Religion

Lithuanian Jewish Community Appeal on UNESCO Resolution

Lithuanian Jewish Community
Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius

To: His excellency, the minister Linas Linkevičius,
Lithuanian Foreign Ministry

APPEAL

May 2, 2017

Honorable minister,

The Lithuanian Jewish Community and world Jewish organizations please ask you to consider new draft proposals for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO’s) resolution “On Occupied Palestine,” which condemn the State of Israel for “military operations taking the lives of civilian victims in the Gaza Strip” and proclaiming that historical holy sites of the Jewish people, Rachel’s Tomb and the Cave of the Patriarchs, belong to Palestine.

The content of the resolution, in opposition to UNESCO’s mission, displays a specific political tone, is extremely unfair to Israel and serves the interests of only one set of the parties, closing the door on bilateral negotiations between the State of Israel and Palestine. UNESCO is being exploited as a political instrument, exacerbating already strained relations between the states involved.

We ask you please in casting the vote of the Republic of Lithuania at the meeting of the UNESCO executive board to make a decision not opposed to the most progressive democracy in the Near East and the cultural, scientific and educational partner of the Republic of Lithuania.

Respectfully,
Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman

Old Jewish Cemetery in Šeduva Receives Special Mention in Europa Nostra Heritage Protection Awards

Šeduvos žydų kapinių įamžinimą įvertino Europos Komsijos įkurta Europa Nostra!

Work in Šeduva, or more precisely work already completed, hasn’t gone unnoticed by Europa Nostra, the heritage protection organization established by the European Commission.

Europa Nostra under a jury selected by the European Commission awarded the Lost Shtetl Project special mention.

Special mentions in the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Awards 2017 were made public today by Europa Nostra and the European Commission. This year the jury granted special mention to 13 heritage achievements from 11 European countries taking part in the EU Creative Europe program.

Special mention goes to outstanding contributions in the conservation and enhancement of European cultural heritage which are particularly appreciated by the jury but did not make it into the final selection to receive an award.

Old Jewish cemetery in Šeduva, Lithuania

In restoring and maintaining the Jewish cemetery in the town of Šeduva, the local community has succeeded in its efforts to restore, commemorate and respectfully maintain the memory of members of their community who, since the Holocaust, no longer live in the town.

For more information, see:
http://www.europanostra.org/2017-eu-prize-cultural-heritage-europa-nostra-awards-special-mentions/

Lithuania Again Supports Israel in UNESCO Dispute with Palestinians


Israeli ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama-Hacohen draped in Israeli flag speaks at UNESCO HQ in Paris May 2

Vilnius, May 2, BNS–Lithuania Tuesday voted against a UNESCO resolution condemning Israel’s actions in Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip Tuesday. Positions of EU member-states on the issue differ, but a document tabled by Arab member-states of UNESCO passed with a majority of votes. The UNESCO resolution calls Israel an occupational power in Jerusalem, condemns earth-works conducted by Israel in the Old Town there and condemns Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

Members of UNESCO’s executive council voted on the resolution. Lithuania remains a member of the executive body until 2019. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry expressed opposition to attempts to exploit the UNESCO format for political purposes.

“We appreciate the efforts of the authors of the UNESCO resolution ‘Occupied Palestine’ to find compromise. We understand the special significance of the holy sites (of the Old Town of Jerusalem) for the monotheistic religions,” press representative for the Lithuanian foreign minister Rasa Jakilaitienė said in comment sent to BNS.

“We are certain protection of the world cultural heritage in the Palestinian territories and Jerusalem demands the involvement of all the interested parties. We are in favor of balanced actions and the avoidance of politicization. Attempts to exploit the UNESCO format for political purposes could serve to discredit this organization,” the Lithuanian diplomat stated.

Read more

High Accolades from EU for Project to Restore Old Jewish Cemetery in Šeduva

Lithuania was mentioned at the 2017 European Union awards ceremony for cultural heritage protection. The Lost Shtetl Project was one of three restoration projects in Europe to receive honorable mention. The Lost Shtetl Project has restored the old Jewish cemetery in Šeduva, Lithuania.

Jews of Šeduva were interred there until World War II and about 1,300 headstones and fragments were discovered there, following restoration of about 800 grave stones, of which 400 have been identified, the oldest going back to 1812 and the newest 1936.

Full story in Lithuanian here.

Letter to My Son Going to Israel

Friends,

I generally use the Jewish holidays to share ideas and insights on Judaism and philanthropy. But this holiday of Yom Haatzmaut, Israel’s independence day, feels different for me, because my older son is celebrating it there, in a trip to Israel with his school. I never cease to feel gratitude for the undeserved privilege we have of being the first generation in 2,000 years to live with a Jewish sovereign state. I feel also the responsibility that this entails. As my son travels there, I wanted to share with you my words to him.

§§§

My dear son,

You are going to Israel for the first time. Well, it’s not really the first time; you were there with me as a baby, but that was before your toddler memory hit the reset button. So, this is the first time you’ll remember and I wanted to write to you to tell you what this means to me, and to our entire family. Why I’m so moved by this trip of yours, and why grandma’s voice breaks when she talks to you about it.

Remember that I once talked you about a writer called Shay Agnon? He was the first Hebrew writer to win the Nobel Prize. He had an amazing story about the inhabitants of a shtetl in Poland that in the midst of the pogroms find a magic cave that can take them straight to the Land of Israel. The people in that shtetl could have never believed that now, that magic cave exists in the form of a skyway at Newark Airport, and that the secret passage is an aluminum cylinder with wings and a Star of David on its tail.

Read more

Veisiejai Commemorates Jewish Resident and Inventor of Esperanto

At the invitation of his old soccer friends from Veisiejai (Vishai, Vishey), Lithuania–Viesiejai alderman Zenonas Sbaliauskas and true Veisiejai patriot Linas Masys–Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas personally visited this once predominantly-Jewish town. Žakas said he was impressed by how well the town is kept up and by its silence and romance, provided by Lake Ančia, which divides the town into two parts. He was also pleasantly surprised by how seriously the small town takes the commemoration of its one-time resident, Dr. Ludowik Lejzer Zamenhof, the Jewish doctor and linguist who gave birth to the artificial language of Esperanto. The town is also taking excellent care of the Jewish cemetery, although its appearance has changed, and the Jewish homes still standing there, Žakas reported.

Read more

Kaunas Community Marks One Year since Death of Yudel Ronder

A year has passed since the Kaunas Jewish Community lost one of our most senior and most honored members, Yudel Ronder. His memory was honored with a prayer before Sabbath began, and later over dinner many shared their memories of the extraordinary man. Highly intelligent, cultured, warm, sincere and honest, his bright wit and wisdom accompanied him even during grave illness at hospital until the last moment of his life. He was extremely active and interested in a broad range of subjects. He began many projects and activities. Even in the dark Soviet era, he sought out rescuers, told their stories and concerned himself with making sure they were honored and taken care of. He also looked for Holocaust perpetrators and without fear met with them, trying to get inside their consciences and disturb their peaceful sleep. He was one of the first Jews involved in volunteer club activities during the Soviet era, the enthusiastic director of a drama group whose performances attracted scads of viewers. The performances were in Yiddish and he sought out actors fluent in the language. The current chairman of the Kaunas Jewish Community, Gercas Žakas, who knows Yiddish well, was invited to join the troupe and became one of main actors there. Ronder took care of his people and organized welfare for the poor. He made contact with German welfare organizations, earned their highest respect and received funding for material aid for members of the Kaunas Jewish Community.

Originally from Kėdainiai (Keydan), he lost his family and relatives in the Holocaust. He survived by being evacuated to the Soviet Union and served in the 16th Division. Ronder dedicated all his energies and devoted his heart to others. People who had the opportunity to make his acquaintance have never forgotten him and his warm stories about his grandfather. Yudel’s grandson Dovydas remembers them well and he came from Germany especially to mark the one-year anniversary of Yudel’s death. Kristina, the daughter of Yudel’s long-time care-giver Stefa Ancevičienė who became very close to him, also remembers his stories well.

Meeting with Actors from Moscow’s Vakhtangov Academic Theater

In mid-April a meeting with an overflow audience was held at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius to meet the actors of the famous Vakhtangov Academic Theater in Moscow who are performing the play “Nusišypsok mums, Viešpatie!” [Smile upon Us, O Lord] under the direction of Rimas Tuminas. Actors at the meeting included Sergey Makovetsky (playing the character Efraim Dudak), Aleksei Guskov (Shmule-Sender Lazarek), Yevgeniy Kniazev, Viktor Suhorukov (Avner Rosental) Julia Rutberg (Ožkytė) and Viktor Dobronravov (playing Hloyne-Geneh).

Twenty years after its premiere at Vilnius’s Small Theater, the play was performed at the Yevgeniy Vakhtangov Theater in Moscow in 2014, where Tuminas has been director since 2007. The tour of the play in Lithuania this time is dedicated to the late actor Vytautas Šapranauskas, who died in 2013 and was unable to play again the role of Chloinė Genech in Tuminas’s presentation of the drama in Moscow. The play originally performed at the Little Theater on Gedimino prospect in Vilnius travelled around the world, winning numerous awards at drama festivals. In 1995 Tuminas won the title of best Lithuanian director for his direction of the play and the prestigious Kristoforas statue. Drama score composer Faustas Latėnas and Gediminas Girdvainis, who created the character of Avner Rozental, also won the same awards in separate categories.

The new production of the play is also a world traveller and has been seen in New York, Toronto and Tel Aviv.

Read more

Goodwill Foundation Press Conference

Gerosios Valios fondo spaudos konferencijoje

by Paulius Gritėnas, 15min.

A meeting of the executive board of the Goodwill Foundation for Disbursing Compensation for Jewish Religious Community Real Estate met in Vilnius Thursday. The board decided how to use monies allocated by the government to fellow Jewish citizens for losses incurred during the Holocaust. Board chairwoman and Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky said: “Rather sensitive issues were discussed. Issues such as the rebuilding of the Great Synagogue in Vilnius, cemetery protection, Holocaust education.”

“It’s wonderful that the large world Jewish organizations are returning to Lithuania. Many of them have Litvak roots,” Kukliansky noted, pointing to Andrew Baker, director for international Jewish affairs for the American Jewish Committee who also serves as co-chair of the Goodwill Foundation’s executive board.

Baker said the issue of the Great Synagogue was especially important. “Lots of discussions are taking place on what should be at that site, but whatever happens, it must reflect the historical and cultural moment which that site is,” Baker commented.

“I know there are legal arguments which could be employed, we could assert our rights and became the owners of the site. Our board resolved we should go that route,” Baker said.

Full story in Lithuanian here.

Lithuanian and American Jewish Reps: Museum at Palace of Sports Impossible

Vilnius, April 27, BNS–The Palace of Sports, built above old graves in the old Jewish cemetery in the Šnipiškės neighborhood of Vilnius, is not an appropriate place for a museum of Jewish history, according to Lithuanian and American Jewish representatives.

“There’s agreement the Jewish cemetery is not an appropriate site for a museum,” American Jewish Committee representative Andrew Baker, who is a leading executive in a fund for disbursing compensation for Jewish property, told reporters Thursday.

“We believe there should be a kind of presentation of the history of the cemetery and of the people buried there,” he added. Baker is a chairman on the executive board of the Goodwill Foundation which supervises monies paid in compensation for Jewish religious community property. Under a law adopted in 2011 Lithuania is obligated to pay out 37 million euros over ten years in compensation for property seized by totalitarian regimes.

Read more

Old Jewish Cemetery No Place for Jewish Museum

by Laima Žemulienė, ELTA

“Today’s agenda for the meeting of the Goodwill Foundation was connected with Jewish heritage and its use in Lithuania. There are issues, however, which the Goodwill Foundation would like to solve with the Lithuanian Government. These include the rebuilding of the Great Synagogue in Vilnius, a Jewish History Museum in Lithuania, cemetery protection and education, especially Holocaust education. There are issues for which the international Jewish communities can make recommendations, and we are using those recommendations. Many of the people in those communities have Litvak roots. The Goodwill Foundation is in contact not just for allocating monies, but also with international Jewish organizations,” Faina Kukliansky said.

The Great Synagogue which stood on Jewish street in Vilnius was the center of the Jewish community.

“I know there are specific legal considerations which could be used for us to take ownership of that site. Our executive board decided we should go that route. The most important interest for us is how the site will be used, how it will be respected,” Rabbi Andrew Baker said.

Read more

Lithuanian Jewish Community Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky Speaks at March of the Living in Ponar

Today we mark Yom haShoa. Under the laws of the State of Israel, this day marks the national day of the Holocaust and heroism. On this day Israel and the world mark together the victims of the Holocaust as well as the heroes who gave their all in the fight against the Nazis.

I would like to point out Holocaust commemoration, and together the entire history of the Jews, is not limited to the experience of one country, one religion or one people. Israel has been marking this day since 1953, while we here in Lithuania gather now for the tenth time here at Ponar to observe Yom haShoa. The first March of the Living was the initiative of Beit Vilna, of the former ghetto and concentration camp prisoners and the children and grandchildren of Vilna Jews. Beit Vilna is not with us today, but together, Jews around the world are commemorating the victims of the Holocaust. As do members of the executive board of the Goodwill Foundation, most of whom have Litvak roots. Thank you for the bridges of memory you have built, connecting Lithuania, Israel and the world.

Yom haShoa not only reminds us of the mass murder of the Jews at the hands of Lithuanians here, or of the systematic extermination carried out in Nazi Germany, occupied Poland and elsewhere. It also reminds us who we are, Jews, and even that totalitarian extermination mechanism was unable to extinguish our spirits, our faith, our identity.

During the Holocaust there was massive Jewish resistance in the underground organizations, and no less important was the inner battle, for one’s dignity in the face of suffering and death. As we follow in the path of the condemned we also fight here and now, we fight against apathy, against forgetfulness, against ignorance. The Holocaust failed to end Jewish history and the path of Lithuanian Jews towards historical justice continues now in 2017. Many unsolved issues remain. Restitution, Holocaust commemoration, teaching Jewish history at Lithuanian schools, commemorating Righteous Gentiles, condemnation of the murderers, heritage preservation–these are only a few examples which will be remembered in Jewish history, and that of Lithuania in general, back in the 21st century.

Just now yet another generation of students has followed the path taken by 70,000 condemned to death. Young and old, some of whom, Jewish Community members, still remember the Holocaust and who care about passing on the memory of the Holocaust, have taken the same path. I am endlessly grateful to each and all of you.

According to the custom of the State of Israel, I invite you to reflect in a moment of silence on the victims of the Holocaust as the siren sounds.

Goodwill Foundation Press Conference

Media are invited to a press conference following the April 27 meeting of the executive board of the Goodwill Foundation. The press conference will be held at 2:00 P.M. at the Narutis Hotel, Pilies street no. 24, Vilnius. Foundation chairs and other members of the executive board will attend.

Meeting of Executive Board of Goodwill Foundation

Press Release

A meeting of the executive board of the Goodwill Disbursement Foundation for Compensation for Jewish Religious Communal Property, or Goodwill Foundation, will be held April 27, 2017.

The formation of the Goodwill Foundation was an important step for Lithuanian Jews as well as the Lithuanian state, representing the first successful attempt to compensate at least partially the losses of fellow Jewish citizens during the Holocaust. Based on the law adopted, by 2023 the Lithuanian state budget is to transfer 37 million euros in compensation to the Goodwill Foundation to be disbursed for financing Lithuanian Jewish religious, cultural, health-care, athletic, educational and academic projects in Lithuania. The Lithuanian Government annually allocates approximately 3.6 million euros for purposes defined in the law on goodwill compensation. From its inception the Goodwill Foundation has expanded and become an organization striving for the sensible and appropriate use of funding for Lithuania’s Jews.

In 2014 the Goodwill Foundation began financing projects adhering to the prescribed goals laid out in law. Each year the Foundation has disbursed about half of the monies received from the Lithuanian Government, or about 1.6 million euros, setting aside the remainder for future projects. The chairs of the Goodwill Foundation, Rabbi Andrew Baker and Faina Kukliansky, have insured the efficacy of the Foundation’s work, as demonstrated by the conclusion of the 2016 audit by the Lithuanian State Auditor’s Office.

One of the top agenda items for the April 27, 2017, meeting of the executive board of the Goodwill Foundation is executing allocation of annual monetary compensation according to project applications received. The allocation of Goodwill Foundation monies for projects follows established criteria. The Goodwill Foundation’s executive board will also consider issues concerning investment of deferred funds, maintenance and acquisition of buildings in support of the activities of the Jewish communities, preservation of surviving portions of the Great Synagogue of Vilnius, plans for establishing Litvak museums and commemoration of and insuring due respect for the mass murder site at Ponar.

The Goodwill Foundation operates according to legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania and the findings and recommendations of international audit bodies, assuring the appropriate acceptance, assessment and approval of applications and the appropriate administration of the Goodwill Foundation itself. Our hope is the recommendations from the audits conducted will become an important tool helping the Foundation to achieve our goal of becoming an example of best practices for organizations disbursing funds for implementing projects.

Members of the media are invited to a press conference following the meeting of the executive board of the Goodwill Foundation on the ground floor of the Narutis Hotel, Pilies street no. 24, Vilnius, beginning at 2:00 P.M. The chairs and members of the executive board of the Goodwill Foundation will be at the press conference.

Fun Passover Celebration at Šiauliai Jewish Community

On April 15 the Šiauliai Jewish Community celebrated Passover. Community chairman Josif Burštein welcomed participants and Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon and wife were the guests of honor, speaking about the story of Passover and the meaning behind eating matzo.

Lithuanian art critique, theater expert, writer and doctor of liberal arts Markas Petuchauskas also attended with his wife. The evening included performance of Jewish song and dance, provided by the benefactor Vadim Kamrazer.

Thanks go to the Lithuanian Jewish Community’s Social Programs Department and the Goodwill Foundation for making the wonderful holiday possible.

Read more

Silenced Shtetl of Divenishok Speaks Again

by Ieva Elenbergienė

A conversation with Dieveniškės Technological and Business School director Ilona Šedienė

Ilona, tell me about “your” Jews.

Today there are none left alive in Dieveniškės [Divenishok]. The amount of history we revive, that’s the amount we’ll have. The surviving historical material isn’t generous. We only know the center of Dieveniškės was one of many Lithuanian shtetls. In Jewish history a shtetl doesn’t mean just any town, the term is applied to towns where the Jewish population was truly large and was part of the life of the entire town. Most of ours were craftsmen. They also had their own synagogue, but the think was it was at the bottom of the hill so it didn’t stand above the Catholic church.

A significantly lesser amount of information remains about Dieveniškės than, say, Eišiškės [Eyshishok]. For those seeking information, the internet page Jews in Lithuania, zydai.lt, explains all shtetls in Lithuania were more or less similar. There was a customary order to life, a specific rhythm, and they were to a greater or lesser extent the same. Read about other ones and you’ll find they are similar to yours. But authenticity is always wanted… We’ve discovered material from local collectors, we’ve translated a portion of memoirs by Jews, and when we had a bit better picture put together, we staged an exhibit about the life, history and present situation of the Jews of Dieveniškės.

Full story in Lithuanian here.

#AtmintisAtsakomybeAteitis

Project supported by:
evz

Levita Returns to Stage in Kaunas

The group Levita returned to the stage in Kaunas Thursday with a concert at the Punto Jazz venue. Many who came remembered the group’s initial concert in Kaunas in September, 2016. The Kaunas Jewish Community sponsored the free concert then in the run-up to Rosh Hashanah and the lead singer, Vita Levina, is a member of the Kaunas Jewish Community. The group performs songs by her and others in a combined pop-jazz-folk style.

Read more

Zog Nit Keynmol: The Partisan Song Project

Imagine a high school student in 2017, singing a Yiddish song with confidence and understanding. It may seem like an impossible dream, but Eli Rabinowitz is making it a reality.

Rabinowitz, who is ex-South African and resides in Perth, is passionate about Jewish education, genealogy and history. On a recent trip to South Africa, he was asked by Rabbi Craig Kacev (Head of Jewish Life at King David Schools) to address over 1000 students on the meaning of ‘Zog Nit Keynmol’ (‘Never say this is the final road …’) – known as the Partisan Song or the Holocaust Survivors Anthem or Hymn.

The words may be familiar to an older generation as they are often recited at Yom Hashoah ceremonies, but Rabbi Kacev felt that young Jewish students had no understanding of the meaning or inspiration of the song. By teaching them the words and their meaning, a legacy and a link could be created between young Jews and Holocaust survivors.

Indeed, when Eli Rabinowitz presented this to a group of Holocaust survivors in Johannesburg, they were thrilled and very moved. Inspired by their enthusiasm, he decided to encourage organisations and schools around the world to teach the song to students, in the hope that they will perform it at Yom Hashoah ceremonies across the globe on 23/24 April.

Rabinowitz took the initiative one step further in Cape Town, where he hosted a live ‘online classroom’ with six schools. These included Herzlia High School and a range of schools in Lithuania, Moldova and the Ukraine. This technological feat was achieved using ‘Google Hangouts’ and YouTube, with the expertise of Steve Sherman of Living Maths.

Read more

Yom haShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day

Yom Hashoah: Holokausto atminimo diena
Photo: Yom haShoah ceremony at Kiryat Gat, Israel, 1963. Courtesy www.myjewishlearning.com

The full title of this day for the commemoration of Holocaust victims is Yom haShoah ve-laGevurah, or Day of the Holocaust and Heroism. It falls on the 27th day of Nissan on the Jewish calendar, a week after Passover and a week before Yom haZikaron, Israeli soldiers’ memorial day. If Nasan 27 falls on a day next to the Sabbath (it never falls on the Sabbath), then Yom haShoah is shifted a day away from the Sabbath.

In 2017 Yom haShoah is marked on April 24.

The Knesset, or Israeli parliament, chose this day to remember the Holocaust on April 12, 1951, but it is observed by individuals and Jewish communities world-wide.

In the 1950s Holocaust education focused on the suffering and murder of millions of Jews at the hands of the Nazis, but public opinion polls showed the younger generation of Israeli citizens found it hard to identify with the victims because they believed the Jews of Europe had behaved like “lambs led to the slaughter.” Israeli curricula began to shift to emphasize cases where Jews resisted the Nazis, differentiating “passive resistance,” the ability to preserve human dignity under the most insufferable conditions, and “active resistance,” armed struggle against the Nazis in the ghettos and partisan underground activities.

Siren

Beginning in the 1960s air-raid sirens across the state of Israel were sounded for two minutes to stop traffic for a moment of reflection on the victims. The sirens blast at sunset and again at 11 o’clock in the morning of the same day on the Jewish calendar (the day begins at sunset in the Jewish reckoning of time). All radio and television shows that day are connected in one way or another with the topic of the fate of the Jews in World War II, with many interviews of Holocaust survivors. Even music stations adapt their programming for the mood appropriate to Yom haShoah. Entertainment, drama theaters, movie theaters, bars and other public venues are closed across Israel on this day.

Read more

Unique Interior Design of Pakruojas Wooden Synagogue Restored

The administrators of the EEE and Norwegian Grants program and the Optus Optimum restoration group invite you take a look at the interior of the oldest wooden synagogue still standing in Lithuania in Pakruojas. The original paintings from the 19th century on the synagogue ceiling were restored according to surviving photographs and the original wallpaper was restored and recreated as well. Work on the interior is coming to a conclusion and the synagogue will be opened to the public again soon. EEE Grants and the Lithuanian state budget through the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture are carrying out the restoration program.

For more about the project see the Pakruojas Regional Administration webpage here.

More photographs of the restored interior are available here.