Tag Archives: Saulius Berzinis

Saulius Beržinis’s ‘Censored Film’ on Lost Shtetl Sheduva: Lithuania’s ‘Satanic Verses’?


[LAST UPDATE; ORIGINAL PUBLICATION 27 APRIL 2023]

OPINION | FILMBOLD CITIZENS | SAULIUS BERŽINIS | SHEDUVA

Defending History proudly supports modern Lithuania’s first major Holocaust truth teller, documentary film maker

Saulius Beržinis

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What is it all about? Allegedly, a major gang-up is underway against Vilnius’s beloved documentarian Saulius Beržinis who was perhaps the first to tell the truth about the Holocaust in Lithuania. His 2018 Rogatchi Humanist of the Year Award was presented the following year in a Vilnius ceremony that included the ambassadors of Finland, Norway and the United States. Back in 2004 he was Lithuania’s Person of Tolerance, and American journalist Ben Smith, in a 2001 feature article in the Forward, chronicled his earlier work including his sensational 1990s filmed interviews with actual Holocaust perpetrators.

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Posted in Bold Citizens Speak Out, Film, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Museums, News & Views, Opinion, Saulius Beržinis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Saulius Beržinis’s ‘Censored Film’ on Lost Shtetl Sheduva: Lithuania’s ‘Satanic Verses’?

B’nai B’rith Australia & New Zealand Issues Press Release on Saulius Beržinis Award



FILM | SAULIUS BERŽINIS | SHEDUVA  | BOLD CITIZENS

VILNIUS—B’nai B’rith Australia & New Zealand today issued the following press release accompanying its lifetime achievement award earlier this month to Lithuanian filmmaker Saulius Beržinis (see also DH’s report on the dramatic saga in the background).

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Posted in Arts, Australia, Bold Citizens Speak Out, Film, History, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Saulius Beržinis, Šeduva (Sheduva, Shádeve, Shádov) and its Free-of-Jewish-Staff "Museum of the Lost Shtetl" | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on B’nai B’rith Australia & New Zealand Issues Press Release on Saulius Beržinis Award

B’nai B’rith Australia & New Zealand Honors Filmmaker Saulius Beržinis, Bold Fighter for Historic Truth



BOLD CITIZENS | SAULIUS BERŽINIS | SHEDUVAFILM

THE INTRICATE SAGA IN THE BACKGROUND


 

Posted in Arts, Australia, Bold Citizens Speak Out, Film, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Saulius Beržinis | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on B’nai B’rith Australia & New Zealand Honors Filmmaker Saulius Beržinis, Bold Fighter for Historic Truth

Would Your Heritage Tour Group Coming to Vilnius Like to See an Informal Draft of the ‘Banned’ Film on the Holocaust in Sheduva?



OPINION | FILM | FREE SPEECHBOLD CITIZENS | SAULIUS BERŽINIS | SHEDUVA | IT PAYS TO DEFEND HISTORY

VILNIUS—The Defending History community here in Vilnius was proud today again to be a partner, with the non-profit Kopa Studio II and visiting cultural and academic groups, in helping organize informal, free, non-commercial, viewings of the film Petrified Time, which contains the “Satanic Verses of Sheduva” — the historically invaluable eyewitness testimony by the last witnesses to the Lithuanian Holocaust (themselves, now, a few years later, gone too). Filmed by award winning Lithuanian documentary film maker Saulius Beržinis the film is tied up in litigation launched by the “Museum of the Lost Shtetl” in Sheduva, and spearheaded by the museum’s executive director in Brussels, in a lawsuit conducted by a top Vilnius law firm, and ultimately paid for by a South African origin billionaire in Switzlerland. News and updates of the saga here.

What is success when defending history?

Defending History thinks it’s a major success when dozens, hundreds, and thousands of people are gradually being able to watch a film that very rich and powerful forces are effectively (not “officially”) seeking to ban. If your heritage, roots or Jewish-interest tour group is coming to Vilnius in the coming months and might be interested in a private, informal viewing of a draft first version only of a remarkable film effectively banned at present, please be in touch with Defending History (info@defendinghistory.com). To inquire about future online “viewing windows” please be in touch with Kopa Studio II (berkopa@hotmail.com).

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Posted in Bold Citizens Speak Out, Film, Free Speech & Democracy, It Pays to Defend History: Success Over the Years..., Litvak Affairs, Museums, News & Views, Opinion, Saulius Beržinis, Šeduva (Sheduva, Shádeve, Shádov) and its Free-of-Jewish-Staff "Museum of the Lost Shtetl" | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Would Your Heritage Tour Group Coming to Vilnius Like to See an Informal Draft of the ‘Banned’ Film on the Holocaust in Sheduva?

Is the Vilnius Police Criminal Division Harassing a Veteran Holocaust Researcher?


VILNIUS—Defending History confirmed today that renowned documentary film maker and Holocaust researcher Saulius Beržinis, founding director of the Independent Holocaust Archive of Lithuania (IHAL), has been the latest recipient of a letter from police on account of his work documenting the alleged Nazi collaboration of various Lithuanian “1941 freedom fighters” who allegedly collaborated with the Nazi regime and in the murder of their civilian Jewish-citizen neighbors in the days, weeks and months following 22 June 1941. The letter demands he turn over a “list” of criminals which it was never his, nor the Archives’ intention, to produce or comment upon. Over the years, the Holocaust specialist has won the confidence of groups worldwide for his willingness to seek out and tell the unvarnished truth, among them the Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office.

The March 19th letter to IHAL’s director, letterheaded “Vilnius District Senior Police Commission, Vilnius City First Police Commission, Police Criminal Division” is reproduced below (followed by translation into English).

Saulius Beržinis has been collecting testimonies on the Holocaust for a quarter of a  century. He is known internationally for his singular achievement of  interviewing on camera actual admitted killers (some are in the film Lovely Faces of the Killers, 2002), and his extensive documentation work with survivors and witnesses. He has partnered over the years with BBC, The United States Holocaust Museum, the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum of Lithuania, Yad Vashem, and other international bodies, in addition to dozens of Holocaust survivors. His Holocaust documentaries include Farewell Jerusalem of Lithuania (1994), Yudel’s Unwritten Diary (2004), The Road to Treblinka (1997). Most recently, his film on the Holocaust in Jurbarkas (Yúrberik) became controversial for daring to name the killers of the town’s Jewish citizens in 1941 (see reviews by Milan Chersonski and Geoff Vasil).

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Posted in A 21st Century Campaign Against Lithuanian Holocaust Survivors?, Bold Citizens Speak Out, Collaborators Glorified, Debates on Juozas Lukša, EU, Film, Free Speech & Democracy, Human Rights, Lithuania, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Saulius Beržinis, State Glorification of Holocaust Collaborator J. Noreika | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Is the Vilnius Police Criminal Division Harassing a Veteran Holocaust Researcher?

Film, Video, Radio



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THE FILM PAGE HAS MOVED HERE.


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Bold Citizens



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PROPHET AMOS AWARDS

DH SECTION ON COURAGEOUS CITIZENS OF LITHUANIA

A number of citizens of Lithuania from diverse backgrounds have spoken out against antisemitism, racism, and Holocaust Obfuscation. See the Defending History sections dedicated to the authors Vytenis Povilas AndriukaitisKristina Apanavičiūtė SulikienėEvaldas Balčiūnas, Aleksandras BosasMilan Chersonski, Algis Davidavičius, Leonidas Donskis, Pinchos FridbergVilma Fiokla Kiurė, Regina Kopilevich, Andrius KulikauskasFausta and Michael Maass, Julius Norwilla, Jacob PilianskyKamilė RupeikaitėGeoff Vasil (Vasiliauskas), Nida VasiliauskaitėTomas VenclovaLina Žigelytė and others.

Lithuanian film directors are at the forefront of producing bold new documentaries. See recent works by Saulius Beržinis and Alicija Žukauskaitė.

SEE ALSO:

LITHUANIAN HOLOCAUST RESCUERS PAGE

AND THE

FIRST-WEEK RESCUERS PAGE (JUST GETTING STARTED — CONTRIBUTIONS WELCOME)

The following is a selection. There are many more citizens of Lithuania who have stood up with courage.

2016

1 April 2016.  Defending History: ‘Media Reaction and Reviews: Vanagaitė and Zuroff’s ‘Mūsiškiai’.

11 March 2016.  Defending History: Neo-Nazis given central Vilnius again on March 11th Independence Day’ by Vilma Fiokla Kiurė.

29 February 2016.  Jewish Community of Lithuania: ‘Lithuanian Jewish Community requests findings on Holocaust crimes of Molėtai priest’ by Faina Kukliansky.

29 February 2016.  The Times of Israel: ‘Holocaust haunts Lithuanians as painful past comes to light’ by Vaidotas Beniusis.

29 February 2016.  Defending History: ‘Media Reaction and Reviews: Vanagaitė and Zuroff’s ‘Mūsiškiai’.

11 February 2016.  Lithuanian Jewish Community: ‘Musicians of the symphony of the lie’ by Sergejus Kanovičius.

4 January 2016. DefendingHistory.com: ‘Let’s dismantle the Sports Palace and revoke the revocation of hospitality’ by Andrius Kulikauskas.


 

2015

24 December 2015.  Defending History: ‘When both law enforcement and politicians cover up racism’ by Vilma Fiokla Kiurė.

18 December 2015.  Defending History: ‘Documents which argue for ethnic cleansing (by Kazys Škirpa, Stasys Raštikis, Stasys Lozoraitis and Petras Klimas in 1940-1941 and by Birutė Teresė Burauskaitė in 2015)’ by Andrius Kulikauskas.

14 December 2015.  Defending History: ‘It’s not just about old Jewish cemeteries’ by Milan Chersonski.

7 December 2015.  Defending History: ‘Why would the “Genocide Center” in Vilnius manipulate history and glorify murderers’? by Kristina Apanavičiūtė Sulikienė.

20 November 2015.  VilNews.com: ‘Doing business in Lithuania — a country where rule of law is not expected’ by Grant Arthur Gochin.

16 November 2015.  Defending History: ‘Roma in Lithuania: But what does the government need to do?’ by Vilma Fiokla Kiurė.

10 November 2015.  Lithuanian Jewish Community: ‘Litvak youth protest honoring of General Vetra in Vilnius’ [extracts in English from the full 9 Nov. article in Lithuanian in 15min.lt by Paulius Gritenis].

7 November 2015.  Defending History: ‘Faina Kukliansky, chair of Lithuanian Jewish Community, issues sharp response to latest Genocide Center whitewash of a local Holocaust perpetrator’.

4 October 2015.  Defending History: ‘Police prevent Kaunas Jewish guide Chaim Bargman from attending annual memorial for the annihilated Jews of Ukmergė (Vilkomir)’ [introducing video interview of Chaim Bargman in Yiddish].

2 October 2015.  Defending History: ‘Impressions of a conference on “Antisemitism, Radicalization and Violent Extremism”’ by Vilma Fiokla Kiurė.

25 September 2015.  Defending History: ‘Vilnius names street for beloved Lithuanian rescuer Ona Šimaitė’.

1 September 2015.  Defending History: ‘Public shrines to a Holocaust collaborator and a “secret” petition: A strange summer’s media circus’ by Evaldas Balčiūnas.

23 August 2015. Defending History: ‘What it is to defend your own history’ by Kristina Apanavičiūtė Sulikienė.

29 July 2015.  i24: ‘Lithuania’s choice: between real and false heroes’ by Sergey Kanovich.

29 July 2015.  Defending History: ‘“Absolute Barbarism”: An Orthodox Jewish Resident of Vilnius Speaks Out on Piramónt (Šnipiškės) Cemetery’ by Ruta Bloshtein.

19 July 2015.  Defending History: ‘What’s The Story With the Mass Grave Uncovered near Šiauliai (Shavl)?’ by Evaldas Balčiūnas?.

4 May 2015.  Defending History: ‘A protestant pastor in Vilnius speaks out about the church steps that are still made of pilfered Jewish gravestones’ by Julius Norvila.

3 May 2015.  Defending History: ‘Why we have not, do not and will not talk about the Holocaust in Lithuania’ by Rūta Vanagaitė. Posted on 4 May 2015 in En.Delfi.lt / The Lithuania Tribune.

1 May 2015.  Defending History: ‘Legacy of  Rūta Vanagaitė’s 17 April 2015 Conference at Vilnius City Hall’.

30 April 2015.  Defending History: ‘A Jewish hideout discovered in Butrimonys’ by Andrius Kulikauskas.

24 April 2015.  Lithuania Tribune / En.Delfi.lt: ‘Lithuanians and Jews: What’s changed and what hasn’t over the last 40 years?’ by Tomas Venclova.

20 April 2015.  Defending History [courtesy of International Conference on Holocaust Education]: ‘Lithuanians and Jews: What’s changed and what hasn’t over the last forty years?’ by Tomas Venclova. In Delfi.lt (24 April 2015).

13 April 2015.  H-Net. Humanities and Social Sciences Online: ‘Origins of the Holocaust in Lithuania’ by Andrius Kulikauskas.

12 Apil 2015.  Defending History: ‘Graffiti debate on Hitler in a Vilnius housing complex’ [photograph] by Julius Norwilla.

6 April 2015.  Defending History: ‘A new book on the Kaunas (Kovno) Ghetto by Arūnas Bubnys’ by Geoff Vasil.

30 March 2015.  Defending History: ‘New memorial, on state land in western Lithuania, honors alleged murderer of thousands of civlians’ by Evaldas Balčiūnas.

19 March 2015.  Mi Zdes: Correspondence between Vilnius Holocaust survivor Pinchos Fridberg and Yico director Jonathan Brent in Russian translation.  In English (in DH); reprint in Operation Last Chance (Simon Wiesenthal Center).  In Yiddish.

19 March 2015.  Defending History: ‘An “Inner” View of the Neo-March on Vilnius, 2015′ by Geoff Vasil.

19 February 2015.  Defending History: ‘February 16th 2015 in Kaunas…’ by Evaldas Balčiūnas.

5 February 2015.  Defending History: ‘How did Lithuanians wrong Litvaks?’ by Andrius Kulikauskas.

4 February 2015.  Defending History: ‘The Nazis are just nuts’ by Geoff Vasil.

2 February 2015.  Defending History: ‘The Bubnys event at the 2015 Jewish Community Auschwitz commemoration’ by Julius Norwilla.

29 January 2015.  Defending History: ‘Nine poems by Aleksandras Bosas’.


2014

30 November 2014.  Defending History: ‘Tomas Venclova speaks out on Banderism and its European analogues’.

23 November 2014.  Defending History: ‘Member of Lithuania’s Jewish community speaks out on neo-Nazi Parades, and govt. flowers at monument to Hitler’s soldiers’ by Jacob Piliansky.

20 November 2014.  Defending History: ‘What is the “program for Roma integration” in Lithuania?’ by Vilma Fiokla Kiurė.

16 November 2014.  Defending History: ‘Which issues did the exhibit neglect to cover? [Review of a 2014 exhibition “Lithuanian Jews behind the Iron Curtain” at the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum]‘ by Milan Chersonski.

11 November 2014.  Defending History: ‘Meilach Stalevich (1923 — 2014)’ by Dovid Katz.

8 November 2014.  LatvianNews.lv: ‘Herberts Cukrus. A criminal. Just a criminal’.

5 October 2014.  Defending History: ‘Annual memorial for the Jews of Svintsyán (Švenčionys): small but well done’ by Defending History staff.

24 September 2014.  Defending History: ‘Seven Prophet Amos Awards for human rights courage in Lithuania’.

21 September 2014.  Tsemakh Shabad’s 150th birthday celebrated in style at the Lithuanian parliament’ by Defending History staff.

24 August 2014.  Jewish Community of Lithuania: ‘Volunteers tackle cobwebs and dust at Vilna Ghetto Library’ by Geoff Vasil.

17 August 2014.  Defending History: ‘Vilnius daily’s report on the Dyukov affair’.

1 August 2014.  Defending History: ‘Our staff writer Evaldas Balčiūnas interrogated for articles opposing glorification of Nazi collaborators and current neo-Nazism’ by Evaldas Balčiūnas.

26 July 2014.  Defending History: ‘Aleksandras Bosas (1951—2014)’ by Geoff Vasil.

8 July 2014.  Defending History: ‘Defending History’s Evaldas Balčiūnas again disturbed by police at his workplace’.

17 June 2014Defending History: ‘The politics of history’ by Evaldas Balčiūnas.

22 May 2014.  Defending History: ‘DH staff writer Evaldas Balčiūnas is investigated by Lithuanian police’.

22 May 2014.  Defending History: ‘Statement of staff writer Evaldas Balčiūnas on summons from police’ by Evaldas Balčiūnas.

8 April 2014.  Defending History: ‘Roma: Presumption of Guilt’ by Vilma Fiokla Kiurė.

28 March 2014.  Defending History: ‘Is Vilnius police criminal division harassing veteran Holocaust researcher?’

21 March 2014.  Defending History: ‘Holocaust Survivor stands up against proposal to close down Russian language media in Lithuania’.

8 March 2014Defending History: ‘Olga Zabludoff’s comment on a February 2014 Yivo symposium’. Original 7 March 2014 publication in the Algemeiner Journal.

3 March 2014.  Pinchos Fridberg’s Youtube: ‘Lakhn iz gezunt’ by Pinchos Fridberg [in Yiddish]. Reaction to a comment posted at Olga Zabludoff’s 13 February 2014 op-ed in the Algemeiner Journal.

23 February 2014.  Defending History: Prof. Pinchos Fridberg’s sound file ‘Lakhn iz gezunt’ (in Yiddish) in response to R. Račinskas’s comment to Olga Zabludoff’s 13 February 2014 article in the Algemeiner Journal. Background here and here.

11 February 2014.  Tablet: ‘A comment from Professor Pinchos Fridberg, Vilnius’. Reprint in DefendingHistory.com.

10 February 2014.  Antifa.lt: Antifa.lt announces its 16 February 2014 protest against neo-Nazi march in central Kaunas;  On Facebook.

21 January 2014.  JosephLevinson.com: Joseph Levinson website launched.

17 January 2014.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Forget me knot’ by Geoff Vasil (Vailiauskas).

8 January 2014.  DefendingHistory.com: Translation of Giedrius Grabauskas’s recent article in Akcentai.info on freedom of speech in Lithuania (with reference to Holocaust remembrance issues).


2013

24 December 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘A Love Story’ by Pinchos Fridberg.

23 December 2013.  Lithuania Tribune: ‘Lithuanian PM criticizes MP Bradauskas for statement on rescuers of Jews’.

22 December 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Raising Cain on the Resurrection of Abel’ by Geoff Vasil (Vasiliauskas).

7 December 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Žilvinas Butkus (Vilnius) and the Association of Lithuanian Jews (Tel Aviv) release August 2009 document’.

1 December 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘“Higher mathematics” of the Lithuanian Holocaust’ by Pinchos Fridberg.

1 November 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Chersonski replies to Aleksandravičius on the 2012 Kaunas reburial of the 1941 Nazi puppet prime minister’ by Milan Chersonski.

26 October 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘The “humanity” of the rewriters of history” by Evaldas Balčiūnas.

25 September 2013DefendingHistory.com: ‘Inclusion and occlusion. A review ofthe Prague Platform’s travelling exhibition “Totalitarianism in Europe” (currently on show at Tuskulenai Peace Park in Vilnius, Lithuania)’ by Geoff Vasil (Vasiliauskas).

25 September 2013DefendingHistory.com: ‘Chersonski replies to Aleksandravičius on the 2012 Kaunas reburial with full honors of 1941 Nazi puppet prime minister’ by Milan Chersonski [in Russian; English translation forthcoming].

18 September 2013DefendingHistory.com: ‘“And, of course, the research that our commission’s historians are carrying out is very important”’ by Pinchos Fridberg.

13 September 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘In Parubanka, Roma people say history is repeating itself by Lina Žigelytė.

29 August 2013.  The Baltic Times: ‘How memory prevails’ by Leonidas Donskis.

2 July 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Marching with the words: “No to falsification of history”‘ by Milan Chersonski.

23 June 2013. Around ten young anti-fascists from Antifa Lietuva stage a march in Kaunas protesting the glorification of the Lithuanian Activist Front who unleashed murder upon local Jewish populations on this date in 1941 in dozens of locations. Milan Chersonski reports from Kaunas. More on Antifa.lt and Facebook. The banner carried translates: ‘Real heroes rescued people instead of killing them. Remember the victims of the Holocaust’.

antifa lietuva march in kaunas June 23 2013 against LAF glorification

Antifa Lietuva’s sign reads: “Real heroes rescued people instead of killing them. Remember the victims of the Holocaust”

6 June 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘The unwritten biography of Jonas Žemaitis: a tale of twists and turns’ by Evaldas Balčiūnas.

27 May 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Rehabilitation of the past as a tool of modern politics’ by Milan Chersonski.

11 May 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘The neo-Nazis hate the feminists, too. Police and prosecutors seem to favor ultranationalist groups’ by Lina Žigelytė.

22 April 2013.  Jerusalem Report: ‘Lithuania’s deceit’ by Bernard Dichek [see interviews with Fania Brantsovsky and Milda Jakulytė-Vasil].

10 April 2013.  Defending History: ‘In Obeliai (Abél) and Rokiškis (Rákishok): More state-sponsored glorification of Nazi collaborators’ by Geoff Vasil.

29 March 2013Žibutė (Lithuanian Feminist Program): Antifascism and a campaign of terror.

16 March 2013.  Delfi.lt: ‘Latvių SS legiono veteranų eitynėse žygiavo J.Panka bei R.Čekutis, A.Paleckis’ by Eglė Samoškaitė.

15 March 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Believe it or not: Lithuanian parliament honors organizers of neo-Nazi march in central Vilnius’ [with full translation of Dovydas Pancerovas’s courageous article].

15 March 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Lithuania’s Social Democratic Party issues statement against neo-Nazi march’.

14 March 2013.  Lithuania Tribune: ‘Social Democrats censure “manifestations of ultranatnionalism”’.

14 March 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Isn’t it time for the author of the myth to apologize?’ by Pinchos Fridberg.

11 March 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘3,000 participants in “unauthorized” neo-Nazi march in central Vilnius on 2013 independence day’ by Anna Shepherd [with reports on the courageous groups of Lithuanian citizens who turned out to oppose the neo-Nazi march in central Vilnius].

Fiokle kukle

Fiokla Kiure carries a protest sign at the neo-Nazis’ independence day march in central Vilnius on 11 March 2013. Sign reads: “I’m ashamed to live in a country that’s run by Mankurts.”

2 March 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Letter to the editor’ by Pinchos Fridberg [with two sound files of MP Emanuelis Zingeris at the November 2012 Seimas conference on ‘United Europe — United History’].

24 February 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Evaldas Balčiūnas remembers February 16th 2013 march in central Kaunas’ by Evaldas Balčiūnas.

23 February 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘A counter-question to Lithuanian journalist Artūras Račas’ by Pinchos Fridberg.

23 February 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘The real dope on the February 16 neo-Nazi march in Kaunas (Kovno), Lithuania’ by Geoff Vasil.

A number of courageous young Lithuanians, affiliated with antifa.lt and anarchija.lt were among the tiny number of protesters at the February 16th neo-Nazi march in Kaunas that featured on the front banner the Nazi puppet prime minister of 1941. They were harassed by police who demanded their names and addresses. By contrast the police were highly courteous to Efraim Zuroff and Dovid Katz who came to monitor and protest the event.

14 February 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Righteous among the nations: Zháger (Žagarė).

14 February 2013.  The Baltic Times: ‘Lithuanian PM is against instigation of ethnic hatred’.

14 February 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Pinchos Fridberg provides chronology of a provocation’.

8 February 2013.  VilNews.com: ‘A poem about the witches among us’ by K.R. Slade.

1 February 2013Obzor: ‘Two questions of the leaders of the Jewish Community of Lithuania’ by Pinchos Fridberg [in Russian].

31 January 2013.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Why Christine Beresniova is out of order’ by Geoff Vasil.

16 January 2013.  Jewish Community of Lithuania: ‘Instead of truth about the Holocaust — Myths about saving Jews’ by Pinchos Fridberg.

15 January 2013.   The Algemeiner: ‘Instead of truth about the Holocaust — Myths about saving Jews’ by Pinchos Fridberg.


2012

• Eight Lithuanian parliamentarians (six MPs and two MEPs) courageously sign the Seventy Years Declaration. They are rapidly attacked by the foreign minister, and defended by UK MP Denis MacShane, who wrote to each. The New York Times reports. Jewish Chronicle. Algemeiner JournalMP Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis (now minister of health) replied powerfully. So did UK MP and author Denis MacShaneAndres Spokoiny’s tribute to MP Andriukaitis.

• Hundreds of Lithuanian citizens of all backgrounds, resident in Lithuania and in a dozen countries, courageously sign Olga Zabludoff’s petition asking the Lithuanian government to ban the neo-Nazi march from the central boulevard of Lithuania’s beautiful capital Vilnius on its proud independence day of March 11th.

• Many Lithuanian citizens, resident in Lithuania and elsewhere, courageously sign Krystyna Anna Steiger’s petition. It started as a petition asking Vytatyas Magnus University to cancel events honoring the 1941 Nazi puppet prime minister. Upon achievement of that goal it shifted to asking the government to cancel its reburial ceremonies. Following the reburial, it evolved to the current petition asking the government to remove memorials to Nazi collaborators on public property.

• Eight of the nine demonstrators who picketed the opening of a racist-homophobe’s art exhibition at Vilnius University on 27 September 2012 are Lithuanian citizens. Details here.

Among the nine demonstrators against Vilnius University’s mounting of an exhibit of the works of an antisemitic, racist, homophobic artist. Report at: https://defendinghistory.com/vilnius-university-calls-antisemitic-artist-humanistic-as-bold-young-lithuanian-intellectuals-protest-but-bloomington-borns-remains-silent/42357.

•  Among the major bold and courageous contributions to the debate  by Lithuanian personalities in 2012: Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis 1234V.T. Andriukaitis & A. SysasSaulius BeržinisAlgis Davidavičius; Leonidas Donskis 12Darius UdrysAlicija Žukauskaitė.

———

3 October 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ’Ignas Vylius-Vėlavičius: Lithuanian patriot or Holocaust perpetrator?’ by Evaldas Balčiūnas.

25 September 2012.  Delfi.lt: ‘Parodos detektyvas VU: žydai pasipiktino dailininku, kairieji organizuoja protestą, universitetas sutrikęs’ [‘A detective story about an exhibit at Vilnius University: Jews upset by artist, leftists organize protest, university in disarray] by Eglė Samoškaitė.

17 September 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Lithuania’s state Jewish museum responds to survivors’ concerns about London meetings together with (antisemitic) Genocide Center’ by Kamilė Rupeikaitė.

30 July 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Crying over dead Jews’ by Geoff Vasil.  Republication in the Algemeiner Journal.  Republication in 15min.lt.  August 1st 2012 pick of the day on Jewish Ideas Daily.

18 July 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Why was a Lithuanian Holocaust perpetrator who also murdered Belarusians given atate honors? Open letter to the Lithuanian Ambassador to Belarus’ by Evaldas Balčiūnas.

6 July 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘The Holocaust? It happens to everyone…’ by Algis Davidavičius.

4 July 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Reburial as a means for the rewriting of history’ by Milan Chersonski.

29 June 2012.  Defending History.com: ‘Another “resistance hero” or — war criminal who selected Jews for mass murder?’ by Evaldas Balčiūnas.

11 June 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘A historic narrative in violation of good conscience’ by Leonidas Donskis [authorized translation for DH by Geoff Vasil].

28 May 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Unelected 1941 pro-Nazi provisional government of Lithuania never intended good for country’ by Geoff Vasil.

26 May 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘A Litvak devastates second Kaunas conference on Nazi collaborator Ambrazevičius-Brazaitis’ by Geoff Vasil.

20 May 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Dramatic confrontation on the floor of the Lithuanian parliament’.

17 May 2012.  VilNews.com: ‘Juozas Ambrazevičius-Brazaitis is no hero’ by Darius Udrys.  Republished in 15min.lt. Republished in the Lithuania Tribune.

17 May 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘International Christian Assembly Directors in Lithuania Speak Out on the Glorification of Ambrazevičius-Brazaitis’ [with full text of statement by Michael and Fausta Maass].

29 April 2012Lietuvos rytas: ‘Musicians speaking out against racism: “You need to love your country with songs, not fists’ by Eglė Šilinskaitė.  English translation here.

29 April 2012. Lietuvos rytas: ‘Musicians speaking out against racism: “You need to love your country with songs, not fists’ by Eglė Šilinskaitė.  English translation here.

28 April 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘The history of three “Lithuanian Freedom Army” (LFA) colonels who served the Nazis” by Evaldas Balčiūnas.

12 April 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘MP Vytenis Andriukaitis: Open letter to Genocide Center’s “chief specialist” Ričardas Čekutis’ by Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis. [= authorized English translation of 5 April 2012 Balsas.lt article]

11 February 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Lithuanian parliamentarian Vytenis Andriukaitis, signatory of 70 Years Declaration, replies to foreign minister, cites “moustache” remark and the implications of ‘double genocide”‘. [An authorized translation of the Lithuanian article by Vytenis Andriukaitis that appeared on Delfi.lt on 9 February 2012]

25 January 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘UK MP Denis MacShane rushes to defense of Lithuanian parliamentarians who signed Seventy Years Declaration; slams foreign minister’s Hitler-Stalin “joke”‘.

22 January 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘Lithuanian foreign minister berates his country’s parliamentarians who signed “70 Years Declaration”; Says Hitler = Stalin except for length of their moustaches’Republished on Operation Last Chance.

20 January 2012.  DefendingHistory.com: ‘The Seventy Years Declaration on the anniversary of the final solution conference at Wannsee’ [including eight Lithuanian signatories].

2011

Some six hundred Lithuanian citizens sign a letter protesting the neo-Nazi march held in the center of Vilnius on the country’s March 11 independence day; letter released on 14 March 2011.


Five courageous members of the Tolerant Youth Association of Lithuania  (http://www.tja.lt) staged a small but powerful counter-demonstration against the neo-Nazi march held on 11 March 2011.


Shimon Alperovich interviewed by Frank Bendle on Taz.de, 4 February 2011.

Evaldas Balčiūnas, ‘Lithuanian State Commemorates Murderers’ on Anarchija.lt, 22 March 2011.  Authorized English translation by Geoff Vasil available here.

Monika Bonckute, ‘The bureaucrat who thought he was a victim’ in Lietuvos rytas, 8 March 2011.  Authorized English translation by Geoff Vasil available here.

Leonidas Donskis, ‘Who got stupid, the European Parliament or Us?’ on DefendingHistory.com, 7 February 2011.

Milan Chersonski, ‘Jewish Museum renewed Holocaust exhibition’ by Milan Chersonski in Jerusalem of Lithuania [English edition appeared on 18 February 2011; edition of the publication dated July-Sept 2010].

Milan Chersonski, ‘Love and sorrow, reinforced by tears’ by Milan Chersonski  in Jerusalem of Lithuania [English edition appeared on 18 February 2011; edition of the publication dated July-Sept 2010].

Mečys Laurinkus, ‘Fascist demonstrators: a real problem for Lithuania’s future’ in Lietuvos rytas, 26 March 2011.  English translation.

Valentinas Mitė, ‘The murder of Jews in Lithuania. A pigsty and the Holocaust’ in Jerusalem of Lithuania [English translation appeared on 18 February 2011, edition of the publication dated July-Sept 2010].

Liudas Truska [interview], ‘Lithuanian professor: “Stop equating Soviet occupation with Nazi Holocaust”‘ in FightHatred.com, 13 July 2011.

Geoff Vasil (Vasiliauskas), ‘Lithuania is playing a worrying Holocaust game’ in the Jewish Chronicle, 28 July 2011.

Geoff Vasil (Vasiliauskas), ‘Lithuania and Tolerance’ on DefendingHistory.com, 10 January 2011.

Nida Vasiliauskaitė, ‘Fascism in National Cellophane’ on DefendingHistory.com, 16 February 2011.

Andrejus Žukovskis, ‘Jerusalem of Lithuania is saddened’ in Diena.lt, 23 April 2011.

2010

Shimon Alperovich (Simonas Alperavičius), public letter to the president of Lithuania in response to antisemitic remarks by the Foreign Minister. English translation by Geoff Vasil.

Shimon Alperovich (Simonas Alperavičius), public letter to Irena Degutiene, chair of the Lithuanian parliament, 4 October 2010English translation by Geoff Vasil.

[Shimon Alperovich (Simonas Alperavičius)], public statement on projects to glorify the 1941 collaborationist Provisional Government of Lithuania.  English translation by Geoff Vasil. 7 September 2010.

Andrius Bielskis, ‘If we don’t recognize the Holocaust we won’t take responsibility for the tragedy’ on Delfi.lt, 10 December 2010.  English translation by Geoff Vasil.

Monika Bončkutė, ‘Rejecting tolerance, Lithuanians enjoy the role of victim’ in Lietuvos rytas, 9 April 2010English translation by Geoff Vasil.

Monika Bončkutė, ‘Pure-blooded Lithuanians need Jewish Litvaks’ in Lietuvos rytas, 21 January 2010. English translation by Geoff Vasil.

Algirdas Davidavičius, ‘Uncanny darkness: Impressions of a public debate in Vilnius’ on DefendingHistory.com, 9 December 2010.

Leonidas Donskis, ‘What happened to us?’ in the Baltic Times, 15 April 2010.

Leonidas Donskis, ‘Where is that line?’ on DefendingHistory.com, 11 December 2010.

Leonidas Donskis, ‘Kada tiesa pagaliau mus išlaisvins?’ [When will the truth finally set us free?] on his blog, 1 September 2010.   Authorized English translation by Geoff Vasil.

Sergejus Kanovičius, ‘Interview from the pits of Paneriai, or, We are weighing death’, on DefendingHistory.com, 16 December 2010

Andrius Navickas, ‘Holokaustas ir atminties gydymas’ on Bernardinai.lt, 23 September 2010English translation by Geoff Vasil.

Algirdas Paleckis, ‘The legacy of fascists and fascism in Lithuania’, paper delivered at the World Without Nazism Conference, Kiev, 21 June 2010.

Algirdas Paleckis, ‘Lithuania without Nazism’, speech delivered at the World Without Nazism Conference, Moscow, 17 December 2010.

Nida Vasiliauskaitė, ‘On 1941, the Jews, and Us’ on DefendingHistory.com, 13 December 2010.

Tomas Venclova, ‘Aš dūstu’ [I am suffocating] on Bernardinai.lt, 14 July 2010.  Excerpt in English hereFull authorized translation by Geoff Vasil here.

2009

Leonidas Donskis, ‘The inflation of genocide’ in EuropeanVoice.com, 24 July 2009.

Lithuanian National Youth Association presents a ‘doll of fascism’ to Henrikas Mickevicius, director of the Human Rights Monitoring Institute,  to ‘help’ him frighten others about the dangers of fascism, 1 April 2009.

Andrius Navickas, ‘Mass media or the propagation of filth?’ [‘Ziniasklaida ar purvasklaida?’] in Bernardinai.lt, 6 February 2009.

Daiva Repečkaitė, ‘How the word spreads’  on author’s blog Wonderland, 4 December 2009.

Daiva Repečkaitė, ‘Delfi’s “McCarthyism” continues’ on author’s blog Wonderland, 14 November 2009.

Daiva Repečkaitė, ‘Portal manipulates information about Holocaust survivor’ on author’s blog, Wonderland, 28 October 2009.

Rasa Rimickaitė, ‘Dantesque emptiness’ in Jerusalem of Lithuania, April-June 2009.

Rasa Rimickaitė, ‘The impact of memory’, lecture presented at the Litvak Conference organized by the Jewish Community of Lithuania, 24 August 2009.

Darius J. Ross, ‘Sticks and stones’ in The Baltic Times, 23-29 April 2009.

Mindaugas Tamošaitis, ‘The revolt of June 1941 and the tragedy of the Jews of Lithuania’ in Jerusalem of Lithuania, December 2009.

Darius Udrys, The Road to Freedom: Lithuania / Kelias i Laisve: Lietuva. Documentary film on blip.tv.

‘Tomas Venclova on Lithuania’s intellectuals’, 15 July 2009.

Dr Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel Office, pays tribute to citizens who assisted Operation Last Chance, in his Operation Last Chance, pp 156-160(see Recent Books → 2009 → Zuroff).

Video of the ‘Funeral of Democracy’ counter-demonstration against the fascist march of 11 March 2009 [Youtube].

2008

Simonas Alperavičius & Tobijas Jafetas, ‘An open letter’ to the president, speaker of parliament, prime minister and prosecutor general of Lithuania, 19 June 2008 [English translation].

Leonidas Donskis, ‘Hostages to an ill-begotten theory’ in Transitions Online, 10 October 2008.

‘Lithuanian academic blasts war crimes probe of ex- Yad Vashem chief’ in Haaretz, 5 October 2008.

Geoff Vasil (Vasiliauskas), ‘Analyzing Lithuanian antisemitism. The “double genocide” theory refuses to quit’ in Jewish Currents, November 2008alternate link.

2006

Leonidas Donskis, ‘Another word for uncertainty: antisemitism in modern Lithuania’ in Nordeuropa Forum 1/2006.

Report on a project of the House of Memory led by Linas Vildziunas, September 2006.

2005

The prime minister of Lithuania, Algirdas Brazauskas, awards Dr Rachel Margolis a certificate of appreciation for her contribution to the liberation of Lithuania as an anti-Nazi resistance fighter (8 May 2005).

Andrius Navickas, ‘Is the world ruled by hatred for Others?’ [‘Pasauli valdo neaplykanta kitokiems?’] in Bernardinai.lt, 3 March 2005.

2004

V. Brandišauskas’s review of A. Liekis’s book (2000) on the first weeks of the Holocaust in LithuaniaEnglish translation.

2001

Liudas Truska, ‘Contemporary attitudes toward the Holocaust in Lithuania’ in Jews in Eastern Europe 2(45), pp 5-26.

1998

Alfredas Bumblauskas,  ‘Issues in the history of Lithuanian-Jewish relations in the context of historiographical paradigms’ [‘Lietuviu-Zydu santykiu istorijos problema istoriografiniu paradigmu kontekste’] in Kulturos barai 12, pp 49-55.

1997

Rūta Puišytė, ‘The Holocaust in Jurbarkas’, BA thesis supervised by Professor Meir Shub at Vilnius University; prefaces by Professor Meir Shub and Professor Dov Levin; translated into English by Joseph Rosin.

1995

Speech by the President of the Republic of Lithuania Mr Algirdas Brazauskas, delivered at the Knesset in Jerusalem at 4 PM, 1 March 1995.

1993

The president of Lithuania, Algirdas Brazauskas, awards Professor Dov Levin a certificate of appreciation (22 Sept 1993).

1975

The eminent Lithuanian scholar and poet Tomas Venclova (Yale University) published the first Lithuanian version of his valiant essay, ‘Jews and Lithuanians’ in the samizdat journal Tarbut in 1975. The standard English version appears in his Forms of Hope.

1924

Dr. Jonas Basanavičius (1851-1927), a principal founder of the Lithuanian revival of modern times, and editor of the first newspaper in the language, wrote this letter in 1924 to a Jewish newspaper, upon hearing of plans to ban Yiddish signs in public places. The English translation is followed by a facsimile of the original Lithuanian letter, taken from M. Sudarski’s  Líte (New York 1951), p. 143. A facsimile of the page is available here.

“Having learned from Mr. Katsenelenbogen that certain district leaders are banning the public use of the Yiddish language on signs, and thereby violating the sense of  justice of the Yiddish speaking citizens of Lithuania, I would like — though it be a cry in the wilderness — to defend their language on the basis of equality, and to advise the organs of government to stop persecuting, pettily, the language of loyal residents, and to stop making them feel aggrieved by the Lithuanian government.”

        • Dr. J. Basanavičius
        • Palanga, 12 August 1924


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Sir Martin Gilbert Writes to State Jewish Museum in Lithuania, Asking for Halt to Campaign Against Kostanian


The following is the text of an email sent  by Sir Martin Gilbert to an official of Lithuania’s Jewish state museum in defense of Rachel Kostanian, the internationally acclaimed cofounder and longtime director of the Holocaust section of the state Jewish museum, long known as “The Green House” (it is housed in a green wooden house at Pamenkalnio 12, invisible from the street, and up a steep driveway). She is also an eminent author, creator of exhibits and catalogues, and Holocaust educator who has engated with thousands of loval and foreign visitors to the museum.  At Sir Martin’s request, the name of the recipient, and of others mentioned in the letter, have been redacted to maintain confidences and avert unnecessary embarrassments. The alleged “mistake” referred to in the final paragraph refers to a powerful new Holocaust documentary film directed by Saulius Beržinis, which Rachel Kostanian enabled, helped to research and complete, and obtained the funding for from a prominent Litvak family in the United Kingdom. The film was apparently deemed unacceptable for its “excessive truth telling,” as one (non-Jewish) museum worker, speaking off the record, put it with some irony. It  will presumably one day find its way to the public square one way or another.

Sir Martin Gilbert’s foreword to Rachel Kostanian’s book Spiritual Resistance in the Vilna Ghetto


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Posted in Free Speech & Democracy, Human Rights, Identity Theft of Litvak Heritage, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Museums, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Rachel Kostanian, Saulius Beržinis | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Sir Martin Gilbert Writes to State Jewish Museum in Lithuania, Asking for Halt to Campaign Against Kostanian