May 22 is the birthday of Fania Brancovskaja and her daughter Vita. We heartily wish you both a very happy birthday. Warm wishes from the entire Community. Stay healthy, energetic and happy!
Mazl tov! Bis 120!
Liba Mednik Commemorated in Širvintos, Lithuania
A stele with a bas-relief and inscription was erected at a ceremony in Širvintos, Lithuania, May 19 to commemorate Liba Mednik (Mednikienė), who fought for Lithuanian independence when the first republic was being created in the early 20th century.
Sculptor Romualdas Kvintas designed the memorial to look like a Jewish headstone, a stone slab with inscription, and with a bronze image of the woman attached in bas-relief fashion. The bronze portion of the monument was cast and installed on the stone by the sculptor Mindaugas Šnipas by request of the Vilnius Jerusalem of the North Jewish Community. Kvintas has done a number of large stone sculptures on Jewish themes.
Mednik, who was born in 1875, lived through the entire tragedy of the Jewish people in Lithuania, fighting for Lithuanian independence and the interwar Republic, and being murdered in the Holocaust in Lithuania. According to historian Stanislovas Dačka, she was murdered in the Pivonika forest near Ukmergė (Vilkomir) with about 12,000 other Jews from the area in early autumn of 1941. Širvintos, her hometown, lies about 15 kilometers to the southeast of Ukmergė.
Vilijus Kavalauskas celebrated her in his book “Lietuvos karžygiai: Vyties Kryžiaus kavalieriai,” calling her a unique and strong character. During the Lithuanian conflict with Poland in 1922 and 1923, Liba Mednik collected military intelligence and distributed it to the Lithuanian military and Lithuanian partisans. She sent documents garnered from Polish headquarters and money to the Lithuanian fighters, Kavaliauskas reports.
Happy Birthday to Abramas Saksonovas
Abramas Saksonovas, a survivor of the Holocaust, is celebrating his 90th birthday. The Lithuanian Jewish Community would like to add our greetings to those of everyone else celebrating Abramas’s important milestone.
Dear Abramas, we wish you great health, much happiness and a happy and fun birthday! Mazl tov! Bis 120!
Lithuanian Web Site: Let’s Learn about Lite, the Great Synagogue and the Vilna Gaon
by Karolina Aleknavičė, 15min.lt
This year, 2020, has been declared the Year of the Vilna Gaon and Lithuanian Jewish History, and it’s a good opportunity to learn about the authentic culture which thrived for whole centuries in our neighborhood.
We spoke with Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum Jewish culture and identity exhibit coordinator Saulė Valiūnaitė, Vilnius University historian Dr. Akvilė Naudžiūnienė and Kėdainiai Multicultural Center director Audronė Pečiulytė about Lite, the Litvaks who lived here, Vilnius as the Jerusalem of the North and the Gaon, Eliyahu, who lived there.
Lithuanian Jewish History an Integral Part of Lithuanian History
Valiūnaitė told 15min.lt Lithuanians’ attitude towards Jewish history has changed over the last 15 years. “It’s inspiring that in Vilnius and other Lithuanian cities there are ever more initiatives appearing, and most importantly, a desire to commemorate the history and heritage of the Jews who lived there. Some do this by setting up commemorative markers, others by organizing events or writing books about the Jewish history of their cities and towns,” she said.
Beverly Hills Speaks Out Same Day Lithuanian Prosecutor Drops Case
In response to this claim to the Lithuanian Public Prosecutor:
https://ggochin.wordpress.com/2019/12/02/complaint-to-public-prosecutor/
the following denial has been received:
There is no purpose in seeking truth or Justice inside Lithuania. The State has formed a unified position to protect historical revisionists and to lie about their Holocaust perpetrators. This is consistent with their Courts, Ethics watchdogs, and government departments. They will not allow any review of facts within Lithuania. Further cases inside Lithuania serve only as stepping stones to reach the European Court of Human Rights.
Therefore, truth is only able to come from outside of Lithuania. In that regard, the City of Beverly Hills reviewed the following data:
https://ggochin.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/city-resolution.docx
City-Resolution and unanimously voted for the following resolution:
Item_D-15_Agenda_Report
https://eutoday.net/news/politics/2020/beverley-hills
Full text here.
Note: the district prosecutor’s rejection to initiate a pre-trial investigation linked to above cites Lithuanian court precedent claiming criminal prosecution is not always the best way to stop socially harmful acts. The LJC notes Lithuanian prosecutors have never attempted to apply existing law to domestic promoters of anti-Semitism and Holocaust deniers. For more recent examples of this, see here and here.
Ninth Forth Memorial Sculptor Dies
Photo: LRT
Lithuanian Public Radio and Television and BNS reported Wednesday the sculptor Alfonsas Vincentas Ambraziūnas died on May 7 at the age of 86. He was known mainly for the large Soviet-era memorial statue at the Ninth Fort in Kaunas where Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. Initially the statue was dedicated to all victims of fascism.
Full article in Lithuanian here.
ICAN Applauds City of Beverly Hills for Passage of Resolution Condemning Lithuanian Holocaust Distortion
The Israeli-American Civic Action Network (ICAN) applauds the City of Beverly Hills tonight following the passage of a resolution condemning the Lithuanian government for actively promoting Holocaust distortion.
“There is a disturbing trend of government-backed Holocaust distortion sweeping across eastern Europe,” said Vered Elkouby Nisim, ICAN CA chairwoman. “Today, Lithuania is leading a dark and cynical campaign of Holocaust distortion and we thank the City of Beverly Hills for having the courage to stand up and speak out against this insidious form of state-sponsored antisemitism.”
Earlier this year, Lithuania drafted legislation that would have made it illegal to accuse the country of complicity in Nazi crimes, this followed the passage of similar laws by Poland, and Ukraine. At a time of rising global antisemitism, ICAN believes that laws designed to mask the true history of the Holocaust is especially dangerous and is working with leaders in the United States to oppose such laws using the strongest possible means.
Full article here.
Beverly Hills City Council Condemns Lithuanian Holocaust Distortion
The City Council of Beverly Hills, California, passed a resolution condemning Lithuania’s official distortion of the history of the Holocaust and World War II Tuesday, calling upon the Government to halt all such efforts and the Lithuanian parliament to refrain from approving a proposed resolution declaring Lithuania and her people “occupied” and therefore innocent of complicity in the Jewish genocide.
The resolution singled out efforts to white-wash “anti-Soviet hero” Jonas Noreika.
It cited the city’s recent adoption of the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism, a 2016 California state bill aimed at fighting the BDS (boycott, divestment, sanction) movement against Israeli policies and the council’s recent honoring of U.S.-resident Litvak Grant Gochin for his efforts to fight Lithuania’s Holocaust distortion. The text of the resolution also says the Lithuanian government uses intimidation tactics against those who speak out against its Holocaust distortions.
Daniel Dolskis: Founder of Lithuanian Stage Music Who Entertained Pre-War Kaunas
by Rasa Murauskaitė, Lithuanian national public radio and television, LRT.lt
Lithuanian Public Radio and Television continues stories in the the Stones of Memory series intended to commemorate Litvaks in Lithuania and around the world. The third story concerns Daniel Dolskis (Danielius Dolskis, Dolski), one of the founders of the Lithuanian estrada popular music tradition.
Although he only lived a few years in Kaunas, Lithuania, during the interwar period, Dolskis quickly became a legend of real Lithuanian estrada musical culture.
“Onytė, come dance with me,” Dolskis used to say when inviting Lithuanian girls to dance.
“The Man Who Entertained Kaunas” wrote one Lithuanian paper of Dolskis in the period between the two world wars. Actually the truth is somewhat different about the crooner born to a family of Vilner Jews by the name of Broides, a name connected with the musical nightlife at Kaunas’s famous interwar restaurants and clubs such as Metropol, Konrad’s Café and others.
Full story in Lithuanian here.
In the Spotlight: William Stern
Mr. William Stern was born in Budapest in 1935; after the Nazi occupation of Hungary in March 1944, he and his family were taken to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. They survived the War and emigrated to New York in 1952 where Mr Stern pursued studies first at Yeshiva University and subsequently at Harvard Law School.
It was during his stint at Harvard Law School that Mr Stern discovered the many risks and temptations which face a student when he leaves his home environment and suddenly becomes enmeshed in a totally new and different culture. He was shocked at seeing some of his friends shed their tradition and previous way of life in just a matter of months. Having married a young lady resident in London, Mr Stern moved to England in 1960. Early in his career, he established in London in 1971 a kosher canteen which welcomed students of Imperial College, located opposite his offices at Albert Court. This canteen has been going strong for the past 45 years and is presently catering to 30-35 Imperial College students every day of the academic year.
When he expanded his business to Lithuania, Mr Stern discovered the presence in Kaunas of approximately 100 Israeli medical students. He felt that during the 6-year period which medical studies require, many of these students might lose not only their Israeli but also their Jewish identity. In 2010, he established the Jewish Club which grew and developed over the years into the Jewish Centre Kaunas. Its aim is to provide the Jewish students in Kaunas a home away from home and prevent the loss of Jewish identity which otherwise might occur.
Prosecutor Drops Pre-Trial Investigation of Anti-Semitism Yet Again
This time the Vilnius district attorney’s office reported they dropped an investigation into an article containing anti-Semitism and sowing ethnic discord on the internet page of the weekly newspaper Laisvas Laikraštis. The pre-trial investigation was begun at the request of Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky.
“I can’t even count anymore how many times both the Community and I have sent these requests in. Dozens. So far all investigations have been halted because investigators never seem to find any evidence of a crime,” Kukliansky commented.
She said the Community will continue to publicize each and every complaint and each and every rejection, even if the spreaders of hate receive extra publicity for their articles and comments because of it.
Hundredth Anniversary of Jewish Faction in Lithuanian Constituent Parliament
Photo: One of the first sittings of the new Lithuanian parliament took place at the City Theater. In front is the presidium, to the left, sitting, are Naftalis Fridmanas, Petras Radzevičius, Ladas (Vladas) Natkevičius, first deputy speaker Jonas Staugaitis, Sspeaker Aleksandras Stulginskis, second deputy speaker Justinas Staugaitis. Right, seated: Zigmas Starkus. Kaunas, 1920. Courtesy Vytautas the Great Military Museum.
The Jewish Faction in Lithuania’s Constituent Parliament
The first parliament elected after Lithuanian independence in the early 20th century caused a global sensation.
This year comes 100 years after the first universal democratic elections for a Lithuanian parliament. One feature of what Lithuania calls its Constituent Assembly was the Jewish faction of parliamentarians, something almost impossible to imagine today following the extermination of upwards of 95% of all Lithuanian Jews in the Holocaust.
to be continued
NCSEJ Webinar with Lithuanian, Latvian Jewish Community Leaders May 14
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Please join us for a webinar Thursday, May 14, 2020, at 11:00 A.M. ET with Dmitry Krupnikov, deputy chairman of the Latvian Council of Jewish Communities and Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community
They will discuss the impact of the corona virus on the Jewish communities in Latvia and Lithuania and other issues affecting the Baltic region.
About the Speakers:
Dmitry Krupnikov is deputy chairman of the Latvian Council of Jewish Communities and Chairman of the Latvian Jewish Community Restitution Fund (LEKOREF), which was set up by the Council after restitution to the Community by Latvia of five religious and communal properties in 2016. All restituted properties were transferred to LEKOREF, which is now in charge of maintaining and managing the properties.
Faina Kukliansky is chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community. She has also served as chairwoman of the Vilnius Jewish Community. In May, 2017 she was re-elected chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community. She is the co-chair of the Foundation for the Disposal of Good Will Compensation for the Immovable Property of Jewish Religious Communities (Goodwill Foundation).
Register here.
Note: ZOOM has numerous significant security flaws. Use it at your own risk.
Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community: Life under Quarantine
It’s no secret the quarantine has altered the rhythms and habits of our lives. It had been customary in the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community to celebrate all sorts of holidays and birthdays and to attend different events, educational activities and tours we organized, and simply to gather and talk at the Community building… Today that building stands quiet and empty…
Jews around the world were celebrating Passover when the quarantine began here in Lithuania. The Jews of Šiauliai were not able as we were in past years to come together and celebrate happily to the sound of Jewish melodies this beautiful spring holiday. This year each of celebrated separately at home. The Lithuanian Jewish Community provided home deliveries of matzo to all the regional Communities, so as the quarantine got under way the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community had to insure every member had the requisite matzo for the Passover seder table. Every member of the Community did receive safe delivery of boxes of matzo before the holiday began.
Despite disruption to the rhythm and conventions of daily life, we continue to provide crucial care to our seniors who were victims of the Nazis. Home-care workers continue to visit them and help them with their daily needs, insuring the safety of our elderly during these days so difficult for all of us.
On Vytautas Bruveris’s Series of Articles “Lithuania and the Holocaust: Endless Seizures Instead of Healing Wounds”: Comments by Lithuanian Readers Contain Indications of Crime
by professor Dr habil. Pinchos Fridberg
Information
In the first week of way the internet site of the Lietuvos Rytas newspaper featured a series of articles in Lithuanian by Vytautas Bruveris called “Lithuania and the Holocaust: Endless Seizures Instead of Healing Wounds.”
Part One, May 1, 2020: https://www.lrytas.lt/lietuvosdiena/aktualijos/2020/05/01/news/lietuva-ir-holokaustas-vietoj-zaizdu-gydymo-nesibaigiantys-traukuliai-i-dalis–14716722/
Part Two, May 2, 2020: https://www.lrytas.lt/lietuvosdiena/aktualijos/2020/05/02/news/lietuva-ir-holokaustas-vietoj-zaizdu-gydymo-nesibaigiantys-traukuliai-ii-dalis–14716738/
Part Three, May 3, 2020: https://www.lrytas.lt/lietuvosdiena/aktualijos/2020/05/03/news/lietuva-ir-holokaustas-vietoj-zaizdu-gydymo-nesibaigiantys-traukuliai-iii-dalis–14716742/
Lithuanian Jewish Community Statement on May 9 Incident
The Lithuanian Jewish Community has asked the Lithuanian Office of Prosecutor General and the commissar general of the Lithuanian Police Department to investigate a so-called action held by motorcyclists in Vilnius on May 9, 2020, during which Nazi symbols and other attributes were used.
The media report the bikers dressed in Wehrmacht uniforms rode through the Vilnius OId Town playing march music from the Third Reich and rode in circles around the embassy of the Russian Federation on Latvių street.
“As you know, the distribution and demonstration of Nazi and Soviet symbols are banned by law in Lithuania and involve criminal accountability. We would like to emphasize the marches mentioned have painful associations for Jews because it was this sort of music which was played during selections at concentration camps during World War II,” the statement from the LJC reads.
Although the participants in the action did wear Nazi uniforms, it appears the police took no actions and didn’t stop the ride.
The LJC has received a report an LJC member who saw the motorcyclists near the Old Town Hall in Vilnius reported it to a police patrol nearby. The officers gave assurances the bikers would be punished, but Lithuanian Police Department representative Ramūnas Matonis told reporters there were no arrests for sowing ethnic discord anywhere in Lithuania on May 9.
The LJC therefore is now requesting:
1. an internal investigation and determination of the identities of the officers who were on duty in the police patrol at the Old Town Hall and an explanation on why the bikers were not cited.
2. determination of the identities of the people who rode around Vilnius dressed in Nazi uniforms and played Third Reich march music loudly.
3. an explanation on what instructions police street patrol officers receive and whether they are trained to recognize hate crimes and expressions of anti-Semitism.
4. to tell us whether the May 9 incident will be addressed in a future meeting of the special working group formed by the Lithuanian interior minister for fighting hate crimes and hate speech in Lithuania.
Visual material presented by the media shows this public violation was known at the time of its commission (URL: https://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/pergales-diena-vilniuje-aplink-rusijos-ambasada-vazinejo-i-nacistines-vokietijos-karius-panasus-motociklininkai.d?id=84241879 )
Watch Litvak Cantor Melavonis in This Video
The Genesis Prize Fund has posted a video clip called Jews in Music to do honor to exceptional achievements by Jews in music. The Fund presents the prize annually and Jews in Music debuted in 2016. The prize ceremony is held in honor of violin virtuoso Yitzhak Perlman. Among the musicians included in the video below are Yosef Melovanis, Leonard Cohen, Carole King, Vladimir Vysotksky, Idan Raichel, Martha Argerich, Paul Simon, Yevgeniy Kissin, Billy Joel, Adam Levine, Drake and many others.
Motorcyclists Don Nazi Uniforms, Swarm Russian Embassy on Victory Day
May 9 is the traditional day to mark the end of World War II in Russia. Many Lithuanians also mark the day and gather at cemeteries to honor those killed in the war.
Motorcyclists from Vilnius decided to attend a ceremony in Vilnius on Saturday.
They drove to the cemetery in the Antakalnis neighborhood in Vilnius dressed in German Wehrmacht uniforms. Police denied them entry.
The bikers posted a video of them being stopped on a nearby street for some time. The police failed to find a violation of law and finally let them go.
They then played marshal music from the Third Reich and drove through the Vilnius Old Town, and then drove in circles around the Russian embassy.
Delfi.lt asked the Lithuanian Police Department for comment.
Police Department rep Ramūnas Matonis only said that no people were arrested on May 9 in Lithuania for sowing ethnic discord.
Both Soviet and Nazi regalia are forbidden by law in Lithuania.
Full story in Lithuanian here.
We Have to Remember the Jewish Tragedy in World War II
The day of victory against Nazi Germany unites the people of all nations. Today as we mark the 75th anniversary of Victory Day not all of us are able to come together in person, but we can prayer for those who didn’t come back from the damned war. We can remember those who were shot in the forests and the pits, our relatives and friends tortured to death in the concentration camps. We can remember and we can honor those who defended our lives and those of future generations.
Today, the photographs and statues from World War II look at us. It is our sacred duty to remember and preserve the tragic stories of every family and the millions of people who suffered from the war.
We do remember and honor the people who risked their lives and those of their families to rescue Jews from the genocide.
On this holy day we, the members of the Panevėžys Jewish Community, laid bouquets of flowers and lit candles of remembrance at the memorials in Panevėžys which recall the brutalities of the Holocaust and for the soldiers who liberated Europe from the Nazi plague.
Resident Ambassadors Mark VE Day at Jewish Cemetery in Vilnius
The Lithuanian Jewish Community and resident foreign ambassadors to Lithuania marked Victory in Europe day with a small, solemn gathering at the Jewish cemetery on Sudervės road in Vilnius on the morning of May 8. German ambassador Matthias Sonn, Israeli ambassador Jossy Avni-Levy and US ambassador Robert Gilchrist gave short addresses stressing the need to remember the past while looking to a better future.