Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites

On the Piramónt / Šnipiškės cemetery debate, please see:
DH SECTION: https://defendinghistory.com/category/jewish-cemetery-piramont-snipiskes-shnipishok
BACKGROUND: https://defendinghistory.com/?p=74456
PAPER TRAIL: https://defendinghistory.com/?p=73510
OPPOSITION TO CONVENTION CENTER: https://defendinghistory.com/?p=75558
◊
◊
An early draft of
CULTURAL DICTIONARY OF LITHUANIAN JEWISH GRAVESTONES is posted at:
https://defendinghistory.com/the-language-of-litvak-gravestones-a-dictionary-by-dovid-katz
◊
See the JOSEPH LEVINSON website at:
www.JosephLevinson.com
◊
◊

US Rep of London Rabbis Involved with Vilnius Cemetery Fiasco Boasts of Photo-Ops at the US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad

Posted on 26 August 2015 by Defending History

O P I N I O N

WASHINGTON, DC—The chairman of “Admas Kodesh” today posted on a public Facebook page the following item and images, including an obviously posed photo featuring the chairperson of the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, and Rabbi Andrew Baker of the American Jewish Committee, a close ally of the Lithuanian government and member of its controversial “red-brown commission” that has caused some pain to Holocaust survivors via its support of Baltic “Double Genocide” Holocaust revisionism. “Admas Kodesh” (‘holy earth) is generally used interchangeably for the London-based CPJCE (“Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe”), which is currently involved in a potentially major scandal over alleged payments in return for paid “supervisions” of cemetery desecrations allowed at the old Jewish cemetery in Vilnius. The CPJCE continues to adamantly defend the twenty-five million dollar convention center slated for the middle of the old Jewish cemetery, at a time of virtually unanimous condemnation by rabbis internationally and local people alike. That story was covered in today’s Jerusalem Post.

Posted in "Admas Kodesh", American Jewish Committee (AJC) in Lithuania, CPJCE (London), Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok), United States, US State Dept Manipulated?, USCPAHA (US Commission for Preservation of the American Heritage Abroad) | Tagged Jewish cemetery Sipiskes / Piramont, Lesley Weiss, State Dept + Jewish issues, U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad, USCPAAA, Vilnius Jewish cemetery | Comments Off

A New Yorker’s Open Letter to the Vice President of the European Commission

Posted on 25 August 2015 by Defending History

THE PAPER TRAIL / THE OPPOSITION / DH SECTION / BACKGROUND

Mr. Berel Fried of New York City, an Orthodox Jewish scholar and businessman, has authorized this publication of his letter, sent earlier today to Frans Timmermans, first vice president of the European Commission, regarding plans for a convention center at the old Piramónt (Šnipiškės) Jewish cemetery in Vilnius. He is a frequent visitor to Vilnius, where he is known for his exquisite Torah readings at the Choral Synagogue. The most recent public response from the European Commission is here.

◊

Hon. Frans Timmermans

First Vice President of the European Commission

Posted in Appeals to the European Commission on Piramónt, Berel Fried, CPJCE (London), Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok), Opinion, Politics of Memory | Tagged European Commission + Vilnius Jewish cemetery, Franks Timmermans + Vilnius, Jewish cemetery at Piramont (Snipiskes | Comments Off

London “Graveyard Rabbis” Issue Statement that Fails to Mention Cemetery Convention Center (CCC)

Posted on 23 August 2015 by Defending History

LONDON—The “Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe” (CPJCE), affiliated with “Admas Kodesh” and the “Aaronite” splinter group of Satmar hasidism, comprising the rabbis received by the prime minister of Lithuania in Vilnius last April, issued an extraordinary press release today, full of praise for the prime minister (which he no doubt deserves), but without even mentioning the issue at hand: the imminent construction of a twenty-five million dollar convention center in the heart of the cemetery. People attending conventions, concerts, and congresses naturally cheer, clap, drink in bars and use toilets. Here they will do so surrounded by thousands of Jewish graves from over a half millennium of Jewish life in Vilna, once known as the Jerusalem of Lithuania.

Posted in "Admas Kodesh", CPJCE (London), Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok) | Tagged Admas Kodesh, Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe, CPJCE, Jewish cemetery in Snipiskes / Piramont | Comments Off

Serge Klarsfeld Calls on EU to Desist from “Structural Funds” for the “Cemetery Convention Center” in Vilnius

Posted on 23 August 2015 by Defending History

PARIS—Following publication earlier today of Didier Bertin’s letter (in French) to the president of the European Commission, Holocaust documentarian and Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld added his voice to the growing European chorus asking the Europan Commission’s “structural funds” program to desist from funding a convention center in the heart of Vilnius’s oldest Jewish cemetery. The international opposition has been growing by the day.

Mr. Klarsfeld’s statement, issued in response to publication of Mr. Bertin’s, was released today, with Mr. Klarsfeld’s permission, by the France-based Association for a New Model of Human Rights and Duties.

Nous nous associons à votre protestation et il nous parait inadmissible que des fonds européens puissent soutenir ce projet sacrilège.

— Serge Klarsfeld

In translation:

We join your protest and we consider as unacceptable that EU funds would support a project of such sacrilege.

— Serge Klarsfeld

Posted in Appeals to the European Commission on Piramónt, Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, France, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok) | Comments Off

Didier Bertin’s Letter to the President of the European Commission on the Old Vilnius Jewish Cemetery

Posted on 22 August 2015 by Defending History

Didier Bertin, president of the Association for the Promotion of a New Model of Human Rights and Duties, today sent this letter to the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. The text was released by the Association.

◊

Monsieur Jean-Claude Juncker
Président de la Commission Européenne
president.juncker@ec.europa.eu
Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 200 – 1049 Bruxelles – Belgique

Objet : Profanation du cimetière juif de Vilnius par les autorités lituaniennes utilisant pour cela des fonds de l’Union européenne.
22 Août 2015

Posted in Appeals to the European Commission on Piramónt, Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Didier Bertin, France, Human Rights, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok) | Comments Off

Motke Chabad Weighs In on Vilnius Debate

Posted on 21 August 2015 by Defending History

C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T / L I T V A K H U M O R

by Motke Chabad

◊

Our community has asked me to help them find a new chief rabbi, and to formulate the primary requirements specific to Vilna, as only Motke can. No problem.

◊

OUTSTANDING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

NEW ORTHODOX CHIEF RABBI OF VILNIUS AND LITHUANIA

MAJOR QUALIFICATION:

MUST BE A DEDICATED SUPPORTER OF A $25,000,000 CONVENTION CENTER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OLD JEWISH CEMETERY AND MUST PUT HIS SUPPORT IN WRITING UPON APPLICATION

Posted in Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Humor (Of Sorts), Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Motke Chabad, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok), Opinion, Politics of Memory | Tagged Chief rabbi of Lithuania, Jewish cemetery Snipiskes (Piramont), Litvak humor, Motke Chabad | Comments Off

U.S. Author of Lithuanian Heritage Comments on “Cemetery Convention Center”

Posted on 17 August 2015 by Defending History

O P I N I O N / C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

by Donna Druchunas

◊

Seriously, who wants to go to a convention on top of an old graveyard, Jewish or otherwise, anyway?

◊

Donna Druchunas is a Vermont based author of Lithuanian heritage. Her new book is Lithuanian Knitting: Continuing Traditions.

Posted in Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok) | Tagged Cemetery Congress Center in Vilnius, Cemetery Convention Center in Vilnius, Donna Druchunas, Snipiskes cemetery, Vilnius Jewish cemetery Piramont / Snipiskes | Comments Off

Lithuanian Translation of Professor Pinchos Fridberg’s Times of Israel Article on the Vilnius Jewish Cemetery

Posted on 16 August 2015 by Defending History

O P I N I O N / C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

Pinchos Fridberg

◊

NOTE: The following Lithuanian translation of Professor Pinchos Fridberg’s Yiddish article on the fate of the old Jewish cemetery in Vilnius was prepared by Julius Norwilla. The English version, “Dancing on Jewish Graves in Vilna” appeared in The Times of Israel on 25 June 2015.

Continue reading

Posted in Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok) | Tagged Jewish cemetery Snipiskes (Piramont), Snipiskes --- zydu kapines | Comments Off

Chairperson of Official Lithuanian Jewish Community Issues Statement After Sacking Chief Rabbi

Posted on 15 August 2015 by Defending History

D O C U M E N T S / C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

◊

VILNIUS—Several hours after the Lithuanian Jewish Community’s website announced the effective dismissal of Chief Rabbi Chaim Burshtein (rapidly reported by JTA and in DH), the community chairperson issued the following statement, also on its website, focusing on the debate over the planned $25,000,000 convention center in Vilnius’s oldest Jewish cemetery, a project that has attracted considerable international opposition and press coverage, and has involved both political and financial intrigue. The text follows:

Posted in CPJCE (London), Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Faina Kukliansky, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok) | Comments Off

Lithuania’s Chief Rabbi Fired Days After Public Statement on Old Jewish Cemetery

Posted on 14 August 2015 by Defending History

D O C U M E N T S / C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

◊

VILNIUS—The following report appeared today on the website of the Jewish Community of Lithuania concerning Chief Rabbi Chaim Burshtein, who has held the position since March 2004. It comes several days after his public statement on the old Jewish cemetery, and following other disagreements with community head Faina Kukliansky, who recently posted statements on the subject. Defending History has attempted to provide fair representation to both community leaders (see Burshtein and Kukliansky sections), at a time when editorial policy is staunchly in agreement with the rabbi on the subject of the old Jewish cemetery, with personal malice toward none.

◊

Report by Vilnius Jewish Religious Community on August 14, 2015

We report that today, August 14, 2015, an extraordinary general meeting of the Vilnius Jewish Religious Community was held. The Vilnius Jewish Religious Community resolved that after the current contract with Chaim Burshtein ends, it will not be extended, and that Shmuel Yatom is to perform the function of rabbi temporarily, until a new rabbi is found.

Shmuel Levin
Vilnius Jewish Religious Community

Posted in Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok) | Comments Off

Satmar Grand Rabbi and Rabbinical Court Call on Lithuanian Gov. to Abandon Convention Center in Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery

Posted on 14 August 2015 by Defending History

D O C U M E N T S / C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

◊

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK—The high rabbinical court of the most populous Hasidic group in the world, Satmar, today released to the media the text of its judgment of 6 July 2015 calling on the Lithuanian government to abandon its multimillion dollar convention center project in the heart of Vilna’s old Jewish cemetery. The bilingual text, in rabbinic Hebrew and English, also calls on the American government to exert its influence to save the thousands of graves on the site from further desecration. The document was further signed, with an added note, by Satmar grand rabbi (der Sátmerer Rébe) Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum on 10 July 2015.

“We were horrified to hear that the government of Lithuania intends to renovate an abandoned building in the heart of the ancient cemetery of Vilna, and turn it into a place of assemblage and entertainment; and invest a huge sum of money to make it into an attraction for the masses from their country and worldwide.”

— from the Satmar Rabbinic Court’s ruling

Posted in Appeals to the European Commission on Piramónt, CPJCE (London), Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Documents, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok), Politics of Memory | Tagged Lithuanian-Jewish relations, Piramont (Snipiskes) Jewish cemetery, Satmar-Litvak relations, Vilnius Jewish cemetery | Comments Off

What Does the 27 May 2009 Cable from the US Embassy in Vilnius Tell Us About the CPJCE, Money and Secrecy?

Posted on 14 August 2015 by Defending History

D O C U M E N T S / C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

◊

VILNIUS—The following is the text of a cable sent by the United States ambassador in Vilnius to Washington, on 27 May 2015, concerning the old Jewish cemetery at Piramont (Snipiskes). Though initially confidential, it enetered the public domain via publication by Wikileaks where the document is available at: http://cables.mrkva.eu/cable.php?id=208864.

SEE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT

Posted in "Good Will Foundation" (Jewish Restitution in Lithuania), CPJCE (London), Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok) | Tagged Benzion Shalom Eliezer Freshwater, Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe, CPJCE, Jewish cemetery + Piramont / Snipiskes, Jewish cemetery in Vilnius, Rabbi Herschel Gluck | Comments Off

European Commission Redirects Cemetery Inquiry to Lith. Finance Ministry, Cites CPJCE’S “Close Cooperation”

Posted on 13 August 2015 by Defending History

D O C U M E N T S / C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

VILNIUS—The following is the reply received to an inquiry concerning press reports that European Union funding of 13 million euros (around 14.5 million dollars at current exchange rates) would be sought as part of the new 22.8 million euro (= US 25.4 million dollar) budget for a convention and congress center in the heart of the historic Jewish cemetery at Piramont (Snipiskes). The current debate, entailing reports of high intrigue, has engendered a long paper trail and considerable international opposition to the project. A DH section is dedicated to the topic.

Posted in Appeals to the European Commission on Piramónt, CPJCE (London), Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, EU, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok) | Tagged Alice Richard (EU), Frans Timmermars, Jewish cemetery Piramont, Jewish cemetery Snipiskes, Vilnius Convention Center Project | Comments Off

Lithuania’s Chief Rabbi Cites Evidence that London CPJCE Gets Paid Secretly for “Permissions” to Desecrate Vilnius Jewish Cemetery

Posted on 13 August 2015 by Defending History

VILNIUS—In a new Facebook post today, Lithuania’s official chief rabbi, Rabbi Chaim Burshtein, mentioned a Wikileaks-published cable sent by the United Stated ambassador to Lithuania to Washington in 2009. The cable references the need to supply a $100,000 payment to the London-based CPJCE (Committee for the Protection of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe) for “supervision” of “beautification” and “exploratory digging” at the old cemetery. It notes the rabbis’ request for secrecy about their doings. In the chronology, the cable postdates the unknown arrangements by which the two buildings started in 2005 were allowed to stand, and it predates public mention of future plans for a congress and convention center. Observers have been struck, however, by the disparity between one of the secret agreements reached and the impression given in 2009 to the outside world by press releases that in effect, in return for no further “fuss” over the two buildings on the old cemetery’s land, no more would ever be built on the remainder. It was a “compromise” many could “live with.”

Posted in CPJCE (London), Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok) | Comments Off

Jewish Community Website Posts Response to Jerusalem Post Article on Piramónt

Posted on 13 August 2015 by Defending History

VILNIUS—The website of the Jewish Community of Lithuania today posted an English version of its chairperson’s reply to a Jerusalem Post article of 11 August 2015 by Sam Sokol. The following is the text of the reply reposted in full with no textual changes. For more background from the Defending History perspective, please see the list of publications on the topic to date, DH’s summary of the high political and finance-sector intrigue, a registry of public opposition to the convention center project, and our editor’s open letter to the group of London rabbis invoked in recent debates.

Wiesenthal Center Issues Statement on Old Jewish Cemetery in Vilnius

Posted on 12 August 2015 by Defending History

C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

JERUSALEM—The Simon Wiesenthal Center today released a statement reaffirming its previously reported opposition to plans to place a $25,000,000 convention and congress center on Vilnius’s old Jewish cemetery at Piramónt (in today’s Šnipiškės). International opposition to the project has been mounting in recent weeks. The text was released by Dr. Efraim Zuroff, director of the Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office and head of its East European Affairs division. The text follows:

Posted in Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Efraim Zuroff, Human Rights, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok), Opinion, Politics of Memory | Tagged Jewish cemetery in Vilnius, Piramont cemetery, Snipiskes Jewish cemetery, Vilnius | Comments Off

Translation of the Summer 2015 Call by 12 Litvak Rabbis in the US on Vilnius Jewish Cemetery

Posted on 11 August 2015 by Defending History

The recent rabbinic declaration dated Av 5775 (16 July−15 August 2015) concerning the old Jewish cemetery in Vilnius was released in parallel Hebrew and English texts (and appeared this way in the 30 July 2015 American edition of Hamodia; it was reported on in its 29 July online edition, and in a 30 July DH report). The document is prominently cited in a statement issued earlier today by the office of Lithuania’s chief rabbi.

The English text was in effect a short summary. The following is a draft translation of the original Hebrew text of the proclamation, the image of which follows below.

Posted in Appeals to the European Commission on Piramónt, Christian-Jewish Issues, Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok) | Comments Off

Lithuania’s Chief Rabbi Issues Statement Opposing Convention Center Project at Old Jewish Cemetery

Posted on 11 August 2015 by Defending History

O P I N I O N / D O C U M E N T S / C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

VILNIUS—The office of Rabbi Chaim Burshtein, chief rabbi of Lithuania since 2004, today released to the media the following statement, adding to statements of opposition to the proposed convention center at Piramónt. It follows a contrary statement from the head of the Jewish Community of Lithuania published on its website.

◊

From the Office of the Chief Rabbi of Lithuania

Vilnius, 26 Av 5775 / 11 August 2015

◊
My dear fellow Jews in Lithuania,

A primary task of every Jewish community is to care about old and new Jewish cemeteries. The Vilnius cemetery in Šnipiškės (Shnipishok), long known as Piramont, was purchased by the Jewish community for the full price in 1487, and many thousands of the city’s Jewish citizens paid for their and their loved ones’ plots of burial ground. Among those buried there were many of the greatest of our nation: rabbis, dayanim, teachers, authors of books of rabbinical thought and Jewish learning. In virtue of their achievements, Vilna became the capital of the Jewish world for many generations.

Posted in Chaim Burshtein, Christian-Jewish Issues, Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok), Opinion | Tagged Jewish issues in Vilnius / Lithuania, Piramont cemetery, Snipiskes Jewish cemetery | Comments Off

Chairperson of Lithuanian Jewish Community: Statement on Chief Rabbi and Old Cemetery

Posted on 8 August 2015 by Defending History

VILNIUS—The chairperson of the Jewish Community of Lithuania, Faina Kukliansky, today released the following statement on the community’s website. It is reposted here in full in virtue of its references to the debate over plans for a $25,000,000 convention center project in the heart of the old Jewish cemetery at Piramónt (Šnipiškės) in Vilnius.

Head of LJC Faina Kukliansky on Articles in Foreign Press about Chaim Burshtein

◊

Recently there has appeared in the world press an article and information that a rabbi has been deported from Lithuania and that this event is connected with plans by the Government to construct new buildings in the old Jewish cemetery in Shnipishok (Piramont) in Vilnius. The Lithuania Jewish Community denies these rumors. According to LJC chair Faina Kukliansky, no one has deported Rabbi Chaim Burshtein from Lithuania.

Posted in Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Faina Kukliansky, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok) | Tagged Faina Kukliansky, Jewish cemetery in Spiniskes (Piramont), Vilnius Jewish cemetery | Comments Off

Posted on 8 August 2015 by Defending History

http://www.lzb.lt/en/head-of-ljc-faina-kukliansky-on-articles-in-foreign-press-about-chaim-burshtein/

Posted in Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok) | Comments Off

Dozens of authors & sections. Thousands of posts (& pages). Editor’s papers. Seminars. Contact. Support defending history.

———

Scholars & journalists: When you use DH, please cite DH.

———

Litvak Times

• LYVA: Lithuanian Yiddish videos

• Vilna Jewish mini museum

• Interwar mini museum

• Litvak language atlas

• Towns and cities

• Gaon of Vilna

• Mikháleshik yizkor book

• Contemporary Litvak affairs

• Resource page

• Windows to a Lost Jewish Past

• Seven Kingdoms of the Litvaks

• Work in Litvak Studies

• Kaddish

• SUPPORT PROJECTS

◊

Yiddish

◊

Latest

Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites

O P I N I O N

THE PAPER TRAIL / THE OPPOSITION / DH SECTION / BACKGROUND

◊

Hon. Frans Timmermans

First Vice President of the European Commission

Didier Bertin, president of the Association for the Promotion of a New Model of Human Rights and Duties, today sent this letter to the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. The text was released by the Association.

C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T / L I T V A K H U M O R

by Motke Chabad

OUTSTANDING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

NEW ORTHODOX CHIEF RABBI OF VILNIUS AND LITHUANIA

MAJOR QUALIFICATION:

MUST BE A DEDICATED SUPPORTER OF A $25,000,000 CONVENTION CENTER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OLD JEWISH CEMETERY AND MUST PUT HIS SUPPORT IN WRITING UPON APPLICATION

O P I N I O N / C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

by Donna Druchunas

◊

◊

Donna Druchunas is a Vermont based author of Lithuanian heritage. Her new book is Lithuanian Knitting: Continuing Traditions.

O P I N I O N / C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

◊

NOTE: The following Lithuanian translation of Professor Pinchos Fridberg’s Yiddish article on the fate of the old Jewish cemetery in Vilnius was prepared by Julius Norwilla. The English version, “Dancing on Jewish Graves in Vilna” appeared in The Times of Israel on 25 June 2015.

D O C U M E N T S / C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

◊

D O C U M E N T S / C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

Report by Vilnius Jewish Religious Community on August 14, 2015

D O C U M E N T S / C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

— from the Satmar Rabbinic Court’s ruling

D O C U M E N T S / C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

◊

D O C U M E N T S / C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

O P I N I O N / D O C U M E N T S / C E M E T E R I E S / P I R A M Ó N T

From the Office of the Chief Rabbi of Lithuania

Vilnius, 26 Av 5775 / 11 August 2015

Head of LJC Faina Kukliansky on Articles in Foreign Press about Chaim Burshtein

**Scholars & journalists: When you use DH, please cite DH.**