Author Archives: Defending History

The Case that Broke the Heart of a Nazi-Hunter



O P I N I O N

by Efraim Zuroff

The following is a transcription of the text that appeared in today’s edition of The Australian.


 

At the end of next week, I will have spent 32 years as a “Nazi-hunter,” trying to facilitate the prosecution of those individuals who in the service of Nazi Germany or in alliance with its regime, engaged in the persecution and/or murder of innocent civilians categorized as “enemies” of the Third Reich. During that period, I have dealt with many dozens of cases of all sorts of criminals from many different nationalities and walks of life, from mass murderers to individuals who were charged with the murder of a single person.

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Posted in Collaborators Glorified, Efraim Zuroff, History, Human Rights, Hungary, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory | Comments Off on The Case that Broke the Heart of a Nazi-Hunter

It’s Not Just About the New Tuskulėnai “Peace Park” in Vilnius



O P I N I O N

by Milan Chersonski

Milan Chersonski (Chersonskij), longtime editor (1999-2011) of Jerusalem of Lithuania, quadrilingual (English-Lithuanian-Russian-Yiddish) newspaper of the Jewish Community of Lithuania, was previously (1979-1999) director of the Yiddish Folk Theater of Lithuania, which in Soviet times was the USSR’s only Yiddish amateur theater company. The views he expresses in DefendingHistory are his own. This is an authorized translation from the Russian original.

Photo: Milan Chersonski at this desk at the Jewish Community of Lithuania (image © 2012 Jurgita Kunigiškytė). Milan Chersonski section.


Can you imagine a European Union / NATO government investing millions in setting up a “Peace Park” in its beautiful capital city, in memory of people buried at the site of the park, when hundreds of them were Nazi collaborators who eagerly supported the annihilation of the Jewish population of their country?

Earlier this month, VilNews.com prominently published an article by Vincas Karnila, presented as the Introduction to a series called “The Mass Graves in Tuskulėnai.” It is a panegyric to the employees of the Museum of Genocide in Vilnius and the Center for the Study of Genocide and Resistance for their tireless efforts to establish the Tuskulėnai Peace Park. Readers are informed that six articles will follow. [Update: Subsequent articles in Karnila’s series can be found in www.VilNews.com.]

Tuskulenai Peace Park

We know from official sources that Soviet KGB victims were buried at Tuskulėnai from 1944 to 1947.

Karnila tells us:

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Posted in "Tuskulėnai Peace Park", Arts, Bold Citizens Speak Out, Collaborators Glorified, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Exotic Jewish Tourism, History, Lithuania, Milan Chersonski (1937-2021), Museums, Opinion, Politics of Memory, VilNews.com, Vilnius's Genocide Center and the Genocide Museum it Manages | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on It’s Not Just About the New Tuskulėnai “Peace Park” in Vilnius

Executive Director of “Red-Brown Commission” Doubts Lithuanian Jews were Killed “on a Racial Basis” Before Arrival of German Forces in 1941



O P I N I O N

A number of viewers of the new Australian documentary film Rewriting History, by Marc Radomsky and Danny Ben-Moshe, have submitted to Defending History near-identical transcripts of a statement on camera, made to the film’s producers, by the executive director of the “International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania.”

Known for short as the “red-brown commission,” the state-sponsored body has long been opposed by Holocaust survivors and educators. The commission is responsible for Holocaust education in Lithuania, but has also taken an active political role in promoting the 2008 Prague Declaration and various details of alleged “equality” of Nazi and Soviet crimes. The commission’s website features the Prague Declaration in both English and Lithuanian.

The commission’s executive director, Ronaldas Račinskas, is quoted as saying on camera that his commission does not support “Double Genocide” but that he does support the 2008 Prague Declaration (though he concedes there are passages to be “discussed”). The problem is that the Prague Declaration is the primary document of the Double Genocide movement in Europe.

See also: Mr. Račinskas’s 2011 speech in the Lithuanian parliament; Critiques of his commission; 2015 Update: His call for investigations of Holocaust survivors who joined up with the anti-Nazi partisans.

Mr. Račinskas goes on to say, according to the transcripts provided of his Rewriting History interview:

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Posted in "Red-Brown Commission", Arts, Australia, Double Games, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, EU, Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky (Fania Brancovskaja): 1922-2024, History, Holocaust Policies of Mr. Ronaldas Račinskas and the State-Sponsored "International Commission" (ICECNSORL), Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Politics of Memory, US State Dept Manipulated? | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Executive Director of “Red-Brown Commission” Doubts Lithuanian Jews were Killed “on a Racial Basis” Before Arrival of German Forces in 1941

Font testing only


15 August 2016

(1) Below our pasekh tsvey yudn chapter comparing the new FRCL version with the old (combining the old FRCL with pasekh tsvey yudn from Vilna)

Remaining/other  issues would be adding on some appropriate keys:
(2) the classic Yiddish hypen:
שטאָט⸗טויערן

בת⸗יהודה

Ideally this hyphen would be just a little smaller than now vis a vis the font size.
 
(2) Can the Hebrew / Yiddish apostrophe (perhaps unmarked, on the regular key?) be be slanted as in classic printed books, not English upright: (at the moment we’ve been pasting in an apostrophe from ‘somewhere’ (don’t know where!) as in

′ר

ער′ט

(3) Can there be classic open and closed quotes that are upper and lower:

upper (which we’ve been pasting in from ‘somewhere’)   

תשע״ד

וד״ל

And classic upper and lower which we’ve not found yet:

״אַ מעשה״

The open quote (here before אַ would be BENEATH the line)?

Or do these already exist?

———————————————————————-

PASEKH TSVEY YUDN

(1) Old FRCL with pasekh tsvey yudn inserted from Vilna:

    זנען וונשטיין דר טריישאַפט

 (2) NEW FRCL with adjusted pasekh tsvey yudn:

זײַנען ווײַנשטיין דרײַ טריישאַפט

————————————————————————————

BELOW FIRST CHAPTER OF EYKHO TRANSLATION IN THE NEW FRANK RUHL CURLED LAMED WITH ADJUSTED PASEKH TSVEY YUDN. OUR PUBLISHED VERSION (FOR COMPARISON) HAS THE OLD FRCL WITH PASEKH TSVEY YUDN INSERTED BY HAND (AT  https://defendinghistory.com/the-book-of-lamentations-in-lithuanian-yiddish).

(א) אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה בָדָד

ווי אַזוי זשע זיצט זי איינע אַליין, די שטאָט, וואָס איז דאָך אַזוי גרויס געווען, אַזש אַ פולע מענטשן? ווי אַן אלמנה איז זי געוואָרן: אַזוי גרויס געווען בײַ די פעלקער, אַ פּרינצעסין פאַר די אַלע פּראָווינציעס, איז זי גאָר אין אַ צאָלערקע פון צינדז פאַרוואַנדלט געוואָרן:

(ב) בָּכוֹ תִבְכֶּה בַּלַיְלָה

אַז וויינען וויינט זי באַנאַכט, און די טרערן באַ איר זײַנען אַף די באַקן: זי האָט ניט ווער טרייסטן זאָל איר, פון די אַלע האָלטהאָבער: אַז די חברים האָבן איר אַלע פאַרראַטן, זײַנען איר פאַר שונאים געבליבן:

(ג) גָּלְתָה יְהוּדָה

אין גלות איז אַוועק יהודה, אין מוטשעניש און אין קנעכטשאַפט, אַ פולע: זי זיצט⸗זאַך צווישן די פעלקער, טרעפט ניט קין מנוחה פון די אַלע וואָס רודפן איר: אַז זיי האָבן איר דען איבערגעיאָגט אַווען ס′האָט שמאָל געהאַלטן: 

(ד) דַּרְכֵי צִיּוֹן אֲבֵלוֹת

די וועגן קין ציון פּראַווען אבילות, אַז ס′פעלן אַדיאָ וואָס קומען אַף יום⸗טוב: וויסטע זײַנען באַ איר די שטאָט⸗טויערן: די כהנים זיפצן, די בתולות איז קאַלעמוטנע, און זי — איר איז, אײַ, ביטער:

(ה) הָיוּ צָרֶיהָ לְרׁאשׁ

אויבנאָן זײַנען אירע פײַנטהאָבער אַרוף: באַרואיקן זיי זאַך, די שונאים אירע, אַלמאי גאָט האָט איר אַקעגנגעטאָן פאַר די פולע זינד: אַזש די קליינע קינדערלעך אירע זײַנען אין געפאַנגעניש אַוועק, פון פאַרן פײַנטהאָבער:

(ו) וַיֵצֵא מִן בַּת צִיּוֹן

פון בת⸗ציון האָט זיך אָפּגעטאָן גאָר די פּראַכט: אירע פּרינצן זײַנען ווי הינדן געוואָרן, אַוואָס זיי טרעפן ניט אַוואו⸗זאַך פּאַשען: פאַרן רודף זײַנען זיי געגאַנגען, אָן כח:

(ז) זָכְרָה יְרוּשָׁלַיִם

האָט⸗זאַך פאַרגעדענקט ירושלים, אין די טעג פון אירע מוטשעניש מיט אירע צרות, אין די אַלע גליקלעכקײַטן וואָס באַ איר איז פון גאָר די אַמאָליקע יאָרן געווען: אַז דער פאָלק אירער איז באַם פײַנטהאָבער אין האַנט אַרײַנגעפאַלן, און אַף צו הילף קומען איז אַקיינער ניט געווען, האָבן זיך אָדי פײַנטהאָבער צוגעקוקט, איר אָפּגעלאַכט אַוואָס ס’איז אַלציקעדינג באַ איר אָפּגעשטעלט:

(ח) חֵטְא חָטְאָה יְרוּשָׁלַיִם

געזינדיקט האָט ירושלים געזינדיקט, איז זי אַזוי אַרומעט אַ נידה געוואָרן: אָדי אַלע, אַוואָס זיי האָבן איר אָפּגעגעבן כבוד האָבן אין איר שוין מזלזל געווען, אַז זיי האָבן איר נאַקעטערהייט דאַזען: אַז זי אַליין טוט זיפצן, און האָט⸗זאַך אַף קאַריק אומגעקערט:

(ט) טֻמְאָתָהּ בְּשׁוּלֶיהָ

שוין אין קליידל איז דאָ באַ איר די טומאהניש, זי האָט זיך ניט דאַטראַכט וואָס′ט זײַן פאַראַ סוף: גייט זי אַראָפּעט אַ פאַרהִתְפַּעֲלוּתטע וואָס ס′ניטאָ ווער זאָל טרייסטן —

„זע, גאָט, מײַן מוטשעניש: אָט ווי אַזוי דער שונא מאַכט⸗זאַך אַזש גרויס“:

(י) יָדוֹ פָּרַשׁ צָר

אוֹיסגעשפּרייט האָט דער פײַנטהאָבער זײַן האַנט אַף אַלע טײַערסטע אוצרות אירע: זי האָט געזען, ווי די פעלקער קומען אין בית המקדש אַרײַנעט, אַזעטקענע אַוואָס דו האָסט געהייסן זיי זאָלן אין קהל דײַנעם ניט קומען:

(יא) כָּל עַמָהּ נֶאֱנָחִים

גאָר דער פאָלק באַ איר טוט זיפצן, בעטלען ברויט: זייערע חפצים די טײַערע האָבן זיי דאָך פאַר מאכלים געגעבן, זיך אַ קוויק טאָן די נשמה:

„זע, גאָט, און קוק זשע אײַנעט וואָס פאַראַ פאַרביליקטע בין איך פאַרבליבן:

(יב) לוֹא אֲלֵיכֶם

„א י ר אַלע, פאַרבײַגייער — ל א  ע ל י כ ם! קוקט⸗זיך גוט אײַנעט דען און זעט, אויבע פאַראַן איז גאָר אַ ווייטיק אַמער פון מײַן ווייטיק, אַוואָס מיר איז אָפּגעטאָן, מיט וואָס גאָט האָט מיר אַקעגנגעטאָן אין טאָג פון זײַן גרימצאָרן:

(יג) מִמָרוֹם שָׁלַח אֵשׁ

„פון הייכענישן ט′ער מיר אַ פײַער אין די ביינער געשיקט, און ער′ט עם אַראָפּגעלאָזן, אַ כאַפּערשע נעץ צו די פיס ט′ער מיר אוֹיסגעשפּרייט: ער האָט מיר אַף קאַריק געטאָן שיקן, פאַר אַ וויסטע מיר געמאַכט, אַז ס′איז אין חלשות אַ גאַנצן טאָג:

(יד) נִשְׁקַד עַׁל פְּשָׁעַי

„צונויפגעפלאָכטן זײַנען מײַנע אַלע זינד אין איין יאָך, באַ עם אין די הענט, און אײַנגעשפּאַנט אין זיי אַלע איז מײַן האַלדז: ער האָט באַ מיר דעם כח אַזש קאַלע געמאַכט: גאָט האָט מיר געגעבן אין די הענט פון [אַזעטקענע וואָס טוען], איך זאָל זאַך אופשטעלן גאָר ניט קענען:

(טו) סִלָּה כָּל אַבִּירַי

„אַז פאַרהֶפְקֶרְט האָט גאָט באַ מיר גאָר די יונגע גיבורים, אַוואָס אַרום מיר: ער האָט נאָך אַף מיר יום⸗טוב אַרוֹיסגערופן, אַף די בחורים מײַנע אײַנברעכן: אַזש ווי אין אַ ווײַנקלאַפּ, האָט גאָט די בתולה בת⸗יהודה צוטראָטן:

(טז) עַל אֵלֶה אֲנִי בוֹכִיָּה

„אַף אָטאָ דיאָ טו איך וויינען: מײַן אויג, מײַן אויג, לאָזט וואַסערן אַראָפּ, אַז איטלעכער וואָס טוט טרייסטן האָט זיך פון מיר פונווײַטגעהאַלטן: אַז די וואָס האָבן מיר די נשמה דאַקוויקט, סאַמע קינדער מײַנע, זײַנען זיי אַליין אין פאַרוויסטעניש: ווײַלע דער שונא′ט גובר געווען:

(יז) פֵּרְשָׁה צִיּוֹן בְּיָדֶיהָ

„אַ שפּרייט אוֹיס טוט צִיוֹן מיט די הענט אירע: אַז ס′ניטאָ ווער ס′עט טרייסטן: האָט דאָך גאָט געהייסן אַף יעקבן, אַז די פײַנטהאָבער זײַנע זאָלן עם אַרומענאַרום זײַן: און צווישן זיי אַלעמען, איז גאָר פאַר אַ נידה געבליבן ירושלים:

(יח) צַדִּיק הוּא יי

„איז דאָך גאָט פאָרט דער רעכטפאַרטיקער: אַקעגן ז ײַ ן וואָרט האָב א י ך דאָך ווידערשפּעניקט: איז הערט זשע זאַך צו, אַלע פעלקער און טוט זען דעם ווייטיק, אַז די בתולות מיט די בחורים אינאיינעם ט′מען אין געפאַנגענשאַפט אַרוֹיסגעפירט:

(יט) קָרָאתִי לַמְאַהֲבַי

„כאָ′דאָך אַ רוף געטאָן מײַנע געליבטע, האָבן זיי מיר אָבער אָפּגענאַרט: אַזש די כהנים מײַנע, מיט די זקנים מײַנע, אַוואָס אין שטאָט, פאַר הונגער זײַנען זיי אוֹיסגעגאַנגען, באַם אוֹיסבעטן זאַך אַוואָס צובײַסן:

(כ) רְאֵה יי כִּי צַר לִי 

„איז זע, גאָט, ווי אַזוי באַ מיר האַלט שמאָל, אַז ס′ברענט אַזש באַ מיר די אינגעווייד: אוֹי, האָב איך חרטה, אַז ווידערשפּעניקן האָב איך ווידערשפּעניקט: אינדרויסן האַקט אָפּעט די שווערד און אינעווייניק איז גלאַט ווי דער טויט:

(כא) שָׁמְעוּ כִּי נֶאֱנָחָה

„אַ ז י י  האָבן דאַהערט אַזש ווי אַזוי כ′טו זיפצן, אַז ס′ניטאָ ווער זאָל טרייסטן: אַז די אַלע שונאים זײַנען געוואָר געוואָרן מײַנע צרות, האָבן זיי⸗זאַך דאַפרייט, אַלמאי אָדאָס האָ ס ט ע  געמאַכט: דרום ווע ס ט ע  בריינגין צו טראָגן אָדעם טאָג, אַוואָס  ד ו ′ע ס ט  עם אַרוֹיסרופן, און זיי אַלע, צו מיר וועלן זיי זײַן צוגעגליכן:

(כב) תָּבׁא כָל רָעָתָם

„טאָ זאָל די גאַנצע שאַלקהאַטפיקײַט ז י י ע ר ע קומען פון פאַר דיר: און ז י י טו אָפּעט אַוואָ′ דו′סט מ י ר אָפּגעטאָן אַף אַלע מײַנע זינד: באַ מיר איז אַ פולע זיצפן, און די האַרץ — אַ פאַרחלשטע“:

רות       ☜ מלכים א       ☜ מלכים ב       ☜ אסתר     ☜ דניאל

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Wiesenthal Center Protests Australia’s Failure to Extradite Suspected Nazi War Criminal



FROM THE SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER:

The Simon Wiesenthal Center harshly criticized this morning’s decision by the Australian High Court to block the extradition to Hungary for war crimes of suspected Nazi collaborator Charles (Karoly) Zentai.

“Today is a sad day for Australia, and for justice, but most of all for the Nazis’ victims, their families and those who empathize with their suffering. Our sympathies today are with the Balazs family, whose brother Peter was the victim of Zentai and his accomplices, and who tried to see justice achieved in this case, but were thwarted by the Australian authorities.”

— Efraim Zuroff

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НЕ ТОЛЬКО О ТУСКУЛЕНАЙСКОМ ПАРКЕ ПОКОЯ



МНЕНИЕ

Милан Херсонский


Можно ли представить себе правительство европейской страны, члена ЕС и
НАТО, которое в своей прекрасной столице инвестирует миллионы на
создание «Парка тишины» в память о похороненых там людях, если сотни
из них были пособниками нацистов и активно участвовали в уничтожении
еврейского населения своей страны?

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Posted in Collaborators Glorified, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, In Russian, Media Watch, Milan Chersonski (1937-2021), News & Views, Opinion, VilNews.com | Comments Off on НЕ ТОЛЬКО О ТУСКУЛЕНАЙСКОМ ПАРКЕ ПОКОЯ

Ernst Nolte’s Grandson



O P I N I O N

by Clemens Heni

This edited and condensed extract is from the author’s forthcoming book (in press) and appears here with Dr. Heni’s permission. Clemens Heni is founding director of the Berlin International Center for the Study of Antisemitism (BICSA).


In June of 1986 the German historian Ernst Nolte (born 1923) started the so-called Historians’ Dispute (Historikerstreit) by publishing an article in the leading conservative daily of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.[i]

Nolte has to be seen as just one of the voices, though a leading one in point of fact, in the nationalist wing in the Federal Republic under Helmut Kohl, who had become chancellor in 1982, with “national identity” as a core element of his politics. The national wave had already begun in the 1970s with the infamous “Hitler wave” films, and with the emergence of the New Right and its German agitator Henning Eichberg and authors such as Martin Walser in 1979.

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Posted in Clemens Heni, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Germany, History, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Ernst Nolte’s Grandson

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Includes “Historical Memory Policy” (= Double Genocide) Among Nation’s Prime Goals for 2013 EU Presidency


In a curious annual statement to his nation’s diplomats around the globe, Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis recently proclaimed publicly that “historical memory policy” would be one of the main goals of Lithuanian’s foreign policy, particularly as it looks forward to its rotating presidency of the EU next year.

EARLIER REPORT

The insistence on the Eastern European right wing’s history appears alongside energy and transport infrastructure, economic development, consular services for citizens resident abroad, military security, international alliances and more. The speech also mentions the need for more  coordination of Lithuania’s “body and mind” implying the need for more rather than less diplomatic work in the field of history revisionism internationally.

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Posted in 70 Years Declaration, Double Games, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, EU, Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, History, Human Rights, News & Views, Politics of Memory, The OSCE | Comments Off on Lithuanian Foreign Minister Includes “Historical Memory Policy” (= Double Genocide) Among Nation’s Prime Goals for 2013 EU Presidency

Crying Over Dead Jews



O P I N I O N

by Geoff Vasil

 

Lithuania’s Jewish community isn’t immune from the broader issues facing Jewish existence in Eastern Europe and there are the same problems of Jewish identity that crop up in Russia, Bulgaria, Poland and elsewhere. And just as there are Christian Evangelicals and others who support the policies of the right-wing in the State of Israel elsewhere in Europe, there are those same voices among Lithuanian politicians and public figures.

What is perhaps different in Lithuania than elsewhere in Eastern Europe is that this Gentile support for Zionist ideals doesn’t translate into support for the surviving local Jewish community or contribute to a profounder and more sympathetic understanding of the Holocaust.

UPDATE OF 5 AUGUST 2012: This essay was republished with permission in the Algemeiner Journal; in 15min.lt (where it seems to have been taken down, but is still listed in Search); in Jewish Ideas Daily (where it was chosen as one of the editor’s picks for 1 August 2012).

Visitors to Vilnius will see any number of plaques dedicated to famous Jewish residents of Vilnius and several dedicated to the Holocaust. Those who look a little deeper under the surface might find there are a number of agencies, organizations and institutions operating in Vilnius which seemingly are aimed at promoting Jewish history, language and culture. In fact, both the plaques and monuments, and the majority of these “Jewish” organizations, serve as little more than window-dressing and display show-cases the Lithuanian government rolls out as exhibits evidencing Lithuanian sincerity in addressing the incomparable atrocity of the Holocaust.

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Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, Christian-Jewish Issues, Double Games, Geoff Vasil, Humor (Of Sorts), Identity Theft of Litvak Heritage, Israel, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Opinion, Symbology, What Do Fake Litvak Games Look Like? | Comments Off on Crying Over Dead Jews

Efraim Zuroff Responds to Tablet Magazine Essay on Timothy Snyder



O P I N I O N

by Efraim Zuroff

  • The following comment first appeared in the discussion following David Mikics’s Tablet magazine article on Timothy Snyder (“The Diplomat of Shoah History. Does Yale historian Timothy Snyder absolve Eastern Europe of special complicity in the Holocaust?”). It is reproduced here with Dr. Zuroff’s permission. For further background, see the links below.

Unfortunately, this excellent article by David Mikics focuses almost exclusively on Poland, which for historical reasons is not the place where Snyder’s Bloodlands totally fails to present a historical account of the reality of the Holocaust. A far better place would be the Baltics in general, and Lithuania in particular. In these countries, three important phenomena took place:

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(Real) Litvak Forum


 Petition
 זשאַגער (Zhager) by Rod Freedman; by Sara Manobla; by Rose Zwi; by DH.com
 Bankier’s last book
 Cassedy reviewed by Allan Nadler; by Efraim Zuroff; by Olga Zabludoff; by Dovid Katz
 אחשוורוש מעדאַלן
 Forward’s Paul Berger on “Sunflower Litvaks” (PDF)
Reply to Economist
 Berzhinis’s film
 Landsbergis
 Račinskas brand of “Holocaust studies”
 In London Jewish News
 “Moderate Litvaks”
 Dictionary

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Amherst’s NYBC Caught Up in Lithuanian Government’s Jew-less, Yiddish-less PR Library


Last March 11th, Lithuanian Independence Day, when over a thousand neo-Nazi marchers passed the sign for the government’s Jewish Public Library on the capital’s main boulevard, no member of the library’s staff turned up to oppose the neo-fascists, with even a modest, polite sign of disapproval. The march proceeded with official permits and the participation of several members of parliament identified with the ruling coalition. The Lithuanian Embassy in Washington DC failed to respond to a DC based petition that attracted 2,156 signatories, many from Lithuanian citizens.

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Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, Double Games, Events, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Politics of Memory, United States, Vilnius Jewish Public Library, What Do Fake Litvak Games Look Like?, Yiddish Affairs | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Amherst’s NYBC Caught Up in Lithuanian Government’s Jew-less, Yiddish-less PR Library

United Nations Human Rights Committee Notes Lithuanian Government’s Position on Public Swastikas and Authorized Neo-Nazi Parades


The United Nation’s Human Rights Committee in its 11 July 2012 report, issued in Geneva,  included the following text concerning the Lithuanian government’s arguments regarding the legalization of public swastikas and the ongoing authorization of neo-Nazi parades:

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Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, EU, Human Rights, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, News & Views, Symbology, United Nations, US State Dept Manipulated? | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on United Nations Human Rights Committee Notes Lithuanian Government’s Position on Public Swastikas and Authorized Neo-Nazi Parades

Why was a Lithuanian Holocaust Perpetrator who also Murdered Belarusians Given State Honors? Open Letter to the Lithuanian Ambassador to Belarus


 


O P I N I O N

by  Evaldas Balčiūnas

 

I was surprised to learn that Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė appointed you ambassador to Belarus. She said Belarus is an important partner for Lithuania with many ties between our countries, and that cooperation should be on an equal footing, constructive and mutually beneficial. I invite you to think about whether you really are able to do this job, or whether you won’t make international relations worse because of certain matters of the past.

Let me remind you of one such thing. On 31 October 2002, you and then-president Valdas Adamkus signed presidential decree no. 1965 posthumously promoting Juozas Krikštaponis (Krištaponis) to the rank of colonel. The decree mistakenly gave his first name as Jonas, a mistake corrected in presidential decree 1K-849 issued by President Adamkus on 5 January 2007.

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Posted in Bold Citizens Speak Out, Collaborators Glorified, Debates on the Postwar "Forest Brothers", Evaldas Balčiūnas, History, Human Rights, Lithuania, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory | Tagged | Comments Off on Why was a Lithuanian Holocaust Perpetrator who also Murdered Belarusians Given State Honors? Open Letter to the Lithuanian Ambassador to Belarus

Lithuanian Foreign Ministry Planning to (Ab)use EU Presidency to Push Red-Brown Politics


In spite of the repeated visible damage to Lithuania’s standing emanating from previous attempts, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has now announced that red-brown politics in the service of Double Genocide would be one of the goals of its upcoming stint in the rotating presidency of the European Union.

There was diplomatic blood on the floor following the foreign ministry’s failed attempt to insinuate Double Genocide into the Stockholm Program in 2010 (reports here, here, and here).

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Posted in 70 Years Declaration, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, EU, Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, Human Rights, News & Views, Politics of Memory | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Lithuanian Foreign Ministry Planning to (Ab)use EU Presidency to Push Red-Brown Politics

Landsbergis. Then and Now.



O P I N I O N

 

Vytautas Landsbergis is one of the giants of the late twentieth century. Along with Poland’s Lech Wałęsa and then-Czechoslovakia’s Václav Havel, Landsbergis led his people from foreign domination to freedom and democracy. Nothing these gentlemen might later on have said or done to their own legacies, particularly in the subsequent century, can detract from their singular achievements in contributing to the downfall of the Soviet Union and the freedom of the subjugated nations on its western periphery.

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Posted in Double Games, Dovid Katz, Human Rights, Identity Theft of Litvak Heritage, Legacy of 23 June 1941, LGBTQ Equal Rights, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, Roma | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Landsbergis. Then and Now.

Trilingual Memorial Plaque Unveiled on Zhager Town Square



O N – S I T E  R E P O R T / O P I N I O N

by Dovid Katz

ZHAGER, northern Lithuania. Over a hundred people gathered here today on the historic town square to unveil a trilingual plaque memorializing the erstwhile Jewish population of thousands in the town, today Žagarė. The event was incorporated into the annual Cherry Festival and suitably entitled “You can’t fudge the history.”

SEE ALSO THE REPORTS BY ROD FREEDMAN AND SARA MANOBLA

THE QUESTION: IS IT THE ONLY TOWN-CENTER IN ALL THE LAND WITH CLEAR AND TRUE WORDS ON THE TRUE FATE OF THE JEWISH POPULATION?

The text — in English, Lithuanian and Yiddish — summarizes the unvarnished history, with prominent reference to local Lithuanian collaboration (though historians will quibble with the use of “some” in place of “many” among other points). It is placed right in the center of town, rather than at a mass grave site deep in the forest; that might well be a first in modern Lithuanian history.

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Posted in Commemorations for Destroyed Communities, Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Dovid Katz, Events, Exotic Jewish Tourism, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, South Africa, The Great SLS About-Face, Vilnius Jewish Public Library, Zháger (Žagarė) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Trilingual Memorial Plaque Unveiled on Zhager Town Square

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



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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The Holocaust? It Happens to Everyone…



O P I N I O N

by Algis Davidavičius

The following is a translation by Geoff Vasil, approved by the author, of the original Lithuanian text that appeared on Anarchija.lt. The original title translates: “Notes of a Half-Russian (3) [or, via word play: Inscriptions from the Cellar]: The Holocaust? It Happens to Everyone.”


 

Algis Davidavičius

Lately I can barely think about Lithuania, my own society, without seeing the image of the “chronic patient” with all of his “diseases.” A society which is healthy, where the absolute majority of people making it up feel warm encouragement to fulfill themselves constructively and actively, to find a meaningful place in that society for their own lives…

Where is this society? How would it look? Or is this only last year’s Marxist dream? What is “health?”

Most likely all societies are sick in their own way, but I live in my society, or with it (to speak more precisely). If I may be frank, I am not really concerned with the health or opportunities of Israeli society as I am part of Lithuania’s. What the hell is going on with us?

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Posted in Algis Davidavičius, Antisemitism & Bias, Bold Citizens Speak Out, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Lithuania, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Holocaust? It Happens to Everyone…

Reburial as a Means for the Rewriting of History



O P I N I O N

by Milan Chersonski


At Taxpayer Expense

Juozas Ambrazevičius (Brazaitis), 1903 — 1974

Memorial funeral events, dedicated to the moving of Juozas Ambrazevičius-Brazaitis’s ashes, were held in Kaunas for a week and a half from May 17th to 27th. He was the acting prime minister of the summer 1941 Provisional Government of Lithuania (PG); his ashes were moved to the former provisional Lithuanian capital, Kaunas.

His ashes were delivered by airplane from the distant state of Connecticut to the current Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, and then escorted with honors to Kaunas, where the ashes, originally buried in 1974, were re-buried, this time with full state honors.

Apparently, those who initiated the reburial were pursuing three goals of importance to them:

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Posted in Bold Citizens Speak Out, Collaborators Glorified, Free Speech & Democracy, History, Lithuania, Milan Chersonski (1937-2021), News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, Symbology, Vilnius's Genocide Center and the Genocide Museum it Manages | Tagged | Comments Off on Reburial as a Means for the Rewriting of History