Bialystok 2017

The Bus – Vilnius to Bialystok

Jewish Heritage Trail in Białystok – Wikipedia

Jewish Heritage Trail in Białystok is a marked foot trail created in June 2008 in Białystok, Poland, by a group of students and doctorate candidates, who participate as volunteers at The University of Białystok Foundation.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Heritage_Trail_in_Białystok

Ludwik Zamenhof

L. L. Zamenhof – Wikipedia

Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof (Polish: Ludwik Łazarz Zamenhof, 15 December [O.S. 3 December] 1859–14 April [O.S. 1 April] 1917),[2] usually credited as L. L. Zamenhof, was a Polish-Jewish[3]medical doctor, inventor, and writer. He is most widely known for creating Esperanto, the most successful constructed language in the world.[4] He grew up fascinated by the idea of a world without war and believed that this could happen with the help of a new international auxiliary language, which he first developed in 1873 while still in school.[2]

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._L._Zamenhof

The Ludwik Zamenhof Centre – Wikipedia

The Ludwik Zamenhof Centre – a city cultural institution established in Bialystok at 19 Warszawska St. upon the motion of the President of the City. It was founded to celebrate the organization of the 94th World Congress of Esperanto that was held from 25 July to 1 August 2009 in Bialystok. The Centre was officially opened for the visitors on 21 July 2009. At the beginning The Zamenhof Centre was a branch of The Centre of Culture in Bialystok, but it has been an autonomous cultural unit since January 2011.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ludwik_Zamenhof_Centre

Synagogues of Bialystok

Great Synagogue, Białystok – Wikipedia

The Great Synagogue (Polish: Wielka Synagoga w Białymstoku) was a synagogue located in Białystok, Poland, which was built between 1909-1913 and designed by Szlojme Rabinowicz. The synagogue was burnt down by Germans on June 27, 1941, with an estimated number of 2,000 Jews inside.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Synagogue,_Białystok

Icchok Malmed

Icchok Malmed – Wikipedia

Icchok Malmed (יצחק מאַלמעד) (born 1903 in Brześć nad Bugiem – 8 February 1943 in Białystok, Poland) was a Polish Jew and fighter of the Białystok Ghetto during the German occupation of Poland in World War II.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icchok_Malmed

Tomek Wisniewski and Lucy Gold

 

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Other Jewish Buildings

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The Branicki Palace

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Branicki Palace, Białystok – Wikipedia

Branicki Palace (Polish: Pałac Branickich) is a historical edifice in Białystok, Poland. It was developed on the site of an earlier building in the first half of the 18th century by Jan Klemens Branicki, a wealthy Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth hetman, into a residence suitable for a man whose ambition was to become king of Poland.[1] The palace complex with gardens, pavilions, sculptures, outbuildings and other structures and the city with churches, city hall and monastery, all built almost at the same time according to French models was the reason why the city was known in the 18th century as Versailles de la Pologne (Versailles of Poland)[2] and subsequently Versailles de la Podlachie (Versailles of Podlasie).[3]

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branicki_Palace,_Białystok

Bialystok Railway Station

Białystok railway station – Wikipedia

Białystok railway station is the most important railway station in the city of Białystok, Poland. It is sometimes referred to as Białystok Central (Białystok Centralny), to distinguish it from six other, much smaller, stations located in the city.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Białystok_railway_station

 

Back To Vilnius

The restoration of the Geliu synagogue

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Renovation of Synagogue on Geliu Gatve starts in Vilnius

The Lithuanian Department of Cultural Heritage confirmed on July 21, 2015, the renovation of the synagogue on Geliu Street in Vilnius has starte…

Source: www.baltictimes.com/renovation_of_synagogue_starts_in_vilnius/

People I met

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Ingrida Vilkienė

Fania Brancovskaja at the Yiddish Institute

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Lara Lempert is the head of the Judaica Center at the National Library of Lithuania. Her field is the cultural history of the European Jewry, more specifically – Jewish classical texts and their integration in Jewish education in various settings; Jewish book and press; and day-to-day life of Lithuanian Jewry.

Part of the exhibit

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22–23 May 2017: Opening of the Judaica Research Centre – Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

A national cultural institution that collects, organizes and preserves the written cultural heritage of Lithuania, forming a fund for Lithuanian and foreign documents relevant for Lithuanian science, education, culture and economy, and provides library information provision services to the public.

Source: www.lnb.lt/en/news/2187-22-23-may-opening-of-the-judaica-research-centre

More from the Library

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The Old Cemetery

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Jewish cemeteries of Vilnius – Wikipedia

The Jewish cemeteries of Vinius are the three Jewish cemeteries of the Lithuanian Jews living in what is today Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, which was known to them for centuries as Vilna, the principal city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire. Two of the cemeteries were destroyed by the Soviet regime and the third is still active.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_cemeteries_of_Vilnius

The Vilnius Jewish Library

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Vilniaus žydų viešoji biblioteka

Vilniaus žydų viešoji biblioteka – vienintelė Žydų kultūros sklaidoje besispecializuojanti biblioteka visoje Lietuvoje.Our library is the only one in Lithuania which specifies in spreading Jewish culture in various forms

Source: vilnius-jewish-public-library.com/en/

Jewish Scenes in Vilnius

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The Museum of Genocide Victims – Jewish themed exhibits

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The Museum of Genocide Victims

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Museum of Genocide Victims – Wikipedia

The Museum of Genocide Victims (Lithuanian: Genocido aukų muziejus) in Vilnius, Lithuania was established in 1992 by order of the Minister of Culture and Education and the President of the Lithuanian Union of Political Prisoners and Deportees. In 1997 it was transferred to the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania. The museum is located in the former KGB headquarters across from the Lukiškės Square, therefore it is informally referred to as the KGB Museum.[1]

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Genocide_Victims

Other scenes from Vilnius

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Seduva 17

My two previous visits were in 2015 and 2016

2015

Seduva Jewish Ceremonies

I was privileged to attend the Seduva Jewish Cemetery Restoration and the two Holocaust Memorial ceremonies. This is what Sergey Kanovich, who led the project, said at the first Holocaust Memorial …

Source: elirab.me/seduva-jewish-ceremonies/

2016

Seduva

My second visit to Seduva. The first was in May 2015 when the cemetery and two Holocaust memorials were dedicated and opened Click on the image to see the post:   The new Lost Shtetl memorial …

Source: elirab.me/seduva

 2017

The third Holocaust memorial site outside Seduva. I hadn’t previously visited this site.

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The cemetery

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Šeduva – Wikipedia

Šeduva ( pronunciation (help·info)) is a city in the Radviliškis district municipality, Lithuania. It is located 18 km (11 mi) east of Radviliškis.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Šeduva

Pakruojis 17

The restored synagogue at Pakruojis

I visited this time last year when it was under construction

June 2016

Pakruojis & Siaulenai

I visited Pakruojis to see the wooden synagogue in the city. As you can see from the images, it is currently being restored. We previously saw that the wooden synagogue in Ziezmariai is also under …

Source: elirab.me/pakruojis-siaulenai/

June 2017

On the road to Pakruojis

Outside

With Laima

Inside

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Some of the information panels

Oldest surviving synagogue in Lithuania

Rav Kook in nearby Zeimelis

Surrounding buildings

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Pakruojis – Wikipedia

Pakruojis ( pronunciation (help·info)) is a city in Lithuania. It is situated on the Kruoja River, which has a dam above the city. Forty three buildings of the manor, mentioned in 1531 still survive.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakruojis

Krekenava

Krekenava Cemetery

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The town and synagogue

Laima and I meet history teacher Ruta Adamkeviciene, who kindly shows us the few Jewish sites remaining

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New book by David Sandler

KRAKENOWO ~ A TOWN IN LITHUANIA ~ the story of a world that has passed

The reprint of the booklet printed by the South African Krakenowo Sick Benefit and Benevolent Society in 1961 to celebrate its diamond Jubilee. All articles in Yiddish have now been translated into English.

Contact: David Sandler

sedsand@iinet.net.au

The first two articles – click Krakenowo link below to read.

Krekenava – Wikipedia

Krekenava is a town (population 2,003) in Panevėžys district municipality in northern Lithuania, on the bank of Nevėžis.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krekenava

Can we squeeze under?

On way back to Kedainiai, we visit the other Holocaust site on the outskirts of Kedainiai.

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Kedainiai Railway Station

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Atzalynas Gimnazija Kedainiai Visit 2017

The Keidaner Family tree on Laima’s classroom wall – an unique work of art!

The complex of two synagogues and the tree featuring the names of Keidaners, including  my 3rd great grandfather Zalman Tzoref in the centre.

created by student Karolina Silvestraviciute

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Keidaner Family Tree

Activities at the school including my presentation, a visit to the science lab and participation in classroom activities.

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English teacher Laima Ardaviciene inspires us all, seen here talking to a journalist

Another amazing contribution by Laima and her students for the TEC – Tolerance Education Centre program.

See link below

2016-2017

Kėdainių Atžalyno gimnazija – Tolerancijos ugdymo centras
​Kedainiai Atzalynas Gymnasium – Tolerance Educational Center

Source: tolerance2016.weebly.com/2016-2017.html

Our tour of the local regional museum.

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Images from the Jewish cemetery

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Stakliskes, Prienai & Marijampole

Giedre Guzaviciene and Arūnė Levuškinienė, teachers at Kalvarija Gimnazija meeting me in Marijampole

Stakliskes

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Stoklishok KehilaLink

Stoklishok, Lithuania

Source: kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/stoklishok/Home.html

Prienai


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Pren KehilaLink

Pren, Lithuania

Source: kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/pren/Home.html

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Marijampole

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Mariampol KehilaLink

Marijampole, Lithuania

Source: kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/mariampol/Home.html

 

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