Heritage – Lithuanian Jewish Community

WJC President Lauder Warns Anti-Semitism that Led to Holocaust Still Threatens Global Stability

OSWIECIM, Poland–The virulent anti-Semitism that led to the Holocaust is still rampant around the globe today, World Jewish Congress president Ronald Lauder said against the backdrop of Monday’s solemn commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.

In a fundamental way, he added, a common thread links what happened at Auschwitz to the recent manifestations of Jew-hatred, including the October 7, 2023, terror attacks on Israel: the age-old hatred of Jews. Anti-Semitism “had its willing supporters then, and it has them now,” Lauder, who also serves as chair of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation and who has dedicated decades to preserving the site, said. “It was fed by the indifference of people who thought they were not affected because they were not Jewish.”

Lauder also stressed that anti-Semitic acts undermine the central tenets of civil society. “These attacks are not just targeting Jews,” he said. “They are an attack on Judeo-Christian values, which are the bedrock of Western civilization.”

He delivered his remarks alongside four Auschwitz survivors and Piotr Cywiński, director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum.

Full text and video here.

2025-01-282025-01-28

Kaunas News

The United Kingdom’s newly-appointed ambassador to Lithuania Elizabeth Boyles and embassy staff visited Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas last week and asked him about current events in the Community and Community members’ views on political events in Lithuania and the world. Marija Oniščik guided a tour for the British delegation and Žakas of the history of Jewish Kaunas, and they were joined by the ambassadors of Japan and the Netherlands for a presentation of the new exhibits at the Sugihara House Museum in Kaunas.

2025-01-28

Letter to My Grandfather

Photo: Samuel Gochin, in Lithuanian military uniform of 5th Grand Duke Kestutis Doughboys Infantry. Source: Gochin Family Archive

by Grant Gochin

Dear Zayde,

Growing up in South Africa, you implored me to remember. Zachor. I was to remember who we Jews are, and where we came from. You showed me the photos and told me stories. You taught me only love. You asked me to visit our family cemetery in the “old country” and to recite Kaddish for our family. Zayde, I have.

So then, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, I travelled to the “old country,” specifically, Lithuania. Once there, my first destination was your shtetl. There was nothing Jewish remaining. They destroyed everything. Deliberately. I erected a new gravestone where I could say Kaddish.

The cemeteries were in utter disarray and in shambles. It was glaringly apparent to me that the overgrowth was intentional. No one wanted to remember that Jews had lived in Lithuania.

2025-01-272025-01-27

Two More Synagogues Attacked in Australia

Australian media outlets reported two more attacks on synagogues in the last two days. The Allawah Synagogue in Sydney was spay-painted with anti-Semitic phrases and swastikas early Friday morning local time. The Newtown Synagogue was graffitied and fire officials detected accelerant intended to set the house of prayer ablaze. Times of Israel reports Australian police and government officials are undertaking counter-terrorism measures to prevent the continuing anti-Semitic attacks.

Full story here.

2025-01-132025-01-13

Celebrated Litvak Architect Visits Lithuanian Jewish Community

By invitation of the Goodwill Foundation and the Lithuanian Jewish Community, world-renowned Litvak architect Massimiliano Fuksas paid a visit to Vilnius this week.

The author of extraordinary projects around the world, Italian Litvak Fuksas and Studio Fuksas director Giovanni Podesta met with the co-chairpeople of the Goodwill Foundation–Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and American Jewish Committee International Jewish Affairs Department director Rabbi Andrew Baker–as well as GWF director Indrė Rutkauskaitė and toured Jewish Vilna, met members of the GWF board of directors, spoke with Israeli Antiquities Authority architect Jon Seligman, met the architects Daina and James Ferguson and also met with Lithuanian ambassador to Italy Dalia Kreivienė and Italian embassy to Lithuania chargé d’affaires Alice Barberis.

2024-12-192024-12-19

Hanukkah Kabalat Shabat

The Progressive Judaism association Bnei Maskilim invites you to attend the lighting of the third Hanukkah light while greeting the Sabbath with psalms and blessings, followed by holiday foods and kiddush. The ceremony will take place on third floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community followed by kiddush and treats at the Bagel Shop Café at street level.

The cost is 20 euros for adults and 10 euros for children from 3 years of age. Registration is required by sending an email to viljamas@lzb.lt.

Time: 4:00 P.M., Friday, December 27
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Bagel Shop Café, Vilnius

2024-12-18

Šakiai Commemorates Lost Jewish Community

The town of Šakiai in the Marijampolė district in extreme western Lithuania paid homage to its once vibrant Jewish community with a series of presentations followed by the unveiling of a metal sculpture of a boy on November 28.

The Zanavykai Museum began events with a series of lectures about Jews from Šakiai, the history of Jews in the town and their historical legacy. Lost Shtetl Museum senior academic correspondent Jolanta Mickutė and director of the Vincas Kudirka Museum at the Lithuanian National Museum Vida Palionienė spoke on the town’s former Jewish community and regional historian Gražina Žemaitienė spoke about Jewish life in nearby Kudirkos Naumiestis.

The speakers and audience moved to the town square following these presentations where a metal statue by Kęstutis Dovydaitis portraying a school boy was unveiled by Kęstutis Dovydaitis, MP Darius Jakavičius and mayor of the Šakiai regional administration Raimondas Januševičius. Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas, and other guests attended the events along with local residents and students.

2024-12-042024-12-04

Tour of Herring Exhibit Followed by Tasting at Jonas Šliūpas Museum in Palanga

The Jonas Šliūpas Museum in Palanga invites the public to a second guided tour of the herring exhibit “From the North Sea to the Christmas Table” at 5:00 P.M. on November 29. This time co-creator of the exhibit Akvilė Poškienė of Klaipėda University will guide the tour. Afterwards the Palanga Jewish Community will host a presentation of Jewish culinary heritage accompanied by sampling of Jewish snacks with herring presented by Lithuanian Jewish Community educator Dovilė Rūkaitė.

The cost is 4 euros. Registration is required by sending an email to j.sliupo.muziejus@lnm.lt.

Time: 5:00 P.M., November 29
Place: Jonas Šliūpas Museum, Vytauto street no. 23A, Palanga

2024-11-26

Recipe for Murder

by Liova Kaplanas

Many Jews visit Lithuania to tour the paths of the slaughter of our families, also known as death tourism. Lithuania has much to offer tourists: forests, lakes, an extraordinary number of death-pits containing our murdered Jewish families, cool summers, lovely open parks, destroyed Jewish heritage and foods we Jews remember from our childhood, including potato latkes with sour cream, smoked salmon, pickled herring, kishke, kugel and potato kneidels. These food recipes are originally Jewish recipes, appropriated by Lithuania, and now claimed as theirs. Visiting Lithuania is almost akin to taking a step back in time, just, without living Jews. The sights, smells, recipes and foods are reminiscent of our grandparents before they were slaughtered. Some Jewish heritage remains, and plenty of Lithuanian heritage is intact.

Those visiting Lithuania will be only slightly surprised to discover another unpleasant heritage recipe–a recipe for murder!. And not just a plain recipe, but a recipe officially, legally and governmentally registered in the official Lithuanian “Register of Folk Heritage!” It should be absurd and unbelievable, but, unfortunately, it’s true.

Lithuanian parliament member Remigijus Žemaitaitis re-popularized this Lithuanian National Folk Heritage “recipe” in his election campaign, exploiting it to win in excess of 15% of the national vote in Lithuania’s most recent election. The wording of this heritage “recipe” is:

2024-11-252024-11-25

Labyrinths of the Old Town: A Tour for Community Members

Lithuanian Jewish Community members are invited to a special tour next Saturday in Vilnius called Labyrinths of the Old Town led by accomplished guide Markas Psonikas. The tour will invoke the mediaeval aura of the courtyards of the Old Town and continue on to the secrets and discoveries of the present day.

The cost is 7 euros per person. Registration is required by sending an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt before 12:00 noon on November 28.

Time: 11:00 A.M., Saturday, November 30
Place: starting point to be announced following registration
Duration: ~2 hours

2024-11-252024-11-25

Statement by Gercas Žakas, Chairman of the Kaunas Jewish Community

I, Gercas Žakas, have been the chairman of the Kaunas Jewish Community for almost three decades now. I know, not from second-hand sources, what irreparable damage anti-Semitism causes, because I grew up in the family of a former ghetto and concentration camp prisoner. My parents survived the Holocaust but lost their families and almost all of their relatives.

Sadly, we hear many anti-Semitic statements being made in Lithuania at this time, and I have never heard in my lifetime the avalanche of cynicism and lies being poured out by Remigijus Žemaitaitis. Among other things, he has told multiple media outlets he has met with the chairman of the Kaunas Jewish Community.

I say with full responsibility that I have never met with this figure who was recognized as an anti-Semite by the Constitutional Court. This claim alone is in opposition to my values and does harm to my reputation in the eyes of the Jewish communities and society. I therefore demand Remigijus Žemaitaitis retract his words to the effect has met with the chairman of the Kaunas Jewish Community. Otherwise I reserve the right to defend my honor and dignity through legal remedy.

Gercas Žakas, chairman
Kaunas Jewish Community

Photo: Erikas Ovčarenko/15min.lt

2024-11-202024-11-20

Animated Shorts about Jewish Life

The EJC using financial aid from the European Union is creating a series of short animated films to teach young people about the diversity of Jewish life, culture and traditions and to educate the public about the danger of anti-Semitism, andon other topics.

EJC executive vice-president Raya Kalenova said it’s important to reach people whose main source of information is not traditional news media.

The ten-part series is called Glad You Asked. Themes explored include Jewish identity, the Sabbath, Jewish holidays, anti-Semitism, the Holocaust and Jewish history.

The first part discusses the diversity of the Jewish people, cultures and traditions in Europe and the world. Each episode is 90 seconds long.

Part 1:

2024-11-202024-11-20

Sabbath Project/World Challa-Making Day is Here

Today Jews around the world will celebrate the Sabbath together under the auspices of the Global Sabbath Project, which includes World Challa-Making Day. The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites everyone to come and make challa bread together beginning at 3:00 P.M. today, Friday, November 15. Besides making bread, we will also learn about the Sabbath, enjoy some live music and share Jewish cooking traditions. The best loaf will be chosen as the winner.

Time: 3:00 P.M., Friday, November 15
Place: Bagel Shop Café, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius

Rabbi Warren Goldstein sends special Sabbath Project greetings to LJC:

2024-11-152024-11-15

Is Yiddish Experiencing a Renaissance?

by Daiva Gabrilavičiūtė, LRT.lt, October 26, 2024

“The Yiddish language has become a symbol of Jewish cultural resistance and survival. In spite of waves of historical oppression, the Holocaust and assimilation, Yiddish reflects the resolution, resilience and continuity of the Jewish people,” Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium principal Ruth Reches told Lithuanian state radio and teleivision.

Yiddish appeared about a millennium ago in what is now Germany. Large Jewish communities settled in Eastern Europe. Over time Yiddish became more than the everyday language of communication and was used in Jewish intellectual and cultural life. Books and newspapers were published, songs were written and plays performed in Yiddish.

Before World War II more than 10 million people spoke Yiddish. Most were murdered during the Holocaust. The handful who survived faced Soviet oppression. Others found safe haven on the other side of the Atlantic.

Full article in Lithuanian here.

2024-10-292024-11-11

Vilnius Jerusalem of Lithuania Jewish Community Takes Al Jazeera to Task

The Vilnius Jerusalem of Lithuania Jewish Community posting on https://www.vilniauszydai.lt has taken strong exception to an Al Jazeera television report on a pro-Hamas protest held in Vilnius presumably months ago which included editorial content linking the Palestinian cause to the Lithuanian struggle for independence from the Soviet Union. The Community said it was disgusting and shameful to hold street marches in support of terrorism.

The pro-Hamas website palestina.lt for some reason provided a translation from Arabic (Al Jazeera mainly broadcasts in English) of the report and editorial (translated back into English here):

“There are demonstrations taking place in Lithuania to express solidarity with Palestine. From the beginning of the war in Gaza activists have held many events in public spaces in the capital Vilnius [sic, two at most]. Participants demand an end to the genocide of Palestinians. The demonstrations are being organized by palestina.lt to bring public attention to events in Palestine, to counter the pro-Israeli narrative dominant in the country’s media, to condemn the close relationship Lithuanian politicians have with Tel Aviv and to emphasize there was also oppression, deportations and colonization in the history of Lithuania dating from the Russian Empire’s period of rule (1795) through the Nazi occupation right up until the restoration of independence.”

The Jerusalem of Lithuania Jewish Community countered:

2024-10-232024-10-23

Ninth Fort Authoritarian Regime Reading Contest

The Ninth Fort Museum in Kaunas hosted their 6th reading of texts by students called “Silent Wall, Touched by Words” last week.

Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas addressed the students, judges and audience, saying: “In my name and that of Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky I thank Ninth Fort Museum director Marius Pečiulis and the entire staff for holding this important event, and I thank the students and the teachers who have prepared them, for their time spent, sincerity and sensitivity.”

The students read texts about the Holocaust, the Nazi era and the Soviet era in Lithuania. The Ninth Fort Museum includes a tunnel system were Jews were imprisoned before being shot inside the Ninth Fort. Exhibits include cells with extant graffiti by murdered Jews. In the Soviet era the Ninth Fort was a de facto Holocaust memorial, if not in name, with a monumental abstract Soviet statue which remains the center piece of the museum grounds. After Lithuanian independence they became a museum showcasing Soviet atrocities as well as Nazi crimes.

2024-10-22

Palanga Jewish Community Invites You to Herring Lecture at Jonas Šliūpas Museum

Herring fishing and consumption stretches back millennia and became an integral part of Jewish cuisine centuries ago. The Jonas Šliūpas Museum is hosting a lecture by Jewish cuisine specialist Dovilė Rūkaitė on the Jewish culinary history of herring at 5:00 P.M. on Wednesday, October 23, in Palanga.

The museum recently opened an exhibit called “From the North Sea to the Christmas Table” about herring which included an interesting archaeological find: part of a cover and barrel for a 19th-century herring selection and conservation system.

Rūkaitė plans to speak on the significance of Jewish merchants and populations in popularizing the fish in Europe and will also discuss some of the classic recipes which use herring.

Time: 5:00 P.M., October 23
Place: Jonas Šliūpas Museum, Vytauto street no. 23A, Palanga
Duration: About 1 hour

The lecture is free and open to the public.

2024-10-22

Jewish Scouting Season Opens

Weekly meetings of Jewish scouts are taking place again starting at 3:00 P.M. this Sunday at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. The gathering should last around one hour. Jewish scouting teaches scouts Jewish culture, civic-mindedness, responsibility, independence and a number of other skills and values, and includes a lot of fun and games as well. This group is intended for scouts and potential scouts aged 6 to 18. FOr more information contact Michail Kofman by telephone at 860645o94 or send an email to skautai@lzb.lt.

2024-10-222024-10-22

Women’s Club Meeting Friday

Dear reader,

The Women’s Club will be expecting you again this Friday, and this meeting will be especially fun and delicious as we make quiches and pastries.

This time of year is special, the High Holy Days, and we cannot avoid the holiday spirit. THis Friday we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot, when we sit down at the table together with our families and also treat those who come by. So, dear homemakers, we will learn to make the Israeli dish pashtida, sometimes called a kugel, which resembles a quiche, and layered apple pastries.

A good time is guaranteed.

Please register before noon on Thursday by sending an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt or by calling (+370) 678 81514. Space is limited.

Time: 6:30 P.M., Friday, October 18
Place: Bagel Shop Café, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius

2024-10-15

Knife-Wielding Masked Teenagers Take Over Palace of Sports in Old Jewish Cemetery

Photo: Police at Palace of Sports by Paulius Skučas

A group of 50 masked, knife-wielding teenage boys has turned the crumbling Palace of Sports complex built on top of the old Jewish cemetery in Vilnius into their gang clubhouse and have threatened pedestrians in the area, including children, with their weapons, as well as attacking a lone security guard in charge of the site, according to Paulius Skučas, an LNK television reporter who posted on Instagram as well as did a Lithuanian state radio interview about the situation.

Skučas posted photos of the incident on Instagram with textual explanations:

This is how the Palace of Sports looked after the massive attack by teenagers this evening. Police and security stood guard for several hours. It seems the gang of teenagers are so uncontrollable and undetainable that all the residents of the surround neighborhoods and buildings have become hostages.

2024-10-042024-10-04

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