Comments on: Greetings from Mariampole

By: Jew Wishes On: Holocaust Remembrance Day/Yom Hashoah « Jew Wishes

Jew Wishes On: Holocaust Remembrance Day/Yom Hashoah « Jew Wishes — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:04:49 +0000

[...] Visit Leora’s blog, Here in HP to read about her grandfather’s town in Lithuania. [...]

By: Visit to Paris « Ilana-Davita

Visit to Paris « Ilana-Davita — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 06:56:43 +0000

[...] same class also worked on the Jewish community of Lithuania, starting from a post written by [...]

By: The Litvaks « Ilana-Davita

The Litvaks « Ilana-Davita — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 07:25:41 +0000

[...] summer post written by Leora gave me ideas for a lesson on the Jews of Lithuania, or rather this provided me [...]

By: Leora

Leora — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 01:43:43 +0000

Lori, no, I haven’t done much research. So your link might come in handy if I’m ready to find out more.
Michelle, thanks for sharing a bit of your MIL’s story.
Carra, I only know what the historians say. I’ll let them discuss the history. Thanks for sharing your views.
Ralph, thanks for reading. I find Jews are often the “canary in the coal mine,” and after persecuting Jews, others get persecuted as well.

By: Ralph

Ralph — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 21:33:15 +0000

There is no justice, not complete anyway. You look at the Nazis, ‘der Juden’ were first, German citizens. Why try to destroy your own citizens? Same for Poland, the Baltics. The persecuted were citizens, yet to be destroyed. It must be “Never Again”.

It is so good for you to offer the relics from the past. That irrational hatred of Jews only contribute to the culture’s downfall. You can see how thriving a culture was and how hatred diminished the grandeur, culture and life of a people. Hatred is the slow but sure decline of any civilization.

A thoughtful (and bittersweet) post.

By: Carra

Carra — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 06:28:10 +0000

That town your grandfather is going to is Kaunas. I was born there, I know, the term he used was Russian. As for that historical thing it’s a little bit inaccurate and one sided (and don’t have a go at me, because my great-grandmother was Jewish and my great-grandfather paid some people to put her into prison to keep her alive).

Lithuania was once the only country in Europe that did not have any laws against Jews (since 14the century to be exact, even the French during those days had laws preventing Jews from settling in their towns). The population of Jews in Lithuania prior to WWII was really huge, and when Hitler came into power, he was itching to lay his hands on all of Lithuania and not just Klaipeda (or Memel,) as geographically it was in a very good location for attacking Russia. Since early 30s Hitler was sending people to spread propaganda against Jews, it was partially successful especially in the South of Lithuania as it was tied to Hitler’s economic manipulations too as in 1933 in Germany sanctions were introduced against dealing with Lithuania shaking the countries economy to the core. Once Lithuania was occupied unlike any other Nazi German occupied territory it never had the Lithuanian – SS and prior to the occupation Lithuania was the first country in the world to try a Nazi criminal. I am obviously not justifying anybody’s actions, but to understand what happened there, you have to know the history of Lithuania very well, as well as look into the uninteresting facts related to the WWII. In Lithuania where Jews and Lithuanians lived together since 14th century, there were more Lithuanians saving Jews than killing them but no one is looking at that point in history.

By: Paz

Paz — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:28:46 +0000

Wow!

Paz

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 21:33:52 +0000

Another sad story. My MIL said that she and her family considered themselves to be good Germans and that nothing bad would happen. By the time they realized that was not true, only the children escaped. …

By: hihorosie

hihorosie — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:30:39 +0000

Wow, amazing and tragic story. Thanks for sharing this bit of history. The old pic and postcard are great.

You should post about your collard wrap/sandwich. It’s gotta be good stuff! I hope you didn’t think I was knocking anyone who eats meat and/or dairy. i believe one should do what is best for them. It’s just so many people don’t understand there’s more than one way to get protein and that anyone who chooses to not eat any animal products aren’t being robbed of protein or any other necessity. I’m not worried about you and your eating habits as you are one who is aware of what you put into your body and do your best to take care of it. It’s the others who don’t know moderation (I was one of them) that I tend to worry about. Always love your visits and comments.

By: Lori

Lori — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:30:43 +0000

Thank you for sharing your ancestors with us.

My paternal side came from a small Shtetl in Lithuania called Shilel/Silale. They were Scottish immigrants, and also British immigrants (my grandmother and my father were born in England).

There was a mass killing of Jews in Shilel during WWII. They were taken to the forest, dug their own mass grave, and were murdered. They synagogue was burned.

The website JewishGen.org has a wealth of information on it, with so many Lithuanian databases. But, I’m sure you know about it. They also have an online worldwide burial registry database. http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/cemetery/

Thanks again for this lovely post.
~~Lori