Citizenship

South African Litvak in London Critiques Lithuania’s Citizenship Policies

Posted on 4 June 2016 by Defending History

OPINION  |  LITHUANIA  |  SOUTH AFRICA  |  HUMAN RIGHTS  |  ANTISEMITISM & BIAS

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by Daniel Lutrin

The following opinion piece by Daniel Lutrin appeared in the South African Jewish Report on 1 June 2016 under the headline “Lithuanian Citizenship: Only Successful Applicant is a Dead Jew.” Comments or discussion may be directed to the South African Jewish Report. Defending History is always prepared to consider actual articles in reaction to published articles.

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It was gratifying to see a recent article regarding the plight that Jews of Lithuanian origin (Litvaks) are facing when applying to have their Lithuanian citizenship restored. The article, however, does not hone in on the critical matter at hand, namely the extent to which Lithuanian bureaucrats have gone to deny Jews of their ancestral right to citizenship.

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Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Citizenship, Human Rights, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Opinion, South Africa | Comments Off on South African Litvak in London Critiques Lithuania’s Citizenship Policies

Can Litvak Scions Worldwide Reclaim Lithuanian (Hence EU) Citizenship?

Posted on 27 May 2016 by Defending History

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by Stefanie De Saude

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The following is a slightly updated reprint, with the author’s permission, of today’s article in News24.com.

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A confluence of poor government policy implementation and underhanded representation of the Jewish community in Lithuania was until recently creating a toxic mix of frustration and tension with the Jewish diaspora. Considering the sizable South African Jewish community that is of Lithuanian descent, this would be cause for alarm. But a string of recent court cases and a bold step forward by the Lithuanian government give hope that the project of reintegration of the Jewish diaspora in Lithuania is on track.

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Posted in Citizenship, News & Views | Comments Off on Can Litvak Scions Worldwide Reclaim Lithuanian (Hence EU) Citizenship?

Let’s Dismantle the Sports Palace and Revoke the “Revocation of Hospitality”

Posted on 4 January 2016 by Defending History

 

OPINION  |  PIRAMÓNT  |  PAPER  TRAIL  |  OPPOSITION  |  CEMETERIES

by Andrius Kulikauskas

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I am inspired by the deep feelings which have been stirred amongst Litvaks regarding the fate of the Vilnius Sports Palace built on top of the Jewish cemetery. I wish for our state of Lithuania to do its utmost on behalf of Lithuanians to restore the Jewish cemetery in Vilnius as a symbol of our aspiration for the closest friendship between Lithuanians and Jews. I realized that it would be most helpful for me to present my thoughts in Lithuanian.

“From the top of Gediminas Castle, do we want to see and cherish, for hundreds of years to come, what the Communist Party Chief saw (the Sports Palace) or what the Grand Duke of Lithuania saw (the Jewish cemetery)?”

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Posted in Andrius Kulikauskas, Antisemitism & Bias, Cemeteries and Mass Graves, Citizenship, Genocide Center (Vilnius), History, Human Rights, Lithuania, Lithuania's Jewish Community Issues, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok), Opinion, Politics of Memory, Symbology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Let’s Dismantle the Sports Palace and Revoke the “Revocation of Hospitality”

Lithuania’s Liveliest Cemetery

Posted on 22 December 2015 by Defending History

OPINION  |  PIRAMÓNT  |  PAPER  TRAIL  |  OPPOSITION  |  CEMETERIES

by Dovid Katz

Editor’s note: Reprint from The Times of Israel, where this op-ed appeared on 13 December 2015.

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Back in 2009, a rancorous dispute over the old Vilna Jewish cemetery was ostensibly solved. Two new buildings, despite worldwide protests, would be allowed to remain, and in return, no more land would be pilfered from the cemetery at Piramónt, in the Šnipiškės district of modern Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. The burial ground goes back to the late fifteenth century, at least. After the Holocaust, with virtually no descendants left to worry about, Soviet authorities helped themselves to the gravestones for use in building projects, but left many thousands of graves intact. A galaxy of eminent European rabbinic scholars and authors were buried there. But once the 2009 “Peace of Piramónt” was brokered (with help from Western embassies here), emotions cooled as all sides got on with their lives.

skeltas-3 black background lite

Future symbol for a capital city in the European Union? by VULOVAK / DefendingHistory.com

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Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Cemeteries and Mass Graves, Christian-Jewish Issues, Citizenship, Double Games, Dovid Katz, Human Rights, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok), Opinion, Politics of Memory, Rothschild Foundation Europe (Hanadiv): Lithuanian Issues, USCPAHA (US Commission for Preservation of the American Heritage Abroad) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Lithuania’s Liveliest Cemetery

Jerusalem Post, Again, Fails to Post Dissenting Comments on a “Lithuania Ecstasy” Story

Posted on 22 November 2013 by Defending History

M e d i a   W a t c h   /   O p i n i o n

Readers on several continents again report to Defending History that the Jerusalem Post has failed to post perfectly polite comments to yet another ecstatic ode to issueless Lithuanian-Jewish love. This time it’s the story “Growing Lithuanian Business Ties Beget Political Support” which reported on the recent visit to Israel of the Lithuanian Minister for the Economy Evaldas Gustas.

The rejected comments pointed out that a senior specialist employed at his ministry was exposed last spring as Lithuania’s most hateful internet blogger, responsible for a series of images disparaging to Jews, Blacks, Gays, and to the history of the Holocaust in Lithuania (sampling of images here). Our Open Letter to the minister essentially asks why the hateful top official is still in office. Is such a question taboo for a major English language daily in Israel?

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Posted in Citizenship, Double Games, Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, Israel, Litvak Affairs, Media Watch, News & Views, Opinion, South Africa | Tagged , | Comments Off on Jerusalem Post, Again, Fails to Post Dissenting Comments on a “Lithuania Ecstasy” Story

The Steve Felder – Olga Zabludoff Debate (in SAJR, May-July 2012)

Posted on 12 July 2012 by Defending History

1: Lithuania – a Past Not Forgotten

by Steve Felder

Given the Lithuanian heritage of the overwhelming majority of South African Jews, it is somewhat surprising that seemingly few have visited modern-day Lithuania. Bucking the trend, I visited during March with a small yet prominent delegation of Jewish business executives, on a “mission” arranged by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the largest Jewish humanitarian and welfare organization in the world.

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Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, Citizenship, Collaborators Glorified, Double Games, Double Genocide, News & Views, Olga Zabludoff, Opinion, South Africa | Comments Off on The Steve Felder – Olga Zabludoff Debate (in SAJR, May-July 2012)

Holocaust Survivors to Demonstrate outside Tel Aviv ‘Sellout Gala’ Slated for March 5th

Posted on 14 February 2012 by Defending History

C O M M E N T

[updated 17 Feb] The following “SAVE THE DATE GALA DINNER” announcement was recently posted on the Telfed Online website [update: page taken down; similar text is at the ILCCI site of the organizing “Israel-Lithuania”]:

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Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, Citizenship, Double Games, Dr. Rokhl (Rachel) Margolis (1921-2015), Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, Israel, Joseph Melamed, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Politics of Memory, South Africa | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Holocaust Survivors to Demonstrate outside Tel Aviv ‘Sellout Gala’ Slated for March 5th

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister tells of Jewish Conspiracy during Discussion on Dual Citizenship

Posted on 20 October 2010 by Defending History

At a 13 October parliamentary meeting of the right-wing faction that governs Lithuania, the country’s Foreign Minister, Audronius Ažubalis, began a discussion of proposals to again permit dual citizenship by saying that ‘everyone knows’ who is pushing the bill in parliament. Pressed for details, he went on to explain that the culprits are foreign Jews of Litvak origin (i.e. the same precise group being targeted  for PR by his Foreign Ministry for its Fake Litvak Forum).

Slipping deeper into classic antisemitic canards, the foreign minister went on to propose that ‘they’ are doing this in order to reap financial benefits by way of property restitution that depends upon citizenship under the country’s citizenship laws that racially favor ethnic Lithuanians.

The main news report of the incident by a highly respected journalist, in the country’s main daily, Lietuvos rytas is headlined:

FOREIGN AFFAIRS STRATEGIST SEES JEWISH CONSPIRACY

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Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Citizenship, Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, Human Rights, News & Views | Comments Off on Lithuania’s Foreign Minister tells of Jewish Conspiracy during Discussion on Dual Citizenship

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Believes a Jewish Conspiracy to be Pushing Proposals for Allowing Dual Citizenship

Posted on 14 October 2010 by Defending History

A sensational front-page story in today’s Lietuvos rytas, Lithuania’s main national daily, reports that the foreign minister, Audronius Ažubalis, told his ruling party colleagues at a meeting that ‘the new law [regarding possibilities for dual citizenship] was being pushed by Jews who seek citizenship on order to press compensation claims against the state’.

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Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Citizenship, Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, Human Rights, News & Views | Comments Off on Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Believes a Jewish Conspiracy to be Pushing Proposals for Allowing Dual Citizenship