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A few dozen of young people from Lithuania and other European countries participated in a new project in Vilnius on Sunday, which is intended to introduce the university students to the Jewish heritage of the Lithuanian capital. About 40 young people started their journey at the Vilnius Synagogue – the only remaining Jewish house of prayer, although more than 100 operated across the city before World War II. Later in the day, the students from Lithuania, Poland, Germany, France and Spanish proceeded to the Jewish Community Home to listen to Yiddish-language songs and watch Jewish dances, they also indulged in kosher food.

In the second half of the day, the project participants visited a former ghetto and paid tribute to the memory of Holocaust victims in the Paneriai forest where Nazis and their local assistants murdered more than 70,000 Jews during the war.

"We want the participants to feel how the Jews felt, what they played, what they ate, what they sang and how they died," project coordinator Ruta Vanagaite told BNS.

Simonas Gurevicius, executive director of the Lithuanian Jewish Community who escorted the young people on the European Union (EU)-financed project, expressed certitude that such projects would help tear down stereotypes about Jews.

"We really hope that it is beautiful initiative as an example to the educational system of Lithuania," Gurevicius told BNS.

Joachim Werner of Germany who currently studies sociology in Kaunas said that the trip in the Jewish Vilnius helped him learn more about Jews not only through the Holocaust prism.

"If you just visit a museum, you have some depressive view on all this Jewish life here in Vilnius. Now it's more impressive with singing, dancing, listening to the music. It's also a positive perspective,” the 27-year-old university student told BNS.

The Lithuanian participants also said they learned many new things about the Jewish culture, religion and traditions, many saying this was their first visit to the Paneriai memorial.

"It is important to know the history of all those who are related with Lithuania. This builds us as people," 22-year-old economy student Lina Eidikyte said.

Eight analogous tours are planned until April. They should involve about 400 university students, a third of them from Lithuania.

The first Jews settled in Vilnius back in 1500s, the city later developed into a famous Jewish spiritual and cultural center, often referred to as the Lithuanian Jerusalem. Before World War II, Jews made about a third of Vilnius population.

Source: BNS