To M. Zinger, who died a year ago – signs of respect: the gallery was given his name, a memorial plaque was unveiled | Culture

Mr. Zinger died a year ago, on April 20. He managed the museum for almost 15 years – from 2005 to 2019.

M. Zingeris was a personality connecting Lithuanian and Jewish cultures. “He built bridges between Lithuanians and Litvaks, paved the way to civil society. He did not chase fame, he was modest. For me, he will always be a public intellectual, of which there are few today. Mark was faithful to his truth, knew how to convince, did not shy away from sharp discussions and criticism of society. Starting today, this museum space will remind Lithuanian and foreign visitors, the young generation, of Marko Zinger’s personality,” VGŽIM director Simon Strelcovas said during the solemn ceremony.

Emanuel Zinger emphasized that perpetuating the memory of his brother in the museum pays respect to a free person, even one who lived and created freely in the Soviet era.

Photo by M.Ambraz/Auksė Dransard, Simon Strelcovas, Emanuelis Zinger and Mindaugas Klusas

“He grew up in Kaunas’s Laisvė avenue. The echo of pre-war Lithuania, the success story of the state, was heard in all his novels during those Soviet decades. Raising our heads in Laisvė Alley, we used to look up at the Nemunas seagulls, they reminded us that Lithuania has no borders, that there is freedom behind the closed space. Freedom Avenue was the credo of his life,” said E. Zinger.

According to the chief curator of the Samuel Bak Museum, Ieva Šadzevičienė, M. Zinger’s international acquaintances floated the museum into global waters. Thanks to scientific conferences and historical works, the museum has become a significant institution in the field of human rights and Holocaust research.

M. Ambrazo’s photo/Irena Zingerienė unveils the memorial plaque dedicated to Mark Zingeris

“Mark urged us not to be afraid of innovations, on the contrary, to create them ourselves, to be guided by the saying “non progredi est regredi (not going forward means stepping back)”, said I.Šadzevičienė.

Artist Samuelis Bakas, an honorary citizen of Vilnius living in Boston, admitted that it is difficult for him to realize that Marko is no longer among the gathered – speaking, chatting, joking.

“The museum has become a temple of memory, remembering the painful, tragic past, and at the same time wonderfully witnessing how new generations come to terms with it and recognize it. This is also Marko’s merit”, claimed S. Bakas.

The first head of the restored state of Lithuania, Prof. Vytautas Landsbergis was not familiar with M.Zinger. But the professor was impressed by this essay regarding God. He was pleasantly surprised that both thought very similarly on the subject. “It’s a pity that our meeting did not take place – we would have had a couple of hours of fun conversation”, V. Landsbergis regretted.

Mr. Zinger left on a symbolic day – the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. He dedicated a poem to this event. It was read by the actress Virginija Kochanskytė during the memorial evening, and the diplomat Viktoras Sidabras – the English translation.

Photo by M. Ambraz/Mark Zingeris gallery

Son Emilis Zingeris, chairman of the Lithuanian Jewish community Faina Kukliansky also shared their memories of M. Zingeris.

M. Zinger was born in 1947. on January 2 in Prienai. in 1971 graduated from Vilnius University in journalism. 1971-1976 taught philosophy at Kaunas Polytechnic Institute and Kaunas Medical Institute.

1976-1987 worked at the Kaunas History Museum, 1987-1990. – at the Lithuanian Academy of Agriculture. After refusing to join the Communist Party, he was fired from his job and expelled from graduate school in philosophy.

1989-1990 was the chairman of the Kaunas Jewish Society, 1990-1992. – Deputy Chairman of the Lithuanian Farmers’ Union. 1991-1995 worked in the editorial office of the weekly “Šiaurės Atėnai”. 2005-2019 headed the Vilnius Gaon Museum of Jewish History.

Photo by M. Ambraz/Irena Zingeriene and Emilis Zingeris

He published three collections of poems and essays (“Cedar House”, “Evening in Childhood”, “So Many Sunsets”), a collection of short stories “Illusion”, wrote five novels: “Around the Fountain, or Little Paris”, “Playing for Two”, “Season with a dancer”, “Autumn and spring conversation”, “I sat on Stalin’s lap”. He left a sixth large-scale work for the care of his family.

The work was translated into English, Swedish, French, German, Italian, Hungarian, Polish, published in prose and poetry collections in Lithuania and abroad (Poland, Germany, Austria, USA, Sweden, France, etc.).

M. Zingeris earned the Knight’s Cross of the Order “For Merit to Lithuania” and the Knight’s Cross of the Order “For Merit to the Republic of Poland”.