Emmanuel Lubezki
Culture

“Revenant” cinematographer of Lithuanian descent tipped for Oscar

The cinematographer for Revenant, the film leading the race for this year’s Oscars with 12 nominations, is of Lithuanian Litvak descent. […]

No Picture
Society

Hanukkah in Kaunas with Chassidic pop and traditional latkes

Residents of Kaunas and exchange students curiously glanced at a crowd, standing outside despite the cold around an imposing metal menorah next to the colourfully lit Musical Theater. Holding Bengal lights, members of the small Jewish community in Kaunas, their ethnic Lithuanian friends, and Israeli students gathered on Tuesday to celebrate the third day of Hanukkah – the festival of lights. Chassidic techno-pop music in Hebrew was blasting from loudspeakers. […]

Dalia Grybauskaitė
Global LT

Litvaks’ public diplomacy is important to Lithuania, President Grybauskaitė says

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė opened the first ever Israeli Litvak Forum in Tel Aviv. In her address to Jews with roots in Lithuania and their descendants, the president emphasized their special contribution to establishing Lithuania’s ties with the world and invited them to foster what connects Lithuanian and Jewish nations, the press service of the president said. […]

President Grybauskaitė meets with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin
Foreign affairs

President Grybauskaitė: Difficult challenges for Lithuania and Israel

President Dalia Grybauskaitė, who is in Israel on an official visit, met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. The meeting – the first between the Lithuanian president and the president of Israel, who was elected last year – focused on the most relevant issues relating to regional security and bilateral cooperation. The Israeli president, who emphasizes his Litvak roots, and Dalia Grybauskaitė also discussed measures to strengthen Israel’s ties with Lithuania, the presidential press service said. […]

Some of the 18 Vilnius residents and visitors who attended this year’s inaugural meeting at the Jewish Cultural and Information Center on Mėsinių Street in the Old Town
Culture

Vilna Yiddish literary reading circle invites to its next meeting

After a successful experiment at the first session it was decided that each week’s session would start with an intriguing article from a different prewar Vilna Yiddish newspaper. In addition to reading from the photocopies provided, participants will be able to view the original newspaper. The session, which lasts an hour-and-a-half total, will then move on to the literary text being read. This Sunday the circle will start reading a humorous text by Der Túnkeler, “The Dark One,” pseudonym of Joseph Tunkel (1881 – 1949), a Litvak Yiddish humorist born in Bobruisk, now in Belarus. […]

No Picture
Society

Names of Holocaust victims to be read for 5th time in Lithuania

The names of Holocaust victims will be read publicly in several Lithuanian cities and towns on Tuesday, September 22, on the eve of the Lithuanian Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Names initiative is being held in Vilnius for the fifth time now and this will be the first time when lists of Vilnius ghetto prisoners will be read at two locations: in the courtyard of the ghetto library and at the Skalvija movie theater. Residents of Jonava, Molėtai, Švėkšna and Jurbarkas will take turns reading the names of Jews murdered in their towns. […]

Chicago's 'Cloud', gathering place for annual Lithuanian National Anthem singing  Photo Ludo Segers
Global LT

Chicago’s Consulate General moving to new premises in Lithuanian diaspora capital

Sitting on the southern shores of Lake Michigan, Chicago is an important transport, financial and cultural hub. It hosts world-class universities, world-class museums and a famous opera and music scene that make for a fascinating and vibrant place to live and work. The city had to reinvent itself several times, never more dramatically as after the great fire in 1871. Chicago is also known as the centre of the Lithuanian community in the United States. […]