On the day marking the end of World War II in Europe, Victory Day, May 8, a small group gathered at the Jewish cemetery on Sudervės road in Vilnius to honor the victims of WWII, including Holocaust victims. Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky was there with German ambassador Matthias Sonn, U.S. ambassador Robert Gilchrist, Israeli ambassador Yossy Avni-Levy, deputy Lithuanian foreign minister Dalius Čekuolis and Vilnius municipal administration director Povilas Poderskis.
Dear Presidents,
Dear Friends,
We are very happy and proud to share with you a video featuring highlights of the EJC event last January – The Fifth World Holocaust Forum – initiated by our President Moshe Kantor and hosted by the President of the State of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, at Yad Vashem.
Nearly 50 heads of state and royalty from across the world, as well as the three leaders of the European Union institutions, gathered in Jerusalem to reaffirm their unity against the upsurge of antisemitism globally and to honour the memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
Although it is difficult to encapsulate such a historic event in a few minutes, the video contains the most beautiful images, and the strongest and most touching excerpts of speeches and musical performances.
We hope this film will bring back precious memories of these emotional two days and allow those who could not be with us to grasp the intensity of the commitment expressed by world leaders for such a noble cause.
Stay safe and best regards,
Raya and the EJC Team
The following open letter appeared on the delfi.lt website. It is called “Reacting to Linkevičius’s Reply on Request to Review Positions on Jonas Noreika, aka General Storm.” Linas Linkevičius is the Lithuanian foreign minister. The two authors of the open letter were Audronius Ažubalis and Laurynas Kasčiūnas, members of parliament in the Homeland Union/Conservatives-Lithuanian Christian Democrats faction. Ažubalis was also a foreign minister in a previous government.
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On April 6 we contacted foreign minister Linas Linkevičius and Vilnius mayor Remigijus Šimašius asking them to review their earlier positions regarding Jonas Noreika, aka General Storm, in light of the final and unappealable decision of the Lithuanian Supreme Administrative Court on April 1. We got an answer from the minister, and thank you for following the law, but from the mayor there was the usual silence, but we’ll talk about the lack of political culture [sic] another time…
Replying to the minister by open letter, we want to raise again respect for decisions by the Lithuanian courts and recall a few essential details which have been forgotten in this discussion of history policy.
It seems as if it’s clear to everyone that officials of a state under the rule of law should not ignore court decisions and laws in their activities. Especially not the fact the Lithuanian Supreme Court rehabilitated Jonas Noreika of the full extent of the Soviet accusation, that is, for cooperating with the Germans.
part three
by Vytautas Bruveris
What are the methods for Lithuania as a country and society to demonstrate by deeds rather than words true solidarity with the country’s Jewish community, almost completely exterminated in the Holocaust, with the victims and with their descendants?
Long-Awaited Victory Celebrated
A third problematic bloc in modern Lithuania’s relationship towards the Holocaust is the definition, including legal, of Soviet crimes and oppression.
Should the mass murders and oppressions the Soviets carried out in Lithuania not just be called but legally recognized as genocide? Should they also be recognized as genocide outside Lithuania in the international arena?
May 7, 2020
To:
Evaldas Pašilis, prosecutor general, Republic of Lithuania
Renatas Požėla, commissar general, Police of the Republic of Lithuania
STATEMENT
On anti-Semitic comments on the internet site www.lrytas.lt
The Lithuanian Jewish Community (LJC) constantly investigates information about possible expressions of anti-Semitism and provides the corresponding information to international organizations battling anti-Semitism on expressions of anti-Semitism and reactions from state institutions to these.
Last week the internet webpage www.lrytas.lt published a three-part feature called “Lietuva ir Holokaustas: vietoj žaizdų gydymo – nesibaigiantys traukuliai” [Lithuania and the Holocaust: Endless Seizures Instead of Healing Wounds]. (URLs to these texts:
part two
by Vytautas Bruveris
What are the methods for Lithuania as a country and society to demonstrate by deeds rather than words true solidarity with the country’s Jewish community, almost completely exterminated in the Holocaust, with the victims and with their descendants?
Why Is There No Basic Number?
So if there’s no national agreement on what should be considered contributing to the Holocaust and what criteria might define this, then does the determination of direct participation in the mass murder of Jews not raise any conceptual misunderstandings?
part one
by Vytautas Bruveris
What are the methods for Lithuania as a country and society to demonstrate by deeds rather than words true solidarity with the country’s Jewish community, almost completely exterminated in the Holocaust, with the victims and with their descendants?
After all, this year has been declared not only the Year of the Vilna Gaon but also the Year of Litvak History at the highest level of state.
Moreover, this year Lithuania and the world mark the round anniversary of a date connected with World War II, Nazi crimes and the Holocaust.
At least two such methods have long been clear.
Vitalina Timofeyeva passed away May 1. She was born in 1937. Our deepest condolences to her sons and loved ones.
Rozeta Ramonienė, the chairwoman of the Union of Former Ghetto and Concentration Camp Prisoners, celebrated her birthday on May 1.
Happy birthday, dear Rozeta! As the fragrant buds of spring emerge, we wish you long life, a very happy birthday celebration, much happiness and many happy days to come!
Mazl tov! May you live to 120!
Vilnius resident Svetlana Šitelienė contacted the Lithuanian Jewish Community to report her discovery of what appears to be a Jewish headstone, or matzeva, on her farm.
Thank you, Svetlana.
We’ve reached Svetlana and thanked her, and sent her a box of matzo and the Vilnius ghetto diary of Yitzhak Rudasheviski translated into Lithuanian.
Studying the photographs she provided, it appears this might be an unfinished headstone made for someone named Esther, with the surname partially completed. Mrs. Šitelienė said the grave stone might have ended up in her yard 47 or more years ago, and according to relatives it came from the Jewish cemetery near the Palace of Marriage in Vilnius.
Mother’s Day was on Sunday, May 3, in Lithuania. Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers. You make the world possible.
As spring finally arrives, the Kaunas Jewish Community sends birthday greetings to our beloved member Liuba Stulgaitienė.
Liuba is very active in Community events, a member of the Yiddish Club, a member of the Union of Former Ghetto and Concentration Camp Prisoners and a woman who always radiates positivity, optimism and joy. She smiles at the whole world despite all injuries experienced and the world answers her the same way.
Dear Liuba, keep being so young at heart, so energetic, so thirsty for knowledge and someone who is able to say the years are not a burden, but a rich experience.
Mazl tov! May you live to 120!
The Lithuanian Jewish Community sends its condolences to Arkadijus Gotesmanas on the death of his father, Burnitalis Arnoldas Gotesmanas, who passed away at the age of 90. The late Gotesmanas survived Auschwitz and Mauthausen. He died in Brooklyn and was buried there.
South African Litvak Denis Goldberg died of lung cancer just before midnight on April 29 at his home at Hout Bay in Cape Town. He was born April 11,1933. An anti-apartheid activist, Goldberg was tried with Neslon Mandela at the Rivonia trial and sentenced to 22 years in prison. Our deepest condolences to his many friends and family.
Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky was interviewed by Lithuanian publicist Donatas Puslys on Yom haAtzma’ut, Israeli independence day, and spoke about what the holiday means to Jews in Lithuania, to her personally and to Jews around the world. She also spoke about the Holocaust, Litvaks living in Israel, the promise Eretz Israel held out to Soviet Jews and the country’s progress over the last 72 years. The interview was conducted in Lithuanian but concludes with warm wishes in Yiddish.
From: Ronald S. Lauder
Subject: My Letter to President Rivlin on Yom Ha’atzmaut
Date: 29 April 2020 at 17:09:53 EEST
To: WJC Affiliated Communities & Organizations, members of the WJC Executive Committee
From: Ronald S. Lauder, WJC president
Dear Friends,
I hope this message finds you all well and safe during this difficult time.
At no other time of the year is the dichotomy between joy and sadness, mourning and celebration more clear for Israelis and Jewish people around the world than the two days that we pause to observe Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut. During this period we honor those who laid down their lives for the establishment and protection of the Jewish State and revel in the achievement that is its independence.
Although this year’s public commemorations and gatherings have been severely limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I would like to share with you a letter I wrote on the eve of Yom Ha’atzmaut to Israeli president Reuven Rivlin on behalf of Jewish communities worldwide. I hope it will be of interest.
Please keep well and stay safe, and do not hesitate to let us know if there is anything at all that we can do to be of assistance to you or your community.
Best wishes,
Ronald
Israelis began celebrating 72 years of statehood this year by greeting medical personnel. A torch-lighting ceremony began without an audience in honor of Israel’s doctors, nurses, care-givers, hospital staff and volunteers who have been fighting the Wuhan virus, with many fireworks displays and hospital fly-overs by the Israeli Air Force canceled.
Most Israelis marked Independence Day at home.
Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the nation in a video saying “We’ve never celebrated this kind of Independence Day. We are in a physical sense far from one another, but we’ve never been closer.” Praising hospital workers Netanyahu added “The day will come when embraces return… But we still can’t do this because the pandemic is still here.”
Knesset speaker Benny Gantz lit a torch on the eve of Independence Day and spoke of national unity, saying Israelis must prepare for even more difficult days, and called for creating “a new moral face of the country.”
The Kaunas Jewish Community has redirected efforts under quarantine and is using the telephone and internet to make sure members, especially the elderly, don’t feel cut off from the world.
Many Community members celebrate Sabbath together and miss face-to-face interaction at the Sabbath table. While conditions aren’t allowing that to resume yet, the Kaunas Jewish Community, in the spirit of fellowship and keeping with tradition, is offering a free Sabbath care basket to members so that everyone can celebrate the Sabbath at home. Now members can break challa bread alone but at the same time together. The care baskets contain more than just challa, though, and include other traditional Sabbath dinner dishes.
KJC chairman Gercas Žakas is pleased this initiative has received the approval of the Goodwill Foundation and the interest and support of so many KJC members. One member said: “It really does feel as if you aren’t alone, but are celebrating Sabbath together with the entire community.” Look for the Jewish communities in other cities and towns to do the same thing, Žakas predicted.