A usually knowledgeable source has today made available to DefendingHistory.com what purports to be a letter from a prosecutor in Lithuania to Dr. Rachel Margolis in Rechovot dating from spring of 2011. According to the source, who asked not to be identified by name, it is this letter that has been the basis of claims by the current Lithuanian government, and its foreign apologists on Jewish issues, that the case is ‘closed’.
Source Provides Purported Letter from Prosecutor to Dr. Rachel Margolis
Posted in Dr. Rokhl (Rachel) Margolis (1921-2015), News & Views, Opinion
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Yivo Director’s Statement on Lithuanian Foreign Minister’s 2010 Antisemitic Comments, Plus Some Facts
“Fact: The anti-Semitic comment allegedly made by Foreign Minister Ažubalis and quoted by Efraim Zuroff (Simon Wiesenthal Center, Israel) as fact was hearsay.”
14 October 2010: Respected journalist Vytautas Bruveris publishes his report (“Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Strategist Sees Jewish Conspiracy”) in Lietuvos rytas, on the foreign minister’s comments made to a meeting of his entire political faction (Homeland Union / Christian Democrats), now the country’s ruling party, in a meeting in the country’s parliament. PDF here. Full English translation here.
14 October 2010: Immediate response of the Jewish Community of Lithuania after the convening of a special meeting of the community’s Board of Directors in which twenty-one board members participated. Authorized English text here.
14 October 2010: DefendingHistory.com report here.
15 October 2010: Alfa.lt reports, citing in detail the press release issued by the foreign minister in reply. His remarks, made to his entire party faction, could not easily be denied, so the reports are attacked by the ministry’s press release as ‘hearsay’, the foreign ministry line since then, faithfully produced verbatim on 13 September 2011 by the obliging head of Yivo in New York City (see quote and link at top of this page).
Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, Antisemitism & Bias, Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, Human Rights, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, News & Views, Yiddish Affairs
Tagged Dr. Jonathan Brent (Yivo)
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Box Coverage to 30 September 2011 on the July 2011 Ponár Desecration
Still no official comment in worst-ever desecration of Vilna’s mass murder site Ponár. First full image of the larger monument’s desecration released in Sept. 2011.
Continue reading
Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, News & Views, Ponár (Ponary, Paneriai)
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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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Lithuanian Foreign Ministry’s Two Versions: for a Jewish Audience (Not for Publication) and for ‘General’ (Proudly on Website)
O P I N I O N
The most recent of journalist Paul Berger’s four meticulously balanced reports in the Forward on Yivo-Lithuania issues (I, II, III, IV) appeared on the paper’s website today. Abraham Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and often considered the leading contemporary human rights champion in the struggle against antisemitism and other forms of prejudice, was among those asked by the reporter to comment upon the text of the Lithuanian foreign minister’s address, read out by a local consulate official, to the 22 September audience at a Lithuanian government sponsored concert at Yivo in New York to mark the ‘Vilna Ghetto Experience’. This journal’s editor was also among those asked to comment for the record, and we were asked by the Forward not to publish the text on DefendingHistory.com, a request naturally honored.
Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, Double Games, Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, Media Watch, News & Views, Opinion
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On Science and Evil-Doers: In Reply to Dovid Katz on the Republication of Scholarly Work
O P I N I O N
by Alexander Gogun
After my response[1] to Rossoliński-Liebe[2] appeared on DefendingHistory.com, the discussion unexpectedly changed direction when the editor stepped into the debate[3].
Posted in Opinion
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Proposed 2012 New Year’s Resolution for Baltic Prime Ministers
“As long as I am prime minster of this great nation, there will be no neo-Nazi marches, no marches glorifying Nazi collaborators and no racist marches offensive to any citizens of our country of whatever background, in the center of our cherished capital city, least of all on our national independence day, when we celebrate freedom, equality of all people, democracy and the rule of law.”
Posted in Antisemitism & Bias
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First Full Photo of July 2011 Ponár Desecration
Despite efforts by officials to suppress the photographs of the July 2011 desecration at the Ponár (Paneriai) mass murder site outside Vilnius, a cellphone image was released today to DefendingHistory.com by a former employee of the Tolerance Center who reported that he felt obliged by conscience to release the image. The Tolerance Center is the headquarters of the state Jewish museum which in addition to three addresses in Vilnius, runs the small museum at the Ponár site, where the desecration took place. This is the image of the paint attack on the main monument:
Posted in Antisemitism & Bias, Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Lithuania, News & Views, Ponár (Ponary, Paneriai)
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Was Rachel Margolis Honored (or Mentioned) at the “Vilna Ghetto Experience” Yivo Event Sponsored by the Lithuanian Government?
The Yivo concert mounted in memory of the Vilna Ghetto was held on 22 September, a date near the September 23rd anniversary of its liquidation (in 1943). Survivors questioned find it unconscionable that the Yivo evening could not also be utilized as a forum for polite, constructive and appropriate protest at the Lithuanian government’s targeting precisely of Vilna Ghetto survivors (among other Holocaust survivors) for kangaroo ‘war crimes investigations’ that have drawn international protest.
Posted in A 21st Century Campaign Against Lithuanian Holocaust Survivors?, Commemorations for Destroyed Communities, Dr. Rokhl (Rachel) Margolis (1921-2015), Events, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, News & Views, Opinion
Tagged Dr. Jonathan Brent (Yivo), Rachel Margolis, Yivo
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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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Lithuanian Foreign Ministry Gloats, as Yivo’s Position Continues to Confuse
At 10:27 AM Vilnius time today, BNS (Baltic News Service) released the triumphant news from the country’s foreign ministry that ‘A Yivo room is planned at the National Library of Martynas Mažvydas in Vilnius shortly’. As one foreign diplomat put it, off the record, several hours later at today’s commemoration event for the liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto, ‘The operative word there is shortly’ — signifying a done deal.
There was symbolic significance to the announcement’s timing, coming on the 23 September anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilna Ghetto.
Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, Books, Foreign Ministries: Holocaust Politics Abuse?, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, News & Views
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Yivo: Rolling Coverage to 23 September 2011
Lithuanian Foreign Ministry Triumphantly Announces Its Yivo Coup — A Capitulation on ‘(Looted) Books and (Hijacked) Brand’ Sought for Two Decades — on 23 September, Day of Commemoration for the Vilna Ghetto
But confusion reigns after Yivo director tells Jewish press in New York that surrender of books and brand is not yet final
DETAILS HERE
Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, News & Views, September 23rd Commemorations, United States, Yiddish Affairs
Tagged Dr. Jonathan Brent (Yivo)
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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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Full Statement of the Leyzer Ran Family on Yivo’s Positions on the Lithuanian Holocaust and Current Machinations
NEW YORK—The Leyzer Ran family released this statement, dated 16 September 2011, which appears here in the original PDF format received. To turn pages please use the arrows in the upper left hand corner. Alternatively, the document may be accessed as PDF.
Posted in In the Era of Yivo's 100th, Leyzer Ran Section, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Opinion
Tagged Leyzer Ran, Yivo, Yivo and Lithuania
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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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A Tale of Two Brents?
by Lolita Židonytė
Which of two Brents will have for his institution the 200,000 euros from the Lithuanian government for a cherished Jewish project in Vilnius?
Posted in Books, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, News & Views, United States, Vilnius Jewish Public Library
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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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Yossi Melman of Haaretz Responds to Yivo Director’s Attack
Haaretz reporter Yossi Melman, author of the 7 Sept. article which brought the Lithuanian government campaign against Holocaust survivor Joseph Melamed to wide attention, and who today broke the story about Yad Vashem’s disinvitation of a Lithuanian minister over the Melamed affair, has today authorized release to the media of his 13 Sept. letter to Yivo director Jonathan Brent. The letter is in response to Mr. Brent’s 9 Sept. circular email to the entire staff of Yivo. Mr. Melman explained to DefendingHistory.com that he is releasing the letter because he had received no response from Mr. Brent.
From: Yossi Melman
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2011
To: Jonathan Brent
Subject: outrageous
Posted in "Jewish" Events as Cover?, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, Israel, News & Views
Tagged Dr. Jonathan Brent (Yivo), Yossi Melman
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