NCSJ Baltic Trip - September 2002

Lithuania

The Jewish community in Lithuania dates back 600 years, Vilnius having long been a capital of Jewish life and scholarship and an important center of Zionist activity. On the eve of World War II, the Jewish population numbered 250,000.  The over 200 Holocaust-era killing fields in the country attest to the murder of 95 percent of the prewar Jewish population by Nazis and Lithuanian collaborators. The Jewish population of Lithuania today numbers more than 4,000, concentrated in Vilnius, with smaller communities in Kaunas, Klaipeda, Siauliai, and other towns.  

The visit coincided with Lithuania’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, September 23, which was designated as the Day of the Genocide of the Lithuanian Jews following independence in 1990. The day is commemorated annually with state-organized conferences and ceremonies.

This year, the day marked the opening of the international conference “The Holocaust in Lithuania: Aspects of Modern History, Education and Justice.” The event commemorated the liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto on September 23, 1943, and subsequent annihilation of the Vilna Jewish community. The conference was organized by the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania, led by Chairman Emanuelis Zingeris, and Executive Director Ronaldas Racinskas.

Aimed at academia, politicians and society at large, the conference stressed the importance of the search for historical truth and understanding the impact of Lithuania’s history on its society and on its relationship with the Jewish community. Scholars and historians from Israel, the United States and Europe presented their research on the destruction of the Lithuanian Jewish community, Lithuanian collaboration, and Holocaust remembrance and education.

Dr. Simonas Alperavicius addresses Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony at the Paneirai Memorial, outside of Vilnius, Lithuania

Other events included a ceremony at the Paneriai Memorial, just outside of Vilnius, where in 1943 70,000 Jews were murdered.  Lithuanian government officials, community leaders and survivors participated in the commemoration, and the state flag of Lithuania was flown with black ribbons at all official buildings.

Following the conference, the Lithuanian government approved a plan to restore fragments of the historic Jewish quarter in Vilnius.  In conjunction with the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, the Lithuanian and U.S. governments have now signed a Declaration of Cooperation to establish frameworks for the preservation of cultural sites.   Each year, in commemoration of the Memorial Day for Holocaust victims, President Valdas Adamkus confers the Life Saving Cross on Lithuanians who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. Judy and Lesley attended this year’s ceremony at the Presidential Palace. The Lithuanian government has made significant progress in addressing the issues of World War II and the destruction of Lithuanian Jewry. However, community members question how much of this activity and education is reaching the general public. During the conference, Lithuania’s Commission on Nazi and Soviet-era crimes signed an agreement with the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education to train Lithuanian educators.

Commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day at the Paneirai Memorial

Meetings were held with Dr. Simeonas Alperavicius, the Chairman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community (JLC), and Deputy Chairperson Masha Grodnikiene. JLC is an umbrella organization representing all Lithuanian Jews.   Alperavicius and Grodnikiene provided an overview of JLC activities and services, which include American Jewish Joint Distribution (JDC)-funded welfare assistance, the Ezra medical center, Ilan Children’s Club, Union of Lithuanian Jewish students, Jewish cultural club, Fajerlech dance and choral ensemble, and Maccabi sports club.  JLC publishes the multilingual newspaper, Jerusalem of Lithuania (in Lithuanian, Russian, English, and Yiddish). 

The Association of Jewish Religious Communities is an umbrella body for congregations in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipeda, and Plunge. 

Other sponsors of the community include the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, B’nai B’rith International, The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, the American Fund for Latvian and Lithuanian Jews, and the Baltic Jewish Forum. Both Alperavicius and Grodnikiene expressed an interest in finding Jewish communities in the United States with whom they could have a Kehilla partnership.  Discussions were also held with Ivan Glait and Cynthia Gurfinkel, the new JDC representatives to the Baltics, living in Vilnius. 

There is a Habad Lubavitch center that operates a Jewish secondary school.  Under the direction of Rabbi Sholom Krinski, Habad Lubavitch administers Jewish education programs, a social center, and a kosher kitchen in Vilnius. There is also a visiting part-time rabbi from London, and the need was expressed for an additional permanent community rabbi. There is a state Jewish school in Vilnius, named after Sholem Aleichem. 

Judy and Lesley held a discussion with a seniors club whose members consist of the Union of WWII Jewish Veterans and the Union of Former Ghetto and KZ Prisoners. The average age of the members is 80.  They spoke about their pride in being Lithuanian and being part of their particular organization, and of the need to teach Yiddish to Lithuanian Jewish youth. Ms. Grodnikiene would like to find the resources to produce a film about the different WWII organizations active in Vilnius.

The “Law on the Restoration of the Rights of Citizens to the Existing Real Property”, enacted in 1997, provides for the restitution of private property, but only to Lithuanian citizens. Mr. Alperavicius expressed concern about recent discriminatory amendments to the Law on Citizenship, passed by the Lithuanian Seimas in September 2002 that gives priority to ethnic Lithuanians in obtaining dual citizenship.  Currently a state-founded commission is working on the draft of the “Law on the Restitution of Jewish Religious and Communal Property.”

Lesley and Judy visited the Jewish Gaon State Museum, directed by Emanuelis Zingeris. It has a permanent Holocaust exhibit, and a branch of the Museum operates at the Paneriai memorial. 

The Jewish community reports good relations with the government as evidenced by the progress in addressing the issues of WWII and the destruction of Lithuanian Jewry. Lithuanian Jewry is seeking ways to strengthen its Jewish communal structures, provide high-quality Jewish education, combat anti-Semitism, and educate the public about the economic and cultural contributions of Jews throughout Lithuanian history.

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Part II - Latvia