OPINION | OLD VILNA JEWISH CEMETERY AT PIRAMÓNT: SAGA OF 2015-2026 | EARLIER OPPOSITION TO CONVENTION CENTER PROJECT | COMMENT BY ANDRIUS KULIKAUSKAS, SID LEIMAN, JULIUS NORWILLA, DOVID KATZ | 2023-2024 “WORKING GROUP” ON VILNA CEMETERY | LIST OF MEMBERS | MOUNTING OPPOSITION TO “COMPROMISE’ MUSEUM PROJECT” | THE USCPAHA | THE CPJCE | THE AJC | THE CER | THE GWF | CEMETERIES & MASS GRAVES | CHRISTIAN-JEWISH RELATIONS | HUMAN RIGHTS
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Editor’s note: Eminent philosopher and mathematician Dr. Andrius Kulikauskas, one of the founders of Gerbkime kapines (Respect Cemeteries), and the author of around thirty articles on the subject of Vilnius’s oldest Jewish cemetery, was one of the speakers at the official 17 Sept. 2026 opening of the Seimas exhibition (on video). The exhibition is entitled “The Jewish Cemetery at Šnipiškės in Vilnius — A Choice for Today’s Lithuania.” It runs from 17 to 24 September at the Seimas’s Stained Glass Gallery. He was among the few speakers to speak informally and from the heart rather than deliver a prepared address (his remarks at timecode: 55:53 to 59:22). A (human!) translator has rendered his words into English, supplying clarifying information in square brackets [ ], adding links for further reference (via underline), as well as providing notes for readers who may not be familiar with the scene.
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On behalf of the association Gerbkime kapines [‘Respect Cemeteries’], I invite Artūras [Imbrasas] to return [to the stage], along with Ruta [Bloshtein], as well as Edmundas Kulikauskas and Arkady Kurliandchik. We’d like to present a gift, so please, everyone, come.
First of all, we’d like to thank the Seimas Committee on Culture for postponing the debate,[1] giving us a chance to think things through calmly. We’d also like to thank Emanuelis Zingeris,[2] the curator of the exhibition, and his advisor, Auksė Dransard. Let’s give them a round of applause. Thank you, Jovita Morkūnaitė.[3]
You might reasonably assume that these tulips are for Artūras Imbrasas—for all his labors [as principal compiler of the exhibition’s eighteen panels], but he has just said that everything here is in honor of his sister, Ruta Bloshtein, our leader. And indeed, we must not forget Dovid Katz. [He] inspired me ten years ago to take up this cause, just as older people had inspired him even earlier. Pinchos Fridberg[4] saw this cemetery with his own eyes. He couldn’t be here today because he’s taking care of his wife.
Andrius Kulikauskas thanks Ruta Bloshtein, Arturas Imbrasas, and Edmundas Kulikauskas at Seimas opening of exhibition. Photo: William Adan Pahl.