News

German Court Upholds Conviction of 99-Year-Old Nazi Concentration Camp Secretary

German Court Upholds Conviction of 99-Year-Old Nazi Concentration Camp Secretary

BERLIN–Germany’s highest court has upheld the guilty verdict of a 99-year-old woman convicted as an accessory to mass murder at a Nazi concentration camp.

German Jewish leaders applauded the decision announced Tuesday by the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe.

“It is not about putting her behind bars for the rest of her life,” said Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. “It is about a perpetrator having to answer for her actions and acknowledge what happened and what she was involved in.”

Irmgard Furchner was secretary to Paul-Werner Hoppe, the SS commander of the Nazi German concentration camp Stutthof outside Danzig, now Gdansk in Poland. She was convicted in 2022 as accessory to more than 10,000 murders which were committed there during her employment from June 1, 1943, to April 1, 1945. She was also convicted of attempted murder in five cases. Dozens of survivors testified at the trial.

The judges agreed that Furchner through her work knowingly supported the murder of 10,505 prisoners by gassing, by terrible living conditions in the camp, by transfer to the Auschwitz death camp and by forced death marches at the end of the war.

Full article here.

Fun Run Again

Fun Run Again

Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club’s Fun Run is back, this year starting at 11:00 A.M. on September 15 from the stage at Vingis Park in Vilnius. Runners and joggers will have to choose between a 1.5 kilometer and 3 kilometer course.

Prior registration is required. Register here: https://forms.gle/nXE2KMDX9FR5d2k79

There is a fee for contestants, but every participant will receive a special Fun Run t-shirt.

For more information and payment schedules, contact coordinator Daniel Dubrovinas by telephone at +370 68783005 or by email at info.maccabilt@gmail.com. For additional information, you can also click here.

Geršonas Taicas: Researching My Family’s Genealogy Grew into a Passionate Hobby

Geršonas Taicas: Researching My Family’s Genealogy Grew into a Passionate Hobby

interviewed by Katrina Zeiter

On the topic of Litvak history and personalities, one of the Community’s most active members, Geršonas Taicas, always provides interesting facts and facts unknown even to seasoned researchers. Celebrating his 75th birthday this year, his greatest passion is genealogy. Like a fish in its natural element, he dives into the archives, discovering incredible connections which force us to consider history from another perspective, and also helping Litvak descendants scattered around the world find their family roots. A Litvak himself, he can speak for hours on the notable chef and cooking author Fania Lewando, the crooner Daniel Dolskis and former British prime minister Boris Johnson, but in this interview we spoke about the genealogist’s own story which serves as a mirror of a period in Lithuanian Jewish life which fewer and fewer now remember.

What are your first childhood memories?

I was born in Ukmergė [Vilkomir] in 1949 to a family who had been incarcerated as “enemies of the people” at a gulag in Krasnoyarsk in Siberia. My father Alter was an accountant and my mother Masha was a teacher.

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Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday

A very happy birthday to Semionas Filnkelšteinas, the soul, founder and former chairman of the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club as well as member of the executive board of the Lithuanian Jewish Community. We wish you excellent health, time for yourself, the love of those around you and many more years to come. Mazl tov. Bis 120!

Arie Ben-Ari Grodzensky Visits Panevėžys Jewish Community

Arie Ben-Ari Grodzensky Visits Panevėžys Jewish Community

Association of Lithuanian Jews in Israel chairman Arie Ben-Ari Grodzensky visited the Panevėžys Jewish Community last week where he learned about Community activities, met members and viewed archival documents. He noted progress in conserving and commemorating the Litvak heritage in Panevėžys.

Grodzensky was born and raised in Lithuania and also serves on the executive boards of the Goodwill Foundation and the Lithuanian Jewish Community.

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Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 8:30 P.M. on Friday, August 16, and concludes at 9:47 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

Happy Birthday to Maja Moskovina

Happy Birthday to Maja Moskovina

We wish a very happy birthday to Maja Moskovina, a beloved member of the Community, volunteer and medical doctor. The entire Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes you health, continuing energy, continuing curiosity and the warmth of friends and family. Mazl tov. Bis 120!

Makabi Tennis Tourney

Makabi Tennis Tourney

The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club invites you to our annual tennis tournament, to be held from 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. on Sunday, November 24, at the SEB Arena located at Ąžuolyno street no. 3 in Vilnius.

The format depends on the number and skill of those registered.

The tournament will be followed by prizes and a buffet where participants can share their impressions among friends.

Registration is required by November 10 by sending an email to manovilnius99@gmail.com or calling+370 612 81088.

See you there!

Anti-Semitism in France: Can Lithuanian Jews Expect the Same?

Anti-Semitism in France: Can Lithuanian Jews Expect the Same?

by Arkadijus Vinokuras, LRT.lt

The goal of the Islamists and their supporters in Europe is to turn Jewish life in Europe into hell. Does this goal have something to do with Israel? It would be as if Lithuanians living abroad were persecuted for decisions made by Lithuanian politicians.

Meanwhile, an anti-Semitic party has been resurrected in Lithuania led by the anti-Semite Remigijus Žemaitaitis. We must note all of that party’s members who have donned the brown shirt have automatically become anti-Semites because they now the stances of their leader.

Reactions? Yes, we’ve seen them. Whether he was invited or not, he participated at the inauguration of re-elected president Gitanas Nausėda. It seems the president’s advisor, the former right-hand-man of the anti-Semitic and homophobic owner of the Respublika newspaper, performed his dirty work, but more about that later. So while there are no questions about the aims of the Islamists, there are many questions about the goals of the democratic West.

Full text in Lithuanian here.

News from Šiauliai

News from Šiauliai

Members of the Šiauliai Jewish Community and friends from Germany Saturday toured Lithuania’s Kurtuvėnai Regional Park. They took in the visitors’ center, some of the beautiful landscapes, learned about the history of the town of Kurtuvėnai and visited a barn museum at the manor estate there.

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Visitors to Panevėžys

Visitors to Panevėžys

A delegation of directors and students from the Leikund Yeshiva in New York City visited the Panevėžys Jewish Community recently. Most of them were members of the Frank family as well. They were interested in Litvak history and visited some of the mass murder sites. Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman told them about the history of the Jews of Panevėžys and about the Panevėžys Jewish Community’s activities. After visiting the Panevėžys Jewish Community the group went on to tour Jewish sites in Panevėžys including the Jewish cemetery, different locations in the city and Holocaust mass murder sites in the area.

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Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 8:45 P.M. on Friday, August 9, and concludes at 10:06 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

Condolences

In deep sadness we report the death of Borisas Tsveigas. He was born in 1960 and was a beloved member in long standing. The Lithuanian Jewish Community extends our sincere condolences to his wife Vita, his sons and to his many friends and family members.

Commemoration of Sania Kerbelis

Commemoration of Sania Kerbelis

Members and friends of the Šiauliai Jewish Community gathered at the Community building Monday to commemorate the late Sania Kerbelis who served as chairman for many years.

Special guest Rabbi Kalev Krelin provided a simple and enlightened exegesis of Torah as the basis for his eulogy of Sania and reminded those assembled that the best commemoration and compensation of loss is prayer and good works.

Community member Ričardas Pikelis recited his poem in memory of Kerbelis.

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Travel Advisory: Avoid Lebanon

Travel Advisory: Avoid Lebanon

The United States, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany and France issued travel advisories last week and over the weekend advising their citizens and subjects to flee Lebanon. The US went further, saying its citizens should get out immediately by any available means to any available destination. The notifications come during anticipation the Islamic Republic of Iran intends to strike Israel either directly or using its proxy armies in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and Yemen, or from all directions at once. Iranian leaders Friday said at a press conference they would punish Israel and hinted at targeting prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself, in retaliation for the assassination of a Hamas leader in Teheran attributed by Iran to Israel.

News from Šiauliai

News from Šiauliai

Architect Tauras Budzys visited the Šiauliai Jewish Community recently. He’s the person behind the project begun back in 2018 to mark the graves of Righteous Gentiles in Lithuania with a special symbol. He and Šiauliai Jewish Community leaders agreed to hold an exhibit of Lithuanian Righteous Gentiles in Šiauliai in early September. The exhibit was created by Budzys and Barbora Karnienė and features the names, biographical facts and numbers of Jews rescued by 45 Righteous Gentiles in Lithuania.

Samudaripen Commemorated in Lithuania

Samudaripen Commemorated in Lithuania

Samudaripen or Roma Genocide Day was marked August 2 at the Ponar Memorial Complex in Lithuania.

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky was one of the speakers at the event and said:

“Eighty years have passed since the war and we are gathered officially here for only the sixth time. With our whole heart we sympathize with our fellow Roma and feel your tragedy.”

She said the tragedy of the Roma was just as painful as that of the Jews, the difference being pre-Holocaust Jews lived in shtetls and their names, families and significant biographical facts were largely known, whereas we don’t even know the exact number of Roma victims of the Holocaust in Lithuania.

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Call for World Maccabiah Athletes

Call for World Maccabiah Athletes

A year from now the World Maccabiah Games will be held again in Israel. Organizers have asked for lists of contestants, so the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club is asking potential athletes to make themselves known. If you think you might want to be a part of the Lithuanian delegation to the games, register here: https://maccabi.lt/naujienos/pirmieji-pasiruosimo-darbai-2025-makabiadai-izraelyje/

To contact Lithuanian Makabi, click here: www.maccabi.lt.

More information about the World Games is available here: www.maccabi.org.