Learning, History, Culture – Page 26 – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Lithuanian Schools Closed Due to Bomb Threats

Schools, kindergartens and universities across Lithuania were closed in the early afternoon Friday as numerous emails in Russian and Lithuanian were received claiming bombs had been placed at these locations. This followed the same threats made to schools in Klaipėda Thursday as Lithuanian military and security forces were scheduled to carry out drills on the marine liquified natural gas terminal located there. Police spokesmen said the same threats were made in Latvia and Estonia over previous days. They said the threatening emails in Lithuania were in Russian with some in Lithuanian and contained two separate demands: ransom for “de-mining” the schools, and political demands Lithuania stop supporting the Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

The Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium in Vilnius decided several days ago to cancel in-school classes Friday and to conduct lessons via internet instead because Hamas had called upon supporters to attack Jewish institutions around the world on October 13. Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman told Lithuanian media the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius was closed and almost all staff at the LJC were working from home. All events and programs scheduled at the LJC have been cancelled for now, according to LJC executive director Michailas Segal. Chairwoman Kukliansky said the regional Jewish communities had all been apprised of growing security concerns.

Lithuanian police had started making regular patrols outside the Sholem Aleichem school and the Choral Synagogue since the Hamas attack on southern Israel last Saturday.

Update: Around 1,500 schools and educational institutions received bomb threats again on Monday, October 16.

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Event to Mark 80th Anniversary of Kinder Aktion in Šiauliai Ghetto

On November 5, 1943, the Kinder Aktion, one of the most brutal Holocaust crimes perpetrated in Lithuania, was carried out in the Šiauliai ghetto. The mass murder operation aimed at Jewish children took 725 of them and they were sent to Auschwitz in cattle cars where they were murdered. The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Šiauliai City and Šiauliai Regional Jewish Communities invite you to remember and commemorate the victims of this crime.

The event begins at 12:00 noon on November 5 at the stone monument on the corner of Trakų and Ežero streets marking the location of one of the former gates to the ghetto. At 12:30 P.M. a procession leads from there to the Chaim Frankel villa. At 1:00 P.M. there will be a ceremony at the villa to remember the children murdered. The villa is located at Vilniaus street no. 74 in Šiauliai. This will include the opening of a joint exhibition by the Šiauliai City Jewish Community and Yad Vashem museum of photographs of the child victims of the Kinder Aktion.

Please note: Those wishing to attend the commemoration on November 5 are asked to register by sending an e-mail to info@lzb.lt.

2023-10-12

We Stand with Israel Meeting in Šiauliai

Šiauliai Jewish Community chairman Sania Kerbelis said he was grateful so many people responded to the call to attend a gathering to show support for Israel on October 9, even though the meeting was only announced a few hours before it took place.

“We are all suffering, we all have relatives in Israel, many of us have relatives in the army who are engaged in combat. We are all worried about our loved ones and the cities are being shot up. The deaths are senseless. We are calling constantly and they keep trying to calm us down, but you know what is really going on. I was in Israel in May and we got caught in the fighting then, several hundred rockets were shot from Gaza. There were casualties but the [Iron] Dome protected many locations. But this time they also crossed the border, slaughtered people, slaughtered children. It associates in my mind that we’re preparing on November 5 to mark the Kinder Aktion. We keep saying ‘Never again.’ Usually other people, non-Jews, think subconsciously ‘never again’ [means ‘no more’] of something, but Jews subconsciously have it that after the Holocaust these kinds of things should be impossible in the civilized world now. Yet they are happening,” Sania Kerbelis said.

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Famous Russian/Soviet Blues Guitarist to Perform at LJC

Renowned blues and rock guitarist Yuri Naumov, originally from Sverdlovsk but transplanted to Novosibirsk and since 1990 based in the United States, will perform at the Jascha Heifetz Hall at the Lithuanian Jewish Community on October 21.

An accomplished song writer and composer, he gained fame in January of 1983 when he formed the band Prokhodnoy Dvor, which included Vladimir Zotov on drums and Oleg Kurokhtin on guitar. After the band issued a bootleg tape, they became popular in the USSR, and the KGB forced Naumov to leave Novosibirsk Medical University for “the promulgation of decadent Western values.” He initially sought refuge in Leningrad and Moscow. In 1990 Naumov moved to New York. Naumov plays a unique 9-string guitar custom-built for him by famous violin maker Sergei Nozdrin in the 1980s. He used to tour Russia once or twice a year.

Of Italian and Jewish origins, Naumov’s rock ballads have long been considered classics, including the Tale of Karl, King of Rock and Roll; Stanislov Theater and Starry Night. Many call him the greatest Soviet and greatest Russian bluesman ever.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Saturday, October 21
Location: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius

Tickets available at www.bilietai.lt.

2023-10-12

Guests from Kupiškis Join Sukkot Celebrations in Panevėžys

A delegation from the town of Kupiškis attended the Sukkot celebration by the Panevėžys Jewish Community and presented a new book and student art exhibit about the former Jewish community in the small town.

The local history book “Kupiškio žydų bendruomenės atspindžiai. Kupiškėnų atsiminimai apie žydų bendruomenė” [Reflections of the Kupiškis Jewish Community: Kupiškis Residents Recall the Jewish Community” was compiled by historian Aušra Jonušytė who also delivered an address at the Sukkot celebration about the former Kupiškis Jewish community and their fate. Book illustrators Augustė Žalkauskaitė, Nojus Pajarskas and Vytė Sabaliauskaitė spoke about their work on the book.

Kupiškis regional NGO coalition executive chairwoman Marytė Semaškienė and art school principal Daiva Šakickienė also spoke in Panevėžys. Šakickienė’s students from the Kupiškis Art School also presented an exhibit of their works of art revolving around the former Kupiškis Jewish community.

2023-10-12

Intellectual Heritage of Vilner Jews

The Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities invite you to attend an international conference called “The Intellectual Heritage of the Jews of Vilnius” on October 10 and 11 at the Lithuanian Academy located at Gedimino prospect no. 3 in Vilnius.

According to the Lithuanian Academy’s press release:

“Thanks to the support of the Research Council of Lithuania, we were able to invite such world-renowned experts in Jewish history and culture as Israel Bartal, David Fishman, David Roskies, Benjamin Brown, Alex Lubotzky, Marcin Wodzinski, Jon Seligman, Avner Holtzman, Tsvia Walden, Mordechai Zalkin and others.

“The conference will also feature presentations by prominent Lithuanian scholars: Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, Mindaugas Kvietkauskas, Lara Lempertienė, Jurgita Verbickienė and doctoral student Saulė Valiūnaitė.”

A program is available in English here.

For more information, visit the Lithuanian Academy’s website here.

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Holocaust Monuments Vandalized in Palanga

Palanga Jewish Community chairman Vilius Gutmanas contacted the city mayor and police regarding the desecration of Holocaust monuments in the Lithuanian seaside resort town.

Lithuania marked both the 80th anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilnius ghetto and the Lithuanian Day of Remembrance of Jewish Victims of Genocide during the third week in September. On September 22 the Palanga Jewish Community, city representatives, teachers and students lit candles, placed stones inscribed with the names of victims and read passages from the history of the Jews of the city at a Holocaust monument there. The next day all the candles and stones had been removed.

“This came as an unpleasant surprise to me and visitors from Israel who had read about the event which took place the evening before,” chairman Gutmanas said.

He also surveyed markers and monuments in memory of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust in the area and discovered much damage, including a stele marking the mass murder and mass grave site of Jewish women and children from Palanga erected by British House of Lords member Greville Janner in the Kunigiškiai Forest, and the complete removal of a monument including its plinth on Vytauto street.

“This isn’t the work of some accidental passer-by. Someone really hates that Lithuania is commemorating Holocaust victims, that we are paying our respects to innocent citizens of our country who were brutally murdered, that we are telling young people the facts about this tragic period of history so they can learn from the mistakes of the past and not repeat them,” the chairman of the Palanga Jewish Community said.

2023-10-09

Simchat Torah at the Choral Synagogue

The Choral Synagogue in Vilnius will provide the following prayer services for Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah:

October 6

6:30 P.M. Kabalat Shabat and Hag Shmini

October 7

10:00 A.M. Shacharit
11:00 A.M. Megilat Kohelet (reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes)
12:00 noon Yizkor
7:40 Simchat Torah eve with hakafot dance/procession

October 8

10:00 A.M. Shacharit with hakafot
11:00 A.M. Torah reading

2023-10-06

Jerusalem Ballet Comes to Lithuania

The Israeli ballet troupe Jerusalem Ballet will perform the world premiere of their “Memento: Franceska Mann’s Last Dance at Auschwitz” on November 26 in Vilnius. The performance is based on historical facts and inspired by the tragic story of Jewish ballerina Franceska Mann, who is said to have killed a Nazi guard during the Holocaust.

Time: 6:00 P.M., November 26
Location: Avia Solutions Group Arena, Vilnius

Tickets available here.

Please note: Lithuanian Jewish Community members and friends will receive a 20% discount on the ticket price. To obtain the discount code, fill out the form here.

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Improvisational Jazz Star from Israel to Perform in Vilnius

The pianist, composer and rising star on the jazz stage Uriel Herman is set to perform for the first time in the Baltic states.

He will perform works from his third and latest album Different Eyes released this summer.

Time: 7:00 P.M., October 14
Location: Organum Concert Hall, Savanorių prospect no. 1, Vilnius

Tickets available at bilietai.lt and bilietai.organum.lt

2023-10-05

Discussion Club on Sukkot and Other Jewish Holidays: How Do They Compare with Lithuanian Holidays?

The 15th of Tishrei, which fell on Friday, September 29 this year, is when Sukkot, one of the more important Jewish holidays, begins. Jewish families pitch a tent or build a booth where every day, except on the Sabbath, they “dwell,” meaning they spend some time at the table inside, or spend the night in warmer climes. This is meant to remind us of the 40 years the Hebrew people dwelt in the desert following the exodus from Egypt living in tents.

The ŽydiškiPašnekesiai discussion club led by writer and journalist Arkadijus Vinokuras is inviting participants to come inside the traditional sukka this Wednesday, October 4, to talk about the Jewish holidays in the fall season.

“Sukkot is a week-long Jewish holiday which is celebrated five days after Yom Kippur. Sukkot celebrates the harvest and recalls God’s miraculous protection to the children of Israel after the exodus from Egypt. We celebrate Sukkot in a booth called a sukka decorated with vegetation and by handling the four species of vegetation,” Vinokuras said.

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Israel Urges Canada to Address WWII Nazi Immigration Policy towards Jews

Photo: Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, April 24, 2018. Photo credit: REUTERS/Chris Wattie

by Zvika Klein, October 3, 2023, Jerusalem Post

Israel’s envoy urges Canada to revisit WWII Nazi immigration and Jewish policy.

Resignation of Canada’s speaker of the House of Commons lower chamber is a “first step to acknowledging responsibility for this wrong,” Israel’s new special envoy for combating ant-Semitism, Michal Cotler-Wunsh, told the Jerusalem Post this week. She added that Canada needs to acknowledge its historic sin of not allowing enough Jews into the country during the Holocaust and immediately afterward while allowing Nazis to immigrate.

The speaker of Canada’s House of Commons lower chamber said last week that he would quit, a few days after he publicly praised a former Nazi soldier in Parliament in an incident that Russia said helped justify its war on Ukraine.

A week ago Anthony Rota told legislators he had made a mistake by inviting ex-soldier Yaroslav Hunka, 98, to attend a session in the House honoring Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky last Friday. Rota publicly recognized Hunka, calling him a hero.

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Sixth Annual Fun-Run Oversubscribed

Photo: Semionas Finkelšteinas and Olga Bliumenzon greet the winners.

The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club’s 6th annual fun-run was held on September 24 and there were so many wanting to participate organizers had to shut down registration.

Makabi president Semionas Finkelšteinas and vice president Olga Bliumenzon greeted participants wishing them success on the track.

Over 120 runners ran 1.5 and 3 km courses in three age groups. All participants received Makabi t-shirts and participation medals, with special medals for first-, second- and third-place winners and a special gift to first-place champions.

The annual fun-run has become popular with students and their parents from the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium, accounting for 58 participants this year. Physical education teacher Vilija Taralienė and school principal Ruth Reches were there to cheer on their team.

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Victims of Holocaust Commemorated in Švenčionys

We commemorated the 80th anniversary of the mass murder of Jews in Švenčionys on Sunday. In October, 1943, the Švenčionys ghetto was liquidated and the last survivors of the 8,000 Jews who lived in the area before the war were killed.

Švenčionys Jewish Community chairman Moishe Shapiro organized the commemoration and invited LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, Vilnius Jerusalem of Lithuania Jewish Community chairman Algirdas Malcas, Ukmergė Jewish Community chairman Artūras Taicas, Polish and German embassy representatives, district mayor Rimantas Klipčius, Vilnius Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium principal Ruth Reches and a large contingent of students, among others, to light candles and lay wreaths at the Menorah statue in Švenčionys’s central park, marking the border of the ghetto there. Attendees also viewed an exhibit on Jewish history at the Nalšia Museum, then went to the mass murder site in Platumai village to commemorate the victims.

2023-10-03

Telzh Yeshiva Reopens to Public

The famous Telzh (Tels, Telšiai, Telz) Yeshiva, a cultural heritage site, has reopened with a new public use. Last week a branch of the Alka Museum opened its doors inside the yeshiva building. The new museum space housed in the Jewish school will feature and protect the Jewish material heritage there.

The Telzh Yeshiva exhibit there was set up based on the yizkor Sefer Ṭelz (Sefer Ṭelz (Liṭa): matsevet zikaron li-ḳehilah ḳedoshah) compiled by Yitzhak Alperowitz and published in Israel in 1984. In 2022 the books was translated into Lithuanian as “Telšiai. Atminties knyga” [Telzh: Book of Memory], opening the door for Lithuanian speakers to discover the traces of Jewish life in the small town and find out more about its history.

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Sukkot Begins Today

Sukkot or Sukkos beings at 6:43 P.M. in Vilnius on Friday, September 29, 2023.

The festival of Sukkot–literally meaning booths, tents, tabernacles–is celebrated for seven days in Israel and eight days in the Diaspora, starting on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. It is one of the three festivals during which Jewish men were required to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the times of the Holy Temple.

This year the first day of the week-long holiday coincides with the Sabbath, adding another layer to the observance of taking the lulav, or the four species, and dwelling in the sukka or booth is postponed till after the conclusion of the Sabbath. For more information, see here.

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Daring Dani Dayan and the Complicity of Lithuanians in the Holocaust

Photo: Chairman of Yad Vashem Dani Dayan at the memorial ceremony in the Ponary forest, remembering the over 200,000 Lithuanian Jews brutally murdered during the Holocaust, at this very site, courtesy X, formerly Twitter, used in accordance with clause 27a of US copyright law.

by Efraim Zuroff

The locals may never own what they did, but Yad Vashem’s chairman spoke truth to power, calling out their role in eliminating a vibrant Jewish world

During the past two decades, virtually every country in Europe, and many in the Western Hemisphere, have adopted a Holocaust memorial day, many inspired by the decision of the United Nations to do so in 2005. Quite a few have chosen to follow the example of the UN by commemorating the date of the liberation of Auschwitz death camp on January 27, 1945, but others chose dates that mark significant events in the history of the Shoah in their respective countries. In some cases, the choice is a reflection of the significance of specific Holocaust events for their societies, or the desire, or lack thereof, to emphasize the complicity of local Nazi collaborators.

Thus, for example, France chose July 16, the anniversary of the mass arrest in Paris in 1942 of 13,152 French Jews, who were deported to their deaths in Auschwitz by the local police. Similarly, Hungary chose April 16, the date of the initial orders for the ghettoization of Hungarian Jewry, the prelude to the deportation of 437,000 of them to Auschwitz in spring of 1944. Bulgaria, by contrast, chose March 10, the date on which the government revoked its original plan to deport the country’s entire Jewish population to Treblinka.

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Will Lithuania Take Responsibility for Holocaust after Dayan’s Seimas Address?

by Silvia Foti

Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan addressed the Lithuanian Seimas on September 21, 2023, three days before the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. He took the opportunity to proclaim loudly and clearly the widespread knowledge of Lithuanian participation in the Holocaust, urging Seimas members to stop glorifying Holocaust perpetrators.

…

For me, the speech was electrifying because it was a vindication of so much hard work by so many people who have been beating the drum of Lithuania’s Holocaust distortion–including Rūta Vanagaitė, Efraim Zuroff, Dovid Katz, Evaldas Balčiūnas, Andrius Kulikauskas, Arkadijus Vinokuras, and the three of us who are mostly focused on my grandfather Jonas Noreika, namely Grant Gochin, Michael Kretzmer, and myself.

Full text here.

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Yad Vashem Accuses Lithuania of Glorifying Nazi Collaborators

Photo: Lithuanian auxiliary forces carried out many murders of the country’s 141,000 Holocaust victims.

by Lianne Kolirin, Thursday, September 28, 2023, The Times of London

Streets and schools are named after citizens who colluded in the Holocaust

The head of Yad Vashem called for an end to the “glorification of war criminals associated with the massacre of Jews” in an address to Lithuania’s parliament.

Dani Dayan, chairman of the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, was invited to address the Seimas in Vilnius to mark the 80th anniversary of the liquidation of the city’s ghetto in 1943.

According to Yad Vashem, Lithuania welcomed the Nazis, “seeing them as liberators from Soviet occupation.” About 141,000 of Lithuania’s 168,000 Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, with “a significant part carried out by Lithuanian auxiliary forces,” its website states.

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Canada’s Speaker of Parliament Resigns after Lauding Waffen-SS Veteran

Anthony Rota, speaker of Canada’s lower house of parliament or House of Commons, has resigned following an incident last week where he pointed to a former Nazi Waffen-SS soldier in the chamber and singled him out for praise as a Ukrainian freedom fighter who “fought the Russians then, and is fighting them now.”

The entire audience including prime minister Justin Trudeau and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland gave Jaroslaw Hunka a prolonged standing ovation. Trudeau later called the incident embarrassing to Canada and fodder for Russian propaganda.

Rota, a member of Trudeau’s Liberal Party, fell on his sword to save the Trudeau government sagging in the polls in recent months, while commentators pointed out every single MP and member of the cabinet at the special sitting of the House of Commons should’ve been able to do the basic math and conclude Hunka, whose Canadian immigration documents use the alternate surname Gunka, had fought on the side of the Nazis, Canada’s declared enemy during World War II. In point of fact Hunka served in a Waffen-SS detachment in the province of Galicia (Galitsiya) in the Ukraine under the command of Stepan Bandera, the 14th Grenadiers aka Galicia Division, and committed atrocities and mass murder against Jews and Poles.

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