Holocaust – Page 48 – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Hitler Supporter Comes Out at the National Security and Defense Committee of Lithuanian Parliament

by Rimvydas Valatka, political analyst, LRT.lt

The May 20 meeting of the Lithuanian parliament’s National Security and Defense Committee has reached a new low in this session of parliament. While voting on the Government’s annual report one member voted “for” with the Nazi Hitler salute.

The video recording in which this man who respects the Nazis and insures the defense and security of our state doesn’t let us identify him at first glance.

The Hitler proponent filmed in the National Security and Defense Committee of Lithuanian Parliament appears with his back to the camera and is wearing a sanitary mask. Even so, the member of parliament held his arm in the Nazi salute for a significant amount of time. As if to show specially and so everyone would see how loyal he is to Government leader Skvernelis. At least he didn’t yell “Heil mein Fuehrer” or “Heil Skvernelis!”

2020-05-282020-06-04

Request to Investigate Video

May 26, 2020

To:

Viktoras Pranckietis, speaker of parliament, pirmininko.sekretoriatas@lrs.lt

Dainis Gaižauskas, chairman, National Security and Defense Committee, Dainius.Gaizauskas@lrs.lt

Request to Investigate Video

For at least several days now there has been a video posted to youtube in which two members vote by raising their hands in the manner done in the Third Reich during a meeting of the Lithuanian parliament’s National Security and Defense Committee. The video is accompanied by an audio track in which a member of parliament seems to warn these two the meeting is being filmed.

The video appears under the title “Naciai LR Seime” [Nazis in the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania] with the note it comes from the May 20, 2020, meeting of this committee.

This video recording has caused great concern in the international arena and raises suspicions anti-Semitic sentiment is growing rapidly in Lithuania. It is becoming dangerous for Jews to live here because these sorts of salutes were used by the Nazis and their collaborators (who were also Nazis) when the Jews were exterminated in Lithuania and Europe.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community requests an inquiry into whether the two MPs did vote with a “sieg heil” salute and whether the other MP really did warn them as heard in the audio, and to report the results of this investigation to the LJC.

Comments under the youtube posting name one of the MPs who apparently gave the Nazi salute as Audrys Šimas, a member of the Peasants and Green Union faction in parliament.

The video seems to show another MP, identified as Arūnas Gumuliauskas, returning the salute. The MP warning the two not to do that because the meeting was being filmed, according to the audio track, was conservative Laurynas Kasčiūnas.

Please check this information and make a determination on the identity of the MPs involved.

Whether the recording is real or fake, it does harm to the reputation of the Lithuanian parliament and moreover the entire country. It has caused concern and anger among Jews in Lithuania and around the world.

We do not find it credible that in Lithuania only Jews have seen this video nor that members of parliament and law enforcement institutions whose job it is to respond have not seen it. We very much hope an investigation is already underway.

The video is posted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZATZiDvSdI

Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community

2020-05-272020-06-29

Story of the Rescue of Sisters Khaya and Estera from Darbėnai

The Chaim family from Darbėniai. Front row from left: Khaya, Yehoshua, Tsipora and Estera, back: Rokha and Reuben. 1932, from the Chaim family archive.

Another example of heroism and sacrifice by the people of Žemaitija. The December 21, 1965, issue of the Vakarinės naujienos newspaper published in Vilnius and the June 4, 1966, issue of the newspaper Mūsų žodis published in the Skuodas region of Lithuania carried a story which had been long forgotten, the heroes of the story having passed on, and their resistance activities during the brutal time of the Nazi occupation still hasn’t been fully appreciated.

The Chaim family who lived before the war at Palangos street no. 15 in Darbėnai, Lithuania, were much like the other families around them, dreaming of a better life for their children and a bright future for Lithuania.

2020-05-252020-05-29

Happy Birthday to Viktoras Reizinas

The Lithuanian Jewish Community greets Viktoras Reizinas on his 80th birthday. Happy birthday, Viktoras. We wish you the best of health, much happiness, warmth and love.

Mazl tov. Bis 120!

2020-05-22

Happy Birthday to Fania Brancovskaja and Daughter Vita

May 22 is the birthday of Fania Brancovskaja and her daughter Vita. We heartily wish you both a very happy birthday. Warm wishes from the entire Community. Stay healthy, energetic and happy!

Mazl tov! Bis 120!

2020-05-222020-05-25

Liba Mednik Commemorated in Širvintos, Lithuania

A stele with a bas-relief and inscription was erected at a ceremony in Širvintos, Lithuania, May 19 to commemorate Liba Mednik (Mednikienė), who fought for Lithuanian independence when the first republic was being created in the early 20th century.

Sculptor Romualdas Kvintas designed the memorial to look like a Jewish headstone, a stone slab with inscription, and with a bronze image of the woman attached in bas-relief fashion. The bronze portion of the monument was cast and installed on the stone by the sculptor Mindaugas Šnipas by request of the Vilnius Jerusalem of the North Jewish Community. Kvintas has done a number of large stone sculptures on Jewish themes.

Mednik, who was born in 1875, lived through the entire tragedy of the Jewish people in Lithuania, fighting for Lithuanian independence and the interwar Republic, and being murdered in the Holocaust in Lithuania. According to historian Stanislovas Dačka, she was murdered in the Pivonika forest near Ukmergė (Vilkomir) with about 12,000 other Jews from the area in early autumn of 1941. Širvintos, her hometown, lies about 15 kilometers to the southeast of Ukmergė.

Vilijus Kavalauskas celebrated her in his book “Lietuvos karžygiai: Vyties Kryžiaus kavalieriai,” calling her a unique and strong character. During the Lithuanian conflict with Poland in 1922 and 1923, Liba Mednik collected military intelligence and distributed it to the Lithuanian military and Lithuanian partisans. She sent documents garnered from Polish headquarters and money to the Lithuanian fighters, Kavaliauskas reports.

2020-05-222020-05-28

Happy Birthday to Abramas Saksonovas

Abramas Saksonovas, a survivor of the Holocaust, is celebrating his 90th birthday. The Lithuanian Jewish Community would like to add our greetings to those of everyone else celebrating Abramas’s important milestone.

Dear Abramas, we wish you great health, much happiness and a happy and fun birthday! Mazl tov! Bis 120!

2020-05-22

Beverly Hills Speaks Out Same Day Lithuanian Prosecutor Drops Case

In response to this claim to the Lithuanian Public Prosecutor:

https://ggochin.wordpress.com/2019/12/02/complaint-to-public-prosecutor/

the following denial has been received:

2020-05-20_035122

There is no purpose in seeking truth or Justice inside Lithuania. The State has formed a unified position to protect historical revisionists and to lie about their Holocaust perpetrators. This is consistent with their Courts, Ethics watchdogs, and government departments. They will not allow any review of facts within Lithuania. Further cases inside Lithuania serve only as stepping stones to reach the European Court of Human Rights.

Therefore, truth is only able to come from outside of Lithuania. In that regard, the City of Beverly Hills reviewed the following data:

https://ggochin.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/city-resolution.docx

City-Resolution and unanimously voted for the following resolution:
Item_D-15_Agenda_Report

https://eutoday.net/news/politics/2020/beverley-hills

Full text here.

Note: the district prosecutor’s rejection to initiate a pre-trial investigation linked to above cites Lithuanian court precedent claiming criminal prosecution is not always the best way to stop socially harmful acts. The LJC notes Lithuanian prosecutors have never attempted to apply existing law to domestic promoters of anti-Semitism and Holocaust deniers. For more recent examples of this, see here and here.

2020-05-202020-06-12

Ninth Forth Memorial Sculptor Dies

Photo: LRT

Lithuanian Public Radio and Television and BNS reported Wednesday the sculptor Alfonsas Vincentas Ambraziūnas died on May 7 at the age of 86. He was known mainly for the large Soviet-era memorial statue at the Ninth Fort in Kaunas where Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. Initially the statue was dedicated to all victims of fascism.

Full article in Lithuanian here.

2020-05-20

ICAN Applauds City of Beverly Hills for Passage of Resolution Condemning Lithuanian Holocaust Distortion

The Israeli-American Civic Action Network (ICAN) applauds the City of Beverly Hills tonight following the passage of a resolution condemning the Lithuanian government for actively promoting Holocaust distortion.

“There is a disturbing trend of government-backed Holocaust distortion sweeping across eastern Europe,” said Vered Elkouby Nisim, ICAN CA chairwoman. “Today, Lithuania is leading a dark and cynical campaign of Holocaust distortion and we thank the City of Beverly Hills for having the courage to stand up and speak out against this insidious form of state-sponsored antisemitism.”

Earlier this year, Lithuania drafted legislation that would have made it illegal to accuse the country of complicity in Nazi crimes, this followed the passage of similar laws by Poland, and Ukraine. At a time of rising global antisemitism, ICAN believes that laws designed to mask the true history of the Holocaust is especially dangerous and is working with leaders in the United States to oppose such laws using the strongest possible means.

Full article here.

2020-05-202020-05-28

Beverly Hills City Council Condemns Lithuanian Holocaust Distortion

The City Council of Beverly Hills, California, passed a resolution condemning Lithuania’s official distortion of the history of the Holocaust and World War II Tuesday, calling upon the Government to halt all such efforts and the Lithuanian parliament to refrain from approving a proposed resolution declaring Lithuania and her people “occupied” and therefore innocent of complicity in the Jewish genocide.

The resolution singled out efforts to white-wash “anti-Soviet hero” Jonas Noreika.

It cited the city’s recent adoption of the IHRA’s working definition of anti-Semitism, a 2016 California state bill aimed at fighting the BDS (boycott, divestment, sanction) movement against Israeli policies and the council’s recent honoring of U.S.-resident Litvak Grant Gochin for his efforts to fight Lithuania’s Holocaust distortion. The text of the resolution also says the Lithuanian government uses intimidation tactics against those who speak out against its Holocaust distortions.

2020-05-202020-05-27

In the Spotlight: William Stern

Mr. William Stern was born in Budapest in 1935; after the Nazi occupation of Hungary in March 1944, he and his family were taken to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. They survived the War and emigrated to New York in 1952 where Mr Stern pursued studies first at Yeshiva University and subsequently at Harvard Law School.

It was during his stint at Harvard Law School that Mr Stern discovered the many risks and temptations which face a student when he leaves his home environment and suddenly becomes enmeshed in a totally new and different culture. He was shocked at seeing some of his friends shed their tradition and previous way of life in just a matter of months. Having married a young lady resident in London, Mr Stern moved to England in 1960. Early in his career, he established in London in 1971 a kosher canteen which welcomed students of Imperial College, located opposite his offices at Albert Court. This canteen has been going strong for the past 45 years and is presently catering to 30-35 Imperial College students every day of the academic year.

When he expanded his business to Lithuania, Mr Stern discovered the presence in Kaunas of approximately 100 Israeli medical students. He felt that during the 6-year period which medical studies require, many of these students might lose not only their Israeli but also their Jewish identity. In 2010, he established the Jewish Club which grew and developed over the years into the Jewish Centre Kaunas. Its aim is to provide the Jewish students in Kaunas a home away from home and prevent the loss of Jewish identity which otherwise might occur.

2020-05-19

Prosecutor Drops Pre-Trial Investigation of Anti-Semitism Yet Again

This time the Vilnius district attorney’s office reported they dropped an investigation into an article containing anti-Semitism and sowing ethnic discord on the internet page of the weekly newspaper Laisvas Laikraštis. The pre-trial investigation was begun at the request of Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky.

“I can’t even count anymore how many times both the Community and I have sent these requests in. Dozens. So far all investigations have been halted because investigators never seem to find any evidence of a crime,” Kukliansky commented.

She said the Community will continue to publicize each and every complaint and each and every rejection, even if the spreaders of hate receive extra publicity for their articles and comments because of it.

2020-05-182020-06-02

Hundredth Anniversary of Jewish Faction in Lithuanian Constituent Parliament

Photo: One of the first sittings of the new Lithuanian parliament took place at the City Theater. In front is the presidium, to the left, sitting, are Naftalis Fridmanas, Petras Radzevičius, Ladas (Vladas) Natkevičius, first deputy speaker Jonas Staugaitis, Sspeaker Aleksandras Stulginskis, second deputy speaker Justinas Staugaitis. Right, seated: Zigmas Starkus. Kaunas, 1920. Courtesy Vytautas the Great Military Museum.

The Jewish Faction in Lithuania’s Constituent Parliament

The first parliament elected after Lithuanian independence in the early 20th century caused a global sensation.

This year comes 100 years after the first universal democratic elections for a Lithuanian parliament. One feature of what Lithuania calls its Constituent Assembly was the Jewish faction of parliamentarians, something almost impossible to imagine today following the extermination of upwards of 95% of all Lithuanian Jews in the Holocaust.

to be continued

2020-05-152020-05-18

NCSEJ Webinar with Lithuanian, Latvian Jewish Community Leaders May 14

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Please join us for a webinar Thursday, May 14, 2020, at 11:00 A.M. ET with Dmitry Krupnikov, deputy chairman of the Latvian Council of Jewish Communities and Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community

They will discuss the impact of the corona virus on the Jewish communities in Latvia and Lithuania and other issues affecting the Baltic region.

About the Speakers:

Dmitry Krupnikov is deputy chairman of the Latvian Council of Jewish Communities and Chairman of the Latvian Jewish Community Restitution Fund (LEKOREF), which was set up by the Council after restitution to the Community by Latvia of five religious and communal properties in 2016. All restituted properties were transferred to LEKOREF, which is now in charge of maintaining and managing the properties.

Faina Kukliansky is chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community. She has also served as chairwoman of the Vilnius Jewish Community. In May, 2017 she was re-elected chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community. She is the co-chair of the Foundation for the Disposal of Good Will Compensation for the Immovable Property of Jewish Religious Communities (Goodwill Foundation).

Note: ZOOM has numerous significant security flaws. Use it at your own risk.

2020-05-14

Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community: Life under Quarantine

It’s no secret the quarantine has altered the rhythms and habits of our lives. It had been customary in the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community to celebrate all sorts of holidays and birthdays and to attend different events, educational activities and tours we organized, and simply to gather and talk at the Community building… Today that building stands quiet and empty…

Jews around the world were celebrating Passover when the quarantine began here in Lithuania. The Jews of Šiauliai were not able as we were in past years to come together and celebrate happily to the sound of Jewish melodies this beautiful spring holiday. This year each of celebrated separately at home. The Lithuanian Jewish Community provided home deliveries of matzo to all the regional Communities, so as the quarantine got under way the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community had to insure every member had the requisite matzo for the Passover seder table. Every member of the Community did receive safe delivery of boxes of matzo before the holiday began.

Despite disruption to the rhythm and conventions of daily life, we continue to provide crucial care to our seniors who were victims of the Nazis. Home-care workers continue to visit them and help them with their daily needs, insuring the safety of our elderly during these days so difficult for all of us.

2020-05-132020-05-13

On Vytautas Bruveris’s Series of Articles “Lithuania and the Holocaust: Endless Seizures Instead of Healing Wounds”: Comments by Lithuanian Readers Contain Indications of Crime

by professor Dr habil. Pinchos Fridberg

Information

In the first week of way the internet site of the Lietuvos Rytas newspaper featured a series of articles in Lithuanian by Vytautas Bruveris called “Lithuania and the Holocaust: Endless Seizures Instead of Healing Wounds.”

Part One, May 1, 2020: https://www.lrytas.lt/lietuvosdiena/aktualijos/2020/05/01/news/lietuva-ir-holokaustas-vietoj-zaizdu-gydymo-nesibaigiantys-traukuliai-i-dalis–14716722/

Part Two, May 2, 2020: https://www.lrytas.lt/lietuvosdiena/aktualijos/2020/05/02/news/lietuva-ir-holokaustas-vietoj-zaizdu-gydymo-nesibaigiantys-traukuliai-ii-dalis–14716738/

Part Three, May 3, 2020: https://www.lrytas.lt/lietuvosdiena/aktualijos/2020/05/03/news/lietuva-ir-holokaustas-vietoj-zaizdu-gydymo-nesibaigiantys-traukuliai-iii-dalis–14716742/

2020-05-132020-05-22

Lithuanian Jewish Community Statement on May 9 Incident

The Lithuanian Jewish Community has asked the Lithuanian Office of Prosecutor General and the commissar general of the Lithuanian Police Department to investigate a so-called action held by motorcyclists in Vilnius on May 9, 2020, during which Nazi symbols and other attributes were used.

The media report the bikers dressed in Wehrmacht uniforms rode through the Vilnius OId Town playing march music from the Third Reich and rode in circles around the embassy of the Russian Federation on Latvių street.

“As you know, the distribution and demonstration of Nazi and Soviet symbols are banned by law in Lithuania and involve criminal accountability. We would like to emphasize the marches mentioned have painful associations for Jews because it was this sort of music which was played during selections at concentration camps during World War II,” the statement from the LJC reads.

Although the participants in the action did wear Nazi uniforms, it appears the police took no actions and didn’t stop the ride.

The LJC has received a report an LJC member who saw the motorcyclists near the Old Town Hall in Vilnius reported it to a police patrol nearby. The officers gave assurances the bikers would be punished, but Lithuanian Police Department representative Ramūnas Matonis told reporters there were no arrests for sowing ethnic discord anywhere in Lithuania on May 9.

The LJC therefore is now requesting:

1. an internal investigation and determination of the identities of the officers who were on duty in the police patrol at the Old Town Hall and an explanation on why the bikers were not cited.

2. determination of the identities of the people who rode around Vilnius dressed in Nazi uniforms and played Third Reich march music loudly.

3. an explanation on what instructions police street patrol officers receive and whether they are trained to recognize hate crimes and expressions of anti-Semitism.

4. to tell us whether the May 9 incident will be addressed in a future meeting of the special working group formed by the Lithuanian interior minister for fighting hate crimes and hate speech in Lithuania.

Visual material presented by the media shows this public violation was known at the time of its commission (URL: https://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/pergales-diena-vilniuje-aplink-rusijos-ambasada-vazinejo-i-nacistines-vokietijos-karius-panasus-motociklininkai.d?id=84241879 )

2020-05-122020-05-15

Motorcyclists Don Nazi Uniforms, Swarm Russian Embassy on Victory Day

May 9 is the traditional day to mark the end of World War II in Russia. Many Lithuanians also mark the day and gather at cemeteries to honor those killed in the war.

Motorcyclists from Vilnius decided to attend a ceremony in Vilnius on Saturday.

They drove to the cemetery in the Antakalnis neighborhood in Vilnius dressed in German Wehrmacht uniforms. Police denied them entry.

The bikers posted a video of them being stopped on a nearby street for some time. The police failed to find a violation of law and finally let them go.

They then played marshal music from the Third Reich and drove through the Vilnius Old Town, and then drove in circles around the Russian embassy.

Delfi.lt asked the Lithuanian Police Department for comment.

Police Department rep Ramūnas Matonis only said that no people were arrested on May 9 in Lithuania for sowing ethnic discord.

Both Soviet and Nazi regalia are forbidden by law in Lithuania.

Full story in Lithuanian here.

2020-05-112020-05-12

We Have to Remember the Jewish Tragedy in World War II

The day of victory against Nazi Germany unites the people of all nations. Today as we mark the 75th anniversary of Victory Day not all of us are able to come together in person, but we can prayer for those who didn’t come back from the damned war. We can remember those who were shot in the forests and the pits, our relatives and friends tortured to death in the concentration camps. We can remember and we can honor those who defended our lives and those of future generations.

Today, the photographs and statues from World War II look at us. It is our sacred duty to remember and preserve the tragic stories of every family and the millions of people who suffered from the war.

We do remember and honor the people who risked their lives and those of their families to rescue Jews from the genocide.

On this holy day we, the members of the Panevėžys Jewish Community, laid bouquets of flowers and lit candles of remembrance at the memorials in Panevėžys which recall the brutalities of the Holocaust and for the soldiers who liberated Europe from the Nazi plague.

2020-05-11