by Ingrida Steniulienė, November 13, ELTA

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky said statements by Nemuno Aušra party leader Remigijus Žemaitaitis are insulting and offensive to her as a person.

“He called for killing Jews, that’s how it seemed to me,” Kukliansky said Wednesday during questioning at a hearing of the Vilnius District Court.

She was testifying in a case against Žemaitaitis for sowing hatred against Jews and for supporting, denying or belittling international crimes.

“He is inciting [hatred] against certain groups of people without knowing history. I can’t understand this in any other way,” she told the court. Kukliansky is an attorney by profession.

She said anti-Semitism has been well defined in international documents and that Lithuania is a signatory to those documents. She added that inciting ethnic hatred is one of the stages of genocide.

“I wasn’t acquainted with Mr. Žemaitaitis before. His statements offended and insulted me as a person, … he called for beating Jews to death, that’s how it seemed to me. As a witness and as a citizen, I have to say what I’ve seen and heard. I understood it literally, that an unnamed Jew climbed a ladder and fell down. That this is some sort of children’s song is doubtful, I haven’t ever seen anyone jumping rope and using this children’s chant, this was said in a completely different context and three communities took it as an insult and contacted law enforcement,” Kukliansky said.

Kukliansky added Žemaitaitis’s words were degrading to Lithuanian Jews and caused offense and hurt. She said Lithuanian Jews are a distinct and unique minority group who suffered during World War II.

Full story in Lithuanian here.