On June 24-25, 2018 a seminar "Pearls of Yiddish culture" for a group of 28 employees and volunteers of the Jerusalem-based Yad Vashem took place in the Vilnius office of the International Yiddish Center of the World Jewish Congress..

The program had started in Israel on May 31, 2018 with two Dr. Mordechay Yushkovsky's lectures on behalf of WJC YC. This common project with the International Institute for Holocaust Research has been completed in Vilnius.

During his lectures Dr. Yushkovsky spoke about longing for Zion in Yiddish literature, about poetry of Holocaust in Yiddish, about the original humor of Vilno Jews, their folklore and so forth.

Beside the lectures, Dr. Yushkovsky led an excursion round Jewish Vilnius, otherwise called "Jerusalem de Lita", telling about the local Jewish community, its habits before WWII, its flourishing life and fall during the Holocaust and its fate.

After the seminar a live discussion was inflicted, during which the listeners expressed their great interest and desire to implement the acquired knowledge on Yiddish culture in their work for immortalisation of victims of the Holocaust.

Later, the director of Guiding Department Commemoration &Public Relations Division at Yad Vashem Ms. Naama Galil sent letter of appreciation to the Yiddish Center in Vilnius.

Dear Friends,

On behalf of the Yad Vashem Vilna seminar June 2018, I would like to thank you, and all the people involved in the Yiddish Center at World Jewish Congress for hosting us during June 24-25th. The Seminar participants, which included 28 guides, teachers and second generation of Lithuanian heritage feel greatly enriched by their experiences in the seminar, and are certain that this experience will help them in their future endeavors.

Furthermore, the lectures, the tour, and hospitality we received from the center were beyond our expectations. The location of the seminar in the library, the high level of the lectures as well as the special tour we received, all contributed to the outstanding experience of the seminar.

I hope we will be able to continue this fruitful collaboration in the future.

Sincerely,

Naama Galil,

Director of Guiding Department Commemoration & Public Relations Division at Yad Vashem