Learning

Jonas Noreika Was Holocaust Perp, Not Righteous Gentile, Granddaughter Says

Jonas Noreika Was Holocaust Perp, Not Righteous Gentile, Granddaughter Says

Jonas Noreika: Savior or slayer of Jews?
by Silvia Foti

My maternal grandfather was declared a Rescuer of the Jews by the Lithuanian Genocide Resistance and Research Centre. This division is funded by the Lithuanian government, dedicated to establishing and enforcing the legal and official historical narrative of the nation.

The context of the pronouncement was the impending launch of my memoir The Nazi’s Granddaughter: How I Discovered My Grandfather Was a War Criminal. Reluctantly, I had come to the horrific conclusion that my grandfather, Jonas Noreika, was involved in the murder of 8,000 – 15,000 Jews in Lithuania. The book launch in March 2021 coincided with multiple lawsuits against the government of Lithuania, accusing them of Holocaust fraud; these were filed by Grant Gochin, the descendant of some of my grandfather’s victims.

Father Borevičius

A single testimony, given by the Lithuanian priest, Father Jonas Borevičius, was the well from which this decree about my grandfather was drawn. His deposition was given 40 years after the Holocaust in a court in Chicago.

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Who Turned Anne Frank In? New Book Takes Fresh Look

Who Turned Anne Frank In? New Book Takes Fresh Look

The story of Anne Frank has captivated millions of readers, but no one knows how the Franks hidden in an Amsterdam annex were discovered in 1944. A team of cold-case researchers has just published a new theory of who might have done it and why.

A cold case team that combed through evidence for five years in a bid to unravel one of World War II’s enduring mysteries has reached what it calls the “most likely scenario” of who betrayed Jewish teenage diarist Anne Frank and her family.

Their answer, outlined in a new book called “The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation” by Canadian academic and author Rosemary Sullivan, is that it could have been a prominent Jewish notary called Arnold van den Bergh, who disclosed the secret annex hiding place of the Frank family to German occupiers to save his own family from deportation and murder in Nazi concentration camps.

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Silvia Foti Book on Grandfather to be Launched at Vilnius Book Fair

Lithuanian publisher Kitos Knygos has announced the impending launch of SIlvia Foti’s book about her grandfather Jonas Noreika in Lithuanian under the title “Vėtra Lietaus šalyje” [Storm in the Rain Country].

“Journalist Silvija Kučėnaitė-Foti (born 1961) grew up in Chicago’s Lithuanian community hearing about her grandfather’s achievements fighting for Lithuania’s freedom. He was initiator of the June Uprising, imprisoned at the Stutthof camp by the Nazis and killed by the KGB when he returned to Lithuania,” Kitos Knygos wrote on their facebook page.

“Before she died, her mother asked Silvia to complete her mission, to commemorate General Storm in a book. Silvia agreed. Later when she was travelling in Lithuania she discovered people who believed Noreika as head of the Šiauliai district during the Nazi occupation perpetrated Holocaust crimes. Silvia, who considered her grandfather an important hero of the Lithuanian nation, found this incredible: could her family really have hidden from her salient facts in Noreika’s biography?

“In this literary memoir the author presents her 20-year-long investigation of her grandfather’s actions in 1941. This is the story of the author’s own difficult road to learning the truth about her family. Foti relies upon Noreika’s correspondence, orders signed by him, documents issued by the Lithuanian Activists Front and KGB and other documents. The book includes compelling portraits and recollections from Noreika’s fellow travellers.

“This will be an authorized and checked edition. Martas Geležauskas translated from English, Darius Pocevičius translated Russian-language KGB documents and Asta Bučienė and Aira Naiuronytė edited the text. Kazimieras Dainovskis did design.”

Lithuanian publisher’s facebook page here.

YIVO Vilna Collection Online

YIVO Vilna Collection Online

Dear Faina,

Today, I am delighted to announce that The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (YIVO) completed the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections Project (EBYVOC), a historic 7-year, $7 million international initiative to process, conserve and digitize YIVO’s divided prewar library and archival collections.

These materials, divided by World War II and located in New York and Vilnius, Lithuania, have now been digitally reunited for the first time.

Comprising approximately 4.1 million pages of archival documents and books, the EBYVOC Project is an international partnership between YIVO, the Lithuanian Central State Archives, the Martynas Mavydas National Library of Lithuania, and the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.

The completion of the EBYVOC Project is an epic milestone in the preservation of Eastern European Jewish history and culture. It was completed on schedule and within budget, providing a global audience access to these treasures through a dedicated web portal free-of-charge. We invite you to explore this remarkable collection at https://vilnacollections.yivo.org/.

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Chaim Grade: Facts of a Life

Chaim Grade: Facts of a Life

Photo: Jung-Vilne literary group: Chaim Grade is stand­ing in the top row to the left, the poets Shmerke Kacz­er­gin­s­ki and Abra­ham Sutzkev­er are seat­ed in the mid­dle. YIVO archives

by Susanne Klingenstein and Yehudah DovBer Zirkind, In Geveb, December 15, 2021

INTRODUCTION

When on May 2, 2010, Inna Hecker Grade passed away at the age of eighty-five, a sigh of relief, unkind and hard-edged, coursed through some corners of the Yiddish literary world and a small circle of scholars and archivists tensed with expectation. For twenty-eight years, since the passing of her husband Chaim Grade on June 26, 1982, the literary legacy of one the most important Yiddish prose-stylists and documentary story­tellers to emerge from the ashes of Vil­na, had lain concealed in the couple’s Bronx apartment, guarded by his angry widow who deemed the world unworthy of her husband’s genius. After a brief foray into the publishing world, she had withdrawn into a tomb filled with her husband’s treasures.

The sepulchral metaphor was first used by Ralph Speken, the psychiatrist who had taken care of Inna Grade during the last months of her life. On the eve of breaking the seal, Speken pleaded: ​“They should take over that apartment as if they were taking over King Tut’s tomb.” Scholars and readers expected the discovery of manuscripts in drawers and closets that would speedily be published, perhaps in critical editions, and bring Grade back to literary life. No new work, no critical edition or biography has yet appeared.

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Remembering Documentary Photographer, Author, Screenwriter Alter-Sholem Kacyzne

Remembering Documentary Photographer, Author, Screenwriter Alter-Sholem Kacyzne

Photo: Alter Kacyzne. “Green Fields” theater still. ca. 1921. Museum of the City of New York.

text by Yitskhok Niborski, translated from Yiddish by Yankl Salant

Kacyzne, Alter-Sholem (May 31, 1885-July 7, 1941)

(1885–1941), Yiddish writer and critic; photographer. Born in Vilna to a working-class family, Alter-Sholem Kacyzne (Yid., Katsizne) attended heder and also a Russian-language Jewish elementary school. At 14, after his father’s death, he stopped his formal studies. Kacyzne was an autodidact and remained an avid reader not only of literature in Russian, Yiddish, and Hebrew, but also of Polish, German and French works. For about 11 years he lived in Ekaterinoslav where he learned to be a photographer and was married.

In 1909, Kacyzne first published two Russian stories in the periodical Evreiski mir (Jewish World), edited by S. An-ski. In 1910, attracted by the work and reputation of Y. L. Peretz, Kacyzne settled in Warsaw, where he opened a photography studio. He grew very close to Peretz, who became a literary mentor, but did not begin publishing in Yiddish until after Peretz’s death in 1915. Kacyzne’s first Yiddish texts appeared in collections in Vilna and Kiev. In 1919 and 1920 his first two books were published in Warsaw, the dramatic poems Der gayst der meylekh (The Spirit, the King) and Prometeus (Prometheus). He was also a consistent contributor to (and sometimes co-founder and co-editor of) a series of literary periodicals, most of them short-lived, in Warsaw and Vilna, in which he published novellas and stories that in 1922 appeared in book form as Arabeskn (Arabesques).

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News and Views from the Kaunas Jewish Community on the Levinas Center

News and Views from the Kaunas Jewish Community on the Levinas Center

Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas shared his impressions on facebook after visiting the Emmanuel Levinas Center opening ceremony:

“It was endlessly pleasant to receive an invitation from professor Rimantas Benetis, rector of the Lithuanian Health Medicine University, to meet at the recently-opened Emmanuel Levinas Center. We had a nice and warm conversation in which we discussed the Center’s mission, planned activities and opportunities for cooperation. I thank Center directors Ingrida Krasauskienė and Julija Vasilenko who conducted a tour of the impressive space of the Center with its extraordinary aura and possessing materializing visions of the future. I hope that the Center will be more than just an institution researching and promoting the philosophical, intellectual and cultural inheritance of the famous philosopher Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995) born in Kaunas, as its articles of incorporation state, but also that it will become a new venue in Kaunas for memorable and meaningful meetings and events. And I also hope ties of partnership and cooperation will join the Levinas Center and the Kaunas Jewish Community, inspiring us to carry out numerous projects.”

Taiwan Ups Lithuanian Investment Fund by $1 Billion

Taiwan Ups Lithuanian Investment Fund by $1 Billion

Photo: Taiwan National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin poses during an interview with Reuters in Taipei.

Taiwan will launch a $1 billion credit program to help fund joint projects between Lithuanian and Taiwanese companies in six business categories, a Taiwanese government minister said on Tuesday.

Lithuania is under pressure from China, which claims democratically-ruled Taiwan as its own territory, to reverse a decision last year to allow the island to open a de facto embassy in Vilnius under its own name.

China has downgraded diplomatic ties with Vilnius and is pressuring companies such as German car parts giant Continental to stop using Lithuanian-made components. It has also blocked Lithuanian cargos from entering China. Taiwan last week announced plans to set up a separate $200 million fund to invest in Lithuanian industries and boost bilateral trade as it tries to fend off China’s diplomatic pressure on the Baltic state.

“The investment and credit funds will help us strengthen the cooperation,” Taiwan’s National Development Council minister Kung Ming-hsin told an online news conference.

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YIVO Director Thanks LJC on Milestone Achievement

YIVO Director Thanks LJC on Milestone Achievement

Dear Faina,

Today YIVO announces the completion of the Vilna Collection Project–4.1 million pages of documents and books online for people around the world–and you have been such a tremendous part of it. You introduced me to so many people, helped shepherd our grant through the Goodwill Foundation and advised on so many things. Thank you. This project truly opens new doorways for millions of people around the world. Without your support and enthusiasm I am not sure we would have been successful. I hope that when I am in Vilnius … we will be able to celebrate together.

Here is a link to the website: https://vilnacollections.yivo.org/
With my warmest good wishes for a healthy, happy, peaceful New Year,

Jonathan

Jonathan Brent
Executive Director/CEO
The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research

Israel Advancing UN General Assembly Resolution Aimed at Combating Holocaust Denial

Israel Advancing UN General Assembly Resolution Aimed at Combating Holocaust Denial

Times of Israel

Envoy confident measure will pass overwhelmingly later this month; it won’t have enforcement mechanism, but Erdan says effects of new international standard will be significant

Israel will bring a resolution aimed at combating Holocaust denial for a vote before the United Nations General Assembly later this month, Ambassador Gilad Erdan announced on Wednesday.

The resolution will provide a specific classification for Holocaust denial, using the working definition put together by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. It will provide actions expected of signatory countries in order to address the phenomenon, and will demand social media networks remove posts that fall under the IHRA definition, Erdan said in a briefing with reporters.

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Discussion on Jewish Contributions to Lithuanian Statehood

Discussion on Jewish Contributions to Lithuanian Statehood

Arkadijus Vinokuras will moderate a discussion on Jewish contributions to Lithuanian statehood from 1918 to 1940 and from 1988 to 2022 as part of the #ŽydiškiPašnekesiai series of talks at the Bagel Shop Café in the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius at 5:00 P.M. on January 12. This is the eve of January 13, an important date in modern Lithuania’s history, the morning on which Soviet tanks attacked and killed citizens defending the Vilnius television tower in 1991. Participants are to include father of Lithuanian independence Vytautas Landsbergis, Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and Lithuanian MP and signatory to the 1990 Independence Act Emanuelis Zingeris, among others.

Musical accompaniment is to be provided by Vytas Mikeliūnas on violin and Darius Mažintas on piano performing Lithuanian and Jewish songs. The discussion will be held in Lithuanian. Those wishing to attend may come in person or watch the live-feed on the LJC facebook page.

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Emmanuel Levinas’s Son Cries Foul over Use of Father’s Name

Emmanuel Levinas’s Son Cries Foul over Use of Father’s Name

Valdemaras Šukšta, LRT.lt

Michael Levinas, the son of Litvak French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, isn’t happy a center was named after his father in Kaunas. He said his objections because of the Holocaust weren’t taken into consideration. The Levinas Center is part of the Lithuanian Health Sciences University who claim Levinas’s daughter and grandson liked the idea.

Michael Levinas explained his position on the internet page of the French newspaper Le Figaro in late December. His main objection was the anti-Semitism and crimes against humanity aimed at Jews in the Holocaust in Lithuania. He pointed out the center is located near the apartment where his father lived, and where his father’s family was abducted and taken to the Ninth Fort where they were subjected to the depredations of the Nazis and Lithuanians.

The younger Levinas recalled he had received a letter from then-rector of the Lithuanian Health Sciences University Remigijus Žaliūnas in 2019 in which Žaliūnas is alleged to have said his wishes would not be taken into consideration and there would be no further discussion of the matter. Levinas said his father repeated vowed never to visit Lithuania again and not to have anything to do with the country.

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Joint Lithuanian-YIVO Digitization Project Complete

Joint Lithuanian-YIVO Digitization Project Complete

New York-based YIVO has announced the completion of a joint project to digitize the Edward Blank collection in what is known as the Edward Blank Vilna On-Line Collections Project. The historic initiative took seven years and $7 million to complete. The goal was to sort, conserve and digitize pre-war collections from the YIVO library and archives, and to make them available to everyone online.

The project was carried in concert with the Lithuanian Central State Archive, the Martynas Mažvydas Lithuanian National Library and the Vrublevskiai Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.

Ruth Levine, the director of the board of YIVO, called the completion of the project a new phase in the modern history of the YIVO institute and part of their main mission. She said heroes and martyrs gave their lives to preserve the books and documents in the collection, and expressed gratitude to the Lithuanian partners in the project.

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Launch of New Book of Stories about Jewish Vilnius

Launch of New Book of Stories about Jewish Vilnius

The Vilnius Jewish Public Library will hold the launch of the new book Чаепитие с попугаем [Tea with Parrots] at 6:00 P.M. on Thursday, January 20. The book was published by the Lithuanian publishing house Kitos Knygos.

This is the author Chona Leibovičius’s first book of short stories, where he tells in his own voice the story of an entire generation of Vilna Jews, many of whom are no longer with us and many others having left to live around the world. The time-period is from the 1950s to the 1980s when the old city was undergoing serious changes, when new suburbs were being built by the Soviets and outside powers were tearing apart the fabric of the city undergoing rapid demographic change.

The author and others will be at the book launch. Others include Donatas Valančiauskas who is the director of Lithuanian state television’s Jewish affairs program Menora and Kitos Knygos author and representative Darius Pocevičius. The library is located in the courtyard at Gedimino prospect no. 24 in Vilnius.

More about the book in Lithuanian and Russian here.

Name Changes but Fate Remains the Same

Name Changes but Fate Remains the Same

by Lina Dranseikaitė

The century-old red-brick synagogue standing on M. Valančiaus street in almost the exact center of the city of Panevėžys from now on will be known by its true name, the Torah Association.

Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman said historical justice has been restored. But even with the restoration of historical justice, this decaying heritage site in the historical part of the city might completely vanish over the coming decades.

Although Lithuania’s state Property Bank attempted to sell the synagogue two years ago, no takers have appeared. Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman says he isn’t even considering that Jews might buy the red-brick synagogue since this building is supposed to belong to Jews already.

Full text in Lithuanian here.

Lithuanian Culture Minister and Israeli Ambassador Sign Agreement on Film Production

Lithuanian Culture Minister and Israeli Ambassador Sign Agreement on Film Production

On January 7 new opportunities opened for Lithuanian filmmakers: Lithuanian culture minister Simonas Kairys and Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Yossef Avni-Levy signed a governmental understanding on joint production of films by the two countries.

Minister Kairys said: “Until now Lithuania hasn’t had a single joint film production with Israel. This agreement between the Governments of the two countries, clearing defining bilateral cooperation in the field of film production, presents greater opportunities for Lithuania and Israeli filmmakers, including attracting additional financing. All of this will allow for greater Lithuanian competitiveness in the international arena in making films.”

The agreement between the Lithuanian and Israeli Governments provides more favorable conditions for filmmakers from both countries to receive state support. It also expands opportunities for cooperation, providing a foundation for the wider presentation of films.

Full text in Lithuanian here.

Lara Lempertienė Awarded Prize by Lithuanian Foreign Ministry

Lara Lempertienė Awarded Prize by Lithuanian Foreign Ministry

Jewish scholar and head of the Lithuanian National Library’s Judaica Center Lara Lempertienė, PhD, was awarded the Star of Lithuanian Diplomacy prize Friday, according to a press release from the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry. Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis personally presented her the prize at the ministry in recognition of her work fostering research into Litvak history and cultural heritage, and for her significant contribution to commemorations of the 300th birthday of the Vilna Gaon and 700 years of Litvak history.

“You have made a remarkable contribution in strengthening foreign policy and carrying out our shared mission to spread knowledge of Lithuanian Jewish history and culture,” minister Landsbergis said. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry has been awarding the Star of Lithuanian Diplomacy since 2010 in recognition of contributions to spreading knowledge of Lithuania internationally and to improving and celebrating international relations.

A Look at the Recent Lithuanian Press on the Holocaust

A Look at the Recent Lithuanian Press on the Holocaust

Geoff Vasil

In December the Lithuanian news outlet 15min.lt treated its readers to the strange spectacle of a Lithuanian defense against American and Allied accusations of the collective guilt of average Germans in the crime of genocide against the Jewish people.

“‘Nonetheless, too many people tried not to see what was happening.’ German president Richard von Weizsäcker said these words on May 8, 1985, at a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II.

“…The Belarussian opposition website zerkalo.io tells how Germans suffered de-Nazification and tried to come to terms with the past. ‘This town is guilty!’ Many have heard of the process known as de-Nazification. The Allies who won World War II (USA, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union) began the process of de-Nazification.”

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