Lithuania
A pedestrian passes a building in Vilnius, Lithuania, that formerly housed the ghetto library. (Photo by Adam Reinherz)
October 3, 2025, 3:29 pm
Observance and observations: Seminar spotlights Vilnius
For generations, Vilnius was a colossus of Jewish culture. Before World War II, the 'Jerusalem of Lithuania' possessed 80,000 Jews and more than 100 synagogues. Intellectual titans wrote texts creating Ashkenazic norms. An influential Jewish publishing house set the standard for scholars worldwide. While libraries and exhibitions honor what was, a Classrooms Without Borders seminar asked participants to consider ties between people and paper
By Adam Reinherz
Fox Chapel resident Mario Czonstkowsky heads toward his mother's and grandparents' former street in Kaunas, Lithuania. (Photo by Adam Reinherz)
September 26, 2025, 11:34 am
Connecting past and present: A seminar bridges Jewish history across northern Europe
Curricula addressing the Holocaust or European Jewry often include 'Auschwitz and Poland.' Less mention is made of post-war Soviet life and the struggles and strengths experienced today. With stops in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland, a Classrooms Without Borders seminar wants educators to know 'this is the place'
By Adam Reinherz
The decorated floor of the Great Synagogue of Vilna, discovered in an archaeological dig in Lithuania, in a photo released on July 25, 2024 (Photo courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority)
August 1, 2024, 4:01 pm
Uncovered floor of Vilnius’s Great Synagogue bears witness to Nazi, Soviet devastation
Researchers find one of synagogue’s columns collapsed on its side; 17th-century prayer house, at center of Jewish metropolis, was looted by Germans, razed by Russians
By TOI Staff
Rabinowitz Torah (Photo courtesy of David Nadoff)
November 14, 2022, 9:47 am
A Torah’s journey: From Lithuania to Pennsylvania to Israel
The Torah’s story began in 1863 in Lithuania, where it was used for 50 years before it was shipped to Westmoreland County in 1913. Now, it's headed to Israel.
By Justin Vellucci
Gov. Wolf pays respects at the Paneriai Memorial Museum in Lithuania. Photo courtesy of The Office of Governor Tom Wolf
September 18, 2019, 1:55 pm
Gov. Wolf visits Auschwitz-Birkenau, Lithuania
Pennsylvania governor memorializes local victims abroad.
By Adam Reinherz
Silvia Foti while visiting a friend in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2013. (Photo by Ina Budryte)
October 12, 2018, 12:40 pm
Lithuania pays attention to Chicago teacher’s Nazi collaborator grandfather
Silvia Foti is fulfilling an old promise that’s become her life’s work: to write a biography of her late grandfather
By Cnaan Liphshiz JTA
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