Wooden Synagogue in Alanta Renovated
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LJC, International Comminission and Olga Lengyel Institute Holding Holocaust Seminars for Teachers
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LJC Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky Speaks at Commemoration of Grosse
Aktion in Kaunas
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Šiauliai Opens Righteous Gentile Square at the Intersection of Vilniaus and Ežero Streets at Former Ghetto Gates
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"Symphony from Jerusalem of the North” Mark Day of Lithuanian Jewish Victims of Genocide in Presidential Courtyard
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The renovated synagogue in Žiežmariai will become a new cultural center. The first synagogue in appeared sometime between 1690 and 1696. In the 19th century there three synagogues. Not surprising, since the majority of the population were Jewish. This synagogue which has survived and has now been renovated stands in the southern part of town between Vilniaus and Žalgirio streets, with the Strėva river flowing from southeastward from there.
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The Lithuanian Post Office has issued a stamp commemorating 300 years since the birth of the Vilna Gaon
The Lithuanian Post Office has issued a stamp commemorating 300 years since the birth of the Vilna Gaon
with a face value of 0.81 euros, enough to mail letters abroad.
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Lithuania Marks 300th Anniversary of Birth of Vilna Gaon, 2020 Named Year of the Gaon and Litvak History.
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Most important events at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in 2018
Most important events at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in 2018
Revival of Jewish Scouting in Lithuania: The first new Litvak scouting camping trip with children from Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Panevėžys and Molėtai took place August 24 to 26.
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Jewish newspapers and advertisements from Vilnius in the period between the two world wars. Jews and other minorities were given equal rights in the reconstituted Lithuanian state. Yiddish thrived with many newspapers and books published in the language.
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Video from Opening of Exhibit of Interwar Litvak Photographers Mausha Levi and Shimon Bayer

Video from Opening of Exhibit of Interwar Litvak Photographers Mausha Levi and Shimon Bayer

The Maironis Museum of Lithuanian Literature and Faina Borovsky organized an exhibit of the photography of interwar Litvak photographers Mausha Levi and Shimon Bayer which opened July 28 at the museum located at the Old Town Square, Rotušės aikštė no. 13, in Kaunas. The exhibit is part of the Kaunas, Capital of European Culture 2022 program. The video below shows the opening of the exhibit, visited by both Gercas Žakas, chairman of the Kaunas Jewish Community, and Robert Gilchrist, US ambassador to Lithuania.

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Litvak Descendant Jenny Kagan Comes Back to Kaunas: How Can You Live Here When You Know Any Passerby Might Have Beaten Your Father to Death?

Litvak Descendant Jenny Kagan Comes Back to Kaunas: How Can You Live Here When You Know Any Passerby Might Have Beaten Your Father to Death?

Lithuanian state radio and television has published an interview with Jenny Kagan:

As Margarita Štromaitė, born in Kaunas, wrote in her memoirs, her future husband she met in the ghetto, Juozas Kagan and his mother Mira were rescued by Vytautas Rinkevičius’s family: “Regardless of the deadly danger, which threatened his entire family, he set up a hiding place for us in the attic of the forge. It was where the straw was, separated by an imaginary wall.” Twenty years after the Holocaust Margarita met her only surviving relative, her brother Aleksandras Štromas. In 1965 she and Joseph had a daughter, Eugenia. Or Jenny.

Jenny Kagan will be in Kaunas beginning August 4 for the exhibit “From Darkness” which is part of the Kaunas Capital of European Culture 2022 program, which will present her family history in subtle artistic techniques including text and audio, revealing previously unknown pages from the story of Kaunas.

This is also the story of the humanness and light we require to survive as a civilization. The exhibit will be held at Gimnazijos street no. 4 in Kaunas as part of the Histories Festival of the Kaunas Capital of European Culture 2022 program.

Full interview in Lithuanian here.

Panevėžys Jewish Community Celebrates 30th Birthday

Panevėžys Jewish Community Celebrates 30th Birthday

On July 24 members, partners and friends of the Panevėžys Jewish Community gathered to celebrate the organization’s 30th birthday. Chairman Gennady Kofman thanked active members of the community in carrying on Jewish tradition and preserving Jewish heritage and gave special thanks to supporters and partners for their contribution in expanding the Community’s activities.

Community members recalled how the Community was formed and paid respects to its first chairman, the journalist Anatolijus Fainblumas, and others. Sincere words of gratitude went to Righteous Gentile Jonas Markevičius’s son Vidmantas and daughter Janina, who have helped promote the Community as well in the local community. Thanks were given to executive board members Jurijus Grafman and his wife Svetlana. Deep gratitude was expressed for the Lithuanian Jewish Community and its chairwoman Faina Kukliansky.

Chairman Kofman told the 30-year story of the Community. On July 8, 1991, the Panevėžys Jewish Community was officially reconstituted and articles of incorporation filed at the Panevėžys municipality. Goals and duties were set then: “To develop the national consciousness of members, to raise the level of culture and spirituality, to conduct our activities based on exemplary behavior and sincerity, to cooperate with all sorts of democratic organizations and religious confessions,” etc.

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Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:07 P.M. on Friday, July 29, and concludes at 10:36 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

Emannuel Levinas’s Grandson Thinks This Time Best since World War II

Emannuel Levinas’s Grandson Thinks This Time Best since World War II

Although the war in the Ukraine continues, David Hansel, the grandson of French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas with Lithuanian roots, currently visiting Kaunas, thinks things have never been so peaceful as now. He rejects claims of genocide in the Ukraine by either side in the conflict. In an interview with Lithuanian state radio and television, he shared his ideas about the country of Lithuania, where his family members were murdered in the Holocaust. He attended a five-day series of events about his grandfather held in Kaunas by the Emmanuel Levinas Center of the Lithuanian Health Sciences University and by other faculties at that university and a French organization. Although he says he isn’t a philosopher, he felt the duty to protect his grandfather’s legacy. He said he is a practicing Jew, but that it’s based on what he learned from his grandfather.

Full interview in Lithuanian here.

Thank You to Faina Kukliansky

Dear chairwoman,

I am sincerely grateful to be part of the program “Support for Rescuers of Jews during World War II.” I would like to give a big thank you to senior coordinator Ema Jakobienė, social programs department director Michail Segal and to your entire wonderful collective, thanks to whom I am receiving material and financial support.

My parents, Stasė and Pranas Karalevičiai, rescued 19 citizens of Jewish ethnicity during the war. As a six-year-old I also contributed to this honorable activity to the extent that I could. I was awarded the Life-Saver’s Cross which was presented by president Valdas Adamkus.

Respectfully,

Elena Čepanonienė
Semeliškės, Lithuania

Limmud in the Woods 2022

Limmud in the Woods 2022

The annual international Limmud conference will be held August 19 and 20 in the woods of south Estonia. To register, go to the Limmud page here. For more information, check out Limmud’s facebook page here.

Lithuanian Makabi Athletes Happy with Showing at World Maccabiah Games

Lithuanian Makabi Athletes Happy with Showing at World Maccabiah Games

from lrytas.lt

Athletes from the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club have concluded competition at the 21st World Maccabiah Games in Israel which ran from July 12 to July 26 with around 10,000 athletes from over 60 countries. Lithuanian Makabi athletes won 6 medals, making these games among the most successful since Lithuanian Makabi was reconstituted. Table tennis player Gerda Šišanovaitė won a gold medal in singles competition and Ignas Šišanovas took silver also in singles matches. Swimmer Michailas Trusovas is coming home with silver in 50-meter freestyle competition. The youngest member of the delegation, 13-year-old Eduardas Šeras, won silver in heated chess matches in the 16- to 18-year-old category.

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Condolences

With deep sadness we report Jakovas Mendelevskis passed away at the age of 91 on July 26. He had been deported from Lithuania by the Soviets and was a member of the minyan at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius.

Russia Kicks Jewish Agency Out over Alleged Violation of Privacy Laws

Israel will send a delegation to Moscow next week in response to Russia’s escalation on the matter, Times of Israel reported.

Russia’s Justice Ministry filed suit on July 21 officially calling for the Jewish Agency for Israel to be dissolved.

Earlier in July the ministry issued a series of demands to the agency which would be difficult to implement. Jerusalem Post has reported the Russian ministry is alleging that the agency unlawfully collected personal data on Russian citizens, though the Post noted it’s not unusual for organizations like the agency to “collect information about people who apply for aliyah or who participate in their activities.”

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Lithuanian Makabi Athletes Earn Medals at World Maccabiah

Lithuanian Makabi Athletes Earn Medals at World Maccabiah

Congratulations to Rafael Gimelstein who took silver in tennis competitions at the World Maccabiah Games taking place in Israel, and to his proud mother Faina Kukliansky. Congratulations also to Alan Rinkevič who won silver in fencing on the international team along with athletes from France and Sweden, and a hearty congratulations to all our other Lithuanian Makabi athletes and trainers who are making such an excellent showing in so many sports.

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Condolences

Jelena Levina passed away July 19 at the age of 94. She was born in 1927. She was a long-standing member and volunteer. She will be missed by all of us.

Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:19 P.M. on Friday, July 22, and concludes at 10:53 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

Happy Birthday to Gennady Kofman

Happy Birthday to Gennady Kofman

The entire Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman a terrific milestone birthday. He has done so much to collect and share information about the city’s once numerous Jewish community, and always finds the time and energy to meet and help travellers looking for their roots and to teach school children and the wider community about the Holocaust. Mazl tov. Bis 120!

Condolences

Richard Freund passed away in Charlottesville, Virginia, on July 14 due to complications involving a bone-marrow transplant he received 18 years ago. He was 67. Freund was a frequent visitor to Vilnius and a friend of the Lithuanian Jewish Community. Besides annual summer digs at the Great Synagogue site in Vilnius, revealing many new facts and the existence of surviving elements and a few surprises at that site, he also headed the non-invasive investigation of the escape tunnel dug by the brenner kommando at Ponar, Jews who were forced to exhume corpses, burn the flesh and crush the bones, who themselves were slated for death upon completion of their task aimed at hiding Holocaust crimes. The rediscovery of the tunnel was featured in an hour-long documentary by NOVA on the American public television network PBS. Freund also led the effort to map the lost Jewish shtetl of Rumshishok (Rumšiškės) just outside Kaunas flooded in the post-war period to create a hydroelectric generation station, and worked on a number of other Jewish sites in Lithuania. He also used non-invasive techniques to investigate the Warsaw ghetto in 2021.

Freund always found the time in the middle of his work to explain his finds to interested on-lookers, and presented his findings to the Lithuanian Jewish Community in a series of presentations in Vilnius.

We mourn his loss and extend our deepest condolences to his widow Eliane, his three children Eli, Ethan, and Yoni and his many other family members and friends at the University of Hartford and around the world.

Ping-Pong Camp

Ping-Pong Camp

Children and young people are invited to attend a ping-pong day camp from August 1 to August 25 at the Simonas Daukantas pre-gymnasium in Vilnius from from 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. Monday to Friday. The workshop will include intensive training, public tournaments and weekly competitions with prizes. The trainers are Neta and Hen Alon with partners Šimonas Lukša and Rafael Gimelshtein who are currently representing Lithuania at the Maccabiah Games. Professional athletes Maja Bliumin and Urtė and Orinta Ramonaitė will also be participating.

Those wishing to attend may choose 1, 2. 3 or all 4 weeks, or the days they are able to attend. The workshop is open to LJC members and friends and students from Sholem Aleichem school. For more information, contact trainer Hen Alon by telephone at 861375124. To register, send a letter to stalotenisoklubas@yahoo.com