News

A remarkable story of the “Lost Mural” is a story of a thriving Jewish immigrant community from the Lithuanian town Čekiškė settling in Burlington, Vermont, in the late 19^th century and remarkable efforts by their descendants to preserve their legacy today.

The Lost Mural is a distinctive work of Lithuanian Jewish folk art that was painted in 1910 by Ben Zion Black from Kaunas, Lithuania. Three decades later, when the synagogue closed, Black’s work was all but forgotten.

It wasn’t until 2012 that the community found the painting again and eventually moved the whole mural to a synagogue down the road. Today “The Friends of the Lost Mural” are leading the efforts to restore this mural to its vibrant original form. The Embassy of Lithuania in Washington D.C. is glad to contribute to the restoration efforts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATsWwnL4AGw

Today, the Lost Mural has been recognized as one of only a handful of remaining examples of this once widespread art form, described by experts as an “accidental survivor of an otherwise vanished past.”

As we celebrate the International Day for Tolerance, we are reminded of the importance of respect and preservation of our cultural diversity. The year 2020 has been designated as the Year of the History of the Jews of Lithuania to celebrate and commemorate the Litvak culture in Lithuania and abroad.

In 2012, Vermont Public Television produced an award-winning hour-long documentary, “Little Jerusalem” (1885–1986) about this unique transplanted Lithuanian shtetl of more than one thousand residents, which flourished through World War II. 

https://www.pbs.org/video/vermont-public-television-documentaries-little-jerusalem/

For more information about the Lost Shul Mural project visit: https://www.lostmural.org