VILNIUS. One of the staples of diplomatic life here is the annual Hungarian National Day reception hosted by the Hungarian Embassy in Vilnius. Under the leadership of the previous ambassador to Lithuania, HE Péter Horváth Noszkó, his nation’s embassy became a locus of inter-community and inter-cultural dialogue that helped further civil society in the Lithuanian capital. He thereby raised his country’s profile to that of an open forum par excellence, where all — not least minority groups — could find a place here in this corner of the European Table.
Politics of Memory
Hungarian National Day Event in Vilnius Celebrates Lithuanian ‘Forest Brother’; Two Local Fascists Invited
Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Celebrations of Fascism, Collaborators Glorified, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Events, Hungary, News & Views, Politics of Memory
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Lithuania Cannot Appease Both World Jewry and Far-Right Extremists
O P I N I O N
by Olga Zabludoff
I commend Didier Bertin’s knowledgeable and sensitive observations in his article “Lithuania and the Memory of the Holocaust.” My comments here are more in the form of a PS to Mr. Bertin’s words. My take-off point is his reference to the term “Double Genocide,” a government-endorsed concept that has been bandied about in Lithuanian political circles in recent times. But more about this later. Mr. Bertin borrows the term for application in a different dual context: the original genocide of the Jewish people and the current movement on the part of the Lithuanian government to neutralize if not to obliterate the remembrance of the Holocaust.
Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, "Red-Brown Commission", Antisemitism & Bias, Collaborators Glorified, Double Games, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Olga Zabludoff, Opinion, Politics of Memory
Tagged Didier Bertin, Double Genocide, Holocaust in Lithuania, Lithuanian-Jewish relations, Olga Zabludoff
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Believe It or Not
Vilnius Prosecutors Launch Campaign against Another Holocaust Survivor, 86, this time via — Interpol!
Joe Melamed in his Tel Aviv office
At Lithuanian prosecutors’ demand, Israeli Interpol liaison officers speak with Mr. Melamed about the ‘accusations’
Report in Haaretz by Yossi Melman;
DefendingHistory.com reports here and here;
Geoff Vasil in the Jewish Chronicle
Yad Vashem withdraws invitations to visiting minster and resident ambassador for Vilna Ghetto commemoration; Coverage in Haaretz by Yossi Melman; Associated Press (→ CBS News, Fox,MSNBC, Washington Post, YahooNews etc); JTA (→WJC, JJ, Juedische.at, etc); Mishpacha
Three British MPs file Early Day Motion 2161 to protest the Lithuanian government’s action
Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Joseph Melamed, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Politics of Memory
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A Strange Hearing at the European Parliament, and a Big Fish called Montero
E Y E W I T N E S S R E P O R T / O P I N I O N
by Dovid Katz
Today’s “EPP Hearing on the Commission’s Report: The Memory of the Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes in Europe” (PDF) at the European Parliament in Brussels was a polished and triumphal affair that has reconfirmed — if reconfirmation is necessary — how right MEP Edward McMillan-Scott was in 2009 when he refused to accede to his then party, the British Conservatives, entering the political European Parliament tent of the far-right ECR (European Conservatives and Reformists), when the latter chose as leader a politician with a record of antisemitism and Holocaust Obfuscation, one for whom “Jewish apologies for communism” was a condition for recognition of the facts of the Holocaust.
Posted in Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, EU, Events, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, Prague "Platform"
Tagged Carlos Montero, Double Genocide, Totalitarian Regimes in Europe
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No Limits to ‘History Shenanigans’?
O P I N I O N
by Geoff Vasil (Vilnius)
According to a recent report on Delfi.lt, Lithuanian MP Gintaras Songaila, who has expressed support for the neo-Nazi marches through central Vilnius on Lithuania’s Independence Day, has recently begun disseminating a brochure to his fellow Lithuanian parliamentarians about alleged Polish atrocities against Lithuanians from before and during World War II. The brochure is based on a book by Algimantas Liekis called Black Pages in Lithuanian History.
Posted in Geoff Vasil, History, Opinion, Politics of Memory
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Glorifiers of Pro-Hitler Fascist Groups March in Lviv
by Frank Brendle (Berlin)
Activists in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv wearing uniforms of the former Ukrainian Insurgent Army (known as UPA, from its Ukrainian language initials) marched in a large scale event in the city center today.
Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Bandera, Celebrations of Fascism, Collaborators Glorified, Frank Brendle, Human Rights, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Ukraine
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Holocaust Survivor Community in Shock as Yet Another Survivor Pursued by Lithuanian Prosecutors (and Interpol!), This Time for “Libel”
Vilnius Prosecutors Launch Campaign against Another Holocaust Survivor, 86, this time via — Interpol!
At Lithuanian prosecutors’ demand, Israeli Interpol liaison officers speak with Mr. Melamed about the ‘accusations’
Report in Haaretz by Yossi Melman;
DefendingHistory.com reports here and here;
Geoff Vasil in the Jewish Chronicle
Yad Vashem withdraws invitations to visiting minster and resident ambassador for Vilna Ghetto commemoration; Coverage inHaaretz by Yossi Melman; Associated Press (→ CBS News, Fox,MSNBC,Washington Post, YahooNews etc);JTA (→WJC, JJ, Juedische.at, etc);Mishpacha
Three British MPs file Early Day Motion 2161 to protest the Lithuanian government’s action
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ISRAEL’S GOVERNMENT MAINTAINS PUBLIC SILENCE
Posted in Joseph Melamed, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Politics of Memory, United Kingdom
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Lithuanian Foreign Ministry Makes New Red-Brown Pronouncement, Omitting ‘Detail’: The Holocaust; Prime Minister Agrees, Citing Red-Brown Equation
A BNS (Baltic News Service) report released today quotes the foreign ministry as saying for the record today that ‘The attitude of the Russian institutions that by condemning some crimes against humanity (the Stalinist crimes), other crimes, i.e. the crimes of Nazism, are being rehabilitated, shall be regarded as very odd’.
The nation’s prime minister, Andrius Kubilius, weighed in more ardently. In an Lrytas.lt report (which credits ELTA), he is quoted as saying: ‘Thanks to Lithuania’s active policy it is being understood better and more clearly throughout the EU that Stalin’s crimes against humanity need to be judged in the same way Hitler’s crimes against humanity are judged. And not just Stalin’s [crimes], but [those] of the entire Soviet period […].’
Posted in "Red-Brown Commission", Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, News & Views, Politics of Memory
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Red-Equals-Brown is a Historical Aberration
O P I N I O N
by Roland Binet (Belgium)
The European Union has as one of its main tasks the promotion of cordial understanding between the peoples of Europe and, consequently, it must be careful about the history of the continent as it is being taught. One of the reasons for the foundation of the Union was to bring together peoples that were previously enemies, in two world wars and numerous other conflicts.
Posted in "Red-Brown Commission", Latvia, Opinion, Politics of Memory, Roland Binet
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Head of History Institute, Speaking at ‘Bloodlands’ Event at the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, Excoriates Holocaust Survivors who Joined the Anti-Nazi Partisans
Delfi.lt journalist Eglė Samoškaitė reported today on this week’s book event for the Lithuanian language edition of Timothy Snyder’s Bloodlands, held at the Foreign Ministry and with the participation of some leading historians and heads of institutions in the country. A full English translation of Ms. Samoškaitė’s article is available here.
Posted in A 21st Century Campaign Against Lithuanian Holocaust Survivors?, Books, Celebrations of Fascism, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Fania Yocheles Brantsovsky (Fania Brancovskaja): 1922-2024, Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, Lithuania, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Vilnius's Genocide Center and the Genocide Museum it Manages
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Lithuanian Foreign Minister Inserts Red-Brown Discourse into Austrian Extradition Case
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis was today quoted by BNS as inserting red-brown discourse into his latest commentary on the dispute over the alleged Soviet war crimes perpetrator not extradited to Lithuania from Austria last summer.
The foreign minister is cited as follows:
Posted in "Red-Brown Commission", Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, News & Views, Politics of Memory
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What Happened when Holocaust Survivor Joseph Melamed Did Exactly what Historian A. Liekis Suggested?
O P I N I O N
by Geoff Vasil
The following is a reprint, with the author’s permission, of his article in London’s Jewish Chronicle this week.
Wreaths Laid, but Doubt Hangs in the Air
Today is Lithuanian Holocaust Day. This is the day the Vilna Ghetto was “liquidated” in 1943, but is not generally known among Lithuanians. It does not even appear on the Wikipedia list of Lithuanian holidays, although Molotov-Ribbentrop Day, August 23, does. September 23 usually receives a few minutes on the evening news — after it’s over.
Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, "Red-Brown Commission", Celebrations of Fascism, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Events, Geoff Vasil, Joseph Melamed, Lithuania, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory
Tagged A. Liekis + Holocaust in Lithuania, Geoff Vasil, Joseph Melamed, Joseph Melamed + Holocaust in Lithuania, Liekis + list of perpetrators, Ponar (Paneriai
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Yad Vashem Withdraws Invitation to Lithuanian Minister over Campaign against Joe Melamed; British Parliamentarians Move an ‘Early Day Motion’; Melamed Speaks Eloquently at Yad Vashem, Blasts Efforts to Glorify Holocaust Perpetrators as ‘Heroes’
Yad Vashem rescinded the invitations to the Lithuanian culture minister and ambassador to the 19 September event held in memory of the victims of the Lithuanian Holocaust. The cancelation of invitations came in response to the new investigation launched by Vilnius prosecutors (via Interpol) against a Holocaust survivor. The 30 August visit to Mr. Melamed by Interpol liaison officers in Tel Aviv was reported in DefendingHistory.com and by Yossi Melman in Haaretz.
Joe Melamed in his Tel Aviv office
The report on the disinvitation, also by Yossi Melman in Haaretz was rapidly picked up by the Associated Press and carried widely (e.g. CBS News, Fox, MSNBC, Washington Post, YahooNews). Further reports have appeared in the Jerusalem Post, the Jewish Chronicle (London), Mishpacha, and JTA (WJC, JJ, Juedische.at, etc).
Posted in A 21st Century Campaign Against Lithuanian Holocaust Survivors?, Israel, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Politics of Memory, United Kingdom, Yad Vashem and Lithuania
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BNS on Foreign Minister’s Reaction to Protests by Holocaust Survivors
A report today from BNS (Baltic News Service) covered the reaction of the Lithuanian foreign minister to the news that Holocaust survivors had protested to Yivo his invitation as guest of honor at an event commemorating the Vilna Ghetto.
Posted in Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, Media Watch, News & Views, Politics of Memory
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Leyzer Ran Family Writes Collective Open Letter on Yivo Debacle
The surviving family members of the late Leyzer Ran, led by his wife Basheva Ran, today released a statement concerning Yivo’s decision to honor the Lithuanian foreign minister in New York in the absence of apologies for the accusations against Jewish partisan heroes, and in the absence of progress on widespread antisemitism including legalized swatikas and Holocaust distortionism. Details and a PDF of the letter are available here.
Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, A 21st Century Campaign Against Lithuanian Holocaust Survivors?, Basheva Ran & Family, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, Leyzer Ran Section, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, United States
Tagged Dr. Jonathan Brent, Leyzer Ran, Prof. Faye Ran
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Ukrainian Writer Iurii Andrukhovych Asks the EU to Approve Celebration of Local Holocaust Perpetrators and War Criminals as ‘Freedom Fighters’
O P I N I O N
by Grzegorz Rossoliński-Liebe
Iurii Andrukhovych complains in an article published in Gazeta Wyborcza about the sorry state of Polish-Ukrainian relations. He correctly informs readers that in the last ten years Polish-Ukrainian relations, in particular concerning contentious World War II questions, have not improved at all and “if something has changed then perhaps only for the worse”. Yet Andrukhovych’s solution to the problem would be to republish Paweł Smoleński’s collections of essays Pochówek dla rezuna (“Burial of a Butcher”) which, like Andrukhovych in his article, looks for solutions in the revision of stereotypes while ignoring the actual historical causes of current problems.
Posted in Bandera, Collaborators Glorified, History, Human Rights, Opinion, Politics of Memory, Ukraine
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Lithuania’s Defense Ministry Clears Soldiers who Participated in Neo-Nazi March
Lithuania’s main newspaper Lietuvos Rytas reported today on an internal investigation by the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense into participation by Lithuanian soldiers in neo-Nazi marches. The investigation found that the soldiers hadn’t violated the law, but the ministry isn’t making public the contents of the inquiry. The presence of neo-Nazis in the Lithuanian military came to light after the website Antifa.lt published photos of participants in a March 11 neo-Nazi independence day march through central Vilnius, next to pictures of the same people in Lithuanian military uniforms. See Antifa.lt’s posts here and here.
Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Free Speech & Democracy, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Swastikas in Lithuania, Vilnius
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Hungary: Convicted War Criminal, Sandor Kapiro, 97, was Allowed to Sue Wiesenthal Center Historian for ‘Libel’ before Going on Trial Himself [Headline box-link coverage to 3 Sept 2011]
ONLY IN TOPSY-TURVY WORLD OF THE ‘EASTERN EU’!
Court rules for Dr Zuroff and praises his professionalism: AP, HP,HVG, JP, JTA; Verdict here
Exclusive Video by DefendingHistory.com
Alternative URL for video; Additional clip by DefendingHistory.com
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FARCICAL TRIAL OF THE HOLOCAUST HISTORIAN IS FOLLOWED TWO DAYS LATER, ON MAY 5, BY THE OPENING OF DEMOCRATIC HUNGARY’S FIRST WAR CRIMES TRIAL
KEPIRO ACQUITTED ON 18 JULY 2011 TO THE DELIGHT OF THE FAR RIGHT
ASSOCIATED PRESS; BUDAPEST TIMES; BUDAPESTER ZEITUNG; CNN; HUNGARIAN SPECTRUM; JERUSALEM POST; NEW YORK TIMES; REUTERS; TELEGRAPH; YNET
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Follow the story on DefendingHistory.com:
16 Dec 2010; 20 Jan 2011; 28 April 2011; 3 May 2011; 5 May 2011
EFRAIM ZUROFF ON KEPIRO’S DEATH
Posted in Events, History, Hungary, News & Views, Politics of Memory
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Lithuanian Authorities Initiate Prosecution Against Another Holocaust Survivor, using — Interpol!
The Lithuanian ambassador in Washington recently told a Jewish genealogical conference that the investigations against Holocaust Survivors who joined the resistance were “closed”. One questioner wanted to know why, in that case, is there no clear public announcement by a leading official to that effect, as these Holocaust survivors continue to be defamed by prestigious voices in Lithuanian society.
UPDATES: In HAARETZ; LINKS TO INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE; UK PARLIAMENT REACTION; 2014 ECHOES
The saga took a bizarre twist this morning in Tel Aviv, when Israeli police, on demand of Lithuanian prosecutors and police, and referring to international police agreements to which both nations are signatories, felt obligated to hold a meeting with 86 year old Holocaust survivor Joseph Melamed, the long-time and widely beloved director of the Association of Lithuanian Jews in Israel. It is the world’s last active Litvak organization.
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), Human Rights, Israel, Joseph Melamed, Lithuania, News & Views, Politics of Memory
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A Scholar’s Apt Warning on Ultranationalist Abuse of History and Historians
O P I N I O N
by Dovid Katz
There is actually a larger issue, and a constructive lesson, that emerges from Alexander Gogun’s reply to Grzegorz Rossoliński-Liebe’s critique of an earlier article co-authored by Gogun, that had appeared on a Ukrainian nationalist website that tends to glorify various Nazi-collaborationist nationalist groups and underplay or ignore their participation in genocide. Tellingly, that issue does not even relate to differences of opinion on any one point of fact, interpretation or analysis. Historians and academics will naturally disagree and from time to time and hasten to correct each other on this or that detail.
Posted in Dovid Katz, History, Opinion, Politics of Memory
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