In this final chapter of “Remembering Vilna,” several of the survivors whose stories we’ve featured tell of their journeys to safety and new beginnings, even as the traumas they experienced remained ever present.

At war’s end, Vilna’s survivors struggle to regain their health, look for missing family members, and search for ways to leave Europe for the United States or Palestine. But a small group join an effort to seek revenge in Nuremberg, where an international tribunal is underway.

July 1944. For nearly two weeks, the Nazis and the Soviets fight for every street and block in Vilna. When the smoke clears, Jews hiding in the sewers emerge into daylight while other survivors and Jewish partisans filter back into the devastated city.

When the Nazis liquidate the Vilna ghetto, they send thousands of Jews to their deaths or to forced-labor camps. Others escape to the forest to join the partisans. Very few manage to hide. The Nazis also try to eliminate evidence of their efforts to murder Vilna’s Jews.

Young people in the ghetto organize an underground group with the hope of leading an uprising against the Nazis. They risk their lives to build an arsenal, but when it becomes clear most Jews in the ghetto don’t support them, many escape to the surrounding forest to join the partisans. 

Life in the Jewish ghetto demands vigilance and adaptation. Families improvise spaces for hiding. Food is smuggled at the risk of execution. And while young people start to organize a resistance, cultural and sporting events prove to be a much needed diversion.

They are given minutes to pack. A suitcase, a sheet-wrapped bundle, whatever they can carry. Thousands of the city’s Jews are marched at gunpoint to the newly enclosed Jewish ghettos, where the previous inhabitants have already been murdered.

When Germany attacks the Soviet Union in 1941, the Nazis occupy Vilna and begin imposing their harsh antisemitic rule, banning Jews from sidewalks, requiring the wearing of an identifying yellow star, and worse. “Within just a few days,” Mira Verbin recalls, “they started kidnapping Jews.”

With the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, the country is split between the Nazi invaders and the Soviet Union. Vilna winds up in the hands of the Soviets, then the Lithuanians, then the Soviets again, who set about seizing property and businesses, and arresting and deporting perceived enemies of the state.

Recollections of life before 1939 evoke the rich diversity of Vilna’s thriving Jewish community, including its multiple synagogues and political and social organizations. The impact on daily life of rising antisemitism foreshadows far darker times to come.

“Those Who Were There” co-producers Nahanni Rous and Eric Marcus introduce a few of the voices that, over the course of 10 episodes, will bring to life the once-vibrant Jewish community of Vilna, Poland (present-day Vilnius, Lithuania) and chronicle its destruction during World War II.

 מומלץ להאזין לחלק א הנקרא -

#82 פרופ' רות וייס - כוחו של העם היהודי הוא גם מקור חולשתו הפוליטית (חלק א בסדרה)

https://www.buzzsprout.com/278171/2663731

🎙️ בפודקאסט החדש שלי, אני חולק עמכם ראיון מרתק עם פרופ' רות וייס, אחת הדמויות המובילות במחקר ובניתוח של אנטישמיות והשפעותיה הפוליטיות.

✨ מה הקשר בין אנטישמיות לפוליטיקה העולמית? כיצד אנטישמיות משתנה ומתפשטת בעידן המודרני? ומה ניתן לעשות כדי למנוע את התפשטות השנאה הזו?

"לפני כמה שנים צלצל אליי ידיד ועמית ישראלי, שהיה לי ויכוח ארוך איתו על הסכמי אוסלו. הוא אמר - ״את צדקת ואני טעיתי״. ומיד תהה: איך קרה שצלחתי לדייק אפילו יותר ממנו, החי בישראל ועוסק בחקר 

הפוליטיקה שלה, להבין את מצבה הפוליטי של ישראל? 

עניתי - ״זה מפני שאני מכירה את ספרות היידיש״, ורק אחר כך הבנתי את תשובתי זו. 

ההתמחות הרלוונטית ביותר שלי לכתיבה על הנושא היא מחקריי על ספרות יידיש במאתיים השנים האחרונות, בהקשרה האירופי ועל רקע המודרניזציה של העם היהודי. תהליך זה האחרון חולל שיח שהוא מן התוססים והחכמים שהתרבות היהודית הניבה אי פעם – שיח שבו מוחות שחודדו בישיבה והוספגו בסוגיות תלמוד מתפזרים לאלף כיוונים, מהקומוניזם המהפכני עד לתנועת המוסר או לפרישות הדתית נוסח ברסלב. הרעיונות החדשים שבעבעה היידיש רבים אפילו מחברות ההזנק בישראל של ימינו.

 לדעתי, דורנו הוא הדור בר המזל ביותר בתולדות עם ישראל. בתנ״ך מופיעים כמה וכמה נסים המיוחסים לכוח עליון מפני שאי אפשר להסבירם על פי חוקי הטבע וידיעות המדע. גדול מכל הנסים הללו הוא בעיניי חידוש הריבונות היהודית בארץ ישראל, באותו עשור שמיליוני יהודים הובלו למוות באירופה. יסודותיה של מדינת ישראל הונחו בידי אותו עם שנפל קרבן לנאציזם, ואף כי יד הנאציזם גברה הציונות נותרה אחריו וקוממה רבים מניצוליו. בעידן המודרני מצליחים היהודים לחולל נסים אנושיים"

📣 בראיון הזה, פרופ' וייס חושפת את המשמעויות הרחבות של אנטישמיות בקרב החברה ומדברת על דרכים להתמודד עם האתגר הזה. אנחנו חוקרים את הגורמים הפוליטיים והחברתיים שמזיקים לערכים הדמוקרטיים שלנו, ומתמקדים בכלים ובאמצעים שיכולים לשמש להתמודדות איתם.

👂 אל תחמיצו את הראיון המלא בפודקאסט שלי. הצטרפו אלינו לדיון עמוק ומעורר מחשבה, המציע הבנה חדשה ורעננה על אחד הנושאים הכמה וכמה רלוונטיים וחשובים בעולמנו היום.

ארגנו לכם הנחה משמעותית על סט הספרים החדש של **ספריית שיבולת**, הזינו את קוד הקופון t2024
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האזנה נעימה!

In this week's episode we discuss Rabbi Ariel Tzadok post called "The Torah of Yeshu HaNotzi versus the Gospel of Jesus Christ." He is featured on the History Channel's Ancient Aliens program and spearheads www.koshertorah.com working with Noachides, Jews and Christians teaching them Jewish concepts. In his post he discusses the following book:
"The Jesus Scroll is a best-selling book first published in 1972 and written by Australian author Donovan Joyce. A forerunner to some of the ideas later investigated in The Da Vinci Code, Joyce's book made the claim that Jesus of Nazareth may have actually died aged 80 at Masada[4] near the Dead Sea, site of the last stand made by Jewish zealot rebels against the Roman Empire, after the Fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple. Joyce, an Australian journalist, claimed to have seen a scroll stolen from the Masada excavations. He wrote that it was one of fifteen scrolls discovered during the dig there. His book states that the stolen autobiographical scroll was signed Yeshua ben Ya’akob ben Gennesareth, who described himself as eighty years old and added that he was the last of the rightful kings of Israel. The name when translated into English became Jesus of Gennesareth, son of Jacob. Joyce identifies the author as Jesus of Nazareth. Joyce's book further suggests that Jesus may have survived the crucifixion, was present during the Roman siege of Masada during the Jewish Revolt of 66-74 AD, and that he had married Mary Magdalene and fathered a child with her. Joyce claimed that he attempted to visit Masada in 1964 during the archaeological excavation but was prevented by Yigael Yadin. Joyce further claimed that an anonymous and corrupt archaeologist, "Dr. Grosset", asked him to help smuggle the 'Jesus Scroll' out of Israel that had been discovered during that dig. Joyce says in his book that the scroll was sneaked aboard an airplane by Dr. Grosset, who then most likely took it to Russia to strike a deal with Soviet leaders. Joyce proposed controversial theories concerning the historicity of Jesus that caused outrage among many Christians, and for which he received numerous death threats."(Source: Wikipedia)

Mystic-Skeptic Radio produces programs such as Uncensored & Raiders of the Unknown. Some of the ongoing series are: Jesus The Israelite, Anti-Semitism Rising & Paul's Legacy (all available on our YouTube channels). In the past 8 years we have featured academics (Amy Jill Levine) , presidential candidates( Howie Hawkins), Commentators (Jay Michaelson) , Advocates (Vanessa Guillen), Scholars(John Dominic Crossan) and Holistic Healers (Rosemary Gladstar). We have taken deep dives on the topics of human trafficking, ancient civilizations, demonology and the occult, social movements, controversial topics and many of the current affairs affecting our society. Join us as as we explore the mystic-skeptic mind space…

One of the first locations Dr. Stephanie Arel visited when she began research for her book Bearing Witness: The Wounds of Mass Trauma at Memorial Museums was the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, Poland. She went there to understand how they were memorializing the Holocaust and the impact this work had on the museum's workers. In this episode, we have the opportunity to catch up with Samantha McLaughlin, one of the first interviewees, about how her work at the Galicia Jewish Museum deepend her dedication to the subject and how she has evolved and expanded her work in the field. 

This episode is brought to you by Dr. Stephanie Arel and produced by Shrine13.

Join co-producers Nahanni Rous and Eric Marcus on a research trip to the YIVO Institute in preparation for the upcoming season of Those Who Were There that focuses on the city of Vilna—a once thriving center of Jewish life and culture. Their guide on this exploratory dive into YIVO’s archives is Eddy Portnoy, YIVO’s Academic Advisor and Director of Exhibitions. Among the documents they’re in search of is a rare, typewritten diary of life in the Vilna Ghetto during World War II kept by Herman Kruk. Join Nahanni and Eric on what they found to be a revelatory and moving journey through time.

For decades Dr. Barry Chazan has sought to answer a humble question, what is it about informal Jewish education, like camp and travel, that is so powerful? David Bryfman reflects with Dr. Chazan, founding international director of education at Taglit-Birthright Israel, about his quest to understand informal Jewish education, and his new book, Principles and Pedagogies in Jewish Education. The book summarizes insights and unanswered questions from Dr. Chazan’s career. He reads aloud his charge for 21st century educators, a reminder of the impact educators can have on students, like the one Dr. Chazan had on his student, David Bryfman. 

Additional Resources:

Principles and Pedagogies in Jewish Education Free Kindle

The Philosophy of Informal Jewish Education by Dr. Barry Chazan — 2003

The Subject Of Israel Education Is Not Israel

A response to Barry Chazan: the philosophy of informal Jewish education by Dr. Joe Reimer

Adapting: The Future of Jewish Education is a production of The Jewish Education Project. Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and be the first to know when new episodes are released. 

This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Gabriel Weinstein.  The show’s executive producers are David Bryfman, Karen Cummins, and Nessa Liben. This episode was engineered and edited by Nathan J. Vaughan of NJV Media.  If you enjoyed the show please leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or even better, share it with a friend. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and be the first to know when new episodes are released.

To learn more about The Jewish Education Project visit  jewishedproject.org where you can find links to our Jewish Educator Portal and learn more about our mission, history, and staff. We are a proud partner of UJA-Federation of New York.  

Hadassah Lieberman’s new book is called Hadassah: An American Story and she joins us for a heartfelt conversation about her life as an immigrant, a daughter of Holocaust Survivors, a wife of a U.S. Senator (almost Vice President!), blended families and her advocacy for public health and a better understanding of our shared humanity. Plus, Fritz and Weezy are recommending Live at Mr. Kelly’s and Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal and Greed.

Path Points of Interest:

Hadassah: An American Story by Hadassah Lieberman

Additional books by Haddasah and Joe Lieberman

Live at Mr. Kelly's

Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal and Greed

Amidst the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Dr. Daniel J.N. Weishut, psychologist and lecturer at Hadassah Academic College in Israel, developed a cross-cultural friendship with a Palestinian Bedouin man. 

In Brill’s new In this podcast episode, Dr. Weishut assesses the vast cultural differences that he observed through this close friendship, which he describes as a ‘life-changing experience’, from the perspective of the psychologist Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Further, he provides interesting insights into this intercultural bond from a sociopolitical context. This discussion is an extension of his book titled “Intercultural Friendship: The Case of a Palestinian Bedouin and a Dutch Israeli Jew,” published in the International Comparative Social Studies series of Brill.

Guests: Dr Daniel Weishut and Ahmad Abu Galia 
Host: Leigh Giangreco