rescued jewish children
Icchokas Meras was born on 8 October 1934 to a Jewish family in the town of Kelmė. He grew under the influence of two cultures: when his parents were shot dead in 1941, he was saved and raised by a Lithuanian family (“Kelmė taught me to look at the world through the eyes of a Lithuanian and to preserve the memory of my Jewish origin”). He finished Kelmė secondary school in 1953 and graduated from the Electrical Engineering Faculty in Kaunas Polytechnic in 1958. He worked as an engineer in Vilnius designer bureau and Vilnius TV unit factory, and as an editor in Lithuanian Film Studios. Meras emigrated to Israel with his family in 1972.
In Israel, he worked as a teacher in Lod ORT technical secondary school and as a lecturer in Bait Berl College.
Works by Icchokas Meras
He began publishing his works in 1957 debuting with a collection of short-stories titled Geltonas lopas (Yellow Patch, 1960), where he recreated war experiences of a Jewish child. He has written a dozen of books: a collection of short stories Žemė visada gyva (Earth Is Always Alive, 1963), a novel Lygiosios trunka akimirką (A Draw Lasts One Moment, 1963), a novel Ant ko laikosi pasaulis (What Holds the World, 1965), a novel Mėnulio savaitė (Moon Week, 1966), a collection of short stories Senas fontanas (Old Fountain, 1971), a novel Striptizas, arba Paryžius-Roma-Paryžius (Striptease or Paris-Rome-Paris, 1971), a book for children Ties gatvės žibintu (At the Lamppost, 1974), a novel Sara (Sarah, 1982), as well as the collections of short stories Apverstas pasaulis (Upside-down World, 1995) and Stotelė vidukelėj (Half-way Stop, 2004). He has also written three screenplays (co-authored by the filmmakers Raimondas Vabalas and Algirdas Araminas) for the films shot in Lithuanian Film Studios. According to Algis Kalėda, the works of Meras mostly build on Holocaust, tragic fate of Lithuanian Jews, and the relationships between Lithuanians and Jews. His works have been translated into 20 languages. The author has been awarded seven literature prizes.
The writer Icchokas Meras in 2010 was honored with the most significant award of Lithuania – the National Award of Lithuanian Art and Culture. This award was assigned to Icchokas Meras for revealing the tragic 20-th century's human experience in the modern Lithuanian prose.
Activities in diplomacy
In 1989, under the request of Vytautas Landsbergis, the leader of Sąjūdis organisation, Meras became the unofficial representative of Lithuania in Israel until the opening of the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in 1995. Icchokas Meras continues improving the relationship between the two countries, especially in the field of mutual cultural ties.
9 June 2004, he addressed the Chairman of the Jewish Community in Lithuania, the Director of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum, renowned public figures of Lithuania and emigrants from Lithuania in Israel thus initiating the project “Rescuers of Jews – the Righteous Among the Nations” and organised a group of people who continue their successful work in this field to this day.
19 August 2004, Icchokas Meras addressed the President of the Republic of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus, Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas, Speaker Artūras Paulauskas, as well as all former and future Presidents, Prime Ministers, Speakers, other public officials, public figures and all people of good will, and urged them to unite their efforts and erect a monument for the Righteous of the Lithuanian nation, who had rescued Jews during the German occupation.
In Israel, he worked as a teacher in Lod ORT technical secondary school and as a lecturer in Bait Berl College.
Works by Icchokas Meras
He began publishing his works in 1957 debuting with a collection of short-stories titled Geltonas lopas (Yellow Patch, 1960), where he recreated war experiences of a Jewish child. He has written a dozen of books: a collection of short stories Žemė visada gyva (Earth Is Always Alive, 1963), a novel Lygiosios trunka akimirką (A Draw Lasts One Moment, 1963), a novel Ant ko laikosi pasaulis (What Holds the World, 1965), a novel Mėnulio savaitė (Moon Week, 1966), a collection of short stories Senas fontanas (Old Fountain, 1971), a novel Striptizas, arba Paryžius-Roma-Paryžius (Striptease or Paris-Rome-Paris, 1971), a book for children Ties gatvės žibintu (At the Lamppost, 1974), a novel Sara (Sarah, 1982), as well as the collections of short stories Apverstas pasaulis (Upside-down World, 1995) and Stotelė vidukelėj (Half-way Stop, 2004). He has also written three screenplays (co-authored by the filmmakers Raimondas Vabalas and Algirdas Araminas) for the films shot in Lithuanian Film Studios. According to Algis Kalėda, the works of Meras mostly build on Holocaust, tragic fate of Lithuanian Jews, and the relationships between Lithuanians and Jews. His works have been translated into 20 languages. The author has been awarded seven literature prizes.
The writer Icchokas Meras in 2010 was honored with the most significant award of Lithuania – the National Award of Lithuanian Art and Culture. This award was assigned to Icchokas Meras for revealing the tragic 20-th century's human experience in the modern Lithuanian prose.
Activities in diplomacy
In 1989, under the request of Vytautas Landsbergis, the leader of Sąjūdis organisation, Meras became the unofficial representative of Lithuania in Israel until the opening of the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in 1995. Icchokas Meras continues improving the relationship between the two countries, especially in the field of mutual cultural ties.
9 June 2004, he addressed the Chairman of the Jewish Community in Lithuania, the Director of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum, renowned public figures of Lithuania and emigrants from Lithuania in Israel thus initiating the project “Rescuers of Jews – the Righteous Among the Nations” and organised a group of people who continue their successful work in this field to this day.
19 August 2004, Icchokas Meras addressed the President of the Republic of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus, Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas, Speaker Artūras Paulauskas, as well as all former and future Presidents, Prime Ministers, Speakers, other public officials, public figures and all people of good will, and urged them to unite their efforts and erect a monument for the Righteous of the Lithuanian nation, who had rescued Jews during the German occupation.