OPINION | VILNIUS JEWISH LIFE
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VILNIUS—The 21 democratically elected members of the Council of the Vilnius Jewish Community have issued an invitation to Vílner of all backgrounds to come this Monday morning, 28 May 2018, at 10:30 AM, to a friendly and peaceful event at the park right across the street from the long “kidnapped” official Jewish community building at Pylimo 4. Indeed, the purpose of the meeting is to speak out against the destruction of the community’s proud democracy by last year’s disenfranchisement of the thousands of Jewish residents here by a mid-campaign switch to a new “voting system” comprising a roomful of powerbrokers loyal to the chief. The election was declared illegal by the Lithuanian courts. That roomful comprises wannabee oligarchs who have nearly all received favors of one kind or another from the same “Good Will Foundation” that has been the distributor of restitution funds, deriving from the religious properties of the annihilated communities, that they themselves often decide how to disburse. Loyal and beloved Jewish employees of many years’ standing have been fired and replaced by folks with zero lifetime Jewish background or prior interest, but lots of political ties to high places and a penchant from the plumb salaries offered courtesy of the assets of annihilated Jewish people of the land. Some of these wannabe oligarchs have two or three votes each. Some represent defunct organizations. One happens to live in Brussels.
Larger issues “just behind the scenes” include the right of small and vibrant Jewish communities here on ground zero of the Holocaust to enjoy a spiritually, intellectually and culturally independent life rather than becoming a PR tool for state forces intent on delegitimizing living, local Jewish people (while showering medals and honors on “Useful Jewish Idiots” [UJIs] from abroad) and also, for “fixing the narrative” of the Holocaust by using restitution funds to actually take over communities and turn them into de facto “Jewish affairs departments” serving the ultranationalist agenda. The Vilnius Jewish Community’s Facebook announcement of the event is here. See also Defending History’s section on Vilnius Jewish life.