Defending History

24 March 2026

Vol. XVII, No. 6043

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.

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

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.

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

Pinchos Fridberg Interviews Pinchos Fridberg

Posted on 21 February 2014 by Defending History

The following is a reprint of Pinchos Fridberg’s article in today’s Russian-language Мы здесь.

Continue reading

Posted in "Red-Brown Commission", Bold Citizens Speak Out, In Russian, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Opinion, Pinchos Fridberg, Politics of Memory | Comments Off

Monica Lowenberg’s Discussion with Ronaldas Racinskas in NY’s Algemeiner Journal (Feb. 17-19 2014)

Posted on 19 February 2014 by Defending History

The following, in reverse chronological order, is the text of Monica Lowenberg’s two comments to Ronaldas Racinskas’s comment, all in the discussion following Olga Zabludoff’s article in the Algemeiner Journal on the Holocaust in Lithuania and a Yivo symposium in New York. These and other comments appear in the AJ‘s comments section.

Posted in "Red-Brown Commission", Holocaust Policies of Mr. Ronaldas Račinskas and the State-Sponsored "International Commission" (ICECNSORL), Lithuania, Monica Lowenberg, News & Views, Opinion | Comments Off

Lithuanian-Jewish Affairs: Three Events

Posted on 18 February 2014 by Defending History

(Reposted from today’s Jerusalem Post)

O P I N I O N

by Efraim Zuroff

Three events took place this weekend which reflect the ambiguities of contemporary Jewish life in the Baltics and particularly in Lithuania, the largest of the three new democracies. In reverse order, on Sunday, ultra-nationalist groups staged an Independence Day march, which included anti-Semitic themes, in Kaunas (Kovno), Lithuania’s interwar capital and the country’s second largest city.Continue reading

Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, Double Games, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Efraim Zuroff, EU, Events, Identity Theft of Litvak Heritage, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, Kaunas, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory | Tagged Double Genocide, Efraim Zuroff, Holocaust in Lithuania, Holocaust Revisionism, Juozas Ambrazevicius Brazaitis, LAF (Lithuanian Activist Front), Lithuanian Embassy in London | Comments Off

Wiesenthal Center Statement on Kaunas Protest Against Neo-Nazi Extravaganza in City Center

Posted on 17 February 2014 by Defending History

JERUSALEM—The following statement was issued today by the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office.

WIESENTHAL CENTER ISRAEL DIRECTOR LEADS PROTEST AGAINST EXTREME RIGHT INDEPENDENCE DAY MARCH

16 February 2014 KAUNAS, LITHUANIA—The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel Director and chief Nazi hunter Dr. Efraim Zuroff yesterday afternoon led a protest against an ultra-nationalist neo-Nazi march in honor of Lithuanian Independence Day, held here, in Lithuania’s inter-war capital, whose large and important Jewish community was virtually totally annihilated during the Holocaust by the Nazis, with highly significant participation of Lithuanian volunteer collaborators.

Posted in Celebrations of Fascism, Collaborators Glorified, Efraim Zuroff, EU, Events, Kaunas, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views | Comments Off

Summary Coverage of 16 February 2014 Neo-Nazi March in Kaunas

Posted on 16 February 2014 by Defending History

Over 1,000 March in Kaunas City Center with Banner Honoring the 1941 Nazi Puppet Prime Minister who Helped Send City’s 30,000 Jews to their Death

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

♦

Section on Pro-Fascist Marches

Lithuanian TV interviews with Efraim Zuroff and Dovid Katz:

1 and 2

♦

Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Celebrations of Fascism, Collaborators Glorified, Events, Human Rights, Kaunas, Lithuania, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Swastikas in Lithuania | Tagged Ambrazevicius Brazaitis, Kaunas February 16th, Lithuania antisemitism, neo-Nazis in Lithuania, swastikas in Lithuania | Comments Off

Another Panel at Yivo, Neo-Nazi Marches in Lithuania, and American Silence on Glorification of Nazi Collaborators

Posted on 16 February 2014 by Defending History

O P I N I O N

by Olga Zalubdoff

The following is the text of Olga Zabludoff’s op-ed published on 13 February 2014 in the Algemeiner Journal. Comments by readers are available at the original site of publication.

Yivo, Lithuania, The Holocaust

Nobody could love or respect the Yivo Institute for Jewish Research more than I do. It was founded as the Yiddish Scientific Institute in Vilna, Poland (now Vilnius, Lithuania) in 1925. Yivo remains a symbol for all who cherish our Yiddish heritage and, now, its last prewar survivors. Through the years I have spent many wondrous hours at Yivo, digging, discovering, and learning about my Litvak ancestors, their shtetlakh, and their culture. Being there always felt like being home. The books and documents I handled seemed almost sacred. Memories of conversations with Yivo’s’s revered librarian Dina Abramowicz still make me smile. . .

Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, "Red-Brown Commission", Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, Identity Theft of Litvak Heritage, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Olga Zabludoff, Opinion, Politics of Memory, United States, US State Dept Manipulated?, Yiddish Affairs | Tagged Dr. Jonathan Brent, Neo-Nazi marches of Feb 16th and March 11th (Lithuania), Olga Zabludoff, Yivo Lithuania | Comments Off

Updates to 14 February 2014: Neo-Nazi March in Kaunas, Gov. Sponsored Camouflage Symspoium at Yivo in New York

Posted on 14 February 2014 by Defending History

Colleagues in Lithuania of all backgrounds invited to meet Dr. Efraim Zuroff, and join silent, peaceful protest against state-enabled neo-Nazi glorification of local Holocaust collaborators: Sunday 16 Feb, 2 PM, Ramybes Park, Kaunas

Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, Celebrations of Fascism, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, Kaunas, Litvak Affairs, Neo-Nazi & Fascist Marches, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, Yiddish Affairs | Comments Off

Vilnius Holocaust Survivor Pinchos Fridberg Posts New Comment in The Tablet

Posted on 12 February 2014 by Defending History

The following comment by Professor Pinchos Fridberg was posted in Tablet on 11 February 2014, as a comment on a previous comment by Dr. Efraim Zuroff in the same discussion. See also Defending History sections on Prof. Fridberg and Dr. Zuroff.

Continue reading

Posted in Collaborators Glorified, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Identity Theft of Litvak Heritage, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Opinion, Pinchos Fridberg | Tagged Ambrazevicius Brazaitis, Pinchos Fridberg | Comments Off

Efraim Zuroff on Tablet Magazine’s Co-Sponsorship of Lithuanian Government’s Yivo Event, and a Suggestion for Yivo’s Audience

Posted on 10 February 2014 by Defending History

Dr. Efraim Zuroff, Holocaust historian, Nazi-hunter, and director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office, has posted the following comment on the website of Tablet magazine, as one of the comments to a new book review. The comment also appears separately on Facebook.

Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, Double Games, Double Genocide: The New Form of Holocaust Revisionism & Denial, Efraim Zuroff, Events, Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, Identity Theft of Litvak Heritage, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Media Watch, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, United States | Tagged Double Genocide, Efraim Zuroff, Holocaust in Lithuania, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Yivo + Holocaust, Yivo Lithuania | Comments Off

Dr. Efraim Zuroff Calls on Croatian Authorities to Act Decisively in War Crimes Case

Posted on 7 February 2014 by Defending History

O P I N I O N

by Efraim Zuroff

The following is the original English text, received today from the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office in Jerusalem, of its director Efraim Zuroff’s public letter to Croatian authorities, published in Croatian translation on 6 February, and referred to in a press release from SWC earlier today.

Posted in Croatia, Efraim Zuroff, News & Views | Comments Off

Wiesenthal Center Urges Croatian Authorities to Expedite Case of Auschwitz Guard

Posted on 7 February 2014 by Defending History

JERUSALEM—The Simon Wiesenthal Center today urged the Croatian authorities to expedite the prosecution of Auschwitz guard Jakob Dencinger, who was discovered living in Osijek by the Croatian daily Jutarnji List late last week.

In an op-ed published on 6 Feb. in Jutarnji List by the Center’s chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the importance of bringing Dencinger to justice was emphasized. The original 2 Feb. English text of Dr. Zuroff’s article appears here.

According to Zuroff:

Posted in Croatia, Efraim Zuroff, EU, News & Views | Comments Off

Film Maker Attempts to Gift New Film on Riga Ghetto to Latvian Embassy in German

Posted on 7 February 2014 by Defending History

The following is the English translation, by Monica Lowenberg, of a letter sent today by German film maker Jürgen Hobrecht to the Latvian ambassador in Berlin.

Dear Mrs. Japina,

Posted in Celebrations of Fascism, Film, Germany, Latvia, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory | Tagged Jürgen Hobrecht | Comments Off

More Mainstream Media Coverage of the Swastika Issue in Lithuania

Posted on 7 February 2014 by Defending History

The following, for our readers’ information, is Geoff Vasil’s translation of a 3 February 2014 article that appeared in 15min.lt. Please see the original Lithuanian for the photos referenced herein by their captions in square brackets.

Posted in Celebrations of Fascism, EU, Human Rights, Lithuania, Media Watch, News & Views, Politics of Memory, Swastikas in Lithuania, Symbology | Tagged swastikas in Lithuania | Comments Off

Fate of the Old Jewish Synagogue in Náyshtot-Távrik (Žemaičių Naumiestis); Updates to 6 February 2014

Posted on 6 February 2014 by Defending History

ניישטאָט⸗טאַווריק / Náyshtot-Távrik (Žemaičių Naumiestis):

A Municipality in Western Lithuania May Soon Demolish 1816 Synagogue Building

Samuel Gruber’s Report and Proposals

Posted in Exotic Jewish Tourism, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Politics of Memory | Comments Off

Riga, Capital of European Culture: Waffen SS, Stags and Silence?

Posted on 4 February 2014 by Defending History

O P I N I O N

by Monica Lowenberg

The UK’s home secretary Theresa May, the Hungarian Jobbik party, and Holocaust Memorial Day have all been in the press lately. Reading how the leader of pro-Nazi Jobbik party was, in the interests of free speech, allowed to hold his rally in Hyde Park, I have to question why Ms. May allowed this man entry into the UK and hadn’t called his racist attitudes, “unacceptable” as she had in the past with, “Every Muslim should be a terrorist” Zakir Naik. What had changed?

In the Capital of European Culture: Waffen SS Calendar (Riga 2014)

Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, EU, Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, Human Rights, Latvia, Monica Lowenberg, News & Views, Opinion, Riga's Waffen SS Marches, Symbology, United Kingdom | Tagged Europe Secretary David Lidington, Jobbik party, Monica Lowenberg, Waffen SS marches in Latvia | Comments Off

Is Tom Lantos’s Widow on Hungarian Government’s List of “Useful Foreigners”?

Posted on 2 February 2014 by Defending History

The Hungarian government, like others in Eastern Europe, is enlisting well-intentioned Western naifs in its plans to mobilize Holocaust commemoration itself as part of the East European revisionist Double Genocide movement. The effort seeks to downgrade the Holocaust, downplay local collaboration and participation, and to cover tracks with sophisticated revisionism. Along the way, memberships in august bodies, prizes, awards and junkets are generously offered to select foreigners. The efforts by the Lithuanian government have been in the forefront of the tendency.

Posted in Double Games, Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, Hungary, News & Views, Politics of Memory, United Nations | Tagged Annette Lantos, Holocaust in Hungary, Hungarian Spectrum, Mária Vásárhely, Tom Lantos | Comments Off

New Joseph Levinson Website Has Page on Old Jewish Cemeteries in Lithuania

Posted on 2 February 2014 by Defending History

The recently launched website JosephLevinson.com provides renewed opportunities for acquiring his two major books that are available in English. One, The Shoah in Lithuania, includes documents of the Lithuanian Activist Front detailing their intentions for Jewish citizens, issued before the outbreak of war on 22 June 1941. It is also rich in resources on understanding how, where and why the far right’s “Double Genocide” revisionism arose in the first place. These are just two of the many areas covered by the book.

Posted in Bold Citizens Speak Out, Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Exotic Jewish Tourism, Joseph Levinson, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views | Tagged Alex Levinson, Joseph Levinson (Vilnius), Lithuania, old Jewish cemeteries in Lithuania, The Double Genocide theory | Comments Off

Swedish Film Director Speaks Out on the Lithuanian Holocaust, Sort of, a Little Bit

Posted on 1 February 2014 by Defending History

O P I N I O N

by Geoff Vasil

Jonas Öhman is a Swede who has been coming to Lithuania and living here on and off from almost the beginning of modern independence in the 1990-1991 period. During that time he has produced a number of films, only one of which appears to his credit on the internet film database imdb.com, but all of which deal more or less with a mythologized version of the history of Lithuanian anti-Soviet partisans.

Posted in Arts, Film, Geoff Vasil, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, Media Watch, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, Sweden | Tagged Double Genocide, Geoff Vasil, Holocaust in Lithuania, Jonas Öhman | Comments Off

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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

O P I N I O N

by Efraim Zuroff

WIESENTHAL CENTER ISRAEL DIRECTOR LEADS PROTEST AGAINST EXTREME RIGHT INDEPENDENCE DAY MARCH

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

♦

Lithuanian TV interviews with Efraim Zuroff and Dovid Katz:

1 and 2

♦

O P I N I O N

by Olga Zalubdoff

The following is the text of Olga Zabludoff’s op-ed published on 13 February 2014 in the Algemeiner Journal. Comments by readers are available at the original site of publication.

Yivo, Lithuania, The Holocaust

Colleagues in Lithuania of all backgrounds invited to meet Dr. Efraim Zuroff, and join silent, peaceful protest against state-enabled neo-Nazi glorification of local Holocaust collaborators: Sunday 16 Feb, 2 PM, Ramybes Park, Kaunas

The following comment by Professor Pinchos Fridberg was posted in Tablet on 11 February 2014, as a comment on a previous comment by Dr. Efraim Zuroff in the same discussion. See also Defending History sections on Prof. Fridberg and Dr. Zuroff.

O P I N I O N

by Efraim Zuroff

The following is the English translation, by Monica Lowenberg, of a letter sent today by German film maker Jürgen Hobrecht to the Latvian ambassador in Berlin.

ניישטאָט⸗טאַווריק / Náyshtot-Távrik (Žemaičių Naumiestis):

O P I N I O N

by Monica Lowenberg

O P I N I O N

by Geoff Vasil

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