Our final day in Šiluva began with the same beautiful weather as every other day of our trip: sunny and warm. In the morning, six of us returned from our home stays just after 8am and joined the remainder of the group for breakfast around 10am. At 11:30, the twelve of us boarded our van headed for the cemetery dedication ceremony. Upon our arrival, we were surprised to see a great deal of students from Šiluvos Gimnazija (the local school with which we were involved). At 12pm, the ceremony began, starting with opening remarks and a prayer by Professor and Rabbi Laura Lieber. The English introduction to the prayer was translated into Lithuanian by Greta, our amazing caretaker/host/chauffeur/jack-of-all-trades at Pakalne. Photos below showcase Professor Lieber in front of the cemetery gates and Professor Beth Holmgren delivering her remarks to those gathered for the dedication.
From right to left, those leading the dedication ceremony included Professor Holmgren, Professor Lieber, Greta, Dr. Michael Lozman (who organized the cemetery restoration project), Darius Velička (a friend of Dr. Lozman’s and a Lithuanian politician), the regional mayor for the district, Arnas (the historical liaison for the Raseiniai museum), the mayor of Šiluva, and the principal of Šiluvos Gimnazija.
The regional mayor then proceeded to give gifts to all of us visiting from America, which included boxes of Lithuanian tea and a book on Raseiniai for the Duke students.
Following this, the winners of the school’s essay contest, organized by Dr. Lozman, were announced. Students were asked to write about the Holocaust in Lithuania. Pictured below is the first-place winner of the contest giving her remarks as Greta translates into English.
After all parties had given their remarks, Dr. Lozman explained the importance in Jewish cemeteries of leaving small stones on (or next to) the beautiful tombstones. Though he admitted that there were several reasons for this, the reason he described as his favorite is that it shows that someone was here to remember the deceased, even if their familial descendants no longer could. The stone featured below originally was only showing an inch above the ground. A group of students dug it up and brushed it, revealing a perfectly preserved inscription, dating back from 1806, per Professor Lieber’s translation and calculation.
A few photos taken after the dedication ceremony. The first shows five students with a couple of Lithuanian students, in their school uniforms for their LDOC (Last Day of Classes). The second and third are our student group with Dr. Lozman, Greta, and Darius the Selfie King. Finally, the fourth is the plaque installed on the gate commemorating our work.
Following the dedication, we re-boarded the van and headed to the local school, where the community and staff had prepared a wonderful lunch in the school cafeteria. After this, we returned to Pakalne to grab our belongings. Before we left, Greta and her parents thanked us for staying with them and gave us bread as our departing gift, which is a sign of respect in Lithuania. Without a doubt, this family receives the award for best hosts ever, if I may say so.
After we said goodbye to Greta, her family, Dr. Lozman, and Darius, we boarded our van headed to Vilnius. Our driver was a wizard when it came to making our ridiculous amount of luggage fit in the trunk. Somehow, he single-handedly organized our 20-something suitcases perfectly, including lifting them all the way to the roof of the van, the height of which can be seen below with the driver.
Tired as we all were, we decided that it would be a nice break to get dinner in the hotel, rather than make the trek to a restaurant nearby. I cannot speak for all the food, but I can attest to the exceptionalism of the BBQ burger at the Hotel Congress. Everyone seemed happy with their relaxed meal after a long day and a two-hour trip back to Vilnius.
When in Lithuania, you can’t go to bed too early! After dinner, around 9pm, a couple of us took a walk outside the hotel while a couple of us, per Darius’ suggestion, took an Uber out to Akropolis, the giant shopping mall in Vilnius. Old Town Vilnius feels like a very quaint city on its own, but there is definitely a larger city outside of the Baroque architecture. This shopping mall had a hyper-Maxima (a grocery store), various clothing and food shops, and even came complete with an active ice hockey rink, on which local adult teams were playing. Friday the 26th was a packed day, filled with communication with Šiluva locals, travel, food, and shopping. I think it is safe to say that we were all growing accustomed to and taking a liking to the Lithuanian lifestyle by the end of the night.
