New Museum Advisory Board brings together Lithuanian and international experts in history, culture and heritage

Prof. David E. Fishman

Professor of Jewish History, The Jewish Theological Seminary of America; Director of Project Judaica

Professor of Jewish History at The Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Director of Project Judaica, JTS’s program in Ukraine. Author of numerous books and articles on the history and culture of East European Jewry. His book “The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets, and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis” won a National Jewish Book Award and has been published in ten languages. Dr. Fishman frequently travels to Ukraine and Eastern Europe for lecturing, research and the administration of Project Judaica.

Sergey Kanovich

Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History

Director of the Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History, an expert in Jewish cultural heritage, a cultural project manager and writer. He is the founder of the public institution “Maceva” and the founder and former CEO of the “Lost Shtetl” museum. In 2018, he was awarded the Medal of the Order for Merits to Lithuania for his efforts in preserving and fostering Lithuania’s Jewish heritage.

Prof. Emer. Samuel Kassow

Charles H. Northam Professor of History Emeritus, Trinity College; Visiting Research Historian at the YIVO Institute

Historian who holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University and is Charles H. Northam Professor of History Emeritus at Trinity College and a Visiting Research Historian at the YIVO Institute in New York. He was part of the team of scholars that planned POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. Among his major books is “Who Will Write Our History: Emanuel Ringelblum and the Secret Ghetto Archive”, which received the Orbis Prize and was a finalist for a National Jewish Book Award. His translation of Rachel Auerbach’s “Warsaw Testament” received a National Jewish Book Award in 2025.

Prof. Emer. Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

Expert in Jewish and museological studies, Professor Emerita at New York University, Ronald S. Lauder Chief Curator of the Core Exhibition at POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw

Internationally renowned scholar and museum professional whose work spans Jewish culture, memory studies, folklore and exhibition-making. University Professor Emerita at New York University and Ronald S. Lauder Chief Curator of the Core Exhibition at POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. Her many distinctions include the American Folklore Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Dan David Prize, honorary doctorates, and the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. She has advised museum and exhibition projects in Lithuania, Europe, Israel, New Zealand and the United States.

Faina Kukliansky

Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) Community

Chair of the Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) Community and an attorney. In 2014, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research presented her with an award for her contribution to strengthening the Lithuanian Jewish community. She has been awarded the Knight’s Cross and Officer’s Cross of the Order for Merits to Lithuania, the Diplomacy Star of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for her long-standing work in preserving Jewish heritage, strengthening international dialogue and promoting Holocaust remembrance culture.

Vaiva Lankelienė

Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania

Advisor in the Memory Institutions Policy Group at the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania. Her professional work is connected with memory institutions policy, cultural heritage and museum-related issues, and the strengthening of these institutions’ activities.

Dr. Lara Lempertienė

Judaica Research Center, Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Head of the Judaica Research Center at the Documentary Heritage Research Department of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania and Curator of the Judaica Collection. The editor of several books, author of scholarly articles, a participant and organizer of Lithuanian and international cultural and academic projects, and curator of numerous exhibitions dedicated to Jewish history. Her research focuses on the cultural history of European and Lithuanian Jews and related published and manuscript documents. In 2023, she was awarded the Medal of the Order for Merits to Lithuania.

Irina Pocienė

Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History

Head of the Cultural Activities and Communication Department. Museum professional, cultural strategist and educator with more than fifteen years of experience in Jewish heritage, public history and audience engagement. Her academic research focuses on the evolving role of Jewish museums, particularly in the fields of visitor experience, public memory and contemporary museum practices. Her work combines historical expertise, strategic thinking, narrative development and a strong focus on creating meaningful, visitor-centered cultural experiences.

Dr. Aivaras Poška

Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History

Head of the Exhibitions Department at the Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History. In 2023, he defended his doctoral dissertation at the Lithuanian Institute of History on the legal and economic relations of Jews in the self-governing towns of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century. His main areas of work include developing concepts for permanent and temporary exhibitions, content development and the coordination of cultural projects.

Prof. Dr. Nerijus Šepetys

Professor at Vilnius University, Doctor of History

Prof. Dr. Nerijus Šepetys teaches at the Department of Theory of History and Cultural History at the Faculty of History, Vilnius University. He has served as substantive, scholarly or special editor of more than 50 books and is the author of several historical monographs on the Holocaust in Lithuania and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. His research focuses on the eve and beginning of the Second World War in Europe, ideology and culture in Soviet Lithuania, the beginning of the Shoah in Lithuania, the history of crimes committed by totalitarian regimes, and the critique of twentieth-century historical sources and historiography.

Doc. Dr. Aurimas Švedas

Lithuanian Institute of History

Director of the Lithuanian Institute of History. Cultural historian whose research interests include the cultural history of Lithuania in the second half of the twentieth century, oral history, cultural and communicative memory, propaganda and its impact on society, the theory of history, film and history, and historical imagination. He is the author, co-author and editor of more than ten monographs, source publications and collections of articles. His work has been published in Lithuanian, Russian, Polish, German and English. In 2016, he received an award from the Ministry of Culture for his writing.