OPINION | VILNIUS JEWISH LIFE | MEDIA WATCH | GOOD WILL FOUNDATION
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VILNIUS—A powerful mini-documentary aired this evening in Lithuania by Lryras.lt television exposed the cruelty with which everyday Jewish people are treated by the leaders of the official “Jewish Community of Lithuania” that is lavishly financed by the government restitution monies deriving from the religious properties of the Jewish communities annihilated in the Holocaust. Last year the official community’s leaders staged fake elections in which the rules were changed mid-campaign to disenfranchise the thousands of Jewish people who still live here, allegedly to keep themselves in power, while placing all electoral choices in a roomful of would-be oligarchs, some of whom have two or three votes and most of whom benefit personally from the funds.
The cruelty toward simple Jewish people is only one of the aspects explored by the remarkable documentary that took interviews with genuine Jewish people from three different generations, including representatives of the Vilnius Jewish Community whose twenty-one member democratically elected board is not even allowed in the building. The corruption inherent in the distribution of funds, nepotism and lack of elementary morality come through sharply in the film. It is understood that one of the American Jewish organizations interested in Lithuanian Jewish affairs is preparing a translation or subtitled version.
DH’s editor commented on the film on his Facebook page.
The mini documentary is available on Youtube.