Holocaust – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Truth at Last

by Grant Gochin

The government of Lithuania’s threats of criminal charges against me remain open. These threats were instigated as an intimidation tactic to silence me. My supposed crime was investigating the truth about who perpetrated the Holocaust in Lithuania.

I began my efforts towards exposing the truth about the Holocaust in Lithuania in the early 2000s. I was perplexed by the apparent acquiescence of some major Jewish organizations to the rampant Holocaust frauds committed by the government of Lithuania. My repeated outreach made me realize that if I did not address the issues myself, they would be ignored. Over the course of the past 15 years, this revelation has repeatedly proven itself to be accurate.

Approximately thirty legal actions I launched against Lithuania displayed how resolutely the Lithuanian government coalesced to invert Holocaust truth, while continuing their intimidation tactics against history researchers and activists. The Lithuanian courts took instruction from members of the government to deny legal review of governmental Holocaust fraud. Historical researchers such as Evaldas Balčiūnas and Andrius Kulikauskas were insulted, intimidated and threatened by the Lithuanian government simply for conducting research on inconvenient subjects and exposing the truth.

There was an attempt to bribe documentarian Michael Kretzmer to create a falsified narrative. Their conduct revealed to Kretzmer the country’s Holocaust inversions. His response was to make the documentary J’Accuse! which revealed to the world the full ghastly truth about Lithuania’s Holocaust frauds.

2024-12-23

Jewish Charity Helps 83 Righteous Gentile Holocaust Heroes Celebrate Holidays

by Michelle Rosenberg

In its largest one-time seasonal award, Jewish Foundation for the Righteous sends £250k to rescuers in 10 countries including Australia, Hungary, Romania and Sweden

The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous is sending more than £254k to 83 Righteous Gentile rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust living in 10 different countries–the largest one-time seasonal award in the foundation’s history.

The JFR provides financial stipends for aged and needy Righteous Gentiles, helping to repay a debt of gratitude on behalf of the Jewish people for their heroism.

Since its founding, the foundation has provided more than £35 million to an estimated 3,600 rescuers in more than 34 countries.

As the years pass since the Holocaust the number of living rescuers has dwindled. The remaining Righteous Gentiles receiving this year’s holiday awards live in Australia, Belarus, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden and Ukraine.

Full story here.

2024-12-23

Condolences

Mina Levina passed away Wednesday, December 18. She was born in 1937 and was a member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. We extend our deepest condolences to her family members and friends.

2024-12-19

Condolences

Tamara Adrinovskaya has died. She was born in 1934 and was a member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and a client served by the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. We extend our deepest condolences to her daughter Liudmila, her grandchildren and many loved ones.

2024-12-19

Goodwill Foundation Board Members Meet Speaker of Parliament

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–have met with the new speaker of the Lithuanian parliament and former prime minister Saulius Skvernelis.

They discussed the Middle East and the rising tide of anti-Semitic incidents in Europe. Speaker Skvernelis affirmed Lithuania is a safe country for Jews.

“The fight against anti-Semitism must be a constant on the political agenda. Everyone knows my views of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism from the time when I was prime minister, and my views haven’t changed even a little. We will not tolerate expressions of anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial or disrespect towards Holocaust victims. I believe we as a country under the rule of law will judge anti-Semitic expressions as a legal matter, and our newly-formed ruling coalition will be a reliable and trustworthy partner in that,” Skvernelis said during their meeting.

2024-12-192024-12-19

Ghost of Facebook Past Comes to Haunt Rookie MP

On Wednesday, December 11, the Lithuanian parliament’s Ethics and Procedures Commission met to discuss facebook posts made in the past by newly-elected MP Petras Dargis, who belongs to the controversial Nemuno Aušra party led by Remigijus Žemaitaitis.

In the posts in question, Dargis published an indecent picture of a prostitute leaning into the driver’s side window of an automobile, saying, “I’ll do everything your wife doesn’t.” The speech balloon of the driver says, “Can you make me a tasty goulash?”

More troubling are older posts dating back to September of 2011 where Dargis repeats anti-Semitic jokes. In one, a father asks his sons how the good Santa Claus differs from the evil Jew. Santa is good and the Jew is bad, one says. Another chimes in: Santa gives gifts from out of his bag, but the Jew takes them and puts them in the bag. That’s all true, the father says, but more importantly, Santa enters by coming down the chimney, and the Jews exits by going up the chimney.

2024-12-172024-12-17

Condolences

Boris Spevak has died. He was born in 1932 and was a long-standing member of the Klaipėda Jewish Community and more recently a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. He passed away on December 10. Our deepest condolences to his children, relatives and many friends.

2024-12-122024-12-12

Condolences

Nina Baitlerytė passed away December 10. She was born in 1937. She was a member of the Šiauliai Jewish Community for many years and was beloved by all. The entire Lithuanian Jewish Community mourns her loss and extends our deepest condolences to her sister Frida and her many loved ones.

2024-12-12

IHRA Member-State Reps Meet in London

Delegations and representatives of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance met in congress in London from December 2 to 5 to discuss current events in Holocaust and Roma genocide commemoration, education and combating anti-Semitism. Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky was part of Lithuania’s legation.

The plenary session discussed rising anti-Semitism in Europe and conflicts in the Middle East.

Eric Pickles who serves as chairman of IHRA said Jews are more afraid now than ever before, making fighting hatred and preserving memory more important than ever as well.

Lithuanian ambassador for special assignments Arvydas Daunoravičius led the Lithuanian legation. Other members of Lithuania’s team were chosen by the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, Education Ministry, Ethnic Minorities Department, the International Commission for the Assessment of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupational Regimes in Lithuania and the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum. Kukliansky represented the Lithuanian Jewish Community among the Lithuanian delegates.

2024-12-12

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

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

Kaunas Jewish Community Unveils Plaque to Righteous Gentile

The Kaunas Jewish Community invites you to a ceremony to unveil a plaque commemorating Righteous Gentile Ona Jablonskytė-Landsbergienė on the 130th anniversary of her birth. Yad Vashem recognized her as a Righteous Gentile in 1995.

The plaque was commissioned by the Kaunas Jewish Community and an association of Lithuanians deported by the Soviet Union to the Laptev Sea in the Arctic, and was made by sculptor Gediminas Pašvenskas. It is to be unveiled on the clinic at A. Mickevičiaus street no. 4 in Kaunas where Jablonskytė-Landsbergienė worked as an ophthalmologist. The ceremony will take place there at 3:00 P.M. on Friday, November 29.

For more information, click here: https://fb.me/e/9E4lBBdWK

2024-11-25

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

German Chancellor Hails LJC’s Efforts to Insure Safety and Security

German chancellor Olaf Scholz has sent a letter to Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky in which he expresses sorrow over recent events in Lithuania and the growing tide of anti-Semitism and reiterating the German government’s condemnation of all forms of hatred and intolerance towards ethnic minority communities.

He said Germany has a special responsibility because of the past. Germany has learned from the past to insure those crimes are never repeated, he said. He went on to state combating anti-Semitism is an on-going process requiring taking responsibility and cooperation to minimalize prejudicial views and encourage diversity.

He added the chancellor’s team supports the LJC’s efforts to create a safe and secure environment for everyone regardless of ethnic origin or religious beliefs.

2024-11-19

Condolences

Markas Petuchauskas passed away Sunday. He was born in 1931. He was a prisoner in the Vilnius ghetto. After the Holocaust he went on to study the theater and to produce works for the stage. He achieved academic heights and was the author of many articles and books on the theater in Lithuanian and English. He was a founding member and a chairman of the Jewish cultural club which became the Lithuanian Jewish Community as Lithuania regained national independence.

His loss is the loss of all of us and of the nation.

Our deepest condolences to his wife Sofija and his entire family and many friends.

2024-11-19

Four Thousand Protest Anti-Semitic MP outside Lithuanian Parliament

An estimated 4,000 people gathered on the evening of November 14 during the Lithuanian capital’s first snowfall to protest against Remigijus Žemaitaitis, who was inaugurated as MP inside the parliament earlier that evening.

Conservative Party and Liberal Union MPs left the chamber when Žemaitaitis took an oath to uphold the Lithuanian constitution.

Žemaitaitis catapulted to infamy in the early spring of 2023 by making anti-Israel and anti-Semitic statements on his facebook page. His party’s parliamentary faction and then the party as a whole expelled him. Lithuania’s Constitutional Court found he had violated oath of office by calling for the murder of Jews.

He used the notoriety to form his own political party called Nemuno Aušra, or Dawn of the Nieman River, which placed third in recent elections to parliament, placing close to the Conservative Party in second place.

Initially pledging not to include Nemuno Aušra in any future coalition, the Social Democratic Party who took first place in elections reneged on that promise. Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda said he wouldn’t approve any Nemuno Aušra MPs as ministers in a coalition government. Žemaitaitis said he would fill three ministerial posts promised him by the social democrats with non-party members.

A sister protest was held in Kaunas across the street from the municipality’s Christmas tree display currently being set up. An estimated 500 people attended that protest. There was also a small protest in Tauragė.

More information available here.

2024-11-152024-11-15

Faina Kukliansky on Remigijus Žemaitaitis: I Have to Tell What I’ve Seen and Heard

by Ingrida Steniulienė, November 13, ELTA

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky said statements by Nemuno Aušra party leader Remigijus Žemaitaitis are insulting and offensive to her as a person.

“He called for killing Jews, that’s how it seemed to me,” Kukliansky said Wednesday during questioning at a hearing of the Vilnius District Court.

She was testifying in a case against Žemaitaitis for sowing hatred against Jews and for supporting, denying or belittling international crimes.

“He is inciting [hatred] against certain groups of people without knowing history. I can’t understand this in any other way,” she told the court. Kukliansky is an attorney by profession.

2024-11-142024-11-14

Prosecutor Asks Court to Remove Žemaitaitis’s Parliamentary Immunity

Photo: Josvydas Elinskas/ELTA

by Ingrida Steniulienė, November 13, 2024, ELTA

Prosecutor Justas Laucius has asked a Lithuanian court to empower prosecutor general Nida Grunskienė to make a request to the Lithuanian parliament for removing parliamentary legal immunity for Remigijus Žemaitaitis, the leader of the party Nemuno Aušra who faces trial for sowing ethnic discord with anti-Semitic statements he made on social media and to the press.

The prosecutor asked the Vilnius District Court Wednesday to take into account Žemaitaitis is to give his oath of office as a member of parliament Thursday and will gain legal immunity granted to all MPs in Lithuania.

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky attended the hearing and gave testimony. She spoke with reporters after the hearing and noted Jews do not now feel safe in Lithuania. She refuted claims Žemaitaitis made earlier about his own statements, including his posting without preamble of an anti-Semitic Lithuanian song calling on children to beat Jews to death with sticks which he later claimed was a citation of Lithuanian folklore.

2024-11-14

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