Vilnius native and life-long resident Professor Pinchos Fridberg sent the following question to the leadership of the Jewish Community of Lithuania (JCL), and received the following answer. These official English translations, accepted by JCL, are reprinted verbatim, with permission from the website of the Jewish Community of Lithuania, where the question appears here and the reply here.
The significance of the exchange is that the lack of legitimacy and honesty of a Conservative Party right-wing politician, who habitually misrepresents himself as representing the remnant Jewish community on Lithuania, is now fully exposed beyond reasonable doubt. Recently, Prof. Firidberg exposed the state-sponsored “red-brown commission” which campaigns for the European Parliament to accept the equality of Nazi and Svoiet crimes as a matter of principle. The plot thickens: that commission is itself chaired by the same Conservative Party politician. Professor Fridberg’s articles have appeared in the Algemeiner Journal, the Jewish Community of Lithuania, DefendingHsitory, and a series of Russian language publications, includingNewswe.com Obzor and Rambler (Izrus had earlier carried the misattribution coming out of Vilnius).
Letter from Professor Fridberg to the Leadership of the Jewish Community of Lithuania
Professor Pinchos Fridberg’s Question to the Leadership of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, translated from the original Russian (which appeared at):
Letter from Professor Fridberg to the Leadership of the Jewish Community of Lithuania: Ladies and Gentlemen! You know well the Russian proverb “What is written with the pen cannot be cut down with an ax”. So, I would like to inform you that on 28 January 2013 it was stated as fact on the respected Russian-language news portal in Israel, Izrus (in a news article at: that Mr. Emanuelis Zingeris is “one of the leaders of the Jewish community.” I have always known that this gentleman is a member of the Conservative Party and an ideological ally of its chief ideologue Vytautas Landsbergis. And now, suddenly, what a surprise! As an ordinary dues-paying member of the community, I believe I have the right to know:
1. Did (in this century!) any leader of the Jewish Community of Lithuania (JCL) authorize Mr. Zingeris to represent its interests and to make any statement on its behalf?
2. Is Mr. Zingeris, a person referred to as “one of the leaders of the Jewish community in the country” even a member of the community?
With thanks in advance,
Pinchos Fridberg
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Official Response to Professor Fridberg’s queries from the Chairman of the Jewish Community of Lithuania
1. Since 22 February 22 1997, the Lithuanian Jewish Community has never authorized Mr. Emanuelis Zingeris to represent the LJC or make any sort of statement in the name of the community.
2. Since 22 February 1997, Mr. Emanuelis Zingeris’s name has not been on the register of members of the Vilnius Jewish Community.
Dr. Simonas Alperavičius
Chairperson
Lithuanian Jewish Community
1 February 2013