The Lithuanian National Olympic Committee issued an award to Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club founder and former president Semionas Finkelšteinas July 11 in recognition of his contributions to Lithuanian athletics and the Olympic movement.
Condolences
We report with deep sadness the death of Sania Kerbelis on July 11. He was born in 1963. His death followed his struggle with a chronic illness. Sania Kerbelis was the chairman of the Šiauliai District Jewish Community and the Šiauliai Jewish Religious Community. Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and the entire Lithuanian Jewish Community extend our deepest condolences to his sons Doyvdas and Simonas and his many friends and family members. Baruch Dayan ha’Emet.
Events in Kaunas Considered by Researchers: “Think about History, Understand Memory”
by Jurgita Šakienė, kauno.diena.lt
An international academic conference to mark the 80th anniversary of the liquidation of the Kaunas ghetto has begun at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. Called “Think about History, Understand Memory,” the conference includes researchers from Lithuania and abroad who will present Jewish life before and during the Holocaust through the lens of history, politics, social sciences, the theater and the arts.
“This anniversary is a powerful reminder of our collective responsibility to understand memory and to insure the lessons of the past inform our present and future,” Israel’s ambassador to Lithuania Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein said during her speech opening the conference. Also giving welcome speeches were US ambassador Kara McDonald and Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas.
Germany’s ambassador Cornelius Zimmerman in his speech said, among other things, “It’s difficult to understand how these unspeakably brutal things could have happened. But they happened. I feel sadness, remorse and shame. It’s crucial to remember everything in order to prevent this from happening again.”
Full story in Lithuanian here.
Marking the 80th Anniversary of the Liquidation of Shavl Ghetto
July 15 is the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the liquidation of the Šiauliai ghetto in 1944 when the surviving 3,000 Jews were transported to Dachau and Stutthof concentration camps, condemned to die there instead. The Lithuanian Jewish Community and both Šiauliai Jewish Communities invite the public to remember and pay honor to the victims of the Šiauliai ghetto, the men, women, children and elderly who were murdered this July 15.
Program
11:30 A.M. Gathering at Šiauliai ghetto gate monument at the intersection of Trakų and Ežero streets to remember the victims;
12:00 noon procession to Chaim Frenkl villa at Vilnaius street no. 74 with stopover on Righteous Gentiles Square;
12:30 P.M. Commemoration of victims at Frenkl villa.
Transportation: there will be minibus to carry passengers to the event leaving from the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius at 8:15 A.M. on July 15. Passengers must register before the event (see below).
Registration: Those wishing to attend are asked to please register before 4:00 P.M. on July 12 by calling Liuba Šerienė at (+370) 5 261 3003 or by sending an email to office@lzb.lt.
Miša Jakobas Receives State Award
Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda presented Miša Jakobas the state award the Officer’s Cross “For Merit to Lithuania” at the Presidential Palace in Vilnius on Coronation of Mindaugas Day, July 6.
The long-serving principal of the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium was recognized for forging an education model for ethnic minority schools, for creating a school open to change with a modern educational environment and for providing bilingual education.
Rabbi Andrew Baker Receives State Award
Photo by Robertas Dačkus
Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda conducted a state awards ceremony July 6, Lithuania’s Coronation of Mindaugas Day. Co-chairman of the Goodwill Foundation and AJC International Affairs Department director Rabbi Andrew Baker received the Commander’s Cross “For Merit to Lithuania” at the ceremony in recognition of his work for justice for the Lithuanian Jewish community and commemoration of victims of the Holocaust, among other things.
Condolences
We are sad to report the death of Vitalijus Karakoskis. A long-standing member of the Community, an accomplished journalist, he was also the director of Menora, the Lithuanian state radio and television Jewish cultural affairs program which has been running weekly for decades. He was awarded the Stasys Lozoraitis prize by the Lithuanian Journalists Union for his work. Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and the entire Lithuanian Jewish Community extend our condolences to his wife Lilija, son Daniel and to his many family members and friends who knew and loved him.
Panevėžys Jewish Community Welcomes Guests from Israel with Roots in Panevėžys
Sonia Furman and husband visited the Panevėžys Jewish Community June 27. They live in Israel where Sonia’s husband served in the military as an airplane pilot.
Her mother Fryda was born in Panevėžys in 1919 and went to Memel/Klaipėda at the age of 14 for training for repatriation to Palestine. According to Israel statistics, 9.950 Jews from Lithuania did repatriate, but Fryda wasn’t one of them. She came back from the training course and moved to Šiauliai where she established a women’s clothing store. She married Yankel Furman from Šaukėnai in 1940 after the latter completed Lithuanian military service.
In August of 1941 the Šiauliai ghetto was established and Yankel and Fryda were imprisoned there. Sonia’s uncle Hershon was born in that ghetto in 1942 and was then murdered in the Kinder Aktion there.
Natalja Cheifec Discussion Club Zoom Meeting
Natalja Cheifec’s Shalom discussion club is planning a meeting on the zoom internet platform at 5:30 P.M. on Tuesday, July 2. The discussion will focus on “forbidden topics” such as why Jewish women aren’t allowed to wear the tallis and tefellin, on the less controversial topic of women serving in the Israeli military, but also any topic participants wish to discuss. Participants are urged to send in their topics of interest prior to the internet meeting.
To obtain zoom credentials to participate and to propose topics for discussion, see here: https://mailchi.mp/a60b2d1747ba/alom-12683479
Everyone is welcome.
Concert Dedicated to 80th Anniversary of Liquidation of Kaunas Ghetto
Photo by George Kadish/Zvi Kadushin courtesy of U.S. Holocaust Museum.
The Kaunas Jewish Community invites you to a concert in memory of the victims of the Kaunas ghetto. The concert is free and open to the general public. Following the concert, a procession will make their way to the monument marking the former gates of the Kaunas ghetto at Linkuvos street no. 2.
Time: 3:00 P.M., Wednesday, July 10
Place: Great Hall at Vytautas Magnus University, Gimnazijos street no. 7, Kaunas
Lietūkis Garage Massacre
by Jurgita Šakienė, kaunodiena.lt
Thursday respects were paid in a schoolyard in Kaunas to the memory of around 50 men who were murdered brutally. These events of more than 80 years ago–the Lietūkis garage massacre–are among the most horrific in the history of the Holocaust in Lithuania.
Members of the Kaunas Jewish Community gathered at the site of the tragedy.
“We must not forget,” Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas said.
Members of the Jewish community then went to the old Jewish cemeteries in Slobodka and the Žaliakalnis neighborhoods. It is believed the bodies of victims were brought to these locations for burial.
The mass execution was carried out on June 27, 1941, at what is now Miško street. The executioners publicly humilaited, tortured and then murdered victims who had been rounded up at random as a crowd looked on. Their selection was based on their Jewish ethnicity.
Happy Birthday to Antanas Sutkus
Legend of Lithuanian photography and friend of the Lithuanian Jewish Community Antanas Sutkus is celebrating a milestone birthday. The LJC wishes him a very happy birthday, and continuing good health, energy and the endless creative inspiration which has given us so many unique works of art over these many years. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Dainius Žalimas on Kazys Škirpa and Other Lithuanian Nazis
Dainius Žalimas served as the chief justice of the Constitutional Court of Lithuania from 2014 to 2021. He currently teaches. When protestors gathered to stop the city of Vilnius from taking down an illicit monument to wartime-era Lithuanian Nazi leader Kazys Škirpa, Lithuanian media went to Žalimas for commentary, because he had ruled in a case concerning Škirpa several years ago. The arrest of three protestors Sunday was followed by an unsanctioned but apparently announced protest in front of Vilnius City Hall Monday, where premade glossy posters were handed out to about 20 Škirpa fanatics, including one set of posters attacking Faina Kukliansky, the chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, for allegedly dictating political decisions to Vilnius mayor Valdas Benkunskas, who had called the Škirpa shrine, illegally installed on the Vilnius court building and former KGB palace, an act of “hooliganism,” which was later redacted by other members of the municipality to “vandalism.”
Dainius Žalimas posted to facebook regarding the legacy of Lithuanian Nazi leader Kazys Škirpa by quoting himself from an interview conducted by 15min.lt a year ago. This is an unofficial translation of his self-quote:
Some of us mark June 23 as a day of national pride and post photographs from that time of Lithuanian soldiers and residents joyfully greeting the Lithuanian insurgents and Germans, as well as photos of Soviet POWs being led through the streets. Yes, the Russian Bolshevik occupation had gone much too far for everyone. So there was no reason to feel pity for the occupiers. Under other circumstances we truly could’ve had something of which to be proud.
New Jewish Kindergarten Set to Open September 1
A new Jewish kindergarten in Vilnius long in the works is set to open its doors at the beginning of the next school year, September 1.
Located within the territory of the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium but in a newly renovated building separate from the main school, the kindergarten will cater to Jewish children and provide an introduction to Hebrew and Jewish culture and tradition with respect paid to the individual needs of each child in a safe and secure environment
More information for registering children to attend is available in Lithuanian here.
Vilnius Municipal Workers Take Down Škirpa Monument as Police Arrest Three Protestors
Photo by Orestas Gurevičius/ELTA
On Sunday afternoon city workers with police escort went to the Lithuanian Appellate and Lithuanian District Court courthouse in Vilnius where a shrine to Lithuanian Nazi Kazys Škirpa was installed without permission Friday in order to remove the illegal construction.
Over a dozen protestors attempted to stop the workers. They attempted to push the workers, who called for police backup, then several protestors locked arms to prevent access to the wall.
The police backup used force to push the protestors away. Protestors on the sidelines chanted “for shame,” “rascists” [sic] and “vatniks.”
Vilnius mayor Valdas Benkunskas told the ELTA news agency he would appeal to law enforcement regarding the illegal construction. He called the installation of the shrine by members of the National Unification party an act of hooliganism.
Three men were arrested at the scene and later charged with administrative law offenses, namely, refusing to obey justified orders from police to disperse.
Full story in Lithuanian here.
Silvia Foti in Šiauliai
Journalist and writer Silvia Foti has visited Šiauliai for the second time to speak about her grandfather Jonas Noreika at the Šiauliai Jewish Community and his Holocaust crimes in Plungė, Telšiai and the Šiauliai district during World War II. She delivered a talk followed by a discussion and questions from the audience. We sincerely thank Silvia for making the visit and for her honesty and openness on this sensitive and very personal topic.
Lithuanian Jews Oppose Any Commemoration of Kazys Škirpa
Lithuanian Jewish Community press release
Wantonly, without any sort of permission, representative of the National Unification Party (Lithuanian: partija Nacionalinis susivienijimas) Vytautas Sinica has initiated the installation of a plaque commemorating Kazys Škirpa on the façade of the Vilnius District Court building. This is both an administrative and moral crime.
The International Commission to Assess the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupational Regimes in Lithuania has recognized the activities of the Lithuanian Activist Front (LAF) and the Provisional Government of Lithuania–both founded and led by Kazys Škirpa–as anti-Semitic.
“This is a monument to a man who led the organization which encouraged violence against Lithuanian citizens of a different ethnicity and fomented anti-Semitism. None of this is a subjective judgment or interpretation; these statements are confirmed by historical facts, sources and documents. The commemoration of this kind of person is a mistake and socially divisive,” the chairman of the Commission’s Nazi Crimes subcommittee and Millersville University professor emeritus Saulius Sužiedėlis said.
Other historians engaged in Holocaust research and international organizations are unanimous regarding the veracity of the aforementioned historical facts.
The Center for the Study of the Genocide and Resistance of Residents of Lithuania has issued as well an official finding of history which admits the actions of the LAF probably did encourage Lithuanians to become engaged in Holocaust crimes. The mass distribution of the LAF ideology led to the murder of 220,000 Jews living in Lithuania, or around 95% of the total Jewish population.
Congratulations to Our Young Chess Master Candidate
Heartfelt congratulations go to our young chess champion Daniel Ser from Šiauliai competing as part of the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club. He took silver in the European Union chess championship and met the rating requirements for FIDE to bestow the title of candidate chess master upon him and is now the youngest candidate for master in the three Baltic states. We are very proud of Daniel and his parents and wish him every continued success.
Memory Stones at Bergen-Belsen
Lithuanian journalist Rimas Bružas has travelled to Germany to make a film about Lithuanian Jewish concentration camp inmates.
Currently he’s visiting Bergen-Belsen located about 65 kilometers from Hannover in Lower Saxony. Originally this concentration camp was intended for privileged victims including inmates from neutral countries and prisoners the Nazis were hoping to trade in prisoner swaps with the Allied countries.
In the fall of 1944 Bergen-Belsen began receiving transports from concentration and death camps such as Auschwitz and the inmate population grew from 7,300 in July of 1944 to about 15,000 by December, 1944. When British troops liberated the camp on April 15, 1945, there were about 60,000 prisoners there, almost all of them Jews. Anne Frank was among the 50,000 people murdered there.
The Bergen-Belsen memorial site continues to maintain memory stones inscribed by students from the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium in Vilnius commemorating the victims of the Holocaust.
#WeRemember
Learning about Jewish Life and Culture at the TOLI Seminar
All last week the LJC hosted the TOLI seminar where experts on Jewish life and culture from different Lithuanian institutions of learning come together to teach teachers about Litvak life before the Holocaust and about the Holocaust.
The TOLI institute founded by Olga Lengvel in New York and Lithuania’s International Commission to Assess the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupational Regime in Lithuania jointly held the seminar which this year was called “Learning from the Past, Action for the Future: Teaching the Holocaust and Human Rights.”
The seminar was attended by over 30 teachers and educators from throughout Lithuania. They included ethics, Lithuanian language and literature, English, geography, information theory and history teachers, as well as librarians and social workers who sacrificed their summer vacations to learn and improve their knowledge.
Full story in Lithuanian here.