Everyone who wants to experience and learn the true spirit of this holiday is invited to come celebrate Passover at 7:30 P.M. on March 30. The seder will include a large selection of kosher Italian and French wines. One ticket costs 15 euros if you buy it before March 25, 20 euros after that and there’s a family package for 40 euros (for parents and children). Preschool-age children admitted without tickets. Tickets are available at the synagogue from 9:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. every day except on Sabbath, and at the LJC from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. on workdays from Liuba on the second floor.
Passover Matzo for Social Programs Department Clients
Clients of the LJC Social Programs Department may pick up matzo between 11 and 3 o’clock on workdays from March 15 to March 29 in the computer classroom on the first floor.
Hundredth Birthday of Abba Kovner
Dear members,
The Lithuanian Jewish Community will hold a ceremony to unveil a plaque commemorating Jewish partisan leader and poet Abba Kovner at 1:00 P.M. on Wednesday, March 14, 2018, outside the LJC conference hall on the second floor at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius. Participants will include chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, Jewish partisan Fania Brancovskaja and Punchos Fridberg, who will speak about Kovner in Yiddish.
You are invited to attend a brief meeting in the conference hall following the unveiling.
Rudashevski’s Ghetto Diary Now in Lithuanian
Books link us to freedom, books connect us to the world.
–Yitzhak Rudashevski, December 13, 1942, Vilnius.
Teaching the Holocaust to children is a difficult matter. At what age is it appropriate to expose children to man’s greatest inhumanity to man and the horrible atrocities which took place throughout Europe, culminating in the calculated genocide of millions of people? The Maus comic book was one approach, but children aren’t stupid and they get the full impact of the horror anyway, despite the window dressing.
Teaching adults the Holocaust can be just as problematic. A large body of Holocaust literature including straight histories, survivors’ testimonies and even theological works, not to mention a signficant cinematic canon, can lead to burn-out quickly, the Holocaust hangover syndrome. It is too much to take in all at once, the mind rebels.
Some Holocaust commemoration projects and museums have recognized the old maxim, that a picture is worth a thousand words, and often an object–an abandoned shoe, a lost set of house keys, a broken doll–speaks louder to the soul of the visitor than any text, photograph or video.
Israeli Jazz in Panevėžys
The Israeli embassy and the CIty of Panevėžys invite you to a performance by Israeli jazz musicians Iris and Ofer Portugaly at 5:00 P.M. on Friday, March 2.
The concert is free and open to the public. It will be held at the Art Gallery in Panevėžys.
Purim Carnival for Kids
Dear parents,
Kids aged 4 to 13 are invited to attend a Purim carnival at the Lithuanian Jewish Community at 2:00 P.M. on Sunday, March 4. Kids should come in costume and there will be a program of events, gifts and traditional Purim treats. For more information email sofja@lzb.lt or call +37067257540
Se you there!
Yitzhak Rudashevski’s Vilnius Ghetto Diary Launched at Vilnius Book Fair
Yitzhak Rudashevski’s Vilnius ghetto diary is one of the most important testimonies to reach us from the Vilnius ghetto, an authentic eye-witness account of history as it happened. The Lithuanian Jewish Community went to extreme efforts to insure the diary finally be published in Lithuanian translation.
“I think my words are written in blood,” the young Rudaashevski wrote in his diary inscribed in school notebooks. After reaching the age of 15 in the ghetto, Rudashevski and his family were murdered in Ponar.
Purim at the Choral Synagogue
Beginning at 6:30 P.M. on February 28 the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius will host a Purim celebration, including a reading of Megilat Ester, the Purim story, followed by a performance of classic Jewish and new Israeli songs by vocalist Yevgeni Valevich. A special program for children includes a magic show, clowns and lots of prizes. There will also be a contest for best Purim costume, and of course Purim treats for young and old.
Tickets are 5 euros (to be given to charity and can be bought starting February 19 either at the synagogue at Pylimo street no. 39 in Vilnius or from Liuba at the Lithuanian Jewish Community at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius.
See you there!
Classes Begin January 14 at Choral Synagogue
A series of six lessons kicks off at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius beginning 4:30 P.M., Sunday, January 14, 2018. The six lessons will take place on consequetive Sundays at the same time and place. This is an opportunity to learn about the unique nature of Judaism. Discussions will be led by Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky in a language or languages appropriate to the audience. Both women and men are encouraged to attend. See you there!
Rudashevski Diary at Vilnius Book Fair
A new Lithuanian translation of the diary by young Vilnius ghetto inmate and Holocaust victim Yitzhak Rudashevski will be presented to the public at the Vilnius Book Fair on February 25.
Faina Kukliansky, Dr. Mindaugas Kvietkauskas, Sigutė Chlebinskaitė, Fania Brancovskaja and Akvilė Grigoravičiūtė are to speak at the event at 11:00 A.M. in conference hall 1.2 at the Vilnius Book Fair. Sixteen-year-old violinist Ugnė Liepa Žuklytė will perform Anatolijus Šenderovas’s piece “Cantus in memoriam Jascha Heifetz” at the event.
The boy and his parents survived the liquidation of the Vilnius ghetto 75 years ago on September 23, 1943, but were arrested while in hiding, taken to Ponar and shot.
The Vilnius Book Fair is held annually at the Litexpo exhibition center at Laisvės prospect no. 5 in Vilnius.
For more information contact Monika Antanaitytė at + 37067240942
Russian Films Screened at LJC
The Lithuanian Jewish Community is screening two films in Russian, on February 21 and 22. On February 21 “Romas, Tomas i Iosif” about Tomas Venclova and Yosif Brodski and on February 22 “Mne ne Strazhno” were shown with director Liliya Vyulina attending.
Tolerant Person of the Year Award and Leonidas Donskis Prize Winners to Be Named Sunday
The Tolerant Person of the Year Award and Leonidas Donskis Prize for 2017 will be presented at 3:00 P.M. on February 25 in the Large Auditorium of Vytautas Magnus University located at Gimnazijos street no. 7 in Kaunas. The event is held by the Sugihara Foundation/Diplomats for Life organization.
Lithuania We Built Together, an Exhibit on Lithuanian Minority Communities
The Lithuanian House of Ethnic Minorities presented a new exhibit February 15 called “We Built Lithuania Together,” an overview of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities living in Lithuania, their history and famous figures from these communities.
The exhibit is the creation of students and teachers from the History Faculty of Vilnius University, the Lithuanian State Archive, the Vrublevskiai Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and the Lithuanian National Martynas Mažvydas Library, with help from other museums, archives and libraries throughout Lithuania.
Following the launch, exhibit organizers planned to present it all over Lithuania at libraries, schools and exhibition spaces. The exhibit is in Lithuanian and English.
Chwoles Exhibit at Tolerance Center
The Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum opened an exhibit of artworks by Rafael Chwoles February 17 called “They Watch Us: Portraits of Vilnius Residents, 1945-1949.” The exhibit will run till March 27.
Rudashevski Diary Published in Lithuanian
The diary of Yitzchak Rudashevski written in the Vilnius ghetto and providing an eye-witness account by the young man has been translated into Lithuanian and is to be launched at the Vilnius Book Fair Sunday. Although Rudashevski was only 14 when he began the diary, many who have read the book in the original Yiddish, English and other languages say he displays both incredible talent as a writer and a wisdom beyond his years. He was murdered at Ponar in late 1943. The original diary is conserved by YIVO with copies made available to other institutions and archives.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites everyone to read and learn about the Rudashevski ghetto diary.
The book is to be launched at 11:00 A.M. on Sunday, February 25, 2018, in conference room 1.2 at the Vilnius Book Fair.
LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, Yiddish translator Dr. Mindaugas Kvietkauskas, Sigutė Chlebinskaitė, Jewish partisan Fania Brancovskaja and Akvilė Grigoravičiūtė are to attend the launch.
Lithuanian Jewish Community Position on Statements by Academic Ethics and Procedures Inspector
On February 8, 2018, the Lithuanian Jewish Community learned Vigilijus Sadauskas, the academic ethics and procedures inspector for the Republic of Lithuania, possibly in a conflict of private and public interest, presented an invitation on his webpage to collect information “on people of Jewish ethnicity who contributed to deportations and torture,” for which a monetary prize was announced.
Based on the European Parliament’s resolution of July 1, 2017, adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism, one form of anti-Semitism is a blanket accusation made against all Jews as a people, that we are responsible for a real or imagined transgression committed by an individual Jew or group of Jews, or even responsible for acts committed by non-Jews. Based on this definition and article 170, section 2 of the Lithuanian criminal code, Sadauskas’s internet post is anti-Semitic, causing ethnic discord, and must be judged correspondingly.
The LJC supports the initiative by members of parliament on a statement of no-confidence in academic ethics and procedures inspector Vigilijus Sadauskas and thanks speaker of Lithuanian parliament Viktoras Pranckietis for his understanding of the situation and call for the aforementioned person to resign from his post.
The LJC finds the actions by Vigilijus Sadauskas in violation of public service ethics and basic principles, and in violation of law, and therefore the LJC is considering taking the matter to the appropriate law enforcement institutions for initiating a pre-trial investigation into the actions by this person.
Attack on Righteous Gentiles as Lithuania Celebrates 100th Birthday
The Lithuanian Jewish Community for many years now has been posing the question: does Lithuania even know and is she able to name her true heroes? As we begin to celebrate 100 years since the founding of the Lithuanian Republic and look back over all the people who contributed, we cannot forget the noble Lithuanian Jews and the noble rescuers of Jews from the Holocaust who managed to keep the flame of hope alive during the most shameful passage in Lithuania’s history. The Sondeckis family who saved Lithuania’s honor are now forced to defend their own.
At the start of Lithuania’s 100th birthday celebration, the Center for the Study of the Genocide and Resistance of Residents of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter Center) has on their webpage published a journal containing a registry of files on people from the KGB archive.
This list includes Saulius Sondeckas, the son of Jackus Sondeckis, a well-known Lithuanian public figure, a member of the independence movement over 100 years ago and a Righteous Gentile who saved Jews. On February 3, 2018, we marked the three-year anniversary of the death of Saulius Sondeckis, a true aristocrat of the spirit who represented Lithuania and put Lithuania on the world map with his exceptional musical talent and noble deeds. That these allegations of possible criminal activity leveled against Saulius Sondeckis, who is now dead and unable to defend himself, and against his family fall on the 100th anniversary of the modern Lithuanian Republic makes graver the circumstances surrounding the charges and increases the harm done to the family who so rightly deserve the honor of the Lithuanian nation for their contributions. This accusation treads upon the title Righteous Gentile and also inflicts damage on the Lithuanian Jewish Community, which considers Saulius Sondeckis an honorary member.
Seminar Series Continues
Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky’s series of seminars continues this Sunday at 5:30 P.M. at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius. Admission is free and open to everyone. Call +370 650 18270 for more information.
New Bereznickas Exhibit: “It Would Be Sad If It Weren’t Funny”
The Museum of Lithuanian Theater, Music and Film is celebrating cartoonist Ilja Bereznickas’s 70th birthday with a new show called “It Would Be Said If It Weren’t Funny” showcasing the animator, director, artist and author’s work.
The exhibit is to include cartoons, comics, caricatures, book illustrations and animation sketches and cels. Stills from his newest film “Happiness Is Not Found in the She-Goat” will be displayed publicly for the first time. The museum also plans to screen some of his earlier animated features. The author will also present his latest book “Animation: From Idea to Screen” at the exhibition.
The exhibition is to run from February 13 till March 3, 2018.
AJC Opposes Polish Effort to Criminalize Claims of Holocaust Responsibility
January 27, 2018, New York–AJC Central Europe is firmly opposed to legislation which would penalize claims that Poland or Polish citizens bear responsibility for any Holocaust crimes.
The bill approved by the lower chamber of the Polish parliament makes it a crime punishable by up to three years in prison to use statements such as “Polish death camps,” suggesting Poland bears responsibility for crimes against humanity committed by Nazi Germany.
“This kind of legislation is both provocative and totally unnecessary. It will inflame the debate over historical responsibility,” said Agnieszka Markiewicz, director of AJC Central Europe.
“Education, not punitive laws, is essential to building greater awareness of all the facts of what transpired in Poland during World War II and the Holocaust,” Markiewicz continued. “The Polish government should reconsider this measure aimed at penalizing the use of language, even if we agree this language should not be used.”