News

Joint Lithuanian-YIVO Digitization Project Complete

Joint Lithuanian-YIVO Digitization Project Complete

New York-based YIVO has announced the completion of a joint project to digitize the Edward Blank collection in what is known as the Edward Blank Vilna On-Line Collections Project. The historic initiative took seven years and $7 million to complete. The goal was to sort, conserve and digitize pre-war collections from the YIVO library and archives, and to make them available to everyone online.

The project was carried in concert with the Lithuanian Central State Archive, the Martynas Mažvydas Lithuanian National Library and the Vrublevskiai Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.

Ruth Levine, the director of the board of YIVO, called the completion of the project a new phase in the modern history of the YIVO institute and part of their main mission. She said heroes and martyrs gave their lives to preserve the books and documents in the collection, and expressed gratitude to the Lithuanian partners in the project.

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Launch of New Book of Stories about Jewish Vilnius

Launch of New Book of Stories about Jewish Vilnius

The Vilnius Jewish Public Library will hold the launch of the new book Чаепитие с попугаем [Tea with Parrots] at 6:00 P.M. on Thursday, January 20. The book was published by the Lithuanian publishing house Kitos Knygos.

This is the author Chona Leibovičius’s first book of short stories, where he tells in his own voice the story of an entire generation of Vilna Jews, many of whom are no longer with us and many others having left to live around the world. The time-period is from the 1950s to the 1980s when the old city was undergoing serious changes, when new suburbs were being built by the Soviets and outside powers were tearing apart the fabric of the city undergoing rapid demographic change.

The author and others will be at the book launch. Others include Donatas Valančiauskas who is the director of Lithuanian state television’s Jewish affairs program Menora and Kitos Knygos author and representative Darius Pocevičius. The library is located in the courtyard at Gedimino prospect no. 24 in Vilnius.

More about the book in Lithuanian and Russian here.

Name Changes but Fate Remains the Same

Name Changes but Fate Remains the Same

by Lina Dranseikaitė

The century-old red-brick synagogue standing on M. Valančiaus street in almost the exact center of the city of Panevėžys from now on will be known by its true name, the Torah Association.

Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman said historical justice has been restored. But even with the restoration of historical justice, this decaying heritage site in the historical part of the city might completely vanish over the coming decades.

Although Lithuania’s state Property Bank attempted to sell the synagogue two years ago, no takers have appeared. Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman says he isn’t even considering that Jews might buy the red-brick synagogue since this building is supposed to belong to Jews already.

Full text in Lithuanian here.

Lithuanian Culture Minister and Israeli Ambassador Sign Agreement on Film Production

Lithuanian Culture Minister and Israeli Ambassador Sign Agreement on Film Production

On January 7 new opportunities opened for Lithuanian filmmakers: Lithuanian culture minister Simonas Kairys and Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Yossef Avni-Levy signed a governmental understanding on joint production of films by the two countries.

Minister Kairys said: “Until now Lithuania hasn’t had a single joint film production with Israel. This agreement between the Governments of the two countries, clearing defining bilateral cooperation in the field of film production, presents greater opportunities for Lithuania and Israeli filmmakers, including attracting additional financing. All of this will allow for greater Lithuanian competitiveness in the international arena in making films.”

The agreement between the Lithuanian and Israeli Governments provides more favorable conditions for filmmakers from both countries to receive state support. It also expands opportunities for cooperation, providing a foundation for the wider presentation of films.

Full text in Lithuanian here.

Taiwan to Establish $200 Million Lithuanian Investment Fund

Taiwan to Establish $200 Million Lithuanian Investment Fund

Tensions between China and Lithuania soared after Taiwan was allowed to open a de facto embassy in Vilnius. Now Taiwan wants to help offset the financial cost that comes with angering Beijing.

Taiwan said Wednesday it will create a $200 million (€176 million) fund to invest in Lithuania weeks after the self-ruled island claimed by China opened a representative office, a de facto embassy, in Vilnius. China views Taiwan as part of its own territory, and is putting immense pressure on foreign nations not to deal directly with the government in Taipei.

The announcement comes after Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda called the decision to permit Taiwan’s representative office in Vilnius “a mistake.”

On Wednesday Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis rejected the president’s characterization of that decision.

What is the purpose of Taiwan’s investment fund?

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Israeli-American Civic Action Network Looks at 2022

ICAN chairman and CEO Dillon L. Hosier writes:

Today, as we start a new week at the beginning of a brand new year, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for making 2021 an exceptional success at ICAN.

I’d also like to share with you a look ahead as we prepare to take ICAN, our community of activists, and our pro-Israel agenda to the next level in 2022 and beyond.

In 2021, thanks to activists like you, ICAN grew significantly and overperformed by every measure:

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Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 3:44 P.M. on Friday, December 31, and concludes at 5:08 P.M. on Saturday, January 1, in the Vilnius region.

May You Live Long and Be Prosecuted

May You Live Long and Be Prosecuted

Efraim Zuroff

At 100, Herbert Wahler has outlived other Germans listed as members of the genocidal Einsatzgruppe C. His age should not shield him from accountability.

This past Friday [December 10, 2021], Herbert Wahler celebrated his 100th birthday. Quite an achievement for a German who spent a significant part of World War II serving on the Eastern front in Ukraine. Yet upon closer examination of Wahler’s service record, it’s not that surprising, since, for a significant part of the conflict, Wahler was not dodging bullets shot at him by Red Army soldiers, but rather contributing to the efforts of Einsatzgruppe C to mass murder innocent Jews and other “enemies of the Reich.”

Einsatzgruppe C was one of the four special killing squads, labeled A, B, C, and D, the Nazis sent in June of 1941, along with the Wehrmacht troops invading the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, to begin the mass murder of Jews, even before the formal decree of the Final Solution was officially adopted at the Wannsee Conference on January 20, 1942. They spread out over the entire territory, with A responsible for the former Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia; B in charge in Belarus; C was active in central Ukraine and D in southern Ukraine. Over the course of 1941-1943 these units which numbered approximately 3,000 men with assistance from members of the Wehrmacht, German police units, and local collaborators, were responsible for the mass murder by shooting of approximately 2 million people, including 1.3 million Jews.

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Condolences

We are sad to report long-time member of the Panevėžys Jewish Community Dina Marijampolskienė passed away December 23 at the age of 92 following a long battle with illness. Our deepest condolences to her son Boris and daughter Ana and her other family members and friends.

Those wishing to bid their final farewells may do so from 4:00 P.M. on December 27 to 11:30 A.M. on December 28 at the Grauduva Funderal Home located at Basanavičiaus street no. 75 next to the Ramygala cemetery in Panevėžys, after which the coffin will be taken for burial.

Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 3:38 P.M. on Friday, December 24, and concludes at 5:03 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

Lara Lempertienė Awarded Prize by Lithuanian Foreign Ministry

Lara Lempertienė Awarded Prize by Lithuanian Foreign Ministry

Jewish scholar and head of the Lithuanian National Library’s Judaica Center Lara Lempertienė, PhD, was awarded the Star of Lithuanian Diplomacy prize Friday, according to a press release from the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry. Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis personally presented her the prize at the ministry in recognition of her work fostering research into Litvak history and cultural heritage, and for her significant contribution to commemorations of the 300th birthday of the Vilna Gaon and 700 years of Litvak history.

“You have made a remarkable contribution in strengthening foreign policy and carrying out our shared mission to spread knowledge of Lithuanian Jewish history and culture,” minister Landsbergis said. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry has been awarding the Star of Lithuanian Diplomacy since 2010 in recognition of contributions to spreading knowledge of Lithuania internationally and to improving and celebrating international relations.

A Look at the Recent Lithuanian Press on the Holocaust

A Look at the Recent Lithuanian Press on the Holocaust

Geoff Vasil

In December the Lithuanian news outlet 15min.lt treated its readers to the strange spectacle of a Lithuanian defense against American and Allied accusations of the collective guilt of average Germans in the crime of genocide against the Jewish people.

“‘Nonetheless, too many people tried not to see what was happening.’ German president Richard von Weizsäcker said these words on May 8, 1985, at a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II.

“…The Belarussian opposition website zerkalo.io tells how Germans suffered de-Nazification and tried to come to terms with the past. ‘This town is guilty!’ Many have heard of the process known as de-Nazification. The Allies who won World War II (USA, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union) began the process of de-Nazification.”

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Kaunas Jewish Community to Hold Concert to Commemorate Rescuers

Kaunas Jewish Community to Hold Concert to Commemorate Rescuers

The Kaunas Jewish Community is planning an evening of classical music dedicated to those who rescued Jews during the Holocaust at 6:00 P.M. on December 27 at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. Actor and director Aleksandras Rubinovas will speak about the Righteous Gentiles who saved Jews 80 years ago. The event is free to the public but prior registration is required at https://forms.gle/1vzWccjif3yduBFv6

For more information call+370 652 19204 or write ieva0102@yahoo.com

Final Road of Memory Event Held in Telšiai

Final Road of Memory Event Held in Telšiai

Lithuania’s International Commission to Assess the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupational Regimes in Lithuania held their final Road of Memory event in the Lithuanian town of Telšiai on December 9. The Commission held these processions in concert with other organizations at different locations in Lithuania from June till now to mark the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Holocaust. This final procession included local politicians, foreign ambassadors, students from local schools and others. Miša Jakobas performed kaddish, a number of speakers spoke indoors and out, and the musical group Klezmer Klangen Vilne performed.

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