Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches

Lithuania’s March 11th independence day is celebrated by the free world, not least by those who remember the incredible news that spread around the globe in March 1990, when Lithuania’s parliament (Seimas) voted 124 to zero to break away from the Soviet Union. The courage of the parliamentarians from a broad spectrum of parties and movements was stark; the country was still occupied by ominous Soviet forces (and blood would be spilled by Soviet forces’ violence less than a year later, in January 1991). The March 11th celebration has been anchored over the years by a record of achievement that includes the transition to democracy, the joining of the European Union and NATO, and the rapid integration with Western society, economy and mores.

Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Celebrations of Fascism, Dovid Katz, Events, Human Rights, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, Swastikas in Lithuania, Vilnius | Comments Off

Summary Coverage in Run-Up to the 16 March 2014 Waffen SS March in Riga

Posted on 16 March 2014 by Defending History

Riga, Sunday March 16th 2014:

Could Riga (now the EU’s “Capital of European Culture”) Really be Allowing Yet Another City-Center Waffen SS Celebration on March 16th?

JUST IN:

BRITISH MEP RICHARD HOWITT ISSUES STATEMENT

MINISTER FACES SACK; FOR FIRST TIME, GOV SAYS: STAY AWAY

BALTIC TIMES: AGAIN SPEWING OUT NATIONALIST PR AS “REPORTING”?

MONICA LOWENBERG’S “SPEAK NO EVIL” (video); PETITION NEARS 7000

Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Celebrations of Fascism, EU, Events, Human Rights, Latvia, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Riga's Waffen SS Marches | Comments Off

Summary Coverage of March 16th 2014 Waffen SS Event in Riga

Posted on 16 March 2014 by Defending History

Over 1500 March in Central Riga’s Annual March 16th Waffen SS Fest

MEDIA LINKS

Liberty Monument and the heart of Riga are again gifted to the glorifiers of Hitler’s Waffen SS in Latvia.

Continue reading

Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Celebrations of Fascism, Collaborators Glorified, Events, Human Rights, Latvia, Litvak Affairs, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Riga's Waffen SS Marches | Tagged Latvian Legionnaires march, Waffen SS march in Riga (2014) | Comments Off

2014 Baltic Marching Season Concluded

Posted on 22 March 2014 by Defending History

Interface of Pro-Fascist Marches, Holocaust Revisionism, and Contemporary Racism

EFRAIM ZUROFF IN THE HUFFINGTON POST, JERUSALEM POST AND TABLET

Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Celebrations of Fascism, Collaborators Glorified, EU, Latvia, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Riga's Waffen SS Marches, Vilnius | Comments Off

Member of Lithuania’s Jewish Community Speaks Out on Neo-Nazi Parades, and Govt. Flowers at Monument to Hitler’s Soldiers

Posted on 23 November 2014 by Defending History

O P I N I O N

by Jacob Piliansky

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Iam proud to be a Litvak, and I am proud to be a citizen of independent and democratic Lithuania. I very much enjoy walking in our city’s delightful Vingis Park, as well as downtown in the beautiful city center area.

However, I feel suddenly both sad and shocked, when I see neo-Nazi parades with swastikas and other fascist symbols along Gedimino Boulevard on our independence day repeating the yelled chants of “Lithuania for [ethnic] Lithuanians.”

Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Collaborators Glorified, Jacob Piliansky, Kaunas, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Opinion, Symbology, Vilnius | Tagged Antisemitism in Lithuania, Bagel Shop (Lithuania), Beigelių krautuvėlė (Vilnius), Glorification of Nazi Collaborators, Holocaust in Lithuania, Jacob Piliansky, neo-Nazi marches, Vingis Park monument | Comments Off

Kaunas Police Informs Defending History on Status of February 16th Neo-Nazi March

Posted on 3 February 2015 by Defending History

KAUNAS—As in previous years (for example, 2013), the Kaunas District Police Department today informed Defending History that it has issued no permits for a march on February 16th, referring us instead to the body that would have issued the permit — the Kaunas City Municipality, which has not (yet) responded to our queries. The letter received (image below) states “We inform you that Kaunas County Police have not issued a permit for organizing a march / rally” on 16 February 2015, and suggests “you refer to Kaunas City Municipality.”

Posted in Celebrations of Fascism, Collaborators Glorified, Documents, EU, Human Rights, Kaunas, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Swastikas in Lithuania | Tagged Juozas Ambrazevicius Brazaitis, Kaunas Police, Neo-Nazi marches in Kaunas | Comments Off

Run-Up to the Annual February 16th Neo-Nazi March in Kaunas

Posted on 5 February 2015 by Defending History

WILL LITHUANIA’S LEADERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST GRANTING MAJOR CITY CENTERS ON INDEPENDENCE DAYS TO NEO-NAZI MARCHES THAT ADULATE 1941 HOLOCAUST COLLABORATORS?

WILL “BAGEL SHOP” AND OTHER FUNDED MONITORS ISSUE A MORALLY DIGNIFIED STATEMENT? A MEMBER OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY SPEAKS OUT; HIS EARLIER VIDEOTAPED INTERVIEW IN RICHARD BLOOM’S DOCUMENTARY.

Posted in EU, Events, Human Rights, Kaunas, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Swastikas in Lithuania | Comments Off

Correspondence with Kaunas Mayor’s Office to 11 February 2015

Posted on 11 February 2015 by Defending History

D O C U M E N T S

Below, (1) the text of DH’s letter to the mayor of Kaunas, (2) the response received today from his office, and (3) our further response, in connection with the annual neo-Nazi march planned for 16 February 2015 in central Kaunas. See also section on previous marches, and our 3 February 2014 correspondence with the Kaunas police. Note that a banner featuring a major Kaunas Holocaust collaborator, the Nazi puppet prime minister Juozas Ambrazevicius Brazaitis (reburied with full honors as a hero in Kaunas, in 2012), is depicted in a 2014 photograph used by the march’s organizers to advertise the 2015 event.

Posted in Collaborators Glorified, Documents, EU, Events, Kaunas, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Swastikas in Lithuania | Tagged Ambrazevicius Brazaitis, Holocaust in Lithuania, Kaunas neo-Nazi march 2015 | Comments Off

Wiesenthal Center’s Efraim Zuroff Writes to Mayor of Kaunas on Neo-Nazi March

Posted on 12 February 2015 by Defending History

JERUSALEM—The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office here today released the text of a letter sent by director Dr. Efraim Zuroff to the mayor of Kaunas, Lithuania, Andrius Kupčinskas, concerning the neo-Nazi march scheduled for February 16th. See also Defending History’s correspondence with the mayor’s office and our background summary.

SEE EXTENDED COVERAGE ON PAGE 1

The text of the letter is as follows:

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February 12, 2015
Meras Andrius Kupčinskas
Laisves al. 96 201 kab.
Kaunas
LITHUANIA

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Dear Mayor Kupčinskas,

Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Celebrations of Fascism, Collaborators Glorified, Efraim Zuroff, EU, Events, Kaunas, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Opinion | Tagged Andrius Kupcinskas, Efraim Zuroff, February 16th in Kaunas, Holocaust in Lithuania, Juozas Ambrazevicius Brazaitis, mayor of Kaunas, neo-Nazis in Lithuania, Simon Wiesenthal Center Israel Office | Comments Off

Correspondence with Kaunas Mayor’s Office to 13 February 2015

Posted on 13 February 2015 by Defending History

D O C U M E N T S

Below, (1) the text of DH’s letter to the mayor of Kaunas on 3 February, (2) the response received from his office on 11 February, (3) our response of the same date, and (4) the response from the mayor’s office received on 13 February and (5) our response of the same date. The correspondence relates to the annual neo-Nazi march planned for 16 February 2015 in central Kaunas. See also section on previous marches, and our 3 February 2015 correspondence with the Kaunas police. Note that a banner featuring a major Kaunas Holocaust collaborator, the Nazi puppet prime minister Juozas Ambrazevicius Brazaitis (reburied with full honors as a hero in Kaunas, in 2012), is depicted in a 2014 photograph used by the march’s organizers to advertise the 2015 event.

Posted in Celebrations of Fascism, Kaunas, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, Swastikas in Lithuania | Tagged Holocaust in Lithuania, Kaunas, Mayor Andrius Kupcinskas, neo-Nazi marches in Lithuania | Comments Off

A Baltic Month of Neo-Nazi Events (from February 16th to March 16th)

Posted on 15 February 2015 by Defending History

Baltic Nazi-Glorifying Marching Season Underway

COME JOIN US IN KAUNAS, MONDAY 16 FEB. at 1 PM (1300), AT RAMYBĖS PARK, TO MONITOR, SILENTLY PROTEST, & REMEMBER THE CITY’S MORE THAN 30,000 MURDERED JEWISH CITIZENS.

WIESENTHAL CENTER’S EFRAIM ZUROFF FLYING IN TO MONITOR EVENT AND LEAD PEACEFUL PROTEST; HIS LETTER TO KAUNAS MAYOR; OBZOR; DELFI.LT; KAUNO DIENA; ALKAS.LT

DH’S CORRESPONDENCE WITH KAUNAS MAYOR’S OFFICE. FOR THE RECORD:ISRAELI HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS’ LETTER OF 2013.

Posted in Celebrations of Fascism, Estonia, EU, Kaunas, Latvia, Lithuania, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Riga's Waffen SS Marches, Swastikas in Lithuania | Comments Off

Run-Up to the 16 Feb. 2015 Neo-Nazi March in Central Kaunas

Posted on 15 February 2015 by Defending History

Baltic Nazi-Glorifying Marching Season Underway

COME JOIN US IN KAUNAS, MONDAY 16 FEB. at 1 PM (1300), AT RAMYBĖS PARK, TO MONITOR, SILENTLY PROTEST, & REMEMBER THE CITY’S MORE THAN 30,000 MURDERED JEWISH CITIZENS.

Posted in Celebrations of Fascism, EU, Events, Kaunas, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Media Watch, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Politics of Memory | Comments Off

Defending History’s Eyewitness Report on Kaunas, February 16, 2015

Posted on 16 February 2015 by Defending History

Wiesenthal Center – Defending History Team of 12 Monitors & Protests Kaunas Independence Day Neo-Nazi March

UPDATE:

Lithuanian Jewish Community Issues Statement on Feb. 20th

MARCH FEATURED LONG SERIES OF FASCIST-STYLE TAUNTS OF LIETUVA LIETUVIAMS (“LITHUANIA FOR [ETHNIC] LITHUANIANS”) ALONG WITHSWASTIKAS, OTHER FASCIST SYMBOLS AND A HUGE BANNER OF THE 1941 NAZI PUPPET PM WHO COLLABORATEDIN THE DESTRUCTION OF HIS CITY’S CITIZENS WHO WERE JEWISH. MAYOR’S OFFICE GAVE PERMITS FOR CITY CENTER TRAVESTY ON NATION’S INDEPENDENCE DAY.

Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Collaborators Glorified, Events, Kaunas, Lithuania, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Swastikas in Lithuania | Comments Off

February 16th 2015 in Kaunas…

Posted on 19 February 2015 by Defending History

E Y E W I T N E S S A C C O U N T / O P I N I O N

by Evaldas Balčiūnas

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February 16th in Kaunas. The Kaunas municipal administration was asked by the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Efraim Zuroff and Defending History’s editor Dovid Katz not to allow this march for a number of reasons. The Kaunas municipality saw no problem and allowed the march to go ahead. As in earlier years, a Defending History team observed the march. The Kaunas Antifa organization decided not to hold a protest this year, so I was at liberty to be present as part of the DefendingHistory team.

Posted in Evaldas Balčiūnas, Events, Kaunas, Lithuania, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Opinion, Swastikas in Lithuania | Comments Off

Efraim Zuroff Leads Kaunas Protest

Posted on 20 February 2015 by Defending History

Event Summary and Links to Coverage:

Defending History’s Team of 12 Monitors & Protests Kaunas Independence Day Neo-Nazi March on Feb. 16th

Lithuanian Jewish Community Issues Statement on Feb. 20th

MARCH FEATURED LONG SERIES OF FASCIST-STYLE TAUNTS OF LIETUVA LIETUVIAMS (“LITHUANIA FOR [ETHNIC] LITHUANIANS”) ALONG WITH SWASTIKAS, OTHER FASCIST SYMBOLS AND A HUGE BANNER OF THE 1941 NAZI PUPPET PM WHO COLLABORATED IN THE DESTRUCTION OF HIS CITY’S CITIZENS WHO WERE JEWISH. MAYOR’S OFFICE GAVE PERMITS FOR CITY CENTER TRAVESTY ON NATION’S INDEPENDENCE DAY.

Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Events, Kaunas, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Opinion | Comments Off

Lithuanian Jewish Community Issues Statement on Feb 16th 2015 March in Kaunas

Posted on 20 February 2015 by Defending History

The following statement appeared today on the website of the Jewish Commnity of Lithuania:

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The Position of the Lithuanian Jewish Community on the Slogan Chanted by the Lithuanian Union of Nationalist Youth, “Lithuania for Lithuanians”

The Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) Community, deeply upset and concerned by recent anti-Semitic attacks in the Kingdom of Denmark and France and by the rise in neo-Nazi tendencies all over Europe, calls upon the government institutions of the Lithuanian state to take stock of the situation in Lithuania at the current time. By identifying the problem of ethnic hate early, we can prevent possible tragedy in the future.

Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Collaborators Glorified, Events, Faina Kukliansky, Human Rights, Kaunas, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Opinion | Comments Off

Efraim Zuroff is Lone Protester in Center of Tallinn

Posted on 24 February 2015 by Defending History

Efraim Zuroff is Lone Protestor at Far Right’s March in Central Tallinn on Independence Day

Publicized with the slogan “Estonia for Estonians,” today’s event was the second of four in the “Baltic month” (16 Feb—16 March) of city center state-approved events, on Tuesday Feb 24th (independence day) in Tallinn. March’s organizers include racists, Holocaust deniers, and glorifiers of Estonia’s Waffen SS whose members swore loyalty to Adolf Hitler. One of its leaders has led events to celebrate the 1941 “liberation” of Estonia by the Nazis. Delfi report and video. Posdtimees. More video. SWC’s press release.

UPDATE: ZUROFF REPORTS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES

Posted in Efraim Zuroff, Estonia, EU, Events, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views | Comments Off

Efraim Zuroff Monitors, and Critiques, Tallinn’s Far-Right Independence Day March

Posted on 25 February 2015 by Defending History

TALLINN—The Simon Wiesenthal Center today harshly criticized a march held late yesterday in the center of the Estonian capital to mark Independence Day, which was sponsored by the Sinine Aratus (Blue Awakening) youth movement closely affiliated with the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE).

Posted in Celebrations of Fascism, Efraim Zuroff, Estonia, EU, Human Rights, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views | Comments Off

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Scholars & journalists: When you use DH, please cite DH.

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Litvak Heritage

• Towns and cities

• Windows to a Lost Jewish Past

• Kaddish

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Yiddish

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Latest

Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches

PRESS: ALFA.LT; ALKAS.LT; BALSAS.LT; DELFI.LT; JERUSALEM POST; KAUNODIENA.LT; SWC REPORT; TV: KAUNAS NEWS; OPINION: Olga Zabludoff; Efraim Zuroff

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Lithuanian TV interviews with Efraim Zuroff and Dovid Katz:

1 and 2

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Vilnius, Tuesday March 11th 2014:

Efraim Zuroff Will Lead Silent, Peaceful Remembrance as Protest

O P I N I O N / E Y E W I T N E S S R E P O R T

by Dovid Katz

Riga, Sunday March 16th 2014:

Could Riga (now the EU’s “Capital of European Culture”) Really be Allowing Yet Another City-Center Waffen SS Celebration on March 16th?

JUST IN:

MINISTER FACES SACK; FOR FIRST TIME, GOV SAYS: STAY AWAY

MONICA LOWENBERG’S “SPEAK NO EVIL” (video); PETITION NEARS 7000

Over 1500 March in Central Riga’s Annual March 16th Waffen SS Fest

Interface of Pro-Fascist Marches, Holocaust Revisionism, and Contemporary Racism

EFRAIM ZUROFF IN THE HUFFINGTON POST, JERUSALEM POST AND TABLET

O P I N I O N

by Jacob Piliansky

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WILL LITHUANIA’S LEADERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST GRANTING MAJOR CITY CENTERS ON INDEPENDENCE DAYS TO NEO-NAZI MARCHES THAT ADULATE 1941 HOLOCAUST COLLABORATORS?

WILL “BAGEL SHOP” AND OTHER FUNDED MONITORS ISSUE A MORALLY DIGNIFIED STATEMENT? A MEMBER OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY SPEAKS OUT; HIS EARLIER VIDEOTAPED INTERVIEW IN RICHARD BLOOM’S DOCUMENTARY.

Baltic Nazi-Glorifying Marching Season Underway

COME JOIN US IN KAUNAS, MONDAY 16 FEB. at 1 PM (1300), AT RAMYBĖS PARK, TO MONITOR, SILENTLY PROTEST, & REMEMBER THE CITY’S MORE THAN 30,000 MURDERED JEWISH CITIZENS.

WIESENTHAL CENTER’S EFRAIM ZUROFF FLYING IN TO MONITOR EVENT AND LEAD PEACEFUL PROTEST; HIS LETTER TO KAUNAS MAYOR; OBZOR; DELFI.LT; KAUNO DIENA; ALKAS.LT

DH’S CORRESPONDENCE WITH KAUNAS MAYOR’S OFFICE. FOR THE RECORD:ISRAELI HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS’ LETTER OF 2013.

Baltic Nazi-Glorifying Marching Season Underway

COME JOIN US IN KAUNAS, MONDAY 16 FEB. at 1 PM (1300), AT RAMYBĖS PARK, TO MONITOR, SILENTLY PROTEST, & REMEMBER THE CITY’S MORE THAN 30,000 MURDERED JEWISH CITIZENS.

Wiesenthal Center – Defending History Team of 12 Monitors & Protests Kaunas Independence Day Neo-Nazi March

UPDATE:

E Y E W I T N E S S A C C O U N T / O P I N I O N

by Evaldas Balčiūnas

Event Summary and Links to Coverage:

Defending History’s Team of 12 Monitors & Protests Kaunas Independence Day Neo-Nazi March on Feb. 16th

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The Position of the Lithuanian Jewish Community on the Slogan Chanted by the Lithuanian Union of Nationalist Youth, “Lithuania for Lithuanians”

Efraim Zuroff is Lone Protestor at Far Right’s March in Central Tallinn on Independence Day

UPDATE: ZUROFF REPORTS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES

**Scholars & journalists: When you use DH, please cite DH.**