The Sabbath begins at 7:54 P.M. on Friday, September 1, and concludes at 9:06 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
September 1 is a national holiday in Lithuania, Back-to-School Day. The first Monday in September, September 4 this year, is also Labor/Labour Day, a national holiday in the United States and Canada, and their embassies in Vilnius will be closed.
Bavaria’s governor says his deputy has not done enough to prove he wasn’t responsible for an anti-Semitic flyer as a high school student
BERLIN (AP)–The governor of the German state of Bavaria said Tuesday [August 29] that his deputy had not done enough to prove he wasn’t responsible for an anti-Semitic flyer as a high school student and ordered him to answer a detailed questionnaire to clear himself of any possible involvement in the scandal that caused an uproar in Germany.
Daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported Friday that when deputy governor Hubert Aiwanger was 17 he was suspected of writing a printed flyer calling for entries to a competition titled “Who is the Biggest Traitor to the Fatherland?”
Photo: Jews in the Kovno ghetto in Lithuania are boarded onto trucks during a deportation action to a work camp c. 1942 (Image: US Holocaust Memorial Museum)
by Justin Amler, August 30, 2023
Our People: Discovering Lithuania’s Hidden Holocaust
by Rūta Vanagaitė and Efraim Zuroff
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 240 pp., A$49.99
Under the terms of the secret protocols of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union in June 1940. After the Nazis attacked the Soviet Union, Lithuania was occupied by the Germans in June 1941.
Caught in the middle were the country’s Jews.
Our People is a book about a journey in search of truth in the face of authorities who want to take that truth and distort it into something quite different.
One of the greatest myths of the Holocaust was that it was Hitler and the Nazis alone who committed the atrocities against the Jews. But this is, at best, misleading. While the Nazis were the driving force behind the genocide of the Jewish people, they could not have succeeded without the collaboration of willing local citizens across many countries.
by Yvette Alt Miller, August 24, 2023
There’s a lot you don’t know about Israel’s Iron Lady.
The new movie Golda depicts former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir’s day-by-day decisions during the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Viewers watch as Golda, played by Helen Mirren, juggles high-stakes diplomacy and brinkmanship over 19 excruciating days which defined her premiership. Israel ultimately won the war but with a terrible loss of life.
Here are 11 lesser-known facts about Golda Meir, one of Israel’s most famous founders.
1. Golda’s first memory was fearing for her life.
Born in Kiev, Ukraine in 1898, Golda spent her first eight years in the shadow of horrific antisemitism there. Her very first memory was of her father Moshe desperately trying to reinforce the entrance to the little house they shared with another Jewish family while a violent mob brayed for blood outside.
Golda later described:
I can still recall quite distinctly hearing about a pogrom that was to descend upon us… I knew it had something to do with being Jewish and with the rabble that used to surge through town, brandishing knives and huge sticks, screaming “Christ-killers” as they looked for the Jews and who were now going to do terrible things to me and to my family…to this day I remember how scared I was and how angry that all my father could do to protect me was to nail a few planks together while he waited for the hooligans to come. (Quoted from My Life by Golda Meir: 1975)
Golda later described that the fear of that terrible night never left her, and helped motivate her to build a Jewish state where Jews could live freely in safety.
2. Her namesake was a Jewish grandma with a will of steel.
Times of Israel staff, August 28, 2023
Speaking to Israeli TV about her film role as Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, the star actress declares she would join anti-government protest movement if she had the chance
British actress dame Helen Mirren believes Israel must exist forever, saying it was a lesson learned from the Holocaust, though she opposes the direction the current government is taking the Jewish state.
In an interview aired by Channel 12 on Sunday Mirren spoke about her leading role in “Golda” depicting Israel’s first and only female prime minister, Golda Meir, during the period of the fateful 1973 Yom Kippur War. The interview was recorded in July when Mirren was in Israel for the premiere of the movie at the Jerusalem Film Festival.
“I believe in Israel, in the existence of Israel, and I believe Israel has to go forward into the future, for the rest of eternity,” Mirren said. “I believe in Israel because of the Holocaust.”
She revealed there were those who had tried to talk her out of making the film due to Israel’s controversial position on the world stage, but, she said, “I’ve met such extraordinary people in Israel.”
“I know there is a base, a foundation of deep intelligence, thoughtfulness, commitment, poetry even, in Israel that is very, very special, I think,” said Mirren.
Full article here.
Yesterday was the 82th anniversary of the annihilation of the Jewish community of Keydan (Kėdainiai). Jews from the city of Keydan and the small towns of Šėta and Žeimiai were murdered at Daukšai village near Keydan in 1941. This mass murder operation targeted 2076 people in total with 710 men, 767 women and 599 children brutally massacred for being born Jewish. The Keydan Jewish community had lived in the area for 300 years before this.
The commemoration ceremony took place at the mass murder site, followed by a presentation at the City of Kėdainiai’s Multicultural Center of Aron Pik’s book Notes from the Valley of the Slaughter. Translator of the book Andrew Cassel also participated, as did Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas and a representative from Lithuania’s International Commission for Assessing the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Regimes in Lithuania.
The Nechama Lifshitz Song Contest is back and scheduled for several days in mid-September. A big hit last year, we expect it will draw even more attention this third time around.
Nechama, or Nekhama according to a stricter transcription, was an amazing Yiddish-language songstress sometimes called the Jewish Nightingale who began her professional career in Vilnius and Kaunas, going on to fame in the Soviet Union and world renown with concert tours abroad.
The best voices from Lithuania and abroad will meet at the Lithuanian Music and Theater Academy performance hall from 11:00 A.M. till 6:00 P.M. on September 17. The hall is located at Tilto street no. 16 in central Vilnius. That same evening Jazz Cellar 11 at Aušros vartų street no. 11 in Vilnius will host popular music vocalists starting at 8:00 P.M.
On September 18 there will be a concert performed by prize winners at the Old Town Hall in Vilnius starting at 6:00 P.M. The same evening the party continues at Jazz Cellar 11 with the closing ceremony for the song contest.
“I grew up in a Jewish setting. We lit candles during Hanukkah as did everyone, we ate home cooking. Only now, thinking about how that food was prepared, so I realize this was kosher food. We were surrounded by Jews, Jews came over as guests, when you got sick it was Jews who treated you. When I was small I didn’t even know things could be any other way. I only saw girls dressed colorfully next to the Gates of Dawn in Vilnius, and I wanted those kinds of clothes, too, but my grandmother wouldn’t let me, saying only Polish girls dressed that way,” Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman and attorney Faina Kukliansky recalled about her early childhood.
“Later on life changed, school, studies, new people, new homes where you couldn’t keep chickens with their legs tied as in my grandmother’s kitchen. One important thing, however, didn’t change: the Yiddish language which we used at home, all our relatives and closest friends…” …
Simas Levinas will deliver a lesson in basic Yiddish at 11:00 A.M. on September 3 in the kitchen of the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius. Everyone is welcome to attend the free event which is part of the European Day of Jewish Culture celebrations in Lithuania.
You’re invited to a presentation and discussion of the book “Вильнюсский еврейский Народный театр 1971-1999” [Vilnius Jewish Folk Theater 1971-1999] with the author Betsalel “Tsalik” Frank from Israel. Boris Kirzner will serve as moderator for the Russian-language event. Following the event, the author will invite the audience to share a glass of wine and celebrate Sabbath together. The event will take place in the Jascha Heifetz Hall at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius at 6:00 P.M. on Friday, September 8.
The entire Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes Fayerlakh director Laurisa Vyšniauskienė a very happy birthday. May your days be filled with health, appreciation of your important work, talented people and many happy moments. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
People aged 18 to 40 are invited to attend a seminar for participants from the Baltic states and the Ukraine from September 14 to 17. There is also the possibility for children aged 6 to 12 to attend as well.
The seminar will include a Jewish New Year/Rosh Hashana celebration and participants will learn about European social programs and spend evenings with the Erasmus+ program group.
The seminar will be held at the seaside Minhauzena Unda Hotel.
Register here: https://forms.gle/h5K55tfGKziBPpca8
A stone stele marking the site of the synagogue which once served the Jewish community in Balbirishok (Balbieriškis) was unveiled in the small Lithuanian town last week.
Attending the unveiling ceremony were Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas, US embassy chief of mission William Kendrick, Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein, educational program coordinator of the International Commission for Assessing the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupational Regimes in Lithuania Ingrida Vilkienė, representatives of the Prienai regional administration and the Balbieriškis aldermanship and a large contingent of local residents and students from the Balbieriškis primary school’s Tolerance Center.
LJC chairwoman Kukliansky welcomed the audience and said she was impressed and pleased the truly significant role played by Litvaks in the history of the town was being remembered and appreciated.
Isaak Markus has passed away. He was born in 1938 and was a long-time member of the Community and a Saul Kagan Social Welfare Center client. Our deepest condolences to his widow Basia, son Leonid, daughter Rimona and his many friends and family members.
September 3rd is coming. The first Sunday in autumn, the day the Lithuanian Jewish Community will again celebrate the European Day of Jewish Culture, a day the Community has celebrated for a decade now. As in previous years, all events across Europe to celebrate the day are modeled on a general theme. This year it’s memory. This topic is like a bridge leading to the Jewish cultural legacy which remains to a great extent unknown by the wider population. #Atmintis or Memory doesn’t end on the first Sunday in September, of course, and in September and October the Lithuanian Jewish Community will hold and coordinate events throughout Lithuania.
Below you’ll find the events program for September 3, all of which are free and open to everyone.
Register here: https://bit.ly/459c4nZ
#EŽKD2023 #EDJC2023 #Atmintis #AEPJ #LietuvosŽydų(litvakų)Bendruomenė #CviParkas #BeigeliųKrautuvėlė Kultūros Paveldo Departamentas Tautinių mažumų departamentas prie Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės #mūsųbendruomenės #OurCommunities
A very happy 95th birthday to Samuilas Reckinas, a member of our Abi Men Zet Zich seniors’ club. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
This Sunday’s quiz will test your knowledge of Litvak artists, their influence on art history, what stands out in their work and why Litvak artists are important on the world stage. Prizes are to include falafels, wine and other goodies. It all takes place starting at 5:00 P.M. on Sunday, August 20, at the Israeli street food kiosk in Petras Cvirka Square across the street from the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. Everyone is welcome.
by Grant Gochin
Fearing stigmatization and persecution, Lithuanian rescuers of Jews awarded the “Righteous among the Nations” designation, often hid it from their neighbors and family members for decades. Today, the Lithuanian Government honors these Rescuers on a national level (as they should have from the very beginning). Unfortunately, the Lithuanian honors are not sincere and are just another performance. Jewish people who were saved are reduced to vehicles for Lithuanian virtue signaling.
“Righteous Among Nations” Lithuanians comprised only 0.04% of the Lithuanian population. These genuine heroes are now used by the State as an alibi for anyone who is Lithuanian, i.e. the 0.04% are presented to the public as the stereotypical norm, while the 99.96% of Lithuanians who were not “Righteous Among Nations”, are negated or their deeds rewritten. This is clear Holocaust distortion.
Krikštaponis
The case of Juozas Krikštaponis is far more illustrative of Lithuania then, and now. Krikštaponis was a vicious, genocidal murderer. But, he “only” murdered Jews. So, for Lithuania this is not any impediment to national honors. Lithuania honors so many murderers of Jews, that it appears this could be a standard for national hero status.
Adasa Skliutauskaitė has died. She was born in Kaunas on May 5, 1931. Skliutauskaitė, a Litvak, was an accomplished illustrator of children’s books and magazines. She also painted and made lithographs. Our deepest condolences to her children, relatives, friends and those who knew her through her work.
Julija Patašnik continues her outdoor Israeli dance workshops with the next meeting from 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. on Friday, August 18, at the Israeli street food kiosk in Petras Cvirka Square in the park across the street from the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. Everyone is welcome regardless of age or dancing ability.
Deputy chief of mission Erez Golan and cultural attaché Virginija Bunevičiūtė from the Israeli embassy visited the Panevėžys Jewish Community. They asked Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman about community activities and he gave them a tour of Jewish heritage in the Lithuanian steeped in Jewish historical, cultural and religious lore. Golan was keen to learn more about educational programs in local primary and high schools. The Israeli delegation also visited a famous local theater, met with municipal representatives and that same evening presented the Israeli Film in Your Town project, an Israeli cinema retrospective, at the Garsas movie theater. The first screening was Blaumilch Canal, a 1969 Israeli comedy written and directed by Ephraim Kishon depicting the madness of bureaucracy through a municipality’s reaction to the actions of a lunatic.
“We Jews like to laugh at ourselves on film as well as in life,” Golan told moviegoers.
Lithuanian film critic Auksė Kancerevičiūtė also spoke to the audience about Israeli film.
The Garsas movie theater will hold two more showings in the series: on August 24 they will screen Turn Left at the End of the World (2004) and on August 31 Abulele (2015). All shows are free and with Lithuanian subtitling, a gift from the Israeli embassy to the city of Panevėžys.