News & Views

Yivo Conference: Unresolved History

Posted on 22 March 2014 by Defending History

O P I N I O N

by Geoff Vasil

This comment on the event “Unresolved History: Jews and Lithuanians After the Holocaust,” held February 14, 2014 in New York City is based on the videotape of the event that Yivo has posted on its website. Readers may also wish to see Olga Zabludoff’s articles before and after the event, and the comments accruing during last month’s discussion in New York’s Algemeiner.Com. Geoff Vasil has covered a number of state-sponsored Holocaust events over the years, including one featuring some of the same participants last summer in Vilnius. Defending History’s openly critical views of the “red-brown commission” are available in the section dedicated to various of the debates in recent years. The commission’s own website is here.

 

On February 14, 2014, a small panel spoke at YIVO world headquarters in NYC. There weren’t many people in the audience, to judge from the crowd sounds, and at least one panelist wasn’t there. It had been delayed a day earlier when a massive ice storm hit the city and temperatures plummeted. Tomas Venclova wasn’t able to make it because of the weather and poor health.

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Posted in Events, Geoff Vasil, Identity Theft of Litvak Heritage, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Politics of Memory, The Great SLS About-Face | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Yivo Conference: Unresolved History

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

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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 on 2014 Baltic Marching Season Concluded

Holocaust Survivor Stands Up Against Proposal to Close Down Russian Language Media in Lithuania

Posted on 21 March 2014 by Defending History

VILNIUS—Pinchos Fridberg, retired professor of physics and Defending History’s 2014 Person of the Year, has again stood up for human rights, going where some “human rights NGOs” seem to fear to tread.

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Posted in Bold Citizens Speak Out, Human Rights, Lithuania, News & Views, Opinion, Pinchos Fridberg, Russian Speakers' Personal Status | Comments Off on Holocaust Survivor Stands Up Against Proposal to Close Down Russian Language Media in Lithuania

Double Genocide MEPs Sneak Revisionism into Parliamentarium Museum

Posted on 20 March 2014 by Defending History

The Double Genocide supporting website “Reconciliation of European Histories” boasted today that its core group of right-wing MEPs from Eastern Europe has succeeded in its demand to insert red-brown revisionism in depictions of the World War II and Holocaust era in the prestigious Parliamentarium Museum in the EU capital Brussels.

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Posted in Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, EU, Museums, News & Views, Politics of Memory | Tagged | Comments Off on Double Genocide MEPs Sneak Revisionism into Parliamentarium Museum

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

Riga Waffen SS March 16th 2014

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

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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 , | Comments Off on Summary Coverage of March 16th 2014 Waffen SS Event in Riga

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

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

British MEP Richard Howitt, European Parliament Spokesperson on Human Rights, Issues Statement on Riga Waffen SS March

Posted on 13 March 2014 by Defending History

Richard Howitt, British Labour Member of the European Parliament, and spokesperson for the European Parliament Human Rights Sub-Committee today issued the following text of his statement which will be read out in Riga this Sunday March 16th.

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Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Celebrations of Fascism, Collaborators Glorified, Documents, EU, Events, Human Rights, Latvia, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, Racism, Riga's Waffen SS Marches, United Kingdom | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on British MEP Richard Howitt, European Parliament Spokesperson on Human Rights, Issues Statement on Riga Waffen SS March

For Seventh Year Running, Neo-Nazis and Ultranationalists Given Center of Vilnius on Independence Day

Posted on 11 March 2014 by Defending History

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

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.

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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 on For Seventh Year Running, Neo-Nazis and Ultranationalists Given Center of Vilnius on Independence Day

Run-up to the March 11th 2014 Neo-Nazi / Ultranationalist March in Central Vilnius

Posted on 10 March 2014 by Defending History

Vilnius, Tuesday March 11th 2014:

Neo-Nazis Announce March Through Old Town and City Center to Nation’s Parliament

Efraim Zuroff Will Lead Silent, Peaceful Remembrance as Protest

Colleagues of all backgrounds are invited to meet Dr. Zuroff, Holocaust historian, Nazi-hunter, author, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office. He will lead a silent, peaceful remembrance of the annihilated Jewish citizens of Vilnius and Lithuania, in protest against the neo-Nazi marchers and the continued granting of city center venues on independence day. Meeting on Tuesday, 11 March 2014, 3 PM at Old Town Hall (Rotušė) Square. First meeting at edge of square, on the corner of Stiklių and Didžioji outside Amatininkai Café, monitoring the march (itself scheduled for 4 PM) to its conclusion on Gedimino near the Seimas (parliament).

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Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, EU, Events, Human Rights, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Swastikas in Lithuania, United Nations, Vilnius | Comments Off on Run-up to the March 11th 2014 Neo-Nazi / Ultranationalist March in Central Vilnius

Olga Zabludoff’s Comment on a February 2014 Yivo Symposium

Posted on 8 March 2014 by Defending History

 

The following 7 March 2014 comment by Olga Zabludoff on the video posted of the 14 February 2014 event at Yivo appears in the Comments section for her earlier article in the Algemeiner Journal, where readers can follow the entire discussion.

Many thanks to Yivo for posting the video of the discussion “Unresolved History: Jews and Lithuanians after the Holocaust.” In my opinion, the champion panelist was Leonidas Donskis who opened his heart with conviction and courage. As a Jewish Lithuanian his understanding of and sympathy for both Jews and Lithuanians have generated wise insights and pervasive truths. Among his magnitude of analytical comments to be applauded, Donskis explained that the Far Right in Lithuania has managed to get close to the center of power where they have been “mainstreamed” rather than marginalized. He also reflected on how difficult it is for Lithuanians who have decided to tell the truth. As a nation “we lack the political courage,” he remarked.

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Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, "Red-Brown Commission", Events, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Olga Zabludoff, Opinion, Politics of Memory, The Great SLS About-Face, United States | Comments Off on Olga Zabludoff’s Comment on a February 2014 Yivo Symposium

European Parliament President Martin Schulz Just Says No to Latest Demands of Eastern “Double Genocide” MEPs

Posted on 7 March 2014 by Defending History

On 14 February 2014, Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament, boldly turned down a demand from a group of right-wing East European “Double Genocide” MEPs for the EU to in effect equally ban Nazi and Soviet symbols. Nobody is calling for display of Soviet symbols and the move was seen as another in the long series designed to enshrine Double Genocide — the belief that Nazi and Soviet crimes must be declared equal on all counts — in the European Union.

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Posted in Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, EU, Germany, News & Views, Politics of Memory | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on European Parliament President Martin Schulz Just Says No to Latest Demands of Eastern “Double Genocide” MEPs

Pinchos Fridberg Takes On a State Commission in Lithuania…

Posted on 3 March 2014 by Defending History

VILNIUS—Professor Pinchos Fridberg today posted a Youtube video replying to attacks on himself by the executive director of the Lithuanian government’s International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania.

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Posted in "Red-Brown Commission", Humor (Of Sorts), News & Views, Opinion, Pinchos Fridberg | Comments Off on Pinchos Fridberg Takes On a State Commission in Lithuania…

Out On Ellis Street in San Francisco

Posted on 3 March 2014 by Defending History

O P I N I O N

Members of the US-based “Litvak SIG” (both those on the free lists, and those who paid their $36 a year dues for full membership), have been informed of the following event and the book it features, coming up this Thursday evening in San Francisco. (When Messiah will come, the subscribers to both “SIG” sections will learn about the existence of Defending History, too and its modest, but free, Litvak interest sections. We must have patience.)

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Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, Books, Events, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, United States | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Out On Ellis Street in San Francisco

Exhibit Honoring Jewish World War II Veterans Disappears Into Vilnius Thin Air

Posted on 2 March 2014 by Defending History

O P I N I O N

Cover of the brochure distributed at the 2000 launch of the “permanent exhibit”

by Dovid Katz

VILNIUS—Three Vilnius-based members of the Defending History team visited the Pylimo Street section of the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum of Lithuania this week, and asked to be shown the famous and widely admired exhibit honoring the Jewish veterans of the war against Hitler in Lithuania. The exhibit, titled Lithuania’s Jews in the Struggle Against Nazism, was opened in a spirit of unity, reconciliation and mutual respect, some fourteen years ago (PDF of the report in the Spring 2000 English edition of the Jewish community’s then quadrilingual newspaper, Jerusalem of Lithuania, which was edited by Milan Chersonski from 1999 until 2011; JPEG; reduced image below). Its primary creators are Joseph Levinson and Rachel Kostanian.

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Posted in Arts, Dovid Katz, Exotic Jewish Tourism, History, Human Rights, Joseph Levinson, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Museums, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, Rachel Kostanian | Comments Off on Exhibit Honoring Jewish World War II Veterans Disappears Into Vilnius Thin Air

Prague Platform Again in Disarray

Posted on 27 February 2014 by Defending History

Prague’s Double Genocide “Platform” Broken?

ITS “CONSTITUTION” IS THE HOLOCAUST-REVISIONIST “PRAGUE DECLARATION”

The “Platform”; the Orwellian “Reconciliation” of histories; What is Double Genocide? DH’s section; What’s it all about?

A EUROPEAN RESPONSE: THE SEVENTY YEARS DECLARATION (SYD)

Posted in Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, EU, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Prague "Platform" | Comments Off on Prague Platform Again in Disarray

Russian Translation of Danny Ben-Moshe’s Feb. 2014 JP Article, “Hungary Rewrites History”

Posted on 27 February 2014 by Defending History

This authorized translation by Milan Chersonski is based on the text of the original English article by Danny Ben-Moshe, “Hungary Rewrites History” that appeared in the Jerusalem Post on 22 February 2014.

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Posted in Danny Ben-Moshe, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Film, Hungary, In Russian, Lithuania, News & Views, Opinion | Comments Off on Russian Translation of Danny Ben-Moshe’s Feb. 2014 JP Article, “Hungary Rewrites History”

Summary Coverage of Announcement on Vilnius Consitutional Court’s Decision to Rule on Double Genocide

Posted on 26 February 2014 by Defending History

 

Can history be “fixed” by the power of the state?

Will Western Allies Speak Up as Ultranationalists Try to Make “Double Genocide” into Law in a NATO/EU Country?

Case in Constitutional Court in Vilnius follows 2010 law that effectively criminalizes opinion that there was one Holocaust in Lithuania

BACKGROUND ON DOUBLE GENOCIDE:

Shimon Alperovich, Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, Yitzhak Arad, Evaldas Balciunas, Yehuda Bauer, Danny Ben-Moshe, Milan Chersonski, Leonidas Donskis, Pinchos Fridberg, Dovid Katz, Rachel Kostanian, Denis MacShane, John Mann, Geoff Vasil (Vasiliauskas), Olga Zabludoff, Efraim Zuroff

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Hungary Rewrites History

Posted on 26 February 2014 by Defending History

O P I N I O N

by Danny Ben-Moshe

This comment, republished here with the author’s permission, first appeared in the Jerusalem Post on 22 February 2014.

My 2012 documentary film Rewriting History tracked the emergence of “Double Genocide” and the rewriting of the history of the Holocaust in Lithuania.

The film warned that what was occurring in Lithuania was a harbinger of something that could become more widespread and ultimately mainstream in Europe, particularly in Eastern Europe. Unfortunately recent events in Hungary bear this out.

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Posted in 70 Years Declaration, Collaborators Glorified, Danny Ben-Moshe, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, EU, Film, Hungary, Lithuania, News & Views, Opinion | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Hungary Rewrites History

Unauthenticated Document Purports to be Police Complaint Against Lithuanian Citizen for Writing about Nazi Collaborators

Posted on 25 February 2014 by Defending History

O P I N I O N

VILNIUS—Defending History is making attempts to determine the authenticity of an unverified document (translation here) which purports to be from Lithuanian police issuing notification of a “pre-trial investigation” against a Lithuanian citizen for having written an article referring to alleged Nazi collaborators. More on the topic is available in Defending History in the Collaborators Glorified section, the works of Evaldas Balčiūnas (including an article on the Mr. Noreika = “General Vetra” mentioned in the purported police complaint), the 2012 Brazaitis saga, and the page on street names and university shrines dedicated to Nazi collaborators.

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Posted in Bold Citizens Speak Out, Collaborators Glorified, Free Speech & Democracy, Human Rights, Lithuania, News & Views, Politics of Memory, State Glorification of Holocaust Collaborator J. Noreika | Comments Off on Unauthenticated Document Purports to be Police Complaint Against Lithuanian Citizen for Writing about Nazi Collaborators

Sergijus Staniškis Litas: Who’s Hiding the 1941 Gaps in His Biography — and Why?

Posted on 24 February 2014 by Defending History

O P I N I O N   /   P O L I T I C S  O F  M E M O R Y   /   C O L L A B O R A T O R S   G L O R I F I E D

by Evaldas Balčiūnas

Authorized translation from the Lithuanian original by Geoff Vasil.

Today Sergijus Staniškis Litas is presented as a noble partisan commander who concentrated his unusual skills on battling the occupiers. At least that’s how the writers of the Lithuanian Center for the Study of Genocide and Resistance present him on their webpage at http://www.genocid.lt/datos/stanisk.htm.

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Posted in Bold Citizens Speak Out, Collaborators Glorified, Debates on the Postwar "Forest Brothers", Evaldas Balčiūnas, History, Lithuania, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, Vilnius's Genocide Center and the Genocide Museum it Manages | Comments Off on Sergijus Staniškis Litas: Who’s Hiding the 1941 Gaps in His Biography — and Why?