Jews in lithuania

Lithuanian students retrace Holocaust history on memorial day, confront country's role in massacres

Around 600 non-Jewish Lithuanian students participated in the March of the Living commemorations held in Vilnius and Ponary, Lithuania, where 70,000 people were killed during the Holocaust.

|ByMILLA WOLMAN
Lithuanian teenagers marched to sites where Jews from their towns were murdered during the Holocaust.
The Malisoff family sits for a photo in 1907. Pavel Malisoff and his wife Michla sit in the center.

How a new tool in Lithuania helps people read letters from their Jewish ancestors

The tool also has the potential to support the descendants of Jews who were persecuted during the Holocaust as they prepare materials to confirm their eligibility for repatriation or citizenship.

|BySHIRA LI BARTOV/JTA
Workers excavate the central floor and bimah of the Great Synagogue in Vilnius, Lithuania, July 22, 2026. (Shira Li Bartov)

Archaeologists uncover treasures of Vilnius’ Great Synagogue as Lithuanian Jews dispute its future

Vilnius was a major center of Jewish thought, famed for both its religious tradition and modern secular Jewish culture. It was home to the 18th-century Vilna Gaon, a highly influential sage.

|BySHIRA LI BARTOV/JTA
LITHUANIA’S PRESIDENTIAL palace in the foreground, as seen from the tower of Vilnius University.

Vilnius marks 700 years, but Lithuanian Jews reflect on darker era

Vilnius 700 events are scheduled through the end of the year, ensuring that the tensions over history and memory in the city continue to simmer.

|ByEMILY TAMKIN/JTA

Grapevine: Mission Accomplished

A round up of news from around the nation.

OCTOBER 8, 2015ByGREER FAY CASHMAN
AUSTRALIAN AMBASSADOR Dave Sharma, Justice Elyakim Rubinstein, Isi Leibler, Natan Sharansky and Ilan Greenfield

Cemetery controversy ‘Much Ado about Nothing,’ say Lithuanian Jewish leaders

The Lithuanian organized Jewish community minimized the concerns of opponents of the plan, calling it the “best way to honor the memory of the dead."

AUGUST 30, 2015BySAM SOKOL
Vilnius, Lithuania

Anger flares over Lithuania sports complex planned over Jewish graveyard

"The many thousands buried here have no descendants or relatives to stand up for the integrity and dignity of their graves precisely because of the Holocaust," says a Vilnius-based scholar.

AUGUST 11, 2015BySAM SOKOL
A man walks past a sign at a commemoration place during the March of the Living to honor Holocaust victims in Paneriai near Vilnius, Lithuania

Lithuanian gov’t did not attempt to deport Chief Rabbi, spokesman says

"Such things do not happen," community leader tells 'Post'.

AUGUST 7, 2015BySAM SOKOL
Vilnius, Lithuania

Lithuanian Jewish cemetery restored

“Murderers could not kill our memory. We are back because our memory is stronger than their bullets."

JUNE 2, 2015BySAM SOKOL
The Jewish cemetery of Šeduva, a Lithuanian town once home to a majority of Jews

Books: The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook

A 1938 vegetarian Jewish cookbook gets a new life – and a translation from Yiddish.

MAY 28, 2015ByAMY SPIRO
Fania Lewando proves that Ashkenazi food is more than meat and potatoes.

How many European Jews are there? It depends on who you ask

Recently, the head of the European Jewish Congress said there are three million Jews in Europe; Demographers beg to differ.

APRIL 7, 2015BySAM SOKOL
Members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews hold up signs reading "I am Charlie," "I am Jewish" and "I am Ahmed," during an event in London

Israel opens its first embassy in Lithuania, pre-war home to 250,000 Jews

“Flying a flag here in Vilnius carries a special significance. This is a country which is a cornerstone in Jewish heritage, where some of the great Jewish thinkers came from”

MARCH 14, 2015ByJTA
Vilnius, Lithuania

Travel: Let’s take it slow in Lithuania

Lithuania is a land where nature comes to the forefront and time, occasionally, comes to a stop.

AUGUST 31, 2014ByJEFF BARAK
Vilnius, Lithuania