Summer and Fall 2016: 75th Anniversary

of the Nazis’ annihilation, with vast local collaboration, of Lithuania’s Jews in the towns, villages, provinces; implementation of ghettoization and mass murder in the cities.

Perhaps among the simplest, most minimalist measures of a municipality’s sincerity (beyond PR bonanzas, photo-ops and legitimizations via useful foreigners): (a) Modest town-center information board on the origins, history, culture, contributions and (true) fate of the town’s Jewish citizens; (b) Rapid removal of any local shrines, street names, museum tributes etc. to the local collaborators and murderers. “You just can’t make heroes out of the killers and expect to cover it up with some annual PR event for the foreigners.”

Language and respect for the victims: In addition to Lithuanian and English, will new memorial texts (including those at forest mass graves and old cemeteries) continue to include Yiddish, the language of 100% of the murdered Jews in all these towns? For many years, Lithuania has had a uniquely admirable record in this regard.

SEE SECTION ON COMMEMORATIONS FOR DESTROYED COMMUNITIES;  HOLOCAUST MAP.

For information on the Jewish history and culture of each of the towns, see the relevant entry in the late Berl Kagan’s concise Yiddish encyclopedia. A full Lithuanian translation is to be published by Vilnius’s Jewish Cultural and Information Center.

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AMONG THE SEASON’S EVENTS IN LITHUANIA:

26 August Commemoration in Dusát (Dusetos) for Annihilated Jewish Communities of the Zarasai Region

Zarasai was known more  formally in Yiddish as Nay-Aleksánder (cf. pre World War I Russian name, Novo-Aleksandrovsk), but informally, it was lovingly called Sénderke (see map).

28 August Commemoration of the Annihilation of the Jewish citizens of the shtetl Birzh (Biržai)

29 August Commemoration of the Annihilation of the Jewish citizens of the shtetl Malát (Moletai)

RELATED: THE TOWN IS NOW PROPOSING TO NAME A STREET IN MEMORY OF ONE OF THE LOCAL HOLOCAUST PERPETRATORS…

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE & COMMENT

29 August Shavl (Šiauliai) Inauguration of Stolpersteine (Memory Stones)

RELATED: WILL THE MUNICIPALITY REMOVE PLAQUES AND MEMORIALS FOR A MAJOR HOLOCAUST COLLABORATOR?

30 August Vilnius Inauguration of Stolpersteine

30 August Commemoration of the Annihilation of the Jewish citizens of the shtetl Shádov (Šeduva)

QUESTION: IS IT CULTURALLY SENSITIVE AND APPROPRIATE FOR THE WIPED-OUT JEWISH COMMUNITY TO BE REMEMBERED BY MASS IN CHURCH FOLLOWED BY  “YIDDISH SONGS IN THE CHURCH” (SEE: 12:45 TO 14:15)?  WILL RABBIS BE INVITED TO ALSO LEAD A JEWISH MEMORIAL SERVICE? IS THE EVENT POLITICIZED BY FOREIGN MINISTRY INVOLVEMENT?

SHOULD FOREIGN MINISTRIES BE MEDDLING IN HOLOCAUST HISTORY FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES?  SEE ALSO SECTION ON COMMEMORATIONS

4 Sept. Commemoration of the Annihilation of the Jewish citizens of Vilkomir (Ukmergė)

WILL THERE BE REQUESTS FOR THE REMOVAL OF A MONUMENT AND NAME OF A TOWN SQUARE FOR A HOLOCAUST COLLABORATOR?

20-28 Sept. Series of official events related to the Holocaust in Lithuania

RELATED: PEOPLE CAN FEEL FREE TO RESPECTFULLY CONTACT THE VILNIUS MAYOR’S OFFICE ON PAINFUL CURRENT ISSUES; THESE INCLUDE CITY-CENTER STREETS NAMED FOR COLLABORATORS AND ONGOING PLANS FOR A CONGRESS CENTER SURROUNDED BY THOUSANDS OF VILNA JEWISH GRAVES; THE MAYOR’S “JEWISH CHALLENGES” OVER THE YEARS