Defending History Proudly Supports Lithuanian Documentary Film Maker Saulius...
OPINION | FILM | BOLD CITIZENS | SAULIUS BERŽINIS | SHEDUVA ◊ Defending History proudly supports modern Lithuania’s first major Holocaust truth teller, documentary film maker Saulius Beržinis...
View ArticleVilnius Authorities Boldly Knock Down New Shrine to K. Škirpa, 1941 Planner...
DEFENDING HISTORY SUCCESSES | K. ŠKIRPA | COLLABORATORS GLORIFIED | VILNIUS | SHRINES TO HOLOCAUST COLLABORATORS IN VILNIUS ◊ VILNIUS—Within 36 hours of Defending History’s report that brought news of...
View ArticleThe Intensified Threat to Jewish Cemeteries
OPINION | 2023-2024 “WORKING GROUP” ON VILNA CEMETERY | LIST OF MEMBERS | MOUNTING OPPOSITION | OLD VILNA JEWISH CEMETERY AT PIRAMÓNT | EARLIER OPPOSITION TO CONVENTION CENTER | CONFERENCE OF EUROPEAN...
View ArticleArkady Kurliandchik Critiques German Embassy’s Kukliansky Award
OPINION | LITHUANIA’S JEWISH COMMUNITY ISSUES | GERMANY ◊ by Arkady Kurliandchik (Vilnius) ◊ I am aware that it has long been a practice to award assorted leaders with assorted honors on assorted...
View ArticleExactly How Many Thousands of People Will Fit into Events at Planned ‘Museum...
OPINION | 2023-2024 “WORKING GROUP” ON VILNA CEMETERY | LIST OF MEMBERS | MOUNTING OPPOSITION | OLD VILNA JEWISH CEMETERY AT PIRAMÓNT | EARLIER OPPOSITION TO CONVENTION CENTER | INVOLVEMENT OF THE...
View ArticleOpinion: American Jewish Committee (AJC) Needs to Look Again at its...
OPINION | LITHUANIAN MISADVENTURES OF THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE (AJC) | 2023-2024 “WORKING GROUP” ON VILNA CEMETERY | LIST OF MEMBERS | MOUNTING OPPOSITION | OLD VILNA JEWISH CEMETERY AT PIRAMÓNT |...
View ArticleInternational Opposition to 2024 Proposals for a Memorial Complex (/Museum),...
[last update] See Note below ◊ Videos Online ◊ Written statements: Rabbi Elchonon Baron Ruta Bloshtein Rabbi S. J. Feffer Bernard Fryshman Dovid Katz Andrius Kulikauskas Sid Leiman Julius Norwilla...
View ArticleVilnius Jewish Community Leads Dignified Protest at the Old Vilna Jewish...
2023-2024 “WORKING GROUP” ON VILNA CEMETERY | LIST OF MEMBERS | MOUNTING OPPOSITION | OLD VILNA JEWISH CEMETERY AT PIRAMÓNT | EARLIER OPPOSITION TO CONVENTION CENTER | INVOLVEMENT OF THE AMERICAN...
View ArticleFirst Impressions of Vilnius’s New ‘Museum of Culture and Identity of...
OPINION | MUSEUMS | ARTS | LITVAK AFFAIRS ◊ ◊ by Dovid Katz The creators of Vilnius’s new Museum of Culture and Identity of Lithuanian Jews (MCILJ or for short — “Litvak Culture Museum”), which...
View ArticleWelcome to Participants in This Year’s Revived Vilnius Summer Program!
OPINION | YIDDISH | GREEN HOUSE | LAST JEWISH PARTISAN FORT ◊ Those of the founders of the Vilnius Summer Program in Yiddish, twenty-six years ago, in July 1998, who are still around and active will...
View ArticleEnglish Translation of Lithuania’s TV Evening News Coverage of Recent...
OLD VILNA JEWISH CEMETERY AT PIRAMÓNT | EARLIER OPPOSITION TO CONVENTION CENTER | 2023-2024 “WORKING GROUP” ON VILNA CEMETERY | LIST OF MEMBERS | MOUNTING OPPOSITION TO THE NEW MUSEUM/MEMORIAL...
View ArticleKaunesia: Travelling the Dark Memory Lanes of Kaunas
OPINION | KAUNAS | MUSEUMS | ANTISEMITISM ◊ by Adam J. Sacks ◊ It says something that the only “Devil Museum” in the world is to be found in Kaunas, Lithuania. This city sometimes also known as...
View ArticleArkady Kurliandchik’s Heroic Stand at the Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery
OPINION | VILNIUS JEWISH COMMUNITY ISSUES | OLD VILNA JEWISH CEMETERY | ARKADY KURLIANDCHIK ◊ VILNIUS—Last Thursday, 22 August, Defending History distributed the link to an ultranationalist...
View ArticleFania Yocheles Brantsovsky (Brancovskaja): 1922-2024
FANIA YOCHELES BRANTSOVSKY | OBITUARIES | LITVAK AFFAIRS | JEWISH PARTISAN HEROES DEFAMED BY VILNIUS PROSECUTORS ◊ Compilation of articles, documentaries, videos, and photos. Plus: Saga of 2008. Call...
View ArticleVilnius “Jews-for-Jesus” Conference to Feature Verbickienė and Toleikis
OPINION | LITVAK AFFAIRS | ANTISEMITISM | VILNIUS | CHRISTIAN-JEWISH RELATIONS ◊ VILNIUS—For centuries, missionaries have cunningly preyed on small, weak, fractured and vulnerable Jewish communities,...
View ArticleRabbi Elchonon Baron calls on Lithuania’s President & Presumptive PM Not to...
OPINION | ANTISEMITISM | LITHUANIA | RABBI BARON SECTION ◊ SEE UPDATES ON FRONT PAGE ◊ by Rabbi Elchonon Baron ◊ Honorable Gitanas Nausėda, President of the Republic of Lithuania Below is a letter I...
View ArticleAntisemitism, Holocaust Revisionism, and Anti-Israelism in Modern Lithuania
OPINION | ANTISEMITISM | HOLOCAUST REVISIONISM | LITHUANIAN JEWISH LIFE ◊ by Arkady Kurliandchik ◊ Reflecting on the current situation in Lithuania, where open antisemites do not hesitate to...
View ArticleWill Vilnius State Jewish Museum Reconsider Featuring Head of ‘Holocaust...
GENOCIDE CENTER & MUSEUM | A. BUBNYS | NOREIKA WORSHIP | ŠKIRPA WORSHIP | MUSEUMS ◊ OPINION ◊ The Defending History community, which has expressed profound admiration for recent major progress of...
View ArticleFar Right Antisemitic Establishment & Genocide Center in Vilnius: Launching...
FANIA YOCHELES BRANTSOVSKY | BLAMING THE VICTIMS | LITHUANIA | LITVAK AFFAIRS ◊ The following email blast with its links to online sites, forthcoming events in Vilnius, and at its end, a link to an old...
View ArticleBlaming the Victims: Documents and Sources
UPDATED 31 Jan. 2025 (originally published 21 Aug. 2010). See also (older, not updated) Responses page. 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017...
View ArticleFull Translation of Jan.-Feb. 2025 Email Blast Defaming Fania Yocheles...
FANIA YOCHELES BRANTSOVSKY | BLAMING THE VICTIMS | ANTISEMITISM | LITHUANIA | LITVAK AFFAIRS ◊ The following is a full translation of the recent email blast published in Defending History in the...
View ArticleSaulius Beržinis’s Documentary Film ‘Petrified Time’ on the Holocaust in Sheduva
FILM | ARTS | OPINION | SHEDUVA | SAULIUS BERŽINIS ◊ FILM REVIEW by Roland Binet (De Panne, Belgium) ◊ ◊ The history of Lithuania during the Second World War is complex and tragic. After short-lived...
View ArticleWelcoming Lithuanian Prime Minister’s New Working Group on Antisemitism
ANTISEMITISM | LITHUANIA | OPINION ◊ OPINION ◊ Today’s announcement that Lithuanian prime minister Gintautas Paluckas has set up a Working Group to study the rise in antisemitism is welcomed by all...
View ArticleLithuania’s State Jewish Museum Deletes Yiddish from all Three Vilnius Addresses
OPINION | YIDDISH AFFAIRS | LITVAK ISSUES | MUSEUMS ◊ by Dovid Katz ◊ From the days of its majestic late 1980s independence struggle onward, Lithuanian state policy has for forty years now had the...
View ArticleClaims Conference Should Think Again Before Inadvertently Legitimizing East...
OPINION | THE RED-BROWN COMMISSION | FANIA YOCHELES BRANTSOVSKY | YITZHAK ARAD | DOUBLE GENOCIDE | LITHUANIA | LITVAK AFFAIRS ◊ OPINION ◊ VILNIUS—Everybody makes mistakes, even august, storied and...
View ArticleAnother Kind of Final Solution?
OPINION | MUSEUMS | LITHUANIA | LITVAK AFFAIRS | YIDDISH AFFAIRS ◊ by Dalia Epstein (Dalija Epšteinaitė) ◊ When speaking about the Holocaust in Lithuania, it is customary to cite 95%, that is, more...
View ArticleProf. Girnius Tries Again to Glorify the LAF That in 1941 Butchered Thousands...
OPINION | LEGACY OF 23 JUNE 1941 | 2011 ATTEMPTS TO SANITIZE THE LAF | LAF’S INTENTIONS IN WRITING | ŠKIRPA’S PLANS | COLLABORATORS GLORIFIED | LITHUANIAN JEWISH AFFAIRS | CHRISTIAN-JEWISH RELATIONS...
View ArticleVilnius’s Resident Rabbi for Last 30 Years is Called ‘Mr. Krinsky’ in Latest...
OPINION | DOCUMENTS | LITHUANIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY AFFAIRS | CHABAD IN VILNIUS | HUMAN RIGHTS ◊ OPINION ◊ VILNIUS—Even people who “thought they had seen everything” were taken aback a week ago, when...
View ArticleRabbi Elchonon Baron and Julius Norvila Issue Appeal to Mayor of Vilnius for...
OLD VILNA JEWISH CEMETERY AT PIRAMÓNT | EARLIER OPPOSITION TO CONVENTION CENTER | 2023-2024 “WORKING GROUP” ON VILNA CEMETERY | LIST OF MEMBERS | MOUNTING OPPOSITION TO THE NEW MUSEUM/MEMORIAL PROJECT...
View ArticleRašella Galinienė, Head of the Jewish Community of Shavl (Šiauliai,...
OPINION | CEMETERIES | COMMUNITY COMMEMORATION | LITHUANIA | LITVAK AFFAIRS | HUMAN RIGHTS ◊ ◊ Rašella Galinienė, elected head of the Jewish Community of Shavl (Šiauliai, northern Lithuania) has led a...
View ArticleChris Heath’s ‘No Road Leading Back’ on Ponar and on How we Remember the...
BOOKS | PONAR | LITHUANIA BOOK REVIEW by Roland Binet (De Panne, Belgium) ◊ Chris Heath, No Road Leading Back: An Improbable Escape from the Nazis and the Tangled Way We Tell the Story of the...
View ArticleVilnius Jewish Community Issues Public Statement on Sham Elections of...
OPINION | LITHUANIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY ISSUES | LITVAK AFFAIRS | GOOD WILL FOUNDATION | STOLEN ELECTION SAGA | AJC MISADVENTURES IN LITHUANIA ◊ VILNIUS—The following is an English translation of the...
View ArticleJewish Heritage in Lita (JHL) Issues Statement of Support for Vilnius Jewish...
OPINION | LITHUANIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY ISSUES | LITVAK AFFAIRS | GOOD WILL FOUNDATION | STOLEN ELECTION SAGA | AJC MISADVENTURES IN LITHUANIA ◊ OPINION ◊ VILNIUS—The following is a condensed version of...
View ArticleBravo to VILNIUS Jewish Community for Standing Up for Democracy, Justice and...
OPINION | LITHUANIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY ISSUES | LITVAK AFFAIRS | GOOD WILL FOUNDATION | STOLEN ELECTION SAGA | AJC MISADVENTURES IN LITHUANIA ◊ OPINION ◊ VILNIUS—The following is an edited and updated...
View ArticleMid June 2025 Events in Vilnius
EVENTS | VILNIUS ◊ On Yivo’s 100th: Dr. Jonathan Brent, director of Yivo, speaking at National Picture Gallery Tuesday 17 June at 3 PM. Professor David E. Fishman (JTS), speaking at National Library’s...
View ArticleBooks in the Debate (a DefendingHistory.com selection)
[last update] ◊ see also: BOOKS SECTION ◊ Not yet published: Michael Shafir, Competitive Martyrdom [working title]. Draft manuscript circulated to colleagues (for comments and criticism) before the...
View ArticleGermany’s New Brigade in Lithuania (‘Panzerbrigade 45’): Right Near Remnants...
[LAST UPDATES (SEE AT END). ORIGINAL DATE OF PUBLICATION: 26 MAY 2025] LAST JEWISH PARTISAN FORT IN EASTERN EUROPE | POLITICS OF MEMORY | GERMANY | FANIA YOCHELES BRANTSOVSKY | LITVAK AFFAIRS ◊ OPINION...
View Article2025 Plans for new ‘Collegium’ (and Seimas Law) to Glorify Holocaust’s June...
[LAST UPDATE. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 19 MARCH 2025] A Vilnius professor, a former foreign minister, and group of Conservative (Homeland Union) parliamentarians announce ‘collegium’ to glorify 1941 LAF...
View ArticleDovid Katz’s Lecture in Honor of Yivo’s 100th at the Vilnius Jewish Public...
YIDDISH AFFAIRS | YIVO ◊ VILNIUS—The Vilnius Jewish Public Library today posted its video of Dovid Katz’s lecture, “Yivo’s 100th: origins, dreams, successes, failures, conflicts, and — everlasting...
View ArticleUpdates to the New German Brigade Near the World War II Jewish Partisan Fort...
EUROPE’S ONLY SURVIVING JEWISH PARTISAN FORT ◊ VILNIUS—There have been two new developments in the saga of Germany’s Forty-Fifth Armoured Brigade, to be established in the forests adjacent to the...
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