. The film uses archival documents, testimonies and interviews with archaeologists from Israel, Lithuania and the USA to reveal hitherto little-known facts about the Great Synagogue which stood more or less intact for centuries, was heavily bombed during World War II and razed by the Soviet government in 1950. The director will talk about his film before the screening. The film is in Lithuanian and English with Lithuanian subtitles for the English-language segments.

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: The Holocaust, Anti-Semitism and Remembering for the Future

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: The Holocaust, Anti-Semitism and Remembering for the Future

Historian Christoph Diekmann, film-maker Saulius Beržinis, independent Holocaust archive founder and director Darius Staliūnas and Lithuanian History Institute historian Tomas Balkelis will hold a panel discussion moderated by Dina Porat from Yad Vashem about the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and commemorative policies at the National Martynas Mažvydas Library at 5:00 P.M. on September 20. Before the discussion begins, Beit Vilna director Mickey Kantor, Israeli ambassador Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein and National Martynas Mažvydas Library director Renaldas Gudauskas will deliver brief addresses. The panel discussion will be followed by brief speeches by Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and representatives from Lithuania’s International Commission to Assess the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupational Regimes in Lithuania.

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Readings and Activity for Children

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of the Vilnius Ghetto: Readings and Activity for Children

Vilnius’s Adomas Mickevičius Public Library will host a reading from 3rd and 4th grade students in Lithuanian from the book “Akmenėlis” [Little Stone] by Marius Mickevičius by professional actors telling the story of friendship, hope and fear experienced by children imprisoned in the ghetto, with a talk about the stone as a symbol for remembering and commemorating history, followed by an activity where every child will be invited to paint a stone. It happens at 11:00 A.M. on September 19, and then again at the same time on September 21, at the Adomas Mickevičius Public Library at Trakų street no. 10 in Vilnius.

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Walking Tour of Vilnius Ghetto through Eyes of Children

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Walking Tour of Vilnius Ghetto through Eyes of Children

Guide Gina Justina Raibužytė will lead walking tours of the Vilnius ghetto focusing on how it appeared to the children trapped inside, starting from the Adomas Mickevičius Public Library at Trakų street no. 10 in Vilnius, at 11:00 A.M. on September 18, 11:00 A.M. on September 20 and 12:00 noon on September 22. Registration via internet is required by filling out the form here: https://forms.gle/ZrosR3TYVB3wF6bc7

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: City of the Living, City of the Dead Photo Exhibit

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: City of the Living, City of the Dead Photo Exhibit

This is a photography project authored by Robert Wilczyñski where archival photos of the Warsaw ghetto are superimposed on the current, rebuilt Polish capital, accompanied by texts taken from diaries, testimonies and other sources documenting daily life, suffering and death in the Warsaw ghetto as well as the Warsaw Uprising. Pawel Freus is curator of the exhibition. The exhibit went on display September 12 at the Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum located at Naugarduko street no. 10 in Vilnius and will run till December 15 of 2023.

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Exhibit “Children of the Ghetto Tell Their Stories to Children of Today”

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Exhibit “Children of the Ghetto Tell Their Stories to Children of Today”

This September Lithuania and the world marks the 80th anniversary of the liquidation and uprising of the Vilnius ghetto back in 1943 when several thousand Jews imprisoned and still suriving there were sent to concentration camps and murdered. At the same time, Jewish underground paramilitary forces attempted to stage a defense, and several hundred left to join the Soviet partisans battling the Nazis and their local collaborators in Lithuania and elsewhere.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community is proud of the courage and unbreakable will of the prisoners of the Vilnius ghetto and invites you to celebrate their memory in a series of events to be held throughout September into mid-November this year.

The exhibit “Children of the Ghetto Tell Their Stories to Children of Today” is one such on-going event which began September 4 at the Adomas Mickevičius Public Library at Trakų street no. 4 in Vilnius and which will run till September 30. It consists of brief sketches of the life of children in the Vilnius ghetto with guidance and access to books by children about the Holocaust for those interested in learning more.

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Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Ponar Escape Tunnel

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: Ponar Escape Tunnel

This event is a tour featuring the escape tunnel dug by prisoners held underground at the Ponar mass murder site whose gruesome job was to exhume, burn and crush into dust the 70,000-150,000 corpses of Jews murdered there by Lithuanians and Nazis over the course of three years. After their task was completed, the enslaved members of the so-called burners team–Jews and Soviet POWs–would also be murdered and disposed of there. Some members of the team escaped on April 15, 1944, through the tunnel they excavated more than 30 meters long using spoons and sticks. The tour begins at 12:00 noon on September 16 at the Ponar Memorial Complex outside Vilnius.

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