Bold Citizens Speak

A number of citizens of Lithuania from diverse personal backgrounds have spoken out against antisemitism, racism, and Holocaust distortion. The following is a provisional listing of just some who who have expressed their views in print or on the web. It also includes some occasions when Lithuania's political leaders have honored veterans of the anti-Nazi partisan resistance.

2010

Monika Bonckute, ‘Pure-blooded Lithuanians need Jewish Litvaks’ in Lietuvos rytas, 21 January 2010. English translation by Geoff Vasil.

2009

Daiva Repeckaite, ‘How the word spreads’  on author’s blog Wonderland, 4 December 2009.

Daiva Repeckaite, ‘Delfi’s “McCarthyism” continues’ on author’s blog Wonderland, 14 November 2009.

Daiva Repeckaite, ‘Portal manipulates information about Holocaust survivor’ on author’s blog Wonderland, 28 october 2009.

Dr Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Israel Office, pays tribute to citizens who assisted Operation Last Chance, in his Operation Last Chance, pp 156-160 (see Recent Books → 2009 → Zuroff).

Vytautas Toleikis, ‘Miscommunication, or several thoughts on the issue of Jewish-Lithuanian relations’ [‘Nesusikalbejimas, arba Keletas pastabu lietuviu ir zydu santykiu tema’] in Bernardinai.lt, 16 September 2009 [translation in progress].

Rasa Rimickaite, ‘The impact of memory’, lecture presented at the Litvak Conference organized by the Jewish Community of Lithuania, 24 August 2009.

Leonidas Donskis, ‘The inflation of genocide’ in EuropeanVoice.com, 24 July 2009.

‘Tomas Venclova on Lithuania’s intellectuals’, 15 July 2009.

Rasa Rimickaite, ‘Dantesque emptiness’ in Jerusalem of Lithuania, April-June 2009.

Darius J. Ross, ‘Sticks and stones’ in The Baltic Times, 23-29 April 2009.

Andrius Navickas, ‘Mass media or the propagation of filth?’ [‘Ziniasklaida ar purvasklaida?’] in Bernardinai.lt, 6 February 2009 [translation in progress].

2008

Geoff Vasil (Vasiliauskas), ‘Analyzing Lithuanian antisemitism. The “double genocide” theory refuses to quit’ in Jewish Currents, November 2008; alternate link.

Vytautas Toleikis, ‘Repress, reassess, remember: Jewish heritage in Lithuania’ in Eurozine, 27 November 2008.

Leonidas Donskis, ‘Hostages to an ill-begotten theory’ in Transitions Online, 10 October 2008.

‘Lithuanian academic blasts war crimes probe of ex- Yad Vashem chief’ in Haaretz, 5 October 2008.

Simonas Alperavicius & Tobijas Jafetas, ‘An open letter’ to the president, speaker of parliament, prime minister and prosecutor general of Lithuania, 19 June 2008 [English translation]

2006

Leonidas Donskis, ‘Another word for uncertainty: antisemitism in modern Lithuania’ in Nordeuropa Forum 1/2006.

Report on a project of the House of Memory led by Linas Vildziunas, September 2006.

2005

The prime minister of Lithuania, Algirdas Brazauskas, awards Dr Rachel Margolis a certificate of appreciation for her contribution to the liberation of Lithuania as an anti-Nazi resistance fighter (8 May 2005).

Andrius Navickas, ‘Is the world ruled by hatred for Others?’ [‘Pasauli valdo neaplykanta kitokiems?’] in Bernardinai.lt, 3 March 2005  [translation in progress].

2001

Liudas Truska, ‘Contemporary attitudes toward the Holocaust in Lithuania’ in Jews in Eastern Europe 2(45), pp 5-26.

1998

Alfredas Bumblauskas,  ‘Issues in the history of Lithuanian-Jewish relations in the context of historiographical paradigms’ [‘Lietuviu-Zydu santykiu istorijos problema istoriografiniu paradigmu kontekste’] in Kulturos barai 12, pp 49-55.

1997

Ruta Puisyte, ‘The Holocaust in Jurbarkas’, BA thesis supervised by Professor Meir Shub at Vilnius University; prefaces by Professor Meir Shub and Professor Dov Levin; translated into English by Joseph Rosin.

1995

Speech by the President of the Republic of Lithuania Mr Algirdas Brazauskas, delivered at the Knesset in Jerusalem at 4 PM, 1 March 1995.

1993

The president of Lithuania, Algirdas Brazauskas, awards Professor Dov Levin a certificate of appreciation (22 Sept 1993).

1975

The eminent Lithuanian scholar and poet Tomas Venclova (Yale University) published the first Lithuanian version of his valiant essay, ‘Jews and Lithuanians’ in the samizdat journal Tarbut in 1975. The standard English version appears in his Forms of Hope.