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On Sunday, September 20, 2015, the Lithuanian Jewish Community and YIVO Jewish research institute held a conference at the Lithuanian parliament to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the organization in Vilnius.

The conference was the main component in the YIVO birthday celebrations in Vilnius lasting most of the week.

Starting almost an hour late, LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky welcomed speakers and audience members, followed by former Lithuanian prime minister and current deputy speaker of parliament Gediminas Kirkilas and former parliamentary speaker and current deputy speaker Irena Degutienė, both of whom made significant statements of Lithuanian support for YIVO and Jewish culture in Lithuania.

Dr. Cecile Kuznitz, associate professor of history and director of Jewish studies at Bard College, one of the few if not the only academic whose research centers around the history of YIVO, gave a comprehensive presentation of the founding of YIVO in Vilnius, its early years of existence and briefly touched upon its post-war history, but was cut short because of time constraints. Her presentation included photographs from the YIVO Institute at Vivulskio street No. 18, which became, as she explained, world headquarters before the war. The building was destroyed during World War II and the street numbering changed after the war.

The Holocaust Exhibition of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum has a new exhibit. It’s a scarf. But it’s no ordinary headgear. It belonged to Dita Šperlingienė-Zupavičienė of Kaunas when she was a concentration camp victim at Stutthof and other locations.

On Thursday, September 17, 2015, the new exhibit was unveiled with much fanfare at a public event in room 7 of the museum located at Pamenkalnio street No. 12 in Vilnius. Dainius Junevičius represented the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry and director of the French Institute in Lithuania Frédéric Bellido also attended the event, which began with an introduction by Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum deputy director Kamilė Rupekaitė and two speeches delivered in Lithuanian and translated to English.

Jews have lived in this country from ancient times, but as a closed community, many Lithuanians have little actual contract with Jews and harbor old stereotypes and unfounded myths.

There has been a desire to learn about people from other cultures, to experience their legacy which has survived to this day and to learn what we have in common.

Tour of Towns Preserving Jewish Heritage

Last Sunday, marking European Jewish Culture Day, residents of Kėdainiai and other cities and towns in Lithuania as well as from other countries had the unique opportunity to visit towns in the Kėdainiai region where Jews lived: Josvainiai, Krakės, Dotnuva, Šėta and the city of Kėdainiai. Multicultural Center director Audronė Pečiulytė led the tour and told visitors about the history of the Jews of the area.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community celebrated the 75th anniversary of Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara’s mass rescue of Jews through the issuance of “visas for life” recently. It’s been 75 years since the Japanese diplomat saw the atrocities of the Holocaust in Lithuania with his own eyes and decided to help the Jews by giving them visas providing them the opportunity to flee Lithuania and live. People whose lives were saved by Sugihara were on hand for the event, including Nina Admoni (Israel) and Marsel Weiland (Australia), as were diplomats from the foreign embassies in Vilnius, Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, deputy chairwoman Maša Grodnikienė, Vilnius ORT Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium principal Miša Jakobas, members of the community and Lithuanian rescuers of Jews as well as their family members.

Žana Skudovičienė, one of the organizers of the evening, spoke emotionally and thanked those who risked not just their own lives but those of their loved ones as well to save Jews from extermination. She named some of the names of the rescuers: Irina Ostenko, Gražina Blažienė, Antanas Gasparas, Milda Putnienė, Ričardas Plokšto, Antanas Poniškaitis and Jurgis Beriatskas.