ACTIVITY OF
JAKOVAS BUNKA CHARITY AND SPONSORSHIP FUND

Memorial wall in Kaušėnai. 

1,800 Jews of Plunge were killed in Kaušėnai village in 1941. Wall of Memory was built there out of    1,800 bricks, taken from demolished Great Synagogue of Plunge and names of victims were carved in stone. 

                                   

V. Stumbras   E. Riauba     S. Ambraška         J. Kuodis          J. Bunka 

               

J. Bunka                  E. Žalgiris         Alley of Savers

Memorial with sculptures was built in Kaušėnai to commemorate Plunge Jews victims. Sculptures created folkartist Jakovas Bunka, Vladas Stumbras, Edvardas Riauba, Saulius Ambraška, Jonas Kuodis, Eugenijus Žalgiris. Metal plates with names of people, who saved Jews in 1941-1944, were placed along the path.

 

  

Litvak Memorial Garden

The Foundation purchased a plot of land in Žemaitija National Park, near a busy road, where about 200,000 visitors of the Park from all over the world pass every year. The Foundation plans to build a Jewish ethnographic homestead there. Litvak Memorial Garden is planted there so far. It is a stylized map of Lithuania, showing locations of destroyed shtetls. Metal forged apple trees with apples remind families, who lived here. Litvaks from all over the world have already planted 50 forged apple trees by spring 2019.

Karelian granite columns are placed in locations, where world famous Lithuanian Jews were born. The Foundation together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Karen and Alen Cimblers from London, Misha Belkindas from Washington placed memorial columns for David Wolfson, Herman Kalenbach, Berek Joselewicz (Bero Dov), All Džolson (Asa Joelson) in map locations of Darbenai, Kretinga, Rusnė, Seredžius.

Sculpture by Antanas Vaškys „To all honest Plungians“.

Foundation‘s present to Plungė to remind a peacefull co-living of Jews and Samogitians for several centuries.

A sculpture for Kretinga Jews killed in Kveciai forest.

700 Jews and 23 Samogitians were killed in 1941 at Kretinga – Palanga road. Samogitian sculptor Antanas Vaškys marked this place.

 

Monument for Rietavas Jewish Community

The Foundation‘s present to Rietavas to remind a large community of Jews in Rietavas in 1662-1941, which left a significant mark in Rietavas history.

 

Rietavas Jewish Cemetery.

TV movie „The Promise“.

TV movie „The Promise“ is about the last Jew of Plungė, folk artist Jakovas Bunka, who died in 2014. It was created by Televizion of Lithuania. Cinema documentalists from Germany and Great Britain created they own movies also. Jakovas Bunka dedicated all his life and half-century of art work to commemorate Jews in his homeland.
A book by V. Kavaliauskas „Promised Land – Lithuania“.

The Foundation was the main sponsor of the book „Promised Land – Lithuania“. The author of the book Vilius Kavaliauskas tells us about Jews, who defended Lithuanian independence and created the Republic by their work.

  
A book by Jakovas Bunka                            A book „The Jewish Page of Plungian History“.

„Plungė Jewish History“.

Jakovas Bunkas’s memoirs in Lithuanian and English are about the history and fate of Plungė Jews.

 

     

Presentation of the book «Rietavas — Jewish Shtetl in Lithuania» it Plungė Library.

Memories and thoughts of people about their home shtetl Rietavas were collected and printed in English by Kaplan – Kushlik Foundation in Republic of South Africa. Jakovas Bunka Charity and Sponsorship Foundation translated and printed the book in Lithuanian.

70 years of Jews massacre commemoration in Kaušėnai Memorial in 2011.

Wall of Memory was built in 2011 to commemorate 1,800 Jews killed in Kaušėnai. 1,800 bricks, taken from demolished Great Synagogue of Plunge, were used to build the Wall. The Foundation organized commemoration ceremony. Foreign diplomats from 18 countries, reprezentatives of Lithuania Government and Jewish communities, relatives from Israel of victims, many people from Plungė, Samogitia and other parts of Lithuania took part in the ceremony.

Kaušėnai. Grave of eighty four schoolgirls.

Mass grave in Vieštovėnai. A stone with victims names on it was placed there in spring 2017.

Mass grave in Šateikiai.

Mass grave in Purvaičiai.

Mass grave in Milašaičiai.

A seminar in Plungė for Leaders of Tolerance Centers in Lithuania.

Commemorating the 70 years of massacre of Plungė Jews, Jakovas Bunka Charity and Support Foundation organized a seminar for leaders of Tolerance Centers in Lithuania.

 

A list of Lithuanian Jews Entrepreneurs: http://jbfund.lt/history/zydu-verslininku-sarasas/telsiu-apskritis/

Jakovas Bunka Charity and Support Foundation has collected and published on the website a list of Lithuanian Jews Entrepreneurs.

The list of Plungė Jews killed in Kaušenai: http://jbfund.lt/istorija/nuzudytu-plunges-zydu-sarasas/kausenuose-nuzudyti-plunges-zydai/

The Fund has collected and published on the website a list of Plungians killed in Kaušenai and other places in 1941-1945. It’s not finished yet.

Exposition of Plunge and Samogitia Jews history.

Exposition of Plungės and Samogitia Jews history was opened in a flat, where Jakovas Bunka and his wife Dalija lived for more then 40 years. But it was too expensive to support this exposition by Foundation itself. That is why a part of exhibits were distributed between Tolerance Centers of Samogitia gymnasiums, Samogitia Art Museum, Vilnius Public Jewish Library, National Vilnius Gaon Jews Museum. The rest of exhibits are waiting for Samogitia Jews Museum to be opened some day.

 

Vadim Altskan, project director of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum,

at the Memorial Wall in Kaušėnai

Ronald Harwood‘s artistic expression contest.

The exhibition «Kadish for wooden synagogues in Lithuania».

Most of wooden synagogues in the world still standing are in Lithuania. But all of them are in terrible shape. That is why the Foundation arranged exhibition named „Cadish for Wooden Synagogues of Lithuania“. It was exhibited in many places in Lithuania, Israel, Sweden, Russia, Poland and is still traveling accross Europe. The Foundation gave copies of exhibits to Florida Jews Museum, Vilnius Choral Synagogue.

Opening of the exhibition „Kadish for wooden synagogues in Lithuania“

in Moscow, Russia

Opening of the exhibition „Kadish for wooden synagogues in Lithuania“

in Stockholm, Sweden.

Opening of the exhibition „Kadish for wooden synagogues in Lithuania“ in Warsaw, Poland.

 

   
Opening of the exhibition „Kadish for wooden synagogues in Lithuania“ Troškūnai (Lithuania) church. Opera singer Rafailas Karpis performs.

Participants of the ethnographic summer camp for Plunge gymnasium students at Klaipėda Jewish Community.

Participants of ethnographic summer camp restored Plateliai pre-war plan and created a list of house owners. Blue-tagged are Jewish home.

Ethnographic summer camp for Seda Gymnasium students.

The Foundation implemented a project „The Last Address“. Students from Plungė Saulė Gymnasium, Seda V. Mačernis Gymnasium, Darbėnai Gymnasium participated in an ethnographical summer camps. They recreated before-war maps of their villages and towns, captured buildings and owners names according to memories of older people. Not only students, but also communities were involved and became advocates of Jewish history.

 

The place where Seda Synagogue was.

Memorial plate for Borisas Efrosas
In 1914, the surgeon Borisas Efrosas, born in Plungė, performed the first heart surgery in Lithuania. Memorial plate was hanged by the Fund in the place where his house stood.

A commemorative sign for the first Plungė power plant

and its owner Mendel Zaks.

In 1918, Mendelis Zaksas installed the first Plungė power plant in a rented Oginskiai manor mill.

Commemorative sign for the railway, built through Plungė in 1932 and Hirsh Metz.

 

    
Monument, created by sculptor Antanas Vaškis,

for Alsėdžiai Jews, killed in Telšiai. A stone with victims names was placed in spring 2017.

One part of Alsėdžiai Jews were killed close to their village, another part was escorted to Telšiai. Men and women were separated. Women were escorted to ghetto, 38 men were killed close to Telšiai.

 

     
A book by Grigorijus Kanovičius „Little Town‘s Romance“

Jakovas Bunka Foundation was a distributor of the book by Grigorijus Kanovičius „Little Town Romance“ to Lithuanian Gymnasiums. The book is about Jonava Jews lives before war and their tragic faith.

The antiquarian Menorah, found in Samogitia, and a part of the Fund’s accumulated old Jewish books were presented to Vilnius Jewish Public Library by the Fund. http://vilnius-jewish-public-library.com/

A cover of an album about Fund‘s activities.

A cover of an album, dedicated to 10 years of Ronald Harwood contest of artistic expression.

CD with a material about the Fund‘s project „A Bisele About Litvak Heritage“.

For thirty years in Plateliai Jewish massacre place stood „Moses from Plateliai“, created by Jakovas Bunka, but crumbled. The monument restored by sculptor Antanas Vaškys.

Fondo direktoriai Miša Belkindas (JAV), Eugenijus Bunka (Plateliai), Daumantas Todesas (Vilnius), Virginijus Vitkauskas (Klaipėda) tūkstančio asmeninių eurų paramą skyrė Vilniuje kuriamam garsaus dailininko Samuelio Bako muziejui.

 

Plunge befor great fire in March 31 1931. Blue – Jewish building.

Jakovo Bunkos labdaros ir paramos fondo direktorius Daumantas Levas Todesas yra filmo apie lietuvišką Aną Frank Mašą Rolnikaitę „Turiu papasakoti“ idėjos autorius ir prodiuseris, o fondas – vienas iš pagrindinių rėmėjų.

 

Fondas yra vienas iš Orbe`Lita premijos už geriausius studentų bakalaurų ir magistrų darbus žydų istorijos tema steigėjų.

The Memory stone in memory of farmers Kolicman and Stucin in Vembutai near Telsh.

Mass grave of Jews from Plateliai

The Scoolgirls grave in Kaushenai with victims list

Jakovas Bunka art exhibition in Samogitian Art Museum

Speaking about the history of Samogitian Jews, inviting Litvaks to help protect it, Jakovas Bunka Charity and Support Fund is collecting the past piece by piece and sharing all the information about Fund‘s activities, events, dedicated to the memory of Jews, with everyone who is interested.

One of the main activities of the Jakovas Bunka Charity and Support Fund is to work with students, creation of Tolerance Centers. It is already evident that when learning about former Jewish communities at school, young people not only seek more knowledge, but also convey them to others. Pupils, who later become students, are often involved in the activities of Tolerance Centers in their home towns. There are also those who summarize the results of their research in scientific articles and submit them to the evaluation committee of the Orbe`Lita Award, one of the founders of which is Jakovas Bunka Charity and Support Fund.

The Fund joined the Association of Lithuanian Jewish Roads, whose goal is to introduce local and foreign people to the pages of Jewish Lithuania’s past.

Yakov Bunka Charity and Sponsorship Foundation so far operates using only its own funds and donations from sponsors. They are used to commemorate Jewish communities, destroyed during the Second World War in Plunge, Samogitia and the rest of Lithuanian.

Sincere thanks for everybody for moral and financial suporto.

In order to continue the work, the Fund is forced to ask for support of those, who are interested in the Litvak memorial, who are concerned that their traces in Lithuania will remain forever.

Contributions for further activities can be made to the Fund:

Beneficiary Name: Jakovas Bunka Charity and Sponsorship Fund

Beneficiary Address: Liepiju str. 8, Plateliai

City: Plunge

Country: Lithuania

Beneficiary Account (IBAN): LT227182000000071472

Beneficiary Bank: UAB „Šiaulių bankas“,

Beneficiary Bank Swift Code: CBSBLT26

Or using PayPal via Fund’s web page www.jbfund.lt.