Next July 6, more than 1,000 Lithuanians folk dancers decked out in authentic woven costumes, representing close to 40 dance ensembles, will perform the windmill, the scarf dance and other traditional dances at the XIII Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival, hosted for the first time in Los Angeles.
But an innovative proposal to invite a group of Yiddish performers to participate as representatives of Jewish Lithuanian heritage was turned down by the folk dance organizing committee, resulting in the resignation of the president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Lithuanian American Community, the national nonprofit organization sponsoring the festival.
When Germany invaded Lithuania in WW I, the Jews were much better treated by them than they were by the stinking Lithuanians. The Germans were civil and gentlemanly.
That’s why when they did it again in WW II, the Jews were not worried for a half minute, not knowing that the new generation of Hitler Youth were not the same people as their parents. The Lithuanians did not have those problems with the Nazis.
Lithuanian thugs started murdering Jews well before Naziââ¬â¢s arrived there. They were so brutal that Jews even turned to Naziââ¬â¢s for protection from the Lithuanianââ¬â¢s. The Lithuanian President apologized to the Knesset but some of the population resists the truth of their deeds. Not all are guilty, but when they decline to prosecute Naziââ¬â¢s convicted by the US Courts, that makes a very loud statement where their sympathies lie.
The only way we can fight such anti Semitism is to bring it to public attention.
Thank you Jane Ulman for addressing this very important issue.
Thank you Darius Udrys for having moral integrity.
Author: Max (59-183.dialup.primorye.ru)
Date: 01-12-08 19:31
Interesting article, however it understates facts. That Jogaââ¬â¢s defense was that Udrys was ââ¬Åunprofessionalââ¬Â is laughable. It is gratifying to see that people like Udrys stand for principal & decency, it is sad to see that other components of that society are still so anti Semitic. If this dance event is a non profit 501(c)3 sponsored event, and so exclusionary, is it a legal use of that charity, or should this be addressed by the necessary authorities?
IMHO, Exclusion is illegal. 7 months being too short is crazy. A proctologist could do a few thousand exams in 7 months, perhaps these folks in the National Committee should have their brains examined this way.
Am I to understand from this article that they wanted Jews to sublimate our identity & pretend to be them? Oh my, why not just stick us back in a ghetto?. How offensive is that! If I was Udrys, Iââ¬â¢d try to sublimate his Lithuanian identity and identify only as American rather than any association with such people. I hope whomever is in charge of all these folks look at this story objectively and try to rectify behavior in their Community.
Maybe nothing out of context. The context is the real and serious issues regarding Lithuanian/Jewish relations (made clear in the article) which do not apply to Russians, Poles, Estonians, Germans or Swedes. Nor were those others specifically proposed to be invited. Frankly I don’t care about the participation of Yiddish dancers in the festival but as long as it came up, the anti-Semitism was highlighted.
The problem then lies within the Lithuanian community. The LA local Lithuanian chapter president whom I assume has his own qualifications proposed it, and no reason to think to be provocative, and the turndown was not evidently reasonable, regretful, respectful, positive etc. but anti-Semitic as is clear to those in this topic who do read Lithuanian.
I don’t recall reading that Jews demanded to be included. This issue arose because an ethnic Lithuanian brought it about. The story is not the dance festival, it is the nature of the reaction to the ‘threat’ of Jewish participation.
The suggestion that Jews triggered the events of the Nazi war and were complicit in Nazi killing of Lithuanians stands on its own as an example of witch hunts, persecution and hatred. And we have quite enough advice from non-Jewish experts that it is necessary to be less Jewish to be better and more authentic Jews.
When Simonas Gurevicius, the 26-year-old executive director of the Jewish Community of Lithuania, opened the door to his house during last yearââ¬â¢s Uzgavenes, he was greeted by two children dressed in horns and tails, reciting a song that translates as, ââ¬ÅWeââ¬â¢re the little Lithuanian Jews/We want blintzes and coffee/If you donââ¬â¢t have blintzes/Give us some of your money.ââ¬Â (It rhymes in Lithuanian.)
“...JEWSââ¬â¢ ON PARADE: For residents of the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, donning grotesque ââ¬ËJewââ¬â¢ costumes and acting out antisemitic stereotypes is a Lent tradition.”
Oh come off of it, RIFKALEH. The haredi are no better. Anybody who’s ever been to Jerusalem on Purim can attest to that. Aside from not being able to hold your liquor, this holiday, more than others showcases the haredi intolerance for every other culture and religion on earth. Stop playing the victim card already. So they don’t like Jews. Oh well. Why don’t you leave your apartment, take a trip to Vilnius, and a file a complaint. Who know’s? Maybe you’ll find the sympathetic ear of someone who’s willing to overlook the fact that you’re a hypocrite and an a**hole.
As far as Lithuianian Jews are concerned, they can either show some balls and stand up to these people or they can pack their bags and leave. But the time for pissing and moaning like a bunch of school girls is over.
ââ¬ÅWeââ¬â¢re the little Lithuanian Jews/We want blintzes and coffee/If you donââ¬â¢t have blintzes/Give us some of your money.ââ¬Â
The proper response would be; “Listen guys, I’m broke and fresh out of blintzes and coffee. How about this really cool Batman Pez Dispenser and a left over jar of 3 year old Manishewitz Gefilte Fish?
You’re not getting the gist of the article. They weren’t comparing the Jews to the KKK. They were illustrating two important points; firstly that despite the continued existence of the KKK, the Jews are no longer victims, indeed have reached the pinncale of governmental power in the State of Ohio and secondly, that they reached this power as a result of a statewide consensus (rather than just that of the jewish community) that they SHOULD hold that power.
“...The first official use of the term “Black Power” as social and political slogan was by Stokely Carmichael and Mukasa Dada (then known as Willie Ricks), both organizers and spokespersons for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). On June 16, 1966, after the shooting of James Meredith during the March Against Fear, Carmichael said:
“This is the twenty-seventh time I have been arrested and I ain’t going to jail no more! The only way we gonna stop them white men from whuppin’ us is to take over. What we gonna start sayin’ now is Black Power!”
“...What I am saying is that at least one poster on this very thread was very eager to jump all over the Lithuanians, decrying them as KKK. For one, that’s as cliched as calling people one disagrees with “Nazis.”
I agree. However I think that it is important for Lithuianians to differentiate amongst themselves as it is important for everyone else. There are Lithiuanians and there are Lithuianians, if you get my drift.
