Heritage – Page 9 – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Opening Ceremony for Restored Kupiškis Public Library and Former Great Synagogue

The Panevėžys Jewish Community reports on the ceremonial re-opening of the restored Great Synagogue in Kupiškis which has housed the Kupiškis Public Library since 1950:

“Following reconstruction for six years on March 24 the Kupiškis Regional Public Library housed in the former Great Synagogue of Kupiškis was ceremoniously reopened.

“To the musical accompaniment of the Rakja Klezmar Orkestar Lithuanian culture minister Simonas Kairys, Kupiškis regional administration mayor Dainius Bardauskas, Kupiškis Regional Public Library director Algirdas Venckus and Infes corporation director Arvydas Markevičius together cut the ribbon re-opening the building.”

Full story in Lithuanian with more photographs from the opening ceremony available on the Panevėžys Jewish Community webpage here.

2023-03-29

Sunday Quiz: Why Is This Night Like No Other?

Next Sunday’s quiz at the Bagel Shop Café is called “What Is Passover?” As usual, accomplished circus clown and investigative journalist Arkadijus Vinokuras will lead the fun, and shut-ins will be able to at least watch on the Lithuanian Jewish Community’s facebook page. It all happens at 2:00 P.M. on Sunday, April 2. Be there or be late to the table.

2023-03-272023-03-27

New Holocaust Play from Klaipėda Coming to Vilnius

The Klaipėda Jewish Community theater Šatil is preparing to stage the play “Man baisus pasaulis, kuriame nėra tavęs” [A World Without You Horrifies Me] based on the work of Maja Tarachovskaja (Майя Тараховская, Maya Tarakhovskaya) in Vilnius.

The play tells the story of a Jewish girl named Mirka who escaped from a train on the way to a death camp. She is forced by circumstances to make the hard decision to leave her son with the villager woman who rescued them in order to save her newborn baby.

“And I left, in the night, for nowhere, leaving to that woman two priceless gifts: I gave her you, and the only existing photograph of your father,” a heartbroken Mirka says in the play.

The play, directed by Nerijus Gedminas, is in Russian and will debut Tuesday, April 11, at the Russian Drama Theater at Jono Basanavičiaus street no. 13 in Vilnius.

2023-03-272023-03-27

Synagogue Restored in Kupiškis

One of the synagogues in Kupiškis, Lithuania, which houses the town’s public library has been undergoing restoration for the last six years. On Friday, March 24, Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, Israel ambassador to Lithuania Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein and US ambassador Robert Gilchrist visited the synagogue and saw the results of the reconstruction work.

“A large Jewish community lived in Kupiškis before the war,” chairwoman Kukliansky said. “They were almost all exterminated by the Nazis and local collaborators. It is right that their story is remembered, if only eighty years later, and that the residents of Kupiškis who come here or pass by outside will see this building and be reminded of the great contribution Jews made to the community’s success.”

Jews settled in Kupiškis sometime in the 17th century. In 1682 bishop Mikołaj Pac (Mikolajus Pacas in Lithuanian) issued a permit for the construction of a synagogue. Around 2,661 Jews accounting for 71% of the population lived in Kupiškis in 1897. During the period between the two world wars there were three working synagogues in the town, adjacent and forming a courtyard, with the Great Synagogue on the northern side, the Small Synagogue on the south and the Hassidic synagogue on the western side. The Great and Hassidic synagogues survive. In 1950 the Great synagogue building was used as the town’s public library. The entrance way into the library has a commemorative plaque with a citation from the Book of Isaiah, 56:5: “I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off,” in Hebrew, English and Lithuanian. The first floor of the building is now being used as a library with the second storey as space dedicated to the Jewish community.

2023-03-272023-03-27

ORT Technicum in Vilnius: A Window to the Future

The Lithuanian National Martyna Mažvydas Library will host an exhibit called “The Vilnius ORT Technicum: A Window to the Future” as part of the 700th birthday celebrations for the city of Vilnius. The exhibit will talk about the history of the Jewish vocational institution and the importance of acquiring a craft or trade for economic survival in the early 20th century. Work by students and original documents and textbooks in Yiddish will be displayed. The exhibit will also include a projection of documents from the library’s Judaica center projected on windows located at Islandijos street no. 3, formerly Gdansk street where the ORT operated starting in 1925. The light show is to take place from 8:00 P.M. to 4:00 A.M. during the entire course of the exhibit at the library. The main exhibit will be demonstrated on the fifth floor of the national library. The exhibit will run from April 4 to May 31 during the library’s working houses and is open to the public. An opening ceremony is scheduled for 6:00 P.M., April 4, in the atrium on the fifth floor.

More information is available in Lithuanian here.

2023-03-23

New Publication of Shur’s Entries: A Chronicle of the Vilna Ghetto, 1941-1944

Grigoriy Shur’s Vilnius ghetto diary has been reissued with support from the Goodwill Foundation, with a new cover and new introduction.

Perhaps the most informative of the several Vilnius ghetto diaries, Shur’s manuscript was originally published in Lithuanian translation by the Era publishing house in Vilnius in 1997 with partial funding from the Lithuanian Culture Ministry, and was roundly ignored by the general public.

The new edition is the same translation published by Era back in 1997 by Nijolė Kvaraciejūtė and Algimantas Antanavičius. It contains the same introduction by Pranas Morkus and forward by Vladimir Porudominsky, but adds a new and short introduction by the writer Vytautas Toleikis, who surveys recent Holocaust literature published in Lithuanian, including his keen observations about the book “Mūsiškai” [Our People] by Rūta Vanagaitė and Efraim Zuroff, or more precisely, how Lithuanian nationalists responded to it. Here’s a rough translation of part of Toleikis’s introduction:

2023-03-202023-03-29

YIVO to Digitize Treasure Trove of Leftist History

New York Jewish Week–YIVO has launched an eight-year project to digitize its Jewish Labor and Political Archives, widening access to some 3.5 million pages related to Jewish revolutionary, socialist and labor movements in Europe and America.

The project, the largest archival digitization project in the history of the Jewish research institute, will shine a light on the Jewish Labor Bund whose archives survived the Nazis and form the core of the collection.

Founded in Vilna in 1897 by Jews influenced by Marxism, the Bund played a central role in organizing Jewish trade unions and aligned with various socialist parties in pre-WWII Europe. It administered a massive network of secular Yiddish schools, stood up against anti-Semitism and supported an underground network against the Nazi genocide, activities kept up by members who managed to flee to New York in the early 1940s.

That history is reflected in the journey of the archive materials which were seized by the Nazis but were later rediscovered in France after the German army’s retreat. In 1951 the Bund Archives was brought to New York, and transferred to YIVO in 1992.

2023-03-14

European Days of Jewish Culture 2023

Organizers and coordinators of the European Days of Jewish Culture for 2023 events met in Paris in late February and decided upon the theme “Citizens, equality, rights and values” for this year’s celebrations.

Most meetings and seminars took place at the Shoah memorial in Paris with meetings on the second day at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

The European Days of Jewish Culture are scheduled to begin on the first Sunday in September, 2023.

2023-03-13

March 11, Restoration of Lithuanian Independence Day

Dear readers,

March 11, 1990, meant rebirth for the Jews of Lithuania. When the country regained independence, the surviving Jewish community began to unite. This was the beginning of restoring our ethnic identity, of active ethnocultural life, and finally we all began to talk openly about the Holocaust and the role played by ethnic Lithuanians.

We have rights and freedoms in independent Lithuania. We speak courageously about what isn’t right, and we initiate change. We host guests and we travel. Our children and grandchildren live here and the whole world is now open to them. Our home is here and we are an integral part of Lithuania.

So congratulations and greetings on this holiday which belongs to all of us, March 11.

Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community

2023-03-132023-03-13

Insider’s Look at the EDJC Organizers and Coordinators Meeting for 2023

PARIS, FRANCE–The EDJC Organizers and Coordinators Meeting 2023 took place from February 22 to 23 with the majority of its sessions and workshops occurring at the Memorial de la Shoah and a final session and closing ceremony concluding the meeting at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The bi-annual meeting for organizers and coordinators of European Days of Jewish Culture activities occurs in an extraordinary context and under the umbrella of an exceptional program the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values program of the European Union.

Organizers and coordinators of the European Days of Jewish Culture had the opportunity to spend two full days together in the city of Paris with the aim of training and reflecting upon how to work with the 2023 edition’s theme of memory. The theme of memory is particularly relevant to the EDJC, as it allows us to explore and remember the rich history of Jewish culture and heritage. The festival provides participants with an opportunity to learn about Jewish culture and history, as well as to reflect on the rôle of memory in shaping our understanding of the past and the present.

During the meeting, attendees witnessed the uncovering of the poster of this year’s edition designed by Nikola Radic Lucati, Founder of the Center for Holocaust Research and Education in Belgrade, Serbia. Participants had the opportunity to participate in training sessions and workshops on the theme of memory, as well as to attend coordination meetings and networking events.

Full story here.

2023-03-072023-03-07

2023-03-07

Purim Wouldn’t Be the Same without Hamentashen

Purim starts tonight at sundown when the 14th day of the month of Adar begins on the Jewish calendar. One of the constituent features of Purim is the traditional pastry known as hamentashen. Although everyone has their own special recipe, Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky makes her family’s version with poppy-seed filling, the traditional Litvak treat. The recipe dates beck to the period between the two world wars.

“This recipe was probably used earlier and recalls the time when the aroma of the pastry filled the Vilnius Old Town and many other cities and towns where Jews lived in Lithuania. Although you can purchase this version now, it’s always more fun to make it yourself,” she commented.

Happy Purim! Hag Purim sameakh!

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Faina Kukliansky’s hamantashen recipe:

2023-03-06

State Protection Proposed for Great Synagogue Ruins

The ruins of the Great Synagogue and attached ritual Jewish bath in Vilnius has been proposed as a site for protection by the state.

The State Cultural Heritage Commission approved that recommendation but the actual listing of the site is up to the Lithuanian minister of culture. The site has architectural, archaeological, historical, commemorative and sacred features.

The State Cultural Heritage Commission said in a press release: “The archaeological, architectural, historical, commemorative and sacred significance of this complex in the Vilnius Old Town is undisputed.”

Full story in Lithuanian here.

2023-03-06

Preparations for Marking Yom haShoah in Alytus

A delegation from the Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Association of Lithuanian Jews in Israel headed by director Arie Ben-Ari Grodzensky visited Alytus, Lithuania, yesterday and met with mayor Nerijus Cesiulis and staff to discuss commemorating Yom haShoah, Israel’s Holocaust remembrance day on the 25th of Adar, in the town southwest of Vilnius. The delegation visited the synagogue recently restored there and the mass murder site in Vidzgiris forest to pay their respects to the victims of the Holocaust there. The plan is to mark Yom haShoah in Alytus on April 17.

2023-03-032023-03-03

Righteous Gentiles Exhibit

Architect Tauras Budzys and art historian Barbora Karnienė have constructed an exhibit to mark March 15, the day designated to commemorate Lithuanian rescuers of Jews from the Holocaust. The exhibit is called “Righteous among the Nations: Not Afraid to Die, They Became Immortal.” The exhibit will be on display until April 10 in the home and museum of Marija and Jurgis Šlapelis located at Pilies street no. 40 in Vilnius.

2023-03-02

LJC Chairwoman Attends WJC Jewish Youth Assembly

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky attended the World Jewish Congress’s Jewish Youth Assembly last week, also attended by students from 85 schools in 20 countries, including a Lithuanian delegation.

The Jewish Youth Assembly is a multi-day conference for students aged 15-18 to learn about Jewish communities around the world and discuss the most pressing issues facing the Jewish people today. Replicating the WJC’s structure, students at JYA gain an inside look into the WJC process and build techniques to problem-solve issues of concern to the Jewish community across the world. The conference allows students to collaboratively work to represent specific communities, conduct research on their history, learn about the issues the WJC is tackling, and speak directly to represented communities and expert leaders. This interactive experience culminates in crucial reports that serve as the collective voice of Jewish youth across the world in day-to-day deliberations of the World Jewish Congress, according to the JYA webpage.

The Assembly’s goal this year was to encourage Jewish young people to get involved in current events facing society currently and to think about passing on Jewish heritage to the next generation.

Chairwoman Kukliansky delivered an address to the Assembly.

2023-03-01

Jewish Scouts Expand Their Horizons

Over the weekend LJC scouts went to Panevėžys to celebrate with fellow scouts the birthday of Robert Baden-Powell.

On January 24, 1908, the Boy Scouts movement began in England with the publication of the first installment of Robert Baden-Powell’s “Scouting for Boys.”

Besides celebrating their founder’s birthday, the Jewish scouts from around Lithuania met up with other scouting groups, did handicrafts, built snow forts and snowmen and learned more about the natural environment in Panevėžys.

2023-02-282023-02-28

Lithuanian Jewish Community Conducting Project to Digitize and Preserve Lithuanian Jewish History

The open-source RODA (Repository of Authentic Digital Objects*) platform has been chosen to digitize and conserve our European Jewish legacy.

The international J-Ark European Jewish Community Archive project was started in early 2021 and will continue till early 2023, creating and testing a long-term storage platform for digital content. This digital Jewish archive will include selected video, audio, visual, photographic and other materials connected with the history of the Lithuanian Jewish Community since the restoration of Lithuanian independence.

2023-02-242023-02-24

Recently Published Books about Jewish Lithuania in Lithuanian

“Vilna. Žydiškojo Vilniaus istorija” [Vilna: The History of Jewish Vilnius] by Israel Cohen, 2nd edition, 2023, translated by Miglė Anušauskaitė, 384 pages.

The Vilnius publishing house Hubris has published a Lithuanian translation of British writer and early proponent of Zionism Israel Cohen’s book “Vilna: A History of Jewish Vilnius.” The author was born in London to a family of Jewish immigrants from Poland. He worked as a correspondent for the Times of London, the Manchester Guardian, Manchester Evening Chronicle and Jewish World. The book was first published in 1943 by the Jewish Publication Society as part of a series showcasing Jewish communities in various countries for English speakers.

More information in Lithuanian here. See below for an excerpt from the original English edition.

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“Slaptoji Kauno žydų geto policijos istorija” [Secret History of the Kaunas Ghetto Police] by anonymous Kaunas ghetto police officers, published 2021, translated by Aistis Žekevičius from the English edition edited by Samuel Schalkowsky, 504 pages.

A unique document written in Yiddish by Kaunas ghetto police between 1942 and 1943. It lay buried in Slobodka for years and was discovered in 1964 when construction was underway at the site, and turned over to the Soviet KGB. It was translated to English and published in the USA in 2014.

2023-02-222023-02-23

Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim Descendant Visits Panevėžys

In the 19th century there were five working synagogues in Panevėžys and a strong and widely-celebrated Jewish community. The Rabbi Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim, also known by the acronym ADeReT, lived and worked in Panevėžys from 1871 to 1891 and was the head of the community. He later served as the rabbi of Mir in what is now Belarus, and went on to lead the Ashkenazi community in Jerusalem.

His great-grandson Rabbi Reuven Yeshua Koehn paid a visit to the Panevėžys last week and presented a portrait of his famous great-grandfather as a gift to the Panevėžys Jewish Community. He also met with the mayor of the city and presented a project currently being conducted in Israel to build a Litvak Heritage Center. The Center’s displays will include various Lithuanian shtetls and cities including Panevėžys.

Rabbi Koehn also visited the local regional history museum. Students from his yeshiva are expected to visit Panevėžys in late April.

2023-02-20