The Šiauliai Jewish Community together with teachers and students from the Gegužių school in Šiauliai commemorated the Day of Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews at Righteous Gentile Square in the northern Lithuanian city March 15.
Day of Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews Commemoration at Choral Synagogue
March 15 is the Day of Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews, commemorating the historic deeds of noble Righteous Gentiles who saved a remnant of Lithuania’s Jewish population from the Holocaust. If not for them, there would be no Litvaks left in Lithuania.
“Time is ruthless. Every year there are fewer and fewer rescuers and Holocaust survivors left, but the memory of what they experienced and survived can never be forgotten. Let’s celebrate that our children, for now, are able to learn about history from the lips of eye-witnesses, and not just from textbooks. Let’s do everything we can to insure these stories are passed on to our children, grandchildren and the generations to come,” Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, whose family was also rescued by good people, said.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to come remember the rescuers and to thank them for their courage and humanity.
Time: 12:00 noon, Friday March 15
Place: Choral Synagogue, Pylimo street no. 39, Vilnius
Day of Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews Commemoration at Vilnius Jewish Public Library
The Vilnius Jerusalem of Lithuania Jewish Community and the Vilnius Jewish Public Library will hold a discussion on those who rescued Jews from the Holocaust, and what would happen if the Holocaust were repeated. The discussion happens at 6:00 P.M. on Tuesday, March 19, at the Vilnius Jewish Public Library at Gedimino prospect no. 24 in Vilnius. The discussion is intended to mark March 15, the Day of Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews, included on the official state calendar of commemorative days in 2022.
Condolences
We are deeply saddened to report the death of Rimas Timunas. He was born in 1952. A renowned theater director, he staged Grigoriy Kanovitch’s “Nusišypsok mums, Viešpatie” and popularized Litvak culture on the Lithuanian and world stage. He passed away in Italy from lung cancer.
Judaica Research Institute: Yiddish from Georgia
The Judaica Research Institute at the Martynas Mažvydas Lithuanian National Library invites the public to a concert called “Yiddish from Georgia” to be held on the third-floor atrium starting at 6:00 P.M. on Monday, March 18.
The Yiddish quartet was form by Georgian actress Ana Sanaia in 2022. Receiving great acclaim, Sanaia made the quartet part of her mono-drama Martokina in 2023. That same year, with several other talented musicians including Tamar Rtveliashvili, Ioana Navadze and Aleksandra Lortkipanidze, the quartet became part of the Yiddish Theater in Tblisi, also resurrected by Sanaia after more than a century of absence.
The quartet is vocalist Salome Bakuradze, musician Maria Elene Bezhashvili, actress Sofia Akhuashvili and actress and director Ekaterine Kato Sharikadze, and are well known to radio and television audiences in Georgia. While none of them are Jewish, they all feel a deep and abiding respect for the Georgian Jewish heritage and share an understanding of the contribution the Ashkenazi who spoke Yiddish made in bringing Georgia into Europe.
The program includes songs in Yiddish and Georgian. Lasha Shakulashvili, a lecturer in Yiddish language and culture at Tblisi State University, will also speak on Yiddish culture in Georgia and its connections to Litvak culture.
Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots by Deborah Feldman
Photo: Deborah Feldman by D. Umbrasas/LRT
Lithuanian State Radio and Television has featured another Jewish author who appeared at the Vilnius Book Fair last month, Deborah Feldman, author of “Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots,” under the headline “Author of Bestseller ‘Unorthodox’ with Litvak Roots: My Grandmother Is the Only Reason I’m Not Crazy” [Lietuviškų šaknų turinti bestselerio „Neortodoksiška“ autorė: močiutė – vienintelė priežastis, kodėl neišprotėjau].
Feldman recounts trying to sell her book to a publisher, and their response that it was a Jewish story, and why would it be interesting to non-Jews?
The American-born German author grew up in the close-knit Hassidic community of Satmar in Brooklyn, New York. She travelled to Lithuania to launch the Lithuanian translation of “Exodus, Revisisted,” the sequel to “Unorthodox,” at the Vilnius Book Fair. The Lithuanian translation was published by the Baltas Publishing House.
The New York Times bestseller “Unorthodox” tells the story of a young Jewish woman who extracts herself from an ultra-conservative community and has attracted readers around the world. It was made into a Netflix mini-series of the same name and was nominated for 8 Emmy awards.
Full article in Lithuanian here.
Righteous Gentiles Commemoration at Tolerance Center
The Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum will hold an evening of literature and music to commemorate the Righteous Gentiles who rescued Jews from the Holocaust, happening at 5:00 P.M. on March 17. The Tolerance Center is located at Naugarduko street no. 10 in Vilnius.
The first half of the program is dramatic readings of prose and poetry by Lithuanian actors Vladas Bagdonas and Dalia Michelevičiūtė with musical accompaniment by Petras Vyšniauskas on saxophone and Arkadijus Gotesmanas doing percussion.
The second part of the program includes reflections on the rescue of Jews by Lithuanian artists and public figures. Gotesmanas will talk about how his father escaped being murdered at Auschwitz. Director Gintaras Varnas, poetess, playwright and actress Daiva Čepauskaitė and teacher and writer Vytautas Toleikis will also share their thoughts in a discussion moderated by writer Donatas Puslys.
The event is intended to mark the second Day of Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews, proclaimed an official day of commemoration by the Lithuanian parliament, to fall on March 15 every year.
Litvak Scouts Celebrate Important Date
Last Saturday Litvak scouts took part in an event hosted by the scouts of Panevėžys to celebrate the 167th birthday of Robert Baden-Powell, the father of the scouting movement.
Along with delicious birthday cupcakes, a fun-filled program and the friendly atmosphere of fellow scouts, brother and sister Anastasija and Dovydas also took the pledge. These earnest young scouts now wear the yellow neckerchief of that age-group of scouts. A big hip-hip-hooray! to our newest scouts.
A big thank-you to the organizers and scout leaders and to the Lithuanian Jewish Community for providing transportation and other services.
Remembering the 80th Anniversary of the Children’s Aktion in the Kaunas Ghetto
On March 27 and 28, 1844, more than 1,700 children and elderly were rounded up in the Kaunas ghetto and murdered. The Kaunas Jewish Community invites you to mark the anniversary of one of the greatest Holocaust atrocities in Lithuania.
Time: 4:00 P.M., March 27, 2024
Place: Kaunas ghetto gate, Linkuvos street no. 2, Kaunas
The commemoration ceremony will be followed by a concert at 5:30 P.M. at Vytautas Magnus University, Gimnazijos street no. 7, Kaunas.
Please indicate your intention to attend by sending an e-mail to ieva0102@yahoo.com by March 22.
Stahlhammer Klezmer Trio Woos Kaunas
The Stahlhammer Klezmer Classic Trio enchanted an audience in Kaunas Thursday at Vytautas Magnus University. The trio from Sweden provided food for thought, smiles and maybe even catharsis to some in the audience, according to reports from Kaunas.
The Kaunas Jewish Community sponsored the concert and dedicated it to the late Litvak bard, thinker and novelist Grigoriy Kanovitch, who would’ve celebrated his 95th birthday this year.
Holocaust Education Workshop for Teachers Held in Kaunas
Lithuania’s International Commission for Assessing the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupational Regimes in Lithuania and the Centropa organization based in Austria held three days of workshops for teachers to teach the Holocaust in Kaunas from February 19 to 21. Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein and Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas contributed to the teachers’ workshop.
Wittenberg Silverstein spoke about her grandparents and their experience of the Holocaust. She showed the teachers copies of her grandparents’ testimony for Yad Vashem detailing the murder of family members.
Gercas Žakas spoke to them about his father’s Holocaust story in the Šiauliai ghetto and at the Stutthof concentration camp. He recalled his father completely avoided talking about it later, but in old age and infirmity he revealed his memories of the murder of almost the entire family.
Efraim Zuroff Interview: It Always Starts with the Jews but Never Ends with the Jews
The Visegrad24 news website has been reporting on the conflict with Gaza live from Israel. In a recent interview they spoke with Efraim Zuroff, the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, about the Holocaust, justice for the victims, justice for the victims of the Hamas massacre on October 7, Israeli security failures and the problem of Islamists migrating to Western Europe and North America and open borders in general.
“It always starts with the Jews, but never ends with the Jews. Hitler wanted to launch a war to destroy the Jews and 50 million people were murdered, and not all of them Jews, far from it. This is what people have to understand: the Jews are like the canaries in the coal mine. They’re the first victims. And if they go after us, be sure that they’ll go after the Christians in Europe and everywhere else because their dream is to take over the world. That’s the problem,” Zuroff said during the interview.
Israeli Ambassador Congratulates LJC Chairwoman on Award
Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein sent a letter congratulating Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky on receipt of the Order of Merit medal presented to her by the Lithuanian president on February 16 in Vilnius.
A copy of the letter can be found below.
Happy Birthday to Artūras Taicas
The Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes Ukmergė Jewish Community chairman Artūras Taicas a very happy birthday. We are grateful to you for your tireless energy safeguarding and protecting the memory of those who cannot protect themselves from vandals. We all wish you success, happiness, real people and sincere smiles. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Congratulations to Daumantas Todesas
The Lithuanian Jewish Community congratulates Daumantas Levas Todesas, chairman of the Council of Ethnic Communities, for recognition of his efforts in preserving the Litvak heritage in Lithuania, in representing the interests of the ethnic minority communities in Lithuania and in his public activities promoting the integration of minorities into Lithuanian society, as demonstrated by Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda’s presentation to him of the Lithuanian medal the Order of Merit, the Knight’s Cross, on February 16 at the presidential palace in Vilnius.
Vocalist Rafailas Karpis Receives Award
Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda presented tenor Rafailas Karpis the Lithuanian medal the Order of Merit for his furtherance of musical culture and Jewish music in Lithuania on February 16. Mazl tov!
Lithuanian President Decorates Goodwill Foundation Co-Chairpeople
Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda decorated Goodwill Foundation co-chairpeople Faina Kukliansky and Rabbi Andrew Baker with the Lithuanian Order of Merit, Officer’s Cross, at an awards ceremony held on Restoration of Lithuanian Statehood Day, February 16.
This was in high recognition of their great efforts in promoting Jewish culture and seeking respect and fairness for the Lithuanian Jewish community, seeking appropriate commemoration for victims of the Holocaust and seeking symbolic restitution for their property stolen.
“This award is not just personal recognition, but is a testimony to the entire Lithuanian Jewish Community who haven’t rested in seeking justice, concord, community and joint effort. To be recognized on this important day to us and to Lithuania is a great honor,” attorney, Goodwill Foundation chairman and Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky said at the ceremony held at the Office of President. She also congratulate Rabbi Andrew Baker, co-chairman of the Goodwill Foundation, on his receipt of the same prize.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 5:09 P.M. on Friday, February 16, and concludes at 6:24 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Friday is also one of Lithuania’s two independence celebrations, Restoration of the State Day, marking the promulgation of the Act of Independence of Lithuania in Vilnius on February 16, 1918, and is officially observed with government offices and most businesses closed for the day.
Yet Another Anti-Semitic Attack in Lithuania
A monument to commemorate Jewish prisoners in the ghetto in Druskininkai, fabricated and erected by private donations, has been knocked over. The latest attack on Lithuanian Jews was discovered Tuesday morning.
“We receive offensive letters daily, rocks are hurled at our Community building, synagogues are being vandalized and anti-Semitic rhetoric rings out from the podium in the national parliament. This seems very much like coordinated activity. This process isn’t getting weaker, on the contrary, it’s accelerating, so we need to take the strictest measures to avert tragedy,” Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky commented.
Beginning with anti-Semitic statements MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis made last spring and continues to make on the internet and to the press and following Hamas’s terrorist attack killing over a thousand Israelis on October 7, attacks against Lithuanian Jews are growing ever-more frequent. Last week alone the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius and the Šiauliai Jewish Community in Šiauliai were attacked, Nazi and white power symbols were graffitied on a pedestrian bridge in a Vilnius suburb and stickers from an extremist group were plastered on Vilnius mass transit. Both the Choral Synagogue, the only working synagogue in Vilnius, and the Zavl shul synagogue on Gelių street in Vilnius were vandalized.
The vandalism committed on Šv. Jokūbo street in Druskininkai, the southern Lithuanian spa town on the border with Belarus, is just another link in a long chain of anti-Semitic acts. The monument in Druskininkai marks the location of the Druskininkai ghetto stood from 1941 to 1943, where around 900 Jews from the town and surrounding villages and farms were held prisoner before being murdered.
“While other countries and some people criticize Israeli policies, this has nothing at all to do with the Jews who live in Lithuania today. We are Lithuanian citizens and we expect and hope the state will insure our safety,” chairwoman Kukliansky added.
LJC Issues Yet Another Plea for State Protection after Choral Synagogue Vandalized
The Lithuanian Jewish Community has issued a press release following the latest attack on Jewish sites in Vilnius:
The attacks against Lithuanian Jews continue. Not even a week has passed since a stone hurled by a vandal broke a window at the entrance to the LJC in Vilnius, miraculously avoiding wounding anyone, and now the Choral Synagogue, an extremely important site for Litvaks in Vilnius, has been graffitied and desecrated. The Choral Synagogue is hte only working synagogue in the Lithuanian capital.
As in earlier cases, the Community has contacted the police, but our main concern is not to punish the vandals, but to protect people.
“This isn’t just any old graffiti. Besides property damage, the inscription scrawled on this religious site was an attempt to insult and debase Jews,” Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman and attorney Faina Kukliansky commented. “The investigations launched will be meaningless if someone gets hurt. Knowing the kind of brutal anti-Semitic attacks which have been taking place around the world recently, we are concerned for the children at the Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium, the toddlers at the Salvija kindergarten, our seniors arriving at the Community’s Social Center and Community events, and of course for those practicing their religion at the Choral Synagogue.”
We would like to point out that, beginning with member of parliament Remigijus Žemaitaitis’s anti-Semitic statements last year and the massacre Hamas staged in southern Israel on October 7, attacks on Lithuanian Jews have become more and more frequent. Just last week the LJC was attacked, a pedestrian bridge in the Viršuliškės neighborhood of Vilnius was graffitied with Nazi symbols and an extremist group’s symbol was placed as stickers on municipal mass transport. Now the Choral Synagogue has been attacked. What’s next?
Anti-Semitism won’t disappear by itself and the rapid and highly professional response of law enforcement, for which we are extremely grateful, won’t suffice. We need first and foremost preventative measures which put a halt to future attacks. And so yet again we are asking for help from the state. Only joint efforts can insure safety and change the ever-louder anti-Semitic narrative.