Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky was one of three distinguished guests on the late morning Aktualiju studijas [News Studio] program on Lithuanian radio May 12.
“This question keeps bothering me: when did the institution of citizenship, when did that institution stop, when was it interrupted? Was it when the person was imprisoned in the ghetto? When he was transported to the concentration camp? Nobody saved those passports anywhere. You see this is such an inhumane, such an unintelligent step when you look to the future. But as the chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community I would like to say, that Litvaks are welcome in our community, with or without a passport, and we would be very proud if our Lithuanian Jewish Community grew thanks to those people who left Lithuania. So we gladly invite and welcome them without regard to their political status,” Faina Kukliansky said during the discussion.
The main topic for the show as “Why don’t we want to grant citizenship to Litvaks?” The introductory blurb for the show was: “Lithuanian Jews–Litvaks–are not just people who have achieved great things in the world, they contributed greatly to the strengthening of the Lithuanian state as well. They sought Lithuanian independence and they fought in the battles for independence [in 1918-1919]. Unfortunately, almost all of them were murdered during World War II. Only a small portion survived. Today some Lithuanian bureaucrats don’t want to grant citizenship to the small group of Jews who want it. Why not?”
The other two guests were former Lithuanian prime minister, current deputy parliamentary speaker MP Gediminas Kirkilas and the historian Alvydas Nikžentaitis.
The audience was invited to call in and pose questions.