History of the Jews in Lithuania – Page 19 – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Launch of Lithuanian Translation of Lea Goldberg’s Children’s Book

The Lithuanian translation of Lithuanian Jewish writer Lea Goldberg’s children’s book “Room for Rent” will be launched at the Vilnius Book Fair Sunday with a special panel discussion including the translator, Antanas Jonynas, designer Sigutė Chlebinskaitė who designed the format for the Yitzhak Rudashevski Vilnius Ghetto Diary published in Lithuanian several years ago by the Lithuanian Jewish Community and writer Daiva Čepauskaitė. Israel’s ambassador to Lithuania Hadas Silverstein is also expected to attend.

Goldberg wasn’t born in Lithuania but spent much of her childhood in Kaunas. She returned to Kaunas after World War I and attended university there. She went on to win the Israeli National Prize for her varied literary work in Hebrew.

The book launch and panel discussion will start at 12 noon on Sunday, February 26, in hall 5-3 at the Lithuanian Expo Center in Vilnius, the venue for the annual Vilnius Book Fair.

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

Three Groups Found Worthy of “Legitimate” Derision in Lithuania: The Circus, Homosexuals and Jews

by Arkadijus Vinokuras

Conservative Party candidate for Vilnius mayor Valdas Benkunskas yells in his political advertisements: “A mayor without circuses!” Kaunas mayor Visvaldas Matijošaitis, frightened by public debate, echoes the sentiment: “Kaunas doesn’t need a circus!” The press frequently carries headlines such as “Politics Is Not a Circus,” “Circus in the Political Arena,” and so on. It’s horrifying, wherever you look, there’s that damned circus again. Really?

Let me first take care of the myth the circus is worthy of derision. First, for example, the flying trapezist: if he were to act like the MP Petras Gražulis, Ramūnas Karbauskis, Visvaldis Matijošaitis or Valdas Benkunskas, he’d kill himself after attempting his first salto mortale. The flame appearing in the hands of the circus magician would burn him up immediately, and the trick of sawing the young female assistant in half would result in her real dissection. In other words, the professional circus has nothing in common with the political balagan.

This is also proven by the fact the largest American circus, Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Baily Circus, has revenues reaching $98 million annually. Another US circus, Circus Circus, has annual revenue of $160 million and employs 1,500 people. There are around 300 circuses operating in the United States. Cirque du Soleil, Inc. pays a circus actor from $6,000 to $10,000 per month. (The largest circus in Scandinavia is the Cirkus Scott, to the premieres of which the entire ruling elite of Sweden turn out. King Carl XVI Gustaf often attends with the royal family. In the 1989-1990 period this circus paid me €6,000 per month. How long did my performance take? Ten minutes. This was a gigantic sum back in those days, even in Sweden.)

2023-02-212023-02-21

Jews, Hungarians, Beggars and Blockheads: Trakai Shrovetide Invitation Still Full of Stereotypes

by Olga Ugriumova

The municipality of Trakai invited the public to a Shrovetide ball in the town, including pupils of local schools and community members. The poster announcing the event calls it a winter fair in the charming town with a “Svetelių eisena marga.” This can be translated as a “gaudy procession of strangers or foreigners.” The poster continues to the effect that Jews, Hungarians, beggars, doctors, cranes, bears, roosters, Gypsies and all sorts of blockheads and horrific monsters will turn out for the winter festival and see the sun.

Full article in Russian here.

2023-02-20

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

Happy February 16

The Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes you a very happy February 16, the traditional Lithuanian day of independence celebrated by citizens of all ethnic backgrounds in the period between the two world wars.

2023-02-16

First Quiz Held

The Bagel Shop Café hosted the first quiz in what is to become a regular event. Last Sunday’s topic was Jewish Music. Participants didn’t just squeeze their brains, they also sang, trying to recall the tops songs from various historical eras. It’s safe to say most of the participants learned some new facts along the way. The moderator, writer Arkadijus Vinokuras, was accompanied by son Saulius, with help formulating questions from Sholem Aleichem music teacher Ūla Marija Barbora Zemeckytė. While the initial plan was to hold the quizzes every Sunday, the plan now is hold one per month on a Sunday, so stay tuned for the next round. You can check here or consult the Lithuanian Jewish Community’s facebook page.

2023-02-15

Kaunas Isn’t a Lithuanian City, Despite Long-Standing Claims to the Contrary

A Lithuanian translation of interwar Jewish author Kalmen Zingman’s book “On the Spiral Staircase” was recently published by the Hubris publishing house. Goda Volbikaitė translated it.

What can this novel written in 1925 and only now available in Lithuanian tell today’s readers? First of all, it talks about Kaunas. The translation of this book is also a kind of proof Kaunas wasn’t just a Lithuanian city. People of other ethnicities also lived there whose works can (and should) be listed in our literary canon. We spoke with the translator of this book about the little-known figure of Kalmen Zingman, spiral staircases, the Aleksotas aerodrome, Slobodka and Yiddish literature.

Just three years before his death, Zingman wrote in his diary: “I feel like that wonderful time when I will be recognized and famous isn’t far off.” Unfortunately his dream was not to come true. Why do you think Zingman wasn’t successful in literature and recognition?

For truth’s sake, it has to be said that no Yiddish writer working in Kaunas in the period between the two world wars got famous. We are talking about around 30 authors in total who lived in Kaunas for a shorter or longer time.

It’s very clear why they didn’t become famous in the Lithuanian context: there was a lack of interwar translations from the Yiddish language into Lithuanian, just as there is in our time. I should say Lithuania is still just in the early stages of discovering Yiddish literature. Sutzkever and Kulbak are better known now, and some rarer names such as Matilda Olkin and Yitzhak Rudashevski. But basically whole strata of Yiddish literature made in Lithuania are still unknown to the Lithuanian reader.

2023-02-142023-02-15

Applications Being Accepted Now for Compensation for Personal Property Lost in Holocaust

The Goodwill Foundation is planning to disburse from 5 to 10 million euros to those who lost personal property during the Holocaust and their heirs and who meet specific criteria.

Those who survived the Holocaust in Lithuania and their heirs are eligible to make application until December 30, 2023. Compensation is planned to be paid by July 1, 2025.

No claims can be made for plots of land, but applications made by those seeking recompense for commercial buildings, residential homes and apartments will be considered seriously.

Those eligible to apply include Jewish property owners who lived in Lithuania until May 8, 1945, and whose property was seized by the Nazis or Soviets from June 15, 1940, until March 10, 1990, and who didn’t have an opportunity to receive their property and get compensation for it because they weren’t Lithuanian citizens from June 18, 1991, until December 31, 2001. Inheritors eligible for compensation are widows or widowers of former Jewish property owners, parents or children of such, and in the event they are dead, then grandchildren or spouses of grandchildren. Those left property in last wills and testaments are also eligible, as are their widows or widowers, parents, children, grandchildren or spouses of grandchildren.

2023-02-142023-09-22

Bringing the Generations Together

The Israeli International Museum Anu in Tel Aviv, the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium and the Lithuanian Jewish Community are conducting the “From Generation to Generation” project, bringing ninth graders together with seniors from the Community. The first meeting this year happened last week.

Sholem Aleichem principal Ruth Reches said: “Children especially enjoy this project and the seniors appreciate it as well. This moving and meaningful bringing-together of different generations makes people care, enriches the soul and let’s us understand one another better.”

LJC program director Žana Skudovičienė said the first meeting was very friendly, and marked the Tu b’Shvat holiday, with delicious dates from Israel. “It was very nice and warm. We discovered we shared interesting relatives in other countries. There was a lot of emotion because of that, and these will be good memories,” she confided.

2023-02-13

Weekly Quiz

The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to a new series of quizzes on Sundays on Jewish history. Writer Arkadijus Vinokuras will moderate the quiz at the Bagel Shop Café on Sundays with a new topic every week. Come and show off your knowledge, or just come to learn something new. The first quiz will be held at 2:00 P.M. this Sunday, February 12, at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius. The topic will be Jewish music, with musc professor Leonidas Melnikas offering his expert opinion as judge. Register by sending an email to katrina@lzb.lt.

2023-02-10

Silvia Foti Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

According to a blog post by Grant Gochin in the blog section of the Times of Israel internet site, Jonas Noreika’s granddaughter Silvia Foti has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023.

Although the Nobel Prize committee has historically refused to release the names of nominees for 50 years, according to Gochin’s blog post:

“[Former Beverly Hills] mayor [and current Council Member John] Mirish proudly announced that Silvia Foti has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Foti is the granddaughter of an apex mass genocidal murderer of Jews in Lithuania, Jonas Noreika. She bravely exposed her grandfather’s crimes and Holocaust fraud by the government of Lithuania. Foti is the first non-Jewish Lithuanian in history ever to be nominated for the most prestigious peace prize in the world.”

If selected for the prestigious recognition, Foti would joint earlier female writers who received the prize including indigenous Guatemalan Rigoberta Menchu who won the Nobel peace prize in 1998, Belarus’s Svetlana Alexandrovna Alexievich who won the prize in literature in 2015 and 2018 peace prize recipient Nadia Murad Basee Taha, the Yezidi human rights activist from Iraq.

Silvia Foti has written an extensive biography detailing her grandfather’s Nazi activities during the Holocaust in Lithuania published in English and Lithuanian.

Grant Gochin’s blog post with an interesting story about the Lithuanian consul in Los Angeles here.

2023-02-082023-04-04

Young Jewish, Roma Leaders Visit POLIN Museum

Participants in the project to promote mutual understanding among young future leaders from Lithuania’s Roma and Jewish ethnic communities sponsored by the Goodwill Foundation and Germany’s EVZ Foundation visited the award-winning POLIN Jewish history museum in Warsaw. Besides viewing the interactive exhibits teaching about 1,000 years of Jewish history in Poland, the young people and educators engaged in a discussion there among themselves and with educators from the museum

People often say there are two Warsaws, pre- and post-war, not surprising since the entire city was leveled in warfare and especially during the Warsaw Uprising, and painstakingly reconstructed in the post-war period. The female guide for the Lithuanian delegation was a rare original resident of the Polish capital and able to speak something like seven languages.

“This museum is a huge story and we have the moral duty to tell it,” she said. The bright modern museum located in the Warsaw ghetto stands in sharp contrast to the dark granite monument commemorating the heroes of the Uprising. The guide told the group around 80% of world Jewry called Poland home for centuries. The Lithuanian delegation led by the guide viewed multimedia installations, texts, music, paintings, photographs and recreated scenes from Jewish daily life.

2023-02-072023-02-07

YIVO Digitizes Chaim Grade’s Archive, a Yiddish Treasure Trove with a Soap Opera History

Photo: Chaim Grade and his wife Inna Hecker Grade in the United States in 1978. They met in Moscow in 1945. Courtesy YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

by Andrew Silow-Carroll, jta.org, February 5, 2023

JTA–Years ago, when I worked at the Forward, I had a cameo in a real-life Yiddish drama.

A cub reporter named Max Gross sat just outside my office, where he answered the phones. A frequent caller was Inna Grade, the widow of the Yiddish writer Chaim Grade and a fierce guardian of his literary legacy. Mrs. Grade would badger poor Max in dozens of phone calls, especially when a Forward story referred kindly to the Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer. Grade’s widow described Singer as a “blasphemous buffoon” whose fame and reputation, she was convinced, came at the expense of her husband’s.

As Max explains in his 2008 memoir “From Schlub to Stud” Mrs. Grade “became a bit of a joke around the paper.” And yet in Yiddish literary circles, her protectiveness of one of the 20th century’s most important Yiddish writers was serious business: because Inna Grade kept such a tight hold on her late husband’s papers–Chaim Grade (pronounced “Grah-deh”) died in 1982–a generation of scholars was thwarted in taking his true measure.

Inna Grade died in 2010, leaving no signed will or survivors, and the contents of her cluttered Bronx apartment became the property of the borough’s public administrator. In 2013 Chaim Grade’s personal papers, 20,000-volume library, literary manuscripts and publication rights were awarded to the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and the National Library of Israel. They are now stored in YIVO headquarters on Manhattan’s West 16th Street.

2023-02-072023-02-07

US Ambassador Calls on Ukmergė Mayor to Remove Monument to Lithuanian Nazi

Photos: Grant Gochin via Times of Israel

According to an article on the webpage of Lithuanian State Radio and Television, US ambassador to Lithuania Robert Gilchrist did more than just attend events to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. According to the report, he sent a letter to the mayor of Ukmergė (Yiddish Vilkomir), Rolandas Janickas, asking a a monument be erected at the site where around 10,000 Jews murdered there in the Holocaust, and asking an existing monument to Lithuanian Holocaust perpetrator Juozas Krikštaponis be removed from its location at the central park in the small Lithuanian town north of Vilnius.

According to Lithuanian State Radio and Television, copies of the letter were sent to speaker of parliament Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Lithuanian culture minister Simonas Kairys, Lithuanian foreign minister Garbielius Landsbergis and director of the Center for the Study of the Genocide and Resistance of Residents of Lithuania Arūnas Bubnys.

He also wants the plaque to Jonas Noreika in central Vilnius removed. According to the US embassy’s website, ambassador Gilchrist said the following in an address on Holocaust Remembrance Day at the National Gallery of Art in Vilnius:

“I would like to express appreciation to the Speaker, the government, and the Seimas for the recent passage of legislation to provide symbolic compensation for heirless and pending claims on private property lost by Jewish Lithuanians during the Holocaust. I also commend you for the passage of legislation that would direct removal of monuments to totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, which includes Nazi collaborators who participated in the Holocaust. I hope this will lead to the swift removal of such monuments, including to Juozas Krištaponis in Ukmergė and Jonas Noreika here in Vilnius.”

Full article in Lithuanian here.
Ambassador Gilchrist’s full address here.
Background here.

2023-02-062023-04-19

Discussion Club: Was Jewish Life Wonderful under Smetona?

The #ŽydiškųPašnekesiai discussion club will address the topic “Was Jewish Life Great during the Smetona Era” at the Bagel Shop Café at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius at 5:00 P.M. on February 8. The discussion will be live-streamed on the Lithuanian Jewish Community’s facebook page.

In the broader public discussion of whether to erect a statue to the interwar Lithuanian president and dictator Antanas Smetona, proponents have begun saying he defended Lithuania’s Jewish population and was even known as “King of the Jews.” Opponents of the monument counter there were no stops placed on anti-Semitism in Lithuania in the period between the two world wars, meaning the entire span of Lithuanian independence, and Jews were banned from public service and elsewhere.

What do today’s Jews and Lithuania’s current crop of historians think about these issues? Attend or tune in to find out.

Moderator and club founder Arkadijus Vinokuras will put the question to Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman, Lithuanian Jewish Community; Žygimantas Menčenkovas, member of the Leftist Alliance, philosopher, teacher and activist and via internet Linas Venclauskas, historian and author of a recent book on Lithuanian anti-Semitism prior to 1940.

2023-02-062023-02-06

Šiauliai Students Learn about the Holocaust

Šiauliai’s Gegužės pro-gymnasium marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day with a lesson for the combined group of 7th graders there about the Holocaust, taught by Šiauliai Jewish Community member and math teacher Ieva Rafael, religious faith teacher Elvyra Ramoškienė and history teacher Kristina Puzarienė. Other teachers from the school, colleagues at schools in Akmenė and Papilė and members of the Šiauliai Jewish Community observed the lesson.

Ieva Rafael focused on the mass extermination, religious faith teacher Elvyra Ramoškienė spoke about the moral and spiritual issues as well as Jewish symbols and history teacher Kristina Puzarienė talked about the spread of prejudices and stereotypes and abuses of human rights according to teaching methodologies she acquired in professional training in Israel.

The young people heard the story of the Jewish girl Hana who was rescued from a ghetto and discussed the dangers of not speaking out or acting in the face of pressure.

Sixth-graders from the school attended the commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day with members of the Šiauliai Jewish Community at the memorial stone marking the former gate of the Šiauliai ghetto.

2023-02-06

Tolerance Lesson in Panevėžys

On February 1 the Panevėžys Jewish Community held a tolerance lesson attended by students from Panevėžys Gymnasium No. 5. Participants spoke about how to encourage tolerance among people of different ethnic backgrounds.

Gymnasium No. 5 is one of the leaders in Lithuania in terms of teaching the Holocaust to young people, mainly in the upper grades. It has its own Tolerance Center directed by history teacher Beata Viederienė. In fact it’s become a sort of tradition for students in the upper grades to make posters about the Holocaust and to display them in Panevėžys, leading to greater public awareness of the Holocaust.

“Learning about the Holocaust is important both as history and overall in general education. We have to understand this better to insure it doesn’t happen again,” Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman said.

He provided the visiting students with a brief overview of the Jewish history, culture and traditions in Panevėžys, and the reputation local Jews had for higher religious learning.

2023-02-032023-02-03