History of the Jews in Lithuania – Page 17 – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Against Anti-Semitism in Name Only

by Geoff Vasil

Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda has joined the chorus, the other two heads of state, the prime minister and the speaker of parliament, in declaring Lithuania has zero tolerance for anti-Semitism. At the same time, the state and the nation continue to glorify, lionize and commemorate, often enthusiastically, Lithuanian Nazis who were complicit in Holocaust crimes and responsible for the death of nearly every Lithuanian Jew.

The state-funded Lithuanian Academy of Sciences has removed the Jonas Noreika plaque on its walls “for repairs” even though permission was never granted by any state or municipal body to place the plaque there. Its latest incarnation was the work of enthusiastic Lithuanian neo-Nazis. Streets, schools and squares retain the names of known Holocaust perpetrators with commemorative plaques and statues to them scattered across Lithuania.

At the same time, the ruling coalition, aka the Lithuanian Government, has engaged in rank censorship for two and a half years now, along with a complicit media and law enforcement bodies. This has created a virtual atmosphere of full-fledged fascism and conformity in the country, with straight-up propaganda de rigueur on a range of topics.

2023-06-222023-06-23

Commemoration of Garage Victims

The Kaunas Jewish Community will hold a ceremony to commemorate the Jewish victims murdered during the barbaric Lietūkis garage incident in Kaunas in the early days of World War II this June 26 at 4:00 P.M. at the statue to the victims at Miško street no. 3, moving afterwards to the Slobodka Jewish cemetery on Kalnų street and then to the Žaliakalnis Jewish cemetery on the Radvilėnų highway.

2023-06-222023-06-22

Lithuanian Jewish Community Statement on Anti-Semitic Statements by a Member of the Lithuanian Parliament

The Lithuanian Jewish Community is saddened by the recent anti=Semitic statements and posts made by member of the Lithuanian parliament Remigijus Žemaitaitis in some of the media, social networks and even at the Lithuanian parliament itself. It must be said that these sorts of expressions haven’t appeared in Lithuania in a very long time, and that the Jews who live in Lithuania, 80 years after the liquidation of the Vilnius ghetto, had hoped there would be no more such expressions. All the more so as the war continues in Ukraine and people who comprise an ethnic minority can be used by the aggressor as a tool for inciting social conflict and dividing society.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community believes this act by the member of parliament intentionally sows ethnic discord and is a distortion of historical memory as well as a continuation of the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” promulgated by the security service of the Russian tsar over a century ago.

We feel ashamed of the county in which we live and which we love and respect. Its citizens cannot elect to parliament a member who can allow himself to descend to making the following statements:

“It seems that besides Putin another group of animals has appeared in the World: ISRAEL. One group razes schools with tanks, the other group uses tractors,” the politician wrote on his facebook page. “After these kinds of incidents, it’s no surprise why these sorts of statement arise: ‘A Jew climbed a ladder and fell down accidentally. Children, take a stick and beat that little Jew to death…'”

2023-06-222023-09-04

MP Žemaitaitis Steps Up Anti-Semitic Posts

Lithuanian member of parliament Remigijus Žemaitaitis who came under scrutiny several weeks ago for anti-Semitic posts on facebook has stepped up his attacks on Jews during Lithuanian prime minister Ingrida Šimonytė’s working visit to Israel this week, according to Lithuanian media reports.

According to Tele3 news, on Tuesday Žemaitaitis released a new flurry of facebook posts blaming Jews for the Soviet deportation of Lithuanians, claiming Lithuanians experienced a greater genocide than Jews did in the Holocaust and blaming Jews for this alleged genocide. He published a list of alleged Jewish perpetrators of Lithuanian genocide and claimed Soviet Jewish partisans had committed mass murder in Pirčiupiai, a village in southern Lithuania near the town of Varėna. He also referred to Jews as “a subspecies,” presumably of Homo sapiens and presumably meaning subhuman.

Besides misspelling the name of the village, historian Algimantas Kasparavičius told Tele3 news he got the facts wrong: a Nazi SS unit destroyed that village and murdered 119 inhabitants on June 3, 1944, as revenge for several German soldiers murdered by Soviet partisans in the area.

2023-06-162023-06-16

Renovated Wooden Synagogue in Kurkliai Opens Doors

Last weekend one of the few extant wooden synagogues in Europe opened its doors to visitors following renovation work. Last December Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky signed an agreement with the Anykščiai Cultural Center: in exchange for renovation, the center will enjoy the use of the building for its activities.

Chairwoman Kukliansky commented: “There was a significant Jewish community in Kurkliai before World War II which was lost following the tragic events of the Holocaust. The reconstructed building will soon fall into ruin again if it isn’t used. We are therefore very glad the Anykščiai Cultural Center and the whole regional community stood shoulder to shoulder to outfit the building for a new life. This is yet another wonderful example of cooperation between the Lithuanian Jewish Community and municipal and regional governments as well as cultural centers.”

The synagogue building will include an exhibit about the Kurkliai Jewish community and Jewish life in the village located about midway between Anykščiai and Ukmergė just north of Vilnius.

2023-06-152023-06-15

Black Ribbon Day in Lithuania

June 14 is officially the Day of Mourning and Hope in Lithuania but colloquially Black Ribbon Day, marking the beginning of Soviet deportations of Lithuanian citizens in early June, 1941. Jews were hugely overrepresented among the victims of the Soviet deportations to Siberia and Central Asia. Those who survived and managed to return to Lithuania found the entire Jewish community and their families had been slaughtered.

Photo courtesy the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum.

2023-06-142023-06-14

New Commemorative Plaque Marks Old Synagogue in Panevėžys

Following vandalism in January of 2022 to the commemorative plaque marking a former synagogue in Panevėžys, a new plaque has been placed on the building located at Valančiaus street no. 4.

That certainly wasn’t the only recent act of vandalism against Jewish sites in the area, including at Jewish cemeteries, at Memory Square and the “Sad Jewish Mother” monument to Holocaust victims where vandals poured paint. That’s been cleaned up as well and there are now video cameras monitoring the square.

The stone stele commemorating 100 years of activity by the Joint or Jewish Distribution Committee in Panevėžys and Lithuania was also vandalized.

Over the last decade anti-Semitic vandalism also occurred at the mass murder site in the Žalioji Forest and at the monument in the Kurganava Forest. Around 5500 Jews were murdered at the former and around 8000 Jews at the latter site.

2023-06-14

Congratulations to Joana Viga Čiplytė

Joana Viga Čiplytė, an historian who has written extensively about the history of the Panevėžys Jewish community, has been awarded the Gabrielė Petkevičaitės-Bitė medal “Tarnaukite Lietuvai” [To Serve Lithuania] in recognition of her work. Her first book was called “Mažosios Jeruzalės – Panevėžio žydų istorija. Holokaustas” [The History of Little Jerusalem, the Panevėžys Jewish Community: The Holocaust].

At the award ceremony Čiplytė said she was grateful to her family and to Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman for their support.

2023-06-14

LJC Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky Accompanies Lithuanian PM on Visit to Israel

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky took part in events as part of Lithuanian prime minister Ingrida Šimonytė’s working visit to Israel.

The delegation began the visit at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.

After speaking to the American Jewish Committee conference being held in Tel Aviv, Lithuanian PM Šimonytė met with Israel’s president Isaac Herzog, who expressed interest in the pace of restitution for stolen Jewish property in Lithuania.

2023-06-142023-06-14

Silvia Foti to Visit Šiauliai Jewish Community

Silvia Foti is scheduled to visit the Šiauliai Jewish Community on June 22 for a presentation of her book about her grandfather, Holocaust perpetrator Jonas Noreika, followed by an open discussion. Jonas Noreika was appointed head of the Šiauliai district under the Nazis and was responsible for the murder of thousands of Jews from the city and region. The event starts at 6:00 P.M. and is free and open to the public.

2023-06-122023-06-12

Lithuanian City Vows to Preserve Ancient Jewish Cemetery

by Canaan Lidor, Times of Israel, June 6, 2023

The decade-long controversy surrounding the Snipiškės (Shnipishok) Jewish cemetery in Lithuania’s capital appears to have reached a resolution: instead of building a convention center atop the burial ground, the Vilnius municipality will turn it into a monument for Lithuanian Jews.

The decision announced Thursday by Lithuanian National Art Museum director and former Lithuanian minister of culture Arūnas Gelūnas puts to rest concerns about disturbing the remains of Jews believed by some to be buried under a Soviet-era building authorities wanted to tear down and replace. The plan set off a highly publicized legal fight between some Jewish community members and authorities and Jewish groups.

“It’s a hugely welcome outcome to a dispute that has been going on for too many years,” Michael Mail, chief executive of the Foundation for Jewish Heritage non-profit working to preserve such sites in Europe and the Middle East, told Times of Israel Monday.

2023-06-092023-06-09

Bas-Relief to Commemorate Herman Perelstein

A bas-relief commemorating Herman Perelstein, the founder of the Ąžuoliukas choir, will be unveiled at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic in Vilnius at 5:00 P.M. on June 15.

2023-06-09

Happy Birthday to Fruma Kučinekienė

A very happy birthday to Fruma Kučinekienė in Kaunas, beloved by the entire Lithuanian Jewish Community. She lost her entire family to the Holocaust and yet has endured and lived a meaningful and even happy life. We wish you the very best health, many happy moments with friends and many more milestone birthdays to come. Mazl tov. Bis 120!

2023-06-082023-06-08

Suigara House Opens Jan Zwartendijk Room

The Sugihara House museum in Kaunas has opened a special Jan Zartendijk room to celebrate the Dutch Righteous Gentile who worked hand-in-hand with Righteous Gentile Chiune Sugihara to rescue Jews from the impending Holocaust, according to the Russian-language obzor.lt webpage. Although the two men reportedly never spoke, they both issued visas for Jews. Japanese ambassador Sugihara issued visas for transiting through Japan, but Jews needed a visa for a final destination, which Dutch consul Zwartendijk furnished by stamping passports with a fictitious visa for the island of Curaçao in the Caribbean, which at that time didn’t require visas from travellers.

According to obzor.lt, museum staff had considered including a period typewriter in the exhibit, but Zwartendijk’s daughter told them he never used the device.

Full story in Russian here.

2023-06-072023-06-07

News from Meeting of Young Scouts, Parents

On May 29 scout leader Adomas Kofmanas, young Jewish scouts and a number of their parents all got together for a meet outdoors with games and a barbecue by outdoorsman Audrius Vainonis. Plans for this summer were also a main topic of discussion, including the world jamboree scheduled for July 8 to 16 in western Lithuania called Tarp trijų vandenų [Between Three Bodies of Water]. So far over 2,000 scouts from around the world have registered for the big jamboree and of course Jewish scouts and their parents are invited to attend. The young people are getting close to restoring the pre-Holocaust Lithuanian Jewish scouting movement with closer cooperation with the Scouts of Lithuania organization. For more information on any of these topics or others, please write skautai@lzb.lt.

2023-06-07

Nechama Lifshitz Young Jewish Vocalists Contest

Vocalists aged 10 to 35 are invited to register for the Nechama Lifshitz Vocalist Contest to be held in Vilnius in September. The goal of the competition is to inspire creativity and talent in the younger generation, to popularize vocal Jewish music and to discover talented young Jewish performers and song writers. The contest is named after renowned singer Nechama Lifshitz who was born in Kaunas and was sometimes called the Jewish nightingale. She became famous throughout the Soviet Union and the world.

2023-06-072023-06-07

Litvak Literature Conference “Litvak Literature: A Remarkable Direction in the Lithuanian Cultural Inheritance”

The International Publishers Association and the Lithuanian Jewish Community invite you to an academic and practical conference on the significance of Litvak literature on the Lithuanian cultural heritage. Besides presentation by individual scholars and thinkers there will also be readings of texts and some more personal commentaries. The conference will be conducted in Russian and is free and open to the public.

2023-06-062023-06-07

Jewish Discussion Club to Meet Outdoors

The #ŽydiškiPašnekesiai Jewish discussion group led by author and actor Arkadijus Vinokuras is to discuss Jewish cuisine at the Israeli street food kiosk located in the former Cvirka scquare across the street from the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius at 5:00 P.M on Thursday, June 8. The panel is scheduled to include Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, Vilnius Religious Jewish Community chairman and Choral Synagogue cantor Shmuel Yaatom, lecturer Natalja Cheifec, Cvi Parkas Israeli food kiosk director Rafaelis Gimelšteinas, a professor of communications from Vilnius University who has written several books about the history of cooking.

The outdoor discussion is free and open to the public and will be streamed live on facebook as well. It will be conducted in Lithuanian.

2023-06-062023-06-06

Vilnius Jewish Public Library to Screen J’Accuse

The Vilnius Jewish Public Library is to screen the film J’accuse with Lithuanian subtitles at 5:30 P.M. on June 19. Author Silvia Foti featured in the film is scheduled to attend the screening and discuss the film and the Holocaust in Lithuania with the audience.

More information available here.

2023-06-052023-06-22