Vladimir Kavleiskij, a member of the Vilnius Jewish Community and the Social Club, passed away August 12. He was born July 19, 1946. We extend our deepest condolences to his family members for their loss.
Condolences
Nina Kačerginskaja, a member of the Social Club and of the Klaipėda Jewish Community, passed away August 11. She was born on November 20, 1925.
Our deepest condolences to her friends and family.
In Memoriam Fira Bramson
In an article published on the website of the literary and arts magazine Literatura ir Menas, Mindaugas Kvietkauskas shares his memories of the late Fira Bramson.
Esther’s Scissors
by Mindaugas Kvietkauskas
I will call her by a biblical name, Esther. Now I may. That was how the rabbi called her to eternity so recently his prayer uttered before the first three handfuls of earth were sprinkled on her shrunken body, cut off from the world of the living.
In life it was different: she was Fira, sometimes Firochka. I smile when I think how unrecognizably the name of the queen of Persia, meaning morning star, has changed in our lands, in the daily language of the Yiddish dialect washed by the great Slavic languages. But now that she has entered a time of more perfect reckoning, Fira has again become Esther, the daughter of Israel, the morning star, Ester bat Israel.
Fira Bramson in 1949
Full piece in Lithuanian here.
Condolences
On August 4 Ana Orlova, a member of the Kaunas Jewish Community, passed away. She was born August 20, 1920. We send our condolences to her loved ones in this difficult time of loss.
Condolences
With sadness we report the death of Roza Ševcova, a member of the LJC Social Club, on August 4. She was born December 21, 1929. Our deepest condolences to her family members.
Farwell My Friend: Three Things I Learned from Elie Wiesel
Dear Friends,
Please find below Moshe Kantor’s opinion article published in the Newsweek following the sad loss of Prof. Elie Wiesel.
Kind regards,
The EJC team
European Jewish Congress (EJC)
Tel : +3225408159
Fax : +3225408169
Web : www.eurojewcong.org
FAREWELL MY FRIEND: THREE THINGS I LEARNED FROM ELIE WIESEL
The world has lost one of its premier moral voices, writes the president of the European Jewish Congress.
BY MOSHE KANTOR
The great French writer Victor Hugo once said that “adversity makes men.” There is no one in the history of humanity for whom this is more true than the late great Elie Wiesel. The world has lost one of its premier moral voices. His early life was fashioned in darkness, but he brought light to our world with his words of hope and peace. His courage to see good when he saw so much unspeakable evil should remain a legacy, not just for the Jewish people, but for mankind. Our view of life can be determined by interactions with extraordinary people. If you are lucky, each of us will meet one person who will change our world. For me, that was Elie Wiesel.
Condolences
With sadness and our deepest condolences to those who survive him, we announce that Mema Epštein died on July 2. He was born May 16, 1938 and was a member of the LJC Social Club.
Remembering Elie Wiesel: A Tribute from a Friend and Disciple
Dear Friends,
Together with the entire Jewish people and, indeed, the world, we are in mourning today for one of the greatest writers, teachers, and human rights activists of our age. Elie Wiesel not only survived the Shoah–he transcended its horrors and became the voice first of its survivors and then of the conscience of humankind.
Below are my recollections of, and tribute and farewell to, my friend and mentor for more than 55 years, published in Tablet Magazine. The link is:
May his memory be a blessing and a source of strength to his beloved wife Marion, his son Elisha, daughter in law Lynn, his grandchildren, his stepdaughter Jennifer, the entire Jewish people and to us all.
Menachem Rosensaft
Condolences
The Lithuanian Jewish Community announces with deep sorrow the loss of Michailas Sverdlovas, a member of the LJC Social Center, on June 28. He was born on February 15, 1927. Our deepest condolences to his family members, friends and loved ones.
A Death in the Family
The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Panevėžys Jewish Community express our deepest condolences to Tamara Antanaitienė over the sudden and unexpected death of her beloved husband Tautvilas Antanaitis.
Condolences
With sadness we announce Yuri Alesin, a member of the LJC Social Center, passed away June 22. He was born on April 26, 1930.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community send our deepest condolences to his widow, Frida Alesin, his son Ernestas and his grandchildren and many friends and relatives.
Remember Lietukis Garage
The Kaunas Jewish Community invite you to come and remember the 75th anniversary of the Lietūkis garage massacre in Kaunas in the early days of the Holocaust. We will gather at the monument to the memory of the victims at Miško street no. 3 in Kaunas at 3:00 P.M. on June 24, 2016.
A concert to honor the victims will be held at the Kaunas State Philharmonic at 6:00 P.M., June 26, 2016 with the male quartet Quorum. The event is free and open to the public.
NCSEJ Mourns former Sen. Geoge Voinovich, 79
WASHINGTON, D.C. June 14, 2016 -The National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry (formerly NCSJ) mourns the passing of former U.S. Senator from Ohio George Voinovich, a tireless activist for the freedom for Soviet Jewry and for combating the global threat of anti-Semitism. He died Sunday at the age of 79.
Voinovich served as a two-term U.S. senator from 1999 to 2011, retiring in 2012. He was governor of Ohio from 1991 through 1998 and mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989.
Voinovich began his activism for the Jewish community as a member of the Lawyers’ Committee for Soviet Jewry while a local office holder in Cleveland. As a Cuyahoga County Commissioner he raised money for English tutors to help Soviet Jewish immigrants assimilate into the community. When he became mayor, he opposed Cleveland’s sister city relationship with Volgograd, due to Russia’s neglect of imprisoned Soviet Jews during the Cold War.
Fira Bramson-Alpernienė Has Died
Fira Bramson-Alpernienė
December 18,1924-June 12, 2016
Estera Bramson-Alpernienė, whom everyone knew as Fira, has died. With her dies a bit of Litvak history. She belonged to a world of 20th century Jewish personalities, looming figures such as that of Shimon Dubnov, Max Weinreich and Tsemakh Shabad. She came from the famous Bramson family whose members have played a key role in Lithuanian Jewish and European Jewish life. The Bramsons were a center of gravity to Jewish intellectuals in Kaunas before the war. Fira was educated at the Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium with Yiddish as the language of instruction. For Fira family and school were holy, although her school life didn’t last long.
In 1941, before she could graduate from high school, the war forced her to bid a hasty farewell to family, to leave her only sister, to flee from the Nazi terror. Fira didn’t come back to Kaunas after the war because there was no one waiting for her there. Her entire family was at the Ninth Fort. She started a new life in Vilnius. In the late 1980s there was a movement in Vilnius to revive the Lithuanian Jewish Community. Fira was among the founders of that movement. Finally she could come back to her Yiddish roots and cultural hearth so important and crucial to her spiritual life. Some of her most important work since that time has been with Jewish books at the former Palace of Books, and with that collection now removed to the Lithuanian National Library. Her pride and joy became these surviving books, along with a small number of books from the private collections and libraries from before the war belonging to survivors of the Holocaust. Fira was one of the first conservators of this heritage and presented the legacy she protected to the Jewish community, but also to the wider audience in Lithuania and the world. She held exhibits and lectures, facilitated cooperation with academics and students and helped make use of this priceless inheritance. She wrote about what she achieved in her work of many years in the book “Prie judaikos lobių” [“Next to the Treasures of Judaica”].
Fira Bramson could be called the white knight of Yiddish culture. This woman, slight of build, fragile, driven and principled, fought for the protection and preservation of cultural treasures. Not only did she fight, she won. Even in difficult circumstances she never relented because she saw her life as a mission to safeguard that Yiddish culture so dear to her parents and ancestors, and to pass on memories of that culture to future generations. When she spoke at conferences and seminars, when she was part of educational programs in Lithuania, Europe and the USA, Fira would first speak not of herself, but about the founders of Yiddish culture. The grief of losing Fira Bramson is somewhat mitigated by the realization she lived a long, interesting and productive life and generously shared with others her love of Jewish culture. She was of keen intellect, a person with a warm heart whom, if you ever met her, you will never be able to forget. Let our vivid memory of her live on.
A wake will be held at the Nutrūkusi Styga funeral home Tuesday from 10:00 A.M. The coffin will be carried out at 3:45 P.M.
Lithuania Vows to Continue to Support Fighting Terrorism in Wake of Tel Aviv Shootings
photo: scene at the Sarona complex following the shootings there June 8. Judah Ari Gross/Times of Israel
Vilnius, June 9, BNS–Lithuania condemned the attack carried out in Tel Aviv Wednesday and vowed to continue supporting the battle against terrorism. “We express our solidarity with the Government of the state of Israel, and vow to continue supporting all efforts by the international community in the fight against terrorism,” a statement by the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said. The statement also expressed deep condolences and support for the families of the victims and all the people of Israel.
Wednesday two Palestinians opened fire at a popular Tel Aviv shopping center near Israeli Army headquarters, killing four in the bloodiest such attack in the most recent wave of violence. Another five were injured. Police reported one of the attackers was apprehended and the other was in hospital with gunshot wounds.
European Jewish Congress Announces Death of Former Head of Turkish Jewish Community
Dear Friends,
The European Jewish Congress mourns the sad loss of our dear friend Sami Herman, the former President of the Jewish Community of Turkey.
He passed away following a long illness, at the young age of 66. Sami Herman will be remembered as a distinguished leader of the Jewish community of Turkey who dedicated much of his life to the well-being of its community.
Moshe Kantor and all the EJC team join in sending our deep condolences to Herman’s family and to all his close ones at this sad time.
May they be comforted among all the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
Kind regards,
The EJC Team
In Memoriam
Sad news has reached the Panevėžys Jewish Community and the public that famous former Panevėžys doctor Mira Rozova has died in Israel after suffering from chronic illness. For half her life she was the senior doctor at the Panevėžys Infectious Hospital. In 1954 she was graduated from the Krasnodar Institute of Medicine. She performed a three-year residence in Kaliningrad and then moved to Panevėžys in 1957. She worked as a therapist at what was the Republic Hospital and Clinic. The infectious disease division was small at that time. The decision was made to open a separate infectious disease hospital and young and energetic Rozova was appointed the director of the new hospital. The Infectious Disease Hospital was established in the Panevėžys Jewish Hospital on Ramygalos street, which needed repair following the war. The hospital operated for 20 years in the unrenovated premises.
Condolences
Rūta Gorinienė passed away May 12 (March 28, 1938-May 12, 2016). We are saddened by her loss and share in the sadness of her loved ones. Our deepest condolences.
Condolences
With deepest regret we announce Yakov Epshtayn, a member of the LJC Social Club, has passed away. Born June 1, 1925, he left us on May 12, 2016. Our deepest condolences to his loved ones.
Condolences
With sadness we announce the death of Valentina Tureckaja of Vilnius, born June 3, 1954. She passed away on the 11th of May. She was a member of the LJC Social Center. Our deepest condolences to her loved ones for our shared loss.