Learning, History, Culture – Page 38 – Lithuanian Jewish Community

In Kaunas, British Artist Shines Light on Holocaust Massacre Forgotten by Locals

Photo: Artist Jenny Kagan’s immersive exhibition “Out of Darkness” in Kaunas, Lithuania, July, 2022 (photographer Gražvydas Jovaiša).

Near the site of one of the genocide’s most heavily photographed atrocities, lighting designer Jenny Kagan brings the city’s wartime past “Out of Darkness”

by Matt Lebovic, Times of Israel, October 1, 2022

The 1941 Lietūkis garage massacre in Kaunas, Lithuania, was among the Holocaust’s most heavily photographed aktions against Jews, but many of the city’s current inhabitants have never heard of the atrocity.

On June 27, 1941, a group of pro-German Lithuanian nationalists tortured and murdered at least 50 Jews at the city’s Lietūkis garage. During the massacre, a German soldier took photos of dozens of Lithuanians, including children, cheering while a man called “the death dealer” beat Jews to death with a crowbar.

Among the Jewish men murdered that day was British artist Jenny Kagan’s grandfather, Jurgis Stromas, who owned the Pasaka (Fairytale) cinema in town. At one point during the public slaughter, the “death dealer” climbed atop a mound of corpses and performed the Lithuanian national anthem with an accordion.

2022-10-032022-10-03

Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community Marks Day of Remembrance of Lithuanian Jewish Victims of Genocide

The Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community marked the Day of Remembrance of Lithuanian Jewish Victims of Genocide September 23 with a ceremony at the monument commemorating the former gates of the Šiauliai ghetto. The ceremony was attended by members of the Jewish community, teachers and high school students and deputy mayor Egidijus Elijošius. People laid wreaths of flowers and placed stones on the monument, after which participants moved on to Righteous Gentiles Square where Lithuanian rescuers of Jews were remembered. Later members of the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community went to the mass murder site in the Pročiūnai forest were hundreds of people of different ethnic backgrounds were murdered during the Holocaust. They then went to the monument to the Jews from Šiauliai and the surrounding area murdered in Kužiai village.

2022-09-30

Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community Ushers In Rosh Hashanah with Musical

Members of the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community and the general public ushered in the Jewish new year last week with a musical/dramatized concert called “About Her and about Us” at the Šiauliai chamber concert hall, a project of the Šalom, Akmene! initiative dedicated to the memory of Nechama Lifshitz and performed by young students from Akmenė and Joniškis regional art schools and by opera singer Rafailas Karpis. The concert was followed by a buffet.

2022-09-30

Telshe Yeshiva Restored

As reported earlier, the city of Telšiai has been restoring the world-famous Telshe (Telz) yeshiva there over the last few years. A reader sent in some snapshots of the interior at the re-opening, below.

2022-09-292022-09-29

New Film Exposes Lithuanians’ Brutality, Enthusiasm in Holocaust Crimes

by Michael Kretzmer

For the last three years my life has been entirely absorbed in the making of a documentary film that attempts to tell the truth about the Lithuanian Holocaust. This has been a terrible task, an entirely unwanted one, and one that has exacted a significant personal price. Many times I have bitterly regretted taking it on, but once started there could be no turning back: the injustice of what happened to our people, and even more importantly, what is happening today in Lithuania, cannot be ignored.

The most painful task was the journalistic duty to forensically research and report the depraved cruelty of our persecution. Nothing can prepare you for the incomprehensible, sordid detail: the celebratory murder of children in front of parents; the delicate physics of smashing babies’ skulls against trees (thousands of them); the horror carnival of small, terrified girls being loaded onto trucks for deadly rape parties by Lithuanian gangs; the imprisonment of thousands of Jews in their own synagogues and their slow murder either by fire or by starvation and thirst amidst human filth and the stench of their loved ones’ rotting bodies; the beheadings, the immolations, the thousands of deadly humiliations; the destruction of this dazzling 600-year-old civilization–220,000 Jews slaughtered, the highest murder rate in all of Holocaust Europe; and above all, the thought of our depraved Lithuanian tormentors laughing at our pain and humiliation. And the knowledge that the Lithuanian government is still, politely, laughing at us today.

I am a journalist and film-maker by profession but for months I struggled to find the narrative voice that could tell this terrible story. And one day I found that voice. It was obvious, the only voice that matters. The voice of the murdered. This is why I have called my film J’Accuse! It is their cry for justice from the killing pits of Lithuania.

2022-09-29

Lithuanian MP Proposes Day to Commemorate Rescuers

Photo: Paulė Kuzmickienė by J. Stacevičius, courtesy LRT.

Lithuanian MP Paulė Kuzmickienė has proposed naming March 15 a national day of remembrance of rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust. March 15, 1966, was the date Vilnius University librarian Ona Šimaitė was awarded the title of Righteous Gentile by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Commemoration and Studies Institute in Jerusalem. She was the first Lithuanian to receive the distinction.

“Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews deserve exceptional attention from the state and society. These were people who often didn’t appear different from others on the surface, but were dignified by their values and remained human even during the most difficult circumstances, did not collaborate with the Nazis and saved others at risk to the freedom and the lives of themselves and their families,” Kuzmickienė said.

Lithuanian MPs Paulė Kuzmickienė, Stasys Tumėnas, Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, Emanuelis Zingeris and Liudvika Pociūnienė have signed off on the proposal for this new Lithuanian commemorative day on March 15.

2022-09-282022-09-28

Kabalat Shabat on September 30

A Kabalat Shabat ceremony and dinner according to the tenets of progressive Judaism will be held at 6:30 P.M. on September 30 with the main ceremony the third floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius and kiddush downstairs at the Bagel Shop Café. The price is 10 euros, children and minors 16 and under are free. For more information and to register, contact Viljamas by writing viljamas@lzb.lt or call +370 672 50699.

2022-09-28

Parliamentary Committee Approves Funding to Keep Sugihara House Open

On August 5 the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Lithuanian parliament approved the idea of providing the Sugihara House in Kaunas 150,000 euros annually to keep the museum open.

This followed a plea by museum director Ramūnas Janulaitis, appointed in the wake of the death of the museum’s founder and director Simonas Dovidavičius in December of 2019, for help maintaining the museum after a steep reduction in tourist visits because of the virus panic and the Ukrainian war.

Ambassadors from Japan, Israel, the United States, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland to Lithuania responded to the plea with a joint letter to Lithuania’s minister for culture and minister for science, education and sports. In their letter they said Chiune Sugihara’s legacy was important for building democracy, tolerance and human values.

2022-09-272022-09-27

Švenčionėliai Students Get Special Lesson and Tour on Jewish History and Holocaust

Students in the 8th and 9th grades at the King Mindaugas School in Švenčionėliai in southeast Lithuania got a special lesson and tour on September 23, the Day of Remembrance of Lithuanian Jewish Victims of Genocide proclaimed by the Lithuanian parliament in 1994. They gather in the foyer of the Švenčionėliai Cultural Center to hear history teacher Stanislava Černiauskienė’s lesson on the history of the Jewish people in Lithuania, and to hear Milda Petkevičienė-Dečkuvienė’s performance on violin.

The class then went to the local mass murder and commemoration site where history teacher Ona Orechovienė recounted how local Jews were murdered there and in surrounding areas.

The special history lesson for September 23 was arranged by King Mindaugas School assistant principal and history teacher Nijolė Kapačinskienė, Švenčionys Jewish Community chairman Moshe Šapiro and the Švenčionėliai Cultural Center.

2022-09-27

Righteous Gentiles Remembered in Kupiškis

Local residents commemorated Righteous Gentiles Elena and Juozapas Markevičius at the cemetery in the town of Palėvenė September 23 with flowers and candles, after which a prayer was held at St. Dominykas’s church for priests who rescued Jews, including father Zenonas Karečkas who hid the Jewish girls Mira Burdė and Irma Degon who had fled the Vilnius ghetto in a local monastery, and the priest Antanas Juškas, who passed Feigė Kaganaitė off as the Catholic nun Teresė during the Holocaust. Prayers were also said for the Markevičius family who rescued nine Jews. Kupiškis regional administration mayor Dainius Bardauskas attended the Mass, following which local historian and museum specialist Aušra Jonušytė presented an exhibition of photographs called “Remembering the Rescuers of Jews from the Palėvenė Parish.” She said the local rescuers experienced repression and exile after the war under Stalin’s rule.

Aldona Ramanauskienė, the head of the local chapter of the Lithuanian Catholic Women’s Union, spoke about the Markevičius family. Litvak guide from Kaunas Chaim Bargman spoke about the priest Antanas Juškas. Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman also spoke about Righteous Gentiles. Vidmantas Markevičius thanked everyone for remembering his grandparents.

2022-09-27

Day of Remembrance of Lithuanian Jewish Victims of Genocide Marked in Panevėžys

“Today we remember those who were condemned to death by spiritual darkness and insane brutality. When Lithuania lost her people, beloved and appreciated members of the community, noble people who created our cities and country. We lost helpless elderly and children who never had the chance to grow up. Realizing the horror of those days, we speak about it every year, in order to remember, so that oblivion will not cover up this tragedy. Let member protect us, let there be no tolerance for violence, let there only be space for violence left in the darkest pages of history,” deputy Panevėžys mayor Valdemaras Jakštas said at the “Sad Jewish Mother” statue there after he lay a wreath and lit candles to mark the Day of Remembrance of Lithuanian Jewish Victims of Genocide on September 23.

2022-09-262022-09-26

Recent Workshops and Events

We are pleased to share some snapshots from the dance class held on the last Sabbath of summer at the Cvirka Park space next to our Israeli street food kiosk. Julia Patašnik led the dance group. Also, we have snapshots from the gefilte fish workshop and the opening of seniors’ club Abi Men Zit Zich’s 25th season.

2022-09-262022-09-26

Holocaust Victims Remembered at Ponar

To mark the Day of Lithuanian Jewish Victims of Genocide proclaimed by the Lithuanian parliament in 1994, different groups converged on the Ponar Memorial Complex on September 23, 2022. One group held a different commemoration in the Vilnius ghetto territory, Vilnius Old Town, and arrived by train. Other groups came by bus and private automobile. Near the railroad tracks in Ponar where Holocaust victims were unloaded and sent to the killing pits, March of the Living participants, the Lithuanian Jewish Community, the International Commission for Assessing the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupational Regimes in Lithuania, Lithuanian politicians, foreign diplomats and members of the public assembled and walked the same route to the Ponar Memorial Complex where short speeches were delivered in front of the central monument there.

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky said: “We lived in peace, we couldn’t have imagined at all there would be war and in such a manner. Confidence in life, confidence in the future can be broken. And the young people need to hear about this. Because the young people are also responsible for our future, not just because we want to teach them to be good citizens.”

2022-09-26

When Queen Elizabeth Helped Us Hunt Nazis

The late monarch used her royal powers for justice against strong opposition by making it possible to prosecute war criminals who escaped to the UK

This past week’s media was dominated by the passing of Queen Elizabeth II at age 96 after reigning over the United Kingdom for seventy years. This was true in Great Britain of course, and throughout the British Commonwealth (which still includes more than a dozen countries), but it was also true all over the world, and even in Israel. The Jewish community in Britain also participated, and Chief Rabbi Mirvis not only very warmly eulogized the Queen, he even composed a lovely prayer “On The Passing Of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth,” in which he noted her “generosity of spirit…dignity, wisdom” and described her as “a most gracious monarch, who occupied a throne of distinction and honour.”

Very interesting that the one positive characteristic in the prayer that was mentioned twice was justice. In Rabbi Mirvis’ words, Queen Elizabeth “signified order and justice,” and was “a steadfast guardian of liberty, a symbol of unity and a champion of justice in all the lands of her dominion.”

In fact I can personally attest to the Queen’s devotion to justice in relation to the Wiesenthal Center’s efforts to convince the British government to prosecute Nazi criminals who had found a haven in Great Britain after World War II, an aspect of her reign that was completely overlooked in all the obituaries, eulogies and commentaries.

Full article here.

2022-09-212022-09-22

Jerusalemites: An Interview with Dr. Efraim Zuroff

An occasional series of interviews with notable veterans or more recent olim who have chosen to make their homes in Jerusalem.

by David Olivestone

Dr. Efraim Zuroff is director of the Israel office and chief Nazi hunter of the Simon Wiesenthal Center which is based in Los Angeles. He has dedicated his life to tracking down and bringing Nazi war criminals and their collaborators to trial. The author of four books translated into 15 languages he is an imposing, warm and vibrant man with an extraordinary memory for names, numbers, dates, facts, places and, of course, history.

Surely no one grows up thinking “I’m going to be a Nazi hunter”. What else might have you become?

I was always tall, so as a kid my fantasy was to be the first Orthodox Jewish professional basketball player. I was on the teams both in high school and in college, but I wasn’t anywhere near good enough, nor could I have remained frum if I had tried to follow my dream. But basketball is still a passion of mine, and I’m a fan and go to Hapoel Yerushalayim games.

What’s your family background?

2022-09-212022-09-22

Rosh Hashanah at the Choral Synagogue

The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Vilnius Jewish Religious Community invite you to come celebrate Rosh Hashanah at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius at 6:00 P.M. on September 25. All in attendance will receive our calendar for the new year, 5783.

2022-09-21

Day of Remembrance of Lithuanian Jewish Victims of Genocide at Choral Synagogue

The Vilnius Jewish Religious Community invites you to a commemoration of the Day of Remembrance of Lithuanian Jewish Victims of Genocide at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius from 10:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. September 23. The commemoration will include a reading of the names of victims. Those attending will light candles in memory of those murdered.

2022-09-212022-09-21

News from the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community

As summer came to a close, members of the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community travelled to Joniškis to see the synagogues there on August 22. Joniškis features two brick-and-mortar synagogues in its town center, built in the 19th century, the White and Red Synagogues. The White Synagogue was used in winter and the Red in summer. The restored synagogues have become a cultural attraction and a symbol of the city.

The interior of the Red Synagogue was recreated and restored with ceiling decorations, painted walls and the aron kodesh where the Torah scrolls were kept. Currently the synagogue houses an exhibit called “The History and Culture of the Jews of the Joniškis Region” which teaches the history of the Joniškis Jewish community before the Holocaust. The White Synagogue is hosting an exhibit using modern museum techniques to show the development of the town of Joniškis and important moments in its history.

After visiting the synagogues, members of the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community also visited Stonys’s dairy farm where they learned how cheese is made, how different cheeses are produced at the local farm and sampled the farm’s products.

2022-09-20

Holocaust Commemoration at Ponar September 23

The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to attend a ceremony commemorating victims of the Holocaust on September 23, the Day of Remembrance of Lithuanian Jewish Victims of Genocide at the Ponar Memorial Complex outside Vilnius. The ceremony starts at 1:30 P.M. Friday with pre-event assembly about 10 to 15 minutes earlier near the railroad tracks and in the parking lot outside the memorial complex to form a marching column. Those requiring transportation will need to wait for a special bus at 12:15 P.M. outside the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius, but all bus passengers must register by sending an email to office@Izb.lt or by telephoning +37068506900. The bus will return to Vilnius around 3:00 P.M.

2022-09-202022-09-22

Israel Cohen’s Vilna Translated to Lithuanian

by Olga Ugriumova, Lithuanian Radio and Television Russian service

Vilnius publishing house Hubris has published a Lithuanian translation of British writer and early proponent of Zionism Israel Cohen’s book “Vilna.” The author was born in London to a family of Jewish immigrants from Poland. He worked as a correspondent for the Times and the Manchester Guardian in Berlin, and also collaborated with Manchester Evening Chronicle and Jewish World, among many other publications. The book “Vilna” was first published in 1943 by the Jewish Publication Society of America as part of their Jewish Community Series showcasing Jewish communities in various countries for English speakers.

Full article in Russian here.

Publisher’s page here.

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