‘All goats climb on a bent willow tree’ by member of parliament Julius Veselka in Laisvas laikrastis. English translation.
Author Archives: Defending History
Member of Parliament Attacks Jewish Community
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British Ambassador to Lithuania Organizes Vilna Ghetto Walk Led by Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky
At the initiative of the UK’s ambassador to Lithuania, HE Simon Butt, Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky, one of the Jewish partisan veterans being subjected to “war crimes investigations” by Lithuanian prosecutors, was asked to give a talk and lead a walk through the streets of what had been the Vilna Ghetto during the Holocaust in Lithuania. Fania was incarcerated in the ghetto from its first day, 6 September 1941, through to its last, 23 September 1943, when she and Dobke Develtov (now of Los Angeles) escaped through a hole in the wall to join up with the Jewish veterans in the forests where both women fought heroically against the Nazis and their collaborators.
The participants in today’s event to honor Fania Brantsovky and, by extension, the Jewish partisans generally, were:
Posted in A 21st Century Campaign Against Lithuanian Holocaust Survivors?, Ambassador Simon Butt, Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky (Fania Brancovskaja): 1922-2024, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Politics of Memory, United Kingdom
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UK Ambassador Simon Butt Organizes Letter from Nine Ambassadors to Rachel Margolis
The British Embassy in Vilnius today released a letter, organized by the British ambassador, HE Simon Butt, signed by nine ambassadors to Lithuania, to Dr. Rachel Margolis, now resident in Rehovot, Israel. The initiative comes in response to Lithuanian prosecutors’ campaign of defamation, harassment and attempted prosecution of Dr. Margolis and other heroes of the Jewish resistance against Nazi forces and their allies during the Holocaust.
The nine participating embassies are those of Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland, Sweden the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
The letter is available as PDF and follows below.
Posted in A 21st Century Campaign Against Lithuanian Holocaust Survivors?, Ambassador Simon Butt, Documents, Dr. Rokhl (Rachel) Margolis (1921-2015), Human Rights, It Pays to Defend History: Success Over the Years..., Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Politics of Memory, United Kingdom
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Jewish Community Building Defaced by Swastikas and Star of David Hanging from Gallows
Images (on delfi.lt) of the neo-Nazi paint attack on the central Vilnius building of the Jewish Community of Lithuania on the night of 9-10 August 2008; additional image (photos by Milan Chersonski, editor of Jerusalem of Lithuania). There have been no arrests.
Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Human Rights, News & Views, Swastikas in Lithuania, Symbology
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Parliamentarians Publish Antisemitic Attacks on Country’s Remaining Jews
‘Are God’s chosen people always right?’ by Juozas Ivanauskas in Laisvas laikrastis. English translation. And, in the same issue: ‘Globalism’ by former parliament member V. Petkevicius. English translation.
Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Human Rights, Media Watch, News & Views
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Professor claims that ‘The Rabbis are Causing Havoc in Lithuania’
‘The rabbis are causing havoc in Lithuania’ by Professor Jonas Ciulevicius in Ukininko patarejas. English translation.
Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Human Rights, News & Views
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Genocide Museum in the Center of Vilnius Features Antisemitic Exhibits; Plus: Visiting Exhibition Trivializes Auschwitz
Exhibition panel at the state sponsored Genocide Museum, exemplifying the nexus of Holocaust trivialization and antisemitism: ‘In Auschwitz we were given some spinach and a little bread’. Zoom-in of the text (2008 exhibit).
The permanent exhibit includes a post-Holocaust caricature of a Soviet jeep being driven by Lenin, Stalin and ‘the Jew Yankel’ (with no comment on the antisemitic portrayal). Sample of another antisemitic exhibit; & another. Such is sometimes the local face of the ‘Soviet-Nazi equivalence’ that is disseminated at the European Parliament via the Prague Declaration and other resolutions.
Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Exotic Jewish Tourism, Human Rights, Museums, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Vilnius's Genocide Center and the Genocide Museum it Manages
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Jewish Community and Union of Ghetto Survivors Speak Out on Harassment of Holocaust Survivors who Joined the Resistance
O P I N I O N
by Shimon Alperovich and Tuvia Jafet
The following Open Letter was published today by the Jewish Community of Lithuania in partnership with the Union of Former Ghetto and Concentration Camp Prisoners.
VILNIUS, 19 JUNE 2008
AN OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY VALDAS ADAMKUS, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
ČESLOVAS JURŠĖNAS, SPEAKER OF THE SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
GEDIMINAS KIRKILAS, PRIME MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
ALGIMANTAS VALANTINAS,
PROSECUTOR GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
The prosecutors of Lithuania do not cease to persecute anti-Nazi Jewish partisans. The Prosecution Service’s claims that “hundreds of witnesses are being questioned” are belied by the fact that only Jewish names are being heard in the media: Yitzhak Arad, Fania Brantsovsky, Rachel Margolis, and others.
Posted in "Red-Brown Commission", A 21st Century Campaign Against Lithuanian Holocaust Survivors?, Double Games, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky (Fania Brancovskaja): 1922-2024, History, Human Rights, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Shimon Alperovich (1928 – 2014), Yitzhak Arad
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Legal Ban on Nazi and Soviet Symbols in the Spirit of Red-Brown ‘Equivalence by Law’, a Blow to Freedom of Speech
BBC report, ‘Lithuanian ban on Soviet symbols’. A legally imposed ‘equivalence’ of ‘Nazi and Soviet symbols’ came as a grave moral blow to elderly veterans of the war against Nazism, and their proud families (notwithstanding an addition to the law technically exempting veteran memorials).
Posted in Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Free Speech & Democracy, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Symbology
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The Major Mainstream Daily says that ‘Jews Can’t Digest all their Property’
An article in the prestigious mainstream daily Lieutvos rytas is headlined ‘The Jews Can’t Digest [or: ‘mouth’] all of their Property’. PDF.
Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Human Rights, Media Watch, News & Views
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Ireland’s Ambassador Donal Denham Hosts a Reception for Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky at his Residence in Vilnius
The Embassy of Ireland in Lithuania issued a certificate of lifetime achievement to Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky, signed by HE Ambassador Dónal Denham, who presented the award at a reception today at the ambassador’s residence. Ambassador Denham’s speech concluded with the words: ‘Fania is one brave woman! You are a beautiful person, a special person, an inspiration to us all.’
Posted in A 21st Century Campaign Against Lithuanian Holocaust Survivors?, Ambassador Dónal Denham, EU, Events, Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky (Fania Brancovskaja): 1922-2024, Human Rights, Ireland, It Pays to Defend History: Success Over the Years..., Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Prof. David E. Fishman's Lithuanian Adventures, Vilnius Yiddish Institute
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Efraim Zuroff Hands the Lithuanian Ambassador a Letter of Protest in Tel Aviv on her State’s Campaign against Jewish Partisan Heroes in Vilnius
At an event today in Tel Aviv the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office, Dr. Efraim Zuroff, hand-delivered a letter of protest to the Lithuanian ambassador to Israel, HE Asta Skaisgirytė Liaukšienė.
Dr. Zuroff’s letter (PDF here, and reproduced in full below from facsimile transmission), in addition to noting the neo-Nazi parade held with police help in the center of Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital on March 11th this year, and the ongoing “investigation” against former Yad Vashem director Dr. Yitzhak Arad, emphasizes the shocking events earlier this month, when police in Vilnius came looking for two Jewish women Holocaust survivors and heroes of the Jewish partisan resistance against Nazi Germany, Dr. Rachel Margolis and Ms. Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky.
Posted in A 21st Century Campaign Against Lithuanian Holocaust Survivors?, Documents, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Dr. Rokhl (Rachel) Margolis (1921-2015), Efraim Zuroff, Events, Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky (Fania Brancovskaja): 1922-2024, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Vilnius Yiddish Institute, Yitzhak Arad
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Police Come to Rachel Kostanian’s Residence, Looking for Vilna Ghetto Survivors Rachel Margolis and Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky
Posted in A 21st Century Campaign Against Lithuanian Holocaust Survivors?, Antisemitism & Bias, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Dr. Rokhl (Rachel) Margolis (1921-2015), Events, Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky (Fania Brancovskaja): 1922-2024, Free Speech & Democracy, Human Rights, Lithuania, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Rachel Kostanian, Vilnius Yiddish Institute
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US Ambassador to Lithuania John Cloud Issues Award to Fania Brantsovsky; Presented by Political Attaché Joe Boski
The Embassy of the United States of America in Vilnius, Lithuania, today issued a Certificate of Appreciation to Holocaust survivor and veteran of the anti-Nazi Jewish partisans Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky. The certificate, signed by the American ambassador to Lithuania HE John A. Cloud, was presented by political officer Joe Boski at a Vilnius luncheon hosted by the Vilnius Yiddish Institute, and partly videographed for the records of history.
The historical significance stems from the recent spate of mainstream media and academics’ attacks on Fania Brantsovsky, Dr. Rachel Margolis, and other heroes of the anti-Nazi resistance calling them “war criminals” for escaping the Vilna Ghetto to emerge in the anti-Nazi resistance. They are heroes of the free world.
Posted in A 21st Century Campaign Against Lithuanian Holocaust Survivors?, Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky (Fania Brancovskaja): 1922-2024, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Politics of Memory, United States
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Former Member of the Lithuanian Parliament, PhD Qualified, claims Zionists Organized the Holocaust; says Putin is Jewish
‘Zionists’ by former member of the Lithuanian parliament Dr Ruta Gajauskaite [one part of a series]. English translation.
7 June 2008. ‘The Holocaust’ by Dr Ruta Gajauskaite. English translation.
Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, News & Views
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Dovid Katz’s Memo to American Friends of the Vilnius Yiddish Institute Following Mass-Media Defamation of Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky
The following memo was today circulated by Professor Dovid Katz to the board members of the American Friends of the Vilnius Yiddish Institute, centered in Los Angeles, California. It references the public defamation of the institute’s beloved librarian Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky, a survivor of the Vilna Ghetto and veteran of the anti-Nazi Jewish partisan resistance in the forests of Lithuania. Please use the page-turning handles in the upper left-hand corner, or access as PDF.
Posted in Dovid Katz, Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky (Fania Brancovskaja): 1922-2024, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, Vilnius, Vilnius Yiddish Institute, Yiddish Affairs
Tagged Dovid Katz, Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky, Lithuanian persecution of Jewish partisan veterans, Vilnius Yiddish Institute, Yiddish studies in Vilnius
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Professor Shukman says: ‘Pack your bags!’
Professor Harry Shukman of St Antony’s College Oxford emails Professor Dovid Katz in Vilnius after seeing a video of the recent (11 March) Nazi parade in central Vilnius. The email, published by permission of Harry Shukman:
Posted in Celebrations of Fascism, Human Rights, News & Views
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Paper Attacks Jews for Allegedly Plotting to Fraudulently Acquire Property
‘Jews are not only Clever People’ by Algirdas Berkevicius in Lietuvos aidas (front page story, continued on p. 3). English translation.
Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Human Rights, News & Views
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Bold Reporter, Lukas Pileckas, Releases Video of Neo-Nazi Downtown March on Lithuania’s Independence Day
Video clip of the neo-Nazi march on the capital’s central boulevard. The march featured chants of ‘Juden raus’ and a song including ‘Take a stick and kill that little Jew’. Marchers boasted the ‘Lithuanian swastika’ (with added lines). There were also anti-Russian and anti-Polish chants. Second clip comprising the somber, dignified response of the chairman of the Jewish Community of Lithuania plus more material from the march, including the apparent amusement of onlooking police.
These videos appear thanks to the bold Lietuvos rytas journalist Lukas Pileckas. Photo by Vidmantas Balkunas. Leading politicians failed to condemn the march for over a week, when foreign pressures forced statements.
[Update of 20 March 2008: The Jerusalem Post today published a report on the protest lodged by Dr. Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office, with the Lithuanian ambassador in Israel. PDF here.]
Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Bold Citizens Speak Out, Celebrations of Fascism, Human Rights, Media Watch, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Swastikas in Lithuania, Vilnius
Tagged Efraim Zuroff, Lukas Pileckas, neo-Nazi march in Vilnius
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American Reporter Exposes Uzgavenes Festival’s Mockery of Jews and Roma
Report in the Forward by Michael Casper on the annual public portrayal of Jews and Roma during the Uzgavenes carnival in central Vilnius. (Image courtesy of Michael Casper.) The report notes the attitudes of the state sponsored Center for Ethnic Activity and the Vilnius City Municipality.
Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Human Rights, Media Watch, News & Views, Roma, United States, Užgavėnės, UŽGAVĖNĖS (SHROVETIDE)
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