Join our Community
Support ToI and remove all ads
Learn more
×

Vilnius

Aerial view of the excavation area and the Great Synagogue of Vilna (Rytis Tamulynas, Vilna Great Synagogue and Shulhoyf Research Project)
August 4, 2026, 10:22 pm
Buried for 70 years, Vilna’s Great Synagogue reveals heart of pre-WWII Jewish community
First-ever excavation of prayer house, which served as spiritual center of Lithuanian Jewry before being destroyed by Nazis and Soviets, uncovers platform for reading Torah and other remains
By Zev Stub
The Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports, a complex that was shut down a decade ago, is the site of a proposed conference center. (Flickr Commons via JTA)
July 31, 2025, 12:05 pm
Lithuania goes back on pledge to convert sports complex into Jewish heritage site
Soviet ‘Sports Palace’ built on the site of a historic Jewish cemetery will become a convention center, in decision Jewish group says ‘casts a shadow’ on Holocaust remembrance efforts
By Grace Gilson
Researchers prepare to scan a mass grave at Ponar, outside Vilnius, Lithuania. (Ezra Wolfinger, NOVA)
September 4, 2024, 9:30 am
New research uncovers how Lithuania’s largest Holocaust massacre was mostly forgotten
Chris Heath’s ‘No Road Leading Back’ pieces together the Ponar massacre in detective-like fashion, including a daring escape of 40 prisoners through a secret tunnel in 1944
By Matt Lebovic
The decorated floor of the Great Synagogue of Vilna, discovered in an archaeological dig in Lithuania, in a photo released on July 25, 2024. (Israel Antiquities Authority)
July 25, 2024, 2:52 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
A very young Elida (left) with Stanislava and her daughter Audra, who hid Elida (renamed Rita) on their farm from late 1943 to the end of the war. (Courtesy of Zipora Klein Jakob)
May 4, 2024, 7:10 am
The amazing true story of a baby illegally born and smuggled out of Kovno ghetto
Elida Freidman Goldberg Katzman changed names, families, countries and continents numerous times as she grappled until her premature death with being a Holocaust orphan from birth
By Renee Ghert-Zand
A view of an opening event for the Vilnius 700th anniversary events in the Lithuanian capital, January 25, 2023. (Gabriel Khiterer via JTA)
October 28, 2023, 1:16 am
As Vilnius celebrates its 700th anniversary, Lithuanian Jews commemorate a darker one
A thriving Jewish center for hundreds of years, the city saw its Jews decimated by the Nazis and local collaborators, a history not all Lithuanians are willing to confront
By Emily Tamkin
Members of Lithuanian parliament give Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky a standing ovation before he speaks in a virtual address to Lithuanian parliament in Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday, April 12, 2022.(AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
December 3, 2022, 12:41 am
Lithuanian PM introduces bill to set aside $38m for Holocaust survivors, their heirs
World Jewish Restitution Organization calls Ingrida Šimonytė’s bill ‘an important step to providing a measure of justice’ amid country’s checkered history reckoning with Holocaust
By David I. Klein
Waiting at the gates of Chiune Sugihara's consul, Jewish refugees in Kovno, Lithuania, circa 1940. (Courtesy Nobuki Sugihara)
November 15, 2022, 8:05 pm
Lithuania mulls expanding compensation for Jewish property seized in WWII
PM Ingrida Simonyte files draft legislation to provide 37 million euros in reparations; 95% of country’s Jewish population was killed by Nazis and local collaborators
By AFP
The excavation of the Great Synagogue of Vilna in Lithuania showing the area of the Torah ark and two flights of stairs destroyed by the Nazis and the Soviets, August 2021. (Jon Seligman/Israel Antiquities Authority)
August 26, 2021, 8:34 pm
Archaeologists expose Torah ark of Vilna synagogue destroyed by Nazis, Soviets
Joint Israeli-Lithuanian six-year excavation in ruins of centuries-old Jewish community center unearths prayer platform, silver pointer used when reading the Torah
By Michael Bachner
Chairs with fake money notes standing next to the decaying Palace of Concerts and Sports of Vilnius, Lithuania, on May 1, 2020. (Courtesy of the display's organizers, via JTA)
May 3, 2020, 5:37 pm
Chairs with fake money placed atop former Jewish cemetery in Lithuania
Display organized by tourism bosses meant to underline how much cash is being lost by delays linked to Jewish groups’ protests over planned construction
By Cnaan Liphshiz
The Choral Synagogue in Vilnius, July 2019 (Raphael Ahren/TOI)
September 24, 2019, 9:38 am
Vilnius, a hub of Torah study destroyed by Nazis, to get new yeshiva
About a dozen students from Europe expected to attend learning center when it opens in Lithuanian capital, which saw 90% of its Jewish population murdered in Holocaust
By JTA
This memorial plaque to Nazi collaborator Jonas Noreika was removed from the Library of Academy of science in Vilnius in July 2019, but demonstrators reinstalled a new one in September. (Alma Pater/Wikimedia Commons via JTA)
September 9, 2019, 4:43 am
Demonstrators hang plaque honoring Lithuanian Nazi collaborator
Vilnius municipality had earlier removed a memorial to Jonas Noreika, who is believed to have personally overseen the murder of Jews when the Nazis controlled Lithuania
By JTA
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in Vilnius's Choral Synagogue on August 26, 2018. (Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO)
August 8, 2019, 8:56 pm
Lithuanian synagogue reopens after government vows to guarantee security
Local Jewish community leader praises Lithuania’s president, PM for promising to protect house of worship after spate of threats
By AFP and ToI Staff
Lithuanian Jewish men pray, during a morning service in a Synagogue in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2018. (AP/Mindaugas Kulbis)
August 7, 2019, 12:20 am
Lithuanian Jews indefinitely shut community center, lone synagogue after threats
Amid escalating controversy over national commemoration policies, Jewish leader demands government speak out, wonders ‘whether we are safe or not’
By Raphael Ahren
Smashed and dilapidated graves at the old Jewish cemetery in Kaunas, Lithuania, July 2019 (Raphael Ahren/TOI)
August 4, 2019, 10:17 am
Graves, guilt and genius: Inside Lithuania’s struggle with its checkered past
Once an epicenter of Jewish life, the Baltic state still refuses to come clean about its dark history, critics charge. But recent developments show it is a work in progress
By Raphael Ahren
Load More
Sign in or Join The Times of Israel Community
Paying ToI Community members are invited to comment on articles
Please use the following structure: example@domain.com
Or Continue with
By joining you agree to the terms and conditions
Register to continue
Or Continue with
Log in to continue
Sign in or Join The Times of Israel Community
Only ToI Community members can comment below articles
Forgot your password? / Send me a login link
Or Continue with
check your email
Check your email
We sent an email to you at .
It has a link that will sign you in.
Join The Times of Israel Community
Commenting is available for paying members of The Times of Israel Community only. Please join our Community to comment and enjoy other Community benefits.
Please use the following structure: example@domain.com
Confirm Mail
Thank you! Now check your email
You are now a member of The Times of Israel Community! We sent you an email with a login link to . Once you're set up, you can start enjoying Community benefits and commenting.
Back to top
Never miss breaking news on Israel
Get notifications to stay updated
You're subscribed
image
Register for free
and continue reading
Registering allows you to manage your newsletters and alerts and helps us improve your experience. It takes just a few seconds.
Already registered? Enter your email to sign in.
Please use the following structure: example@domain.com
Or Continue with
By registering you agree to the terms and conditions. Once registered, you’ll receive our Daily Edition email for free.
Register to continue
Or Continue with
Log in to continue
Sign in or Register
I forgot my password / Send me a sign in link
Or Continue with
check your email
Check your email
We sent an email to you at .
It has a link that will sign you in.