Our rebirth
The situation after the Nazi occupation was tragic. There were hardly any Jews left in the country. Slowly they began to return from the concentration camps, refugees from the depths of the Soviet Union, the former ghetto prisoners from partisan struggles in the woods. The original Vilnius residents tried to revive the remnants of yiddishkait On July 26,1944 writers Avrom Sutzkever and Shmerke Kacherginski founded a Museum of Jewish Art and Culture, which was officially registered as the Vilnius Jewish Museum in mid-1945. Vilnius and Kaunas established Jewish primary schools, children's homes, and kindergartens. Vilnius' and Kaunas' religious communities — the only form of organization permitted by the Soviet authorities — were formed in 1946. However, in 1949 the government closed the museum, the schools, and the kindergartens. But they didn't succeed in crushing the national consciousness of Jews. When the regime liberalized slightiy after the death of Stalin in 1953, they formed several amateur artist collectives with a Jewish repertoire of songs and theatre in Yiddish. These were the first such collectives in the Soviet Union. They performed in many regions throughout the country and were greeted with great enthusiasm wherever they went. These first attempts to revive Jewish culture and national life proved that love for one's culture, Yiddish language, yiddishkait truly perform miracles, because under the conditions of that time, fostering Jewishness was in fact akin to a miracle.
The Lithuanian national revival movement and initial struggle for liberation from Soviet oppression, which occurred at the end of the 1980s, also provided the conditions for Jewish national rebirth. Jewish cultural support groups began to be formed in many institutions and towns. On August 25, 1988 it was officially decided to create a Lithuanian Jewish Cultural Society, the founding meeting of which took place on March 5, 1989.
With the restoration of Lithuania's Independence on March 11, 1990 the life of Jews underwent essential changes. State's government approved and guaranteed equal rights for all national minorities, including Jews. Resolutions abolishing discrimination against Jews and allowing conditions for the development of Jewish cultural life were passed. The state denounced anti-Semitism. September 23 — the day of the liquidation of the Vilnius Ghetto — was proclaimed as the Day of the Genocide of Jews. On that day flags of mourning are hung, indicating that the state
acknowledges the annihilation of the Jews not only as a tragedy of the nation, but also as a tragedy of the entire country The genocide of the Jews was condemned and sites of mass murder were commemorated. The Jewish State Museum was re-established, and Jewish state school, kindergarten, etc. were formed. Israel always had and continues to have a great influence on Jewish national revival and on the work of the community. The rebirth of the Jewish state brought indescribable joy and inspiration to Jews, dispersed throughout the world for the last 2,000 years. To Lithuania's Jews it gave a new impetus for the national movement. Being the loyal citizens of Lithuania and participating in the creation of an independent and democratic country, we also rejoice and take pride in the great achievements of our historical Jewish homeland, and we grieve for its losses. Together with the people of Israel we joined in mourning the villainous murder of Itzhok Rabin.
The Jewish Community of Lithuania commemorated the 3000* anniversary of Jerusalem, and the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the State of Israel. Our interaction with visitors from Israel — including Chief Rabbi Izrael Meyer Lau, Knesset's speakers Dov Shilanski, Shevach Weiss and Dan Tichon as well as many other eminent cultural, political, and academic personalities — gives us great moral support. The Jewish Community of Lithuania organizes meetings for the members of the community with guests from Israel, and these meetings are truly festive occasions for the Jews of Lithuania.
At the conference on November 17, 1991, a decision was taken to establish the Jewish Community of Lithuania (JCL), which would represent not only cultural interests of Jews, as it had been done by the Lithuanian Jewish Cultural Society, but would take care of all issues related to Jews. According to its statutes, the Community represents all country's Jews, expresses their will, defends their civic, cultural, religious, and property interests, and protects them against any manifestations of anti-Semitism or discrimination. Based on mutual understanding, the JCL fosters good relations with Lithuanians and citizens of other nationalities living in the country. In all possible ways, the JCL supports the continuity and on-going development of Jewish national culture, fostering of national consciousness among Lithuania's Jews, the revival of Yiddish and Hebrew languages, and preservation of Jewish cultural heritage and its monuments. The JCL encourages and motivates further development of Jewish institutions and organizations. It seeks to restore and foster national traditions, and to
organize the observance of Jewish feast days and commemorative events. The JCL is dedicated to the preservation of Jewish cemeteries, and to the perpetuation of the memory of the sites of Jewish struggle, suffering, and death. It encourages the education of Jewish young people at world Jewish cultural and scientific centers, organizes meetings with prominent Lithuanian and foreign scientific, art, and cultural activists, as well as seminars on themes of Jewish national history. The JCL supports the revival of traditional Jewish compassion and charity, and assists community members according to its means.
The structure, guidelines of activities, and working methods of the JCL have clarified and consolidated during the last 10 years of its existence.
The Community has no fixed or formal membership — all Lithuania's Jews are community members and have equal rights. A chairman is elected at the conference, held every three years; Emanuelis Zingeris was the first Chairman of the JCL (then the LJCS), followed by Grigorij Kanovich, and Dr. Simon Arperovitch. All regional members of the JCL vote to elect the Council, which subsequently elects Community's Executive Board. The largest cities - Vilnius, Kaunas, Shiauliai, and Klaipeda - also have their own Communities, with Adolfas Bolotinas, Hercelis Zhakas, Borisas Steinas, and Ana Glushko as their present leaders. There are also seven small regional Communities.
Permanent committees have been formed to co-ordinate the most important spheres of Community's activities: Jewish culture, welfare assistance, putting in order the old Jewish cemeteries and sites of mass murder, youth acitivities, finances, etc.
Vilnius and Kaunas each have a functioning synagogue and there is a small prayer house in Klaipeda. Each of the above cities have very small Orthodox religious communities with a fixed membership (17 in Vilnius, 38 in Kaunas, and 21 in Klaipeda). Chabad Lubavich rabbi Sholom Ber Krinski now resides in Vilnius. In 1999 the religious Chabad Lubavich Community has been registered in Vilnius. The Community set up a kindergarten, school, and yeshiva. Chabad Iiubavich organizes the celebration of religious holidays, carries on charitable work.
The traditional Hassidic religious Community has been registered in Kaunas.
State's authorities create conditions for developing Jewish culture
In its attempts to foster the democratic and humanistic ideals, the government of independent Lithuania is quite concerned with nurturing Jewish culture, and contributes to the financing of certain sectors. Vilnius has a state secondary Jewish school named after the great Yiddish waiter Sholom Aleichem (director Michail Jakob). Nearly 200 children attend the school. General subjects are taught in the same manner as in all public schools, and in addition there are Judaic subjects — the Torah, Jewish traditions, Hebrew language, Jewish history. The Israeli Ministry of Culture and Education, and the Israeli Embassy to the Baltic States are involved in the work of the school; there are always 2-3 teachers from Israel. The school receives financial support from the American Joint Distribution Committee and from the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation. Kaunas, Siauliai, and Klaipeda have Sunday schools, and Vilnius has a Jewish kindergarten.
The Vilnius Gaon Jewish State Museum (director — Emanuelis Zingeris) is an important Jewish cultural institution. Many people visit its permanent Holocaust exposition; a branch of the Museum operates at the Paneriai memorial. Museum's staff have prepared and published quite a number of very valuable books — a large volume "Jewish Museum", the proceedings of the Conference "Days of Memory", a guide to Jewish Vilnius, a book about the sites of the mass murder, lists of Vilnius Ghetto prisoners, etc. The Museum has done a lot of work in finding people who helped the Jews during the years of the Nazi occupation. A Gallery of the World Righteous has been established, and a series of books about the rescuers published. The Museum also has a Library Judaica publications. A large new exposition is currently being prepared in the recently renovated building.
In 1993 a Center for Judaic Studies was established at the Vilnius University. Recently it has been reorganized in the Program for Judaic Studies at the Center for Stateless Cultures. Students are offered lectures on Jewish history, culture, philosophy, Biblical Hebrew, history of Lithuanian Jews in the 20th century, Holocaust, Yiddish language, introduction to Yiddish literature, culture of Lithuanian Jewry etc. Well known Judaica experts from Moscow and St. Petersburg universities in are invited to lecture. Center organizes academic conferences. Although lectures are not compulsory, they are well attended by students from various University faculties.
For ages Lithuania was famous for both its Jewish publishers and the great wealth of Judaic publications available at the Strashun, YTVO, Mefitzei haskala and other libraries, synagogues, and yeshibot. The Nazis either destroyed, or took many of the most valuable books to Germany Many books and newspapers were also hauled away to paper factories during Stalin rule. There were, however, enlightened people, such as Prof. V Birzhishka, librarian A. Ulpis, ghetto prisoners — who managed to save quite a number of publications. These are now kept in the Judaic Department (head —Esfir Bramson) at the National M.Mazhvydas Library. There are some very unique items among the more than 50,000 books here. These books are of interest both to world scholars, and to various world Jewish organizations, once owners of these volumes, who would like to have them back. The Torah scrolls deposited at the Library are also subject of a heated debate.
The national and municipal authorities provided significant support in putting in order the cemeteries and sites of mass murder. Both were completely neglected during the Soviet period — the authorities didn't bother, and there were no Jews in the small towns. The old Jewish cemetery, where the Vilnius Gaon and many other famous people had been buried, was liquidated. A stadium was built in its place, and the tomb stones were used for various building purposes, including steps leading to the Tauro Hill. Thousands of people used to trample on those monuments (maceivas) every single day!
Cemeteries have been put in order during the independence years. JCL executive member Joseph Levinson and other activists did a great job to find the sites of killings. It is gratifying to know that quite a number of local residents, including teachers and their pupils, joined
JCL's representatives in this noble work. Currently, nearly 200 sites of mass murder have been put in order; they have been described and photographed in J. Levinson's "Book of Sorrow" (published by the Jewish Museum). The maceivas have been removed from the Tauro Hill and other places, and are stored in a special warehouse, awaiting a decision regarding their fate.
Preparations for the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the death of the Vilnius Gaon resulted in important changes related to the Vilnius Jewish cemetery, including the construction of a ritual house, a fence, etc. State contributed a great deal to this work.
Unfortunately there are also a fair number of unsolved problems. So far the former Uzhupis Jewish cemetery in Vilnius and the Zhaliakalnis cemetery in Kaunas have been completely abandoned. Another actual problem is the fate of the surviving synagogues in the small towns. During the Soviet regime many of them were used as warehouses, factories, etc. The majority of synagogues has now been totally neglected and is in a state of collapse, even though there are architecturally valuable monuments among them. The JCL has absolutely no means for preserving this legacy of Jewish culture.
A small but thriving community
As of today there are approximately 5,000 Jews living in Lithuania. Most of them are pensioners and very old people. Although they all suffer from daily financial hardships, their concerns also include spiritual affairs. National feeling, interest in and the need to preserve yiddishkait are very strong. Once upon a time, when there were many Jews in Lithuania, Jewish culture and the national consciousness developed naturally, under the influence of the environment. Now, when there is only a handful of Jews left, when there is no Jewish atmosphere, attempts to preserve national identity and Jewish culture require all possible support. Opportunities must be created for Jews to interact not only with Lithuanian and other cultures, but with their own culture, too. People should become acquainted with the wealth of Jewish heritage in general, and with Lithuanian Jewish legacy in particular. It is especially important to do so, since for many decades this legacy has been ignored and devastated. It is crucial to preserve what is still remaining. It is our responsibility not only to the Jewry of Lithuania (and to Lithuania in general, for Jewish culture is a part of Lithuania's culture) but to world Jewry too, for the loss of the Jewish culture of Lithuania, of Vilnius, would be a great deprivation for the rest of the world. And finally, we are prompted to protect yiddishkait and Jewish culture in Lithuania by our responsibility to the victims of the Holocaust, who had created this culture. At the same time, it is our response to those who wanted to erase all traces of Jews in this country. Therefore the fostering of our culture, and the preservation of our great heritage is one of the main priorities of the work of the JCL.
JCL's activities are very diverse, we use all available opportunities. The Community publishes a newspaper entitled "Jerusalem of Lithuania" in four languages —Yiddish, Lithuanian, Russian, and English. Unfortunately, due to serious financial difficulties the newspaper is published once in three months.
In addition to the newspaper, there is also other Jewish media: a TV program "Menorah" shown every 2 weeks and a radio program for Jewish audience.
Vilnius has a children's and youth club "Ilan" (headed by — Masha Grodnik and Irina Dolgunova), which organizes recreational activities, traditional holidays, and summer and winter camps that had been attended by pedagogues and youth workers from the USA and Israel. In the course of 10 years "Ilan" trained its own youth leaders — madrichim from among the members of the club.
There is a Jewish cultural club, designed mostly for the intellectuals (head Prof. Markas Petuchauskas). The Club focuses on Jewish and Lithuanian cultural interaction. Not only Jewish intellectuals but also many Lithuanians and Russians attend club's events, which often include lectures by Lithuania's most prominent cultural personalities.
The senior citizens' club "Abi men zet zich" (led by Bella Efron and Zhana Skudovitchiene) operates according to people's interests. People come here 4 times a week to see films, read newspaper, play chess, or simply meet over a cup of tea or coffee. Members of the Club organized a choir, whose performances lift up audience's spirit.
Every week since 1990 the Community has been holding a Jewish history and culture lecture series (leaders — Frida Zimaniene and Dr. Izraelis Lempertas). These events are well attended by the elderly people, who come not only to listen to lectures by eminent scholars and public personalities, and to the concerts, which often conclude the meetings, but also to be in a Jewish environment, communicate in Yiddish.
It happens that even now; after the Catastrophe, we have a wealth of artistic talents. Composer Anatolijus Senderovas has received the highest Lithuanian National Award for his works on Judaic themes. "Jerusalem of Lithuania", a highly professional instrumental group (headed by Borisas Traubas), "Fajerlech", a professional dance and song ensemble and amateur children's group (led by Larisa Vyshniauskiene) are known not only in Lithuania. Young soloist Liora Grodnikaite often performs Jewish songs for the Lithuanian public as well as for visitors from abroad. Artists in Lithuania include Adomas, Jokubas and Aleksandra Jacovskis, Adasa Skliurauskaite, Izabela Bindler, Mina Babianskiene, Michail Percov, Solomon Teitelbaum and others. A self-educated folk artist Jakovas Bunka lives and creates in a small town of Plunge. His wooden sculptures reflect the interaction of Jewish and Lithuanian folk art traditions.
The Community is a venue for a variety of organizations. The largest one — the Organization of Fighters against Nazism during the Second World War — has approximately 300 members (head — Eliya Levit). In spite of their age (the youngest are all over 75), they are active participants in JCL's events not only in Vilnius, but also in Kaunas and Klaipeda.
Of a similar age are the former ghetto prisoners, who also have their own organization, with approximately 150 members (leader — Tobias Jafet). Social assistance is an important part of their work.
The small B'nai B'rith organization (President — Oleg Dolgunov) has wide international contacts. Organization's center in USA initiated a series of seminars on the Holocaust for Lithuania's secondary school teachers-historians. The problem of the genocide of Jews is a critical one in Lithuania, and controversy about this topic reaches acute levels from time to time, so these seminars, which have been going on for several years now, are very important. The US B'nai B'rith financed the translation and publication in Lithuanian of the Diary of Anne Frank, which had never been published in this country before. The book was donated to all Lithuanian schools. An international B'nei B'rith seminar took place in Vilnius in May 1998, with the participation of its
representatives from Great Britain, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Russia, and elsewhere.
Other organizations include the student "Beitar" group, Jewish scientists' and intellectuals' union "Vilnor" (headed by Professor Grigorij Rozovskij), "Makabi" sport organization (head Semion Finkelstein), Jewish physicians' union (led by Dr. David Schupak), women's "WIZO" organization (head Rachile Kostanian), Kortchak children's center (head Irma Beliene), and others. Currently we are in the process of creating a Communal Center.
The Community and its branches are continually organizing various events, which receive extensive acknowledgement not only among Jewish population, but also throughout the entire country, and often far beyond its borders. Our traditional holidays — Pesach, Purim, Sukkoth, Chanukah, Rosh-ha-Shana, and others are widely celebrated.
The Day of the Genocide is commemorated on September 23. On this day various events are organized, including lectures, exhibitions, and most importantly the commemoration ceremony at the Paneriai (Ponar) memorial attended by representatives of the Jewish Community, as well as Government officials and ambassadors.
Studies of our cultural heritage are especially important for fostering yiddishkait. Although there are hardly any Jewish Judaica experts left in Lithuania, we still periodically organize academic conferences. It is very significant that Lithuanian academics are becoming increasingly interested in Judaic studies. They not only actively participate in the conferences that we arrange, but also organize similar sorts of symposiums and write articles in the press. Three of country's universities (Vilnius University, Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, and Vilnius Pedagogical University) offer courses on the history of the Jewish nation. Klaipeda University has a distinctively high academic level Judaic studies' program. A lot of students in various high schools write their theses and course works on Jewish topics. Some secondary schools are presenting special classes on the history of Lithuania's Jews, and the Holocaust in particular.
After more than 50 years, in 1991, the first Judaic scientific conference "Lithuanian Jewish education and culture before the Catastrophe" took place in Vilnius. Thirty-one presentations, including 11 by academics from Israel, USA, Russia, Poland, and Great Britain were given during the conference. Conference proceedings have been published as a separate book. Another large international conference dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilnius Ghetto took place in 1993. Twelve of 26 lecturers came from Israel, Russia, France, and Holland. Proceedings from this conference are presented in the book "Days of Memory" in Lithuanian and English. Two important international conferences were held in 1997: one was dedicated to the genocide, and included open-minded discussions about Lithuanian and Jewish relations; the second, entitled "The Gaon of Vilnius and the Annals of Jewish Culture" was organized during the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the death of the Gaon of Vilna. There were forty presentations in different sessions during the conference. Speakers, including quite a number of world-famous scholars, came to Vilnius from 9 different countries. Conference's presentations have been published in 2 separate books, in Lithuanian and English. A large festival dedicated to the commemoration of the unique Vilnius Ghetto theatre, formed in 1942, took place in 1997. The main event was held in the same hall where, under the unfathomable conditions of those days, people selflessly worked, striving to help the ghetto prisoners to preserve their human dignity, and performed until they were taken away to be killed in Paneriai.
Huge scale events in September 1997 were dedicated to our great countryman, the Gaon of Vilnius. For 50 years of Soviet rule there was no mentioning of the Gaon, and even the name of the street in his honor had been changed. In an attempt to revive the memory of this great man — a symbol of Jewish spirit - the Community, with the assistance of the Lithuanian government, sought to organize an exceptionally significant commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Gaon's death. One could say that during the entire week of the events, Lithuania lived in the spirit of Jewish culture. The commemoration was granted the patronage of UNESCO's Director General Federico Mayor, and received a letter of greeting from Pope John Paul II.
In 2001 the world celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of the genius violinist, often called the King of the Violin, Jasha Heifetz. On this occasion, Vilnius — the city of Heifetz's childhood and youth, organized various events — a large concert in Vilnius Town Hall with participation of one of the most famous Heifetz's students Pierre Amoyal, a series of concerts dedicated to the memory of the great violinist at the National Philharmonic, an unveiling of a plaque on the building of the former Music school attended by Heifetz, openings of various exhibitions. The "Jerusalem of Lithuania" published newspaper's special edition about the violinist and his creativity.
An international Yiddish summer school-seminar, initiated by prominent Yiddish language and literature expert Professor Dovid Katz, was launched in Vilnius in 1998. Approximately 70 people of various ages come from many countries to learn and improve their Yiddish. It is very gratifying to hear Yiddish being spoken in the University halls, especially as it had seemed that this language was nearly annihilated. The Vilnius Program in Yiddish is becoming a good tradition and makes a significant contribution to the reviving of the Yiddish language in Vilnius — one of the most significant historical centers of Yiddish culture. We are also looking with hope at the newly
established Vilnius Yiddish Institute, whose initiator and director is Menachem Cahan.
We have mentioned here only several of the more important events in our community, as it is impossible to name all of them. They are just a small portion of the effort made by the JCL in striving to revive and preserve yiddishkait. We are all greatly pleased that our endeavors bring desired results. For instance, at one of the recent Community events, world famous trumpeter Professor Timofej Dokshitser, who settled in Vilnius a few years ago, said: "I'm Jewish, but I've lived all my life in Moscow, among Russians; my language is Russian, my culture is Russian. I never felt like a Jew. Only here, in Vilnius, among you-, did I perceive myself as a Jew. And I feel proud to be Jewish."
Many guests from abroad visit our Community. Some of them are litvaks who come to Lithuania motivated by nostalgia and a desire to be near the graves of their families. But many who come do not have roots in Lithuania. They want to pay tribute to our great past and they leave with great respect for our present day Community. Many express that openly. Necham Dagan, former Israeli general and a head of a large Jewish mission to Lithuania noted: "Although the Jewish community of Lithuania is unfortunately a small one, it is very active and concerned about its cultural heritage. We were charmed by the professionalism of the art bands that we saw and their unique ability to carry on national traditions. We are convinced that support provided to this Community is in good hands, and that there should be more of it. Our visit to Lithuania has been the most significant and inspiring of all of our missions to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe." In his greetings to the JCL on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of revival, Oded Ben-Hur, Israeli Ambassador to the Baltic countries, wrote: "The unique history of Lithuanian Jews and the cultural and spiritual heritage of "Jerusalem of Lithuania" in the past, as well as the numerous cultural activities organized by the Community and other organizations provide a proof (if there was any need for it) that yours is a giving Community in spirit of the best traditions of glorious Jewish communities. Historically and now, you participate unceasingly, and contribute a great deal to the cultural, economic, and social life of Lithuania, while at the same time preserving your spiritual uniqueness."
Community's welfare work
Lithuania is undergoing very complex economic processes — a transformation to a free market economy. Great difficulties are accompanying this. In the first place they befall the less well off, and elderly people. The JCL has recently carried out the questioning of more than 2000 Lithuanian Jews. 198 were over 80, 517 were 71-80, and 700 were 55-70. 170 respondents were former ghetto prisoners, and 400 had 1st and 2nd group invalidity. The majority were pensioners with no other source of income — the average pension in Lithuania is approximately $75US. Whatever savings people had accumulated during their working years were lost. The greater portion of their income goes to utilities, which have become very expensive. Therefore the most difficult problem is how to help the people of the community to survive.
The Community has established a Welfare center (headed by Sulamita Lev), where nearly all of the workers are volunteers. With international support, the center tries to help people. More than 100 residents of Vilnius and elsewhere receive free lunches. Hospitalized and disabled people receive assistance; lunches are brought to those who are unable to leave their homes. They also receive other forms of aid — housecleaning, laundry, etc. A portion of the pensioners get bi-monthly financial assistance, and all of them receive food packages, as well as free Matzofh for Pesach. Every once in a while charity parcels arrive from Sweden and from Great Britain; these are distributed among all members of the community.
Vilnius has a consultative medical center called "EZRA" with qualified volunteer specialists — therapists, surgeons, cardiologists, endocrinologist, neuropathologist, etc. (head — Ninel Efros). Along with consultations, patients also receive free medication, which comes from Jewish charitable organizations in various countries. This is very important because medicine has become very expensive in the past years, and pensioners usually cannot afford it.
All of this support would be impossible without active assistance from the American Joint Distribution Committee, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Baltic Jewish Forum, Margol family fund in USA, and other organizations, as well as private donors. Without their help many community members would be doomed to live in starvation. The Community- is very grateful for this selfless support (there are even donors who, according to Jewish tradition, wish to remain anonymous). We also have several benefactors in Lithuania, but their resources are limited.
A tenacious anti-Semitism
Times have varied during the six and a half centuries of Jewish life in Lithuania — some better, some worse but in general Jews and Lithuanians got along well. All Jewish historians emphasize that Jews had more favorable conditions in Lithuania than in other Eastern and Central European coun-tries. Some periods, for example during the reign of Vytautas the Great or during the first years of Lithuania's Independence, are described in historiography as being a kind of golden age. But during the Nazi occupa-tion in 1941-1944 the Nazis and their local collaborators, whom people contemptuously called Jew-shooters, killed more than 90% of Lithuania's Jews, more than in any other occupied country. Of course, one cannot claim that Lithuania is a country of Jew-shooters. The blame of debased murderers, no matter how many, and how vile their crimes, cannot be heaped upon an entire nation. One needs to remember that there were quite a number of people who, despite the mortal danger, helped the Jews. In that respect, Lithuania had more survivors than Lama or Estonia. Still, it also cannot be claimed that the Lithuanian nation, or at least its intelligentsia, have experienced any sort of catharsis because of the Catastrophe. There are still, even among those who consider themselves intellectuals, people who
try by all means possible to justify the killings. Reiterated to this day is the absurd double genocide or symmetry "theory" — that Lithuanians killed Jews because the latter had ostensibly killed Lithuanians. When in 1995 President Algirdas Brazauskas apologized at the Israeli Knesset for the murderers' bloody crimes against the Jewish nation, there weren't many people in Lithuania who approved such apology; the reaction of a great many, at least in the press, was angrily negative.
Anti-Semitism is tenacious. Irrespective of the laws prohibiting the instigation of discord among nations, from time to time slogans, graffiti, swastikas appear on Jewish organization buildings and monuments, and vandals desecrate gravesites and tear down maceivas. Anti-Semitic articles and statements are published in certain newspapers and are heard on television. There are organizations, even political parties, which proclaim a veiled, or sometimes even an overt anti-Semitism. In spite of well-known Lithuanian intellectuals, writers, publicists, as well as politicians who denounce anti-Semitism and speak in favor of tolerance, these manifes-tations do not cease, and sometimes they intensify
The JCL tries to respond to such actions by publishing articles in the press, appealing to the government, and taking part in discussions. Attempts are being made to strengthen ties with the Lithuanian intelligentsia: they are invited to events organized by the Community, especially by the Cultural club. Attempts are also made to acquaint the general public with the history and culture of Lithuania's Jews, and with their contribution to the development of Lithuanian sovereignty, its economy and culture. Of significant importance in this context is the recently published book "The Way of Lithuania's Jews", written by Dr. Solomonas Atamukas, former Vilnius historian now living in Israel. This is the only book in Lithuanian, which presents a comprehensive history of Lithuania's Jews from the 14th century up to the present time. The JCL contributed to the publication of this work.
We welcome the intensifying interest in Jewish issues shown by the Catholic church. For many years it has bee silent, however, now, especially after the publication of a Vatican document "We remember. Reflections on the Shoah", the Church has made some important steps in this regard. On April 14, 2000, the Day of Repentance and Apology the bishops of Lithuania issued a letter, which said: "We regret, that during the Second World War some of Church's children lacked love for the prosecuted Jews, did not use all possible means to protect them, and especially that they lacked determination to influence those who collaborated with the Nazis. The memory of the Church is burdened with all past anti-Semitic manifestations, that even today are being instigated by people who lack responsibility and Christian love."
Great hope lies with the young generation, and the JCL is involved in making sure that school textbooks present correct information about the history of Lithuania's Jews, and the Holocaust in particular. Seminars are organized for history teachers together with the Ministry of Education, and other scientific and training institutions. This work will truly prove fruitful in the years to come.
The Jewish community of Lithuania is not large, but it is a vital and dynamic. We are full of hope that we will succeed in preserving the Jewish culture and yiddishkait in Lithuania. And we believe that world Jewry and international Jewish organizations should take an active role in guaranteeing that a culture with such a noble past should not be pushed into oblivion, that it should not be relegated to simply a memory shrouded in nostalgia. We believe, an important role in this regard will play the First World Litvak Congress, to be held in Auggust, 2001. We would like to recall the words that Max Weinreich, former head of the YIVO Institute, said in New York in 1965: "It is no exaggeration: the fate of world Jewry depends on the scale to which the Jews of Jerusalem, Moscow, Buenos Aires and most importantly New York, imbue the spirit of Jerusalem of Lithuania."
Yiddishkait in Lithuania must be preserved.
Source: Dr. S. Alperavitch, Dr. I. Lempert. "THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF LITHUANIA " 2001. |
