The Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) Community made a statement condemning the antisemitic remarks made by the Member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania Remigijus Žemaitaitis:
“The Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) Community is deeply concerned about the recent anti-Semitic statements and articles by the Member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, R. Žemaitaitis, which have been disseminated in some media outlets, social networks, and even in the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. It must be said that in Lithuania, such phenomena have been absent for a long time, and the Jews living in Lithuania, 80 years after the liquidation of the Vilnius ghetto, hoped that they would no longer exist. Especially in the context of the war in Ukraine, when people who are a national minority can be used by the aggressor as a tool for social conflict and the division of society.
The Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) community believes that the actions of the Member of the Seimas deliberately provoke national discord by such means as distortion of historical memory.
Shame on the country in which we live, love, and respect. Its citizens cannot elect to Parliament people who can afford such words, quoting:
“It turns out that besides Putin, there is another “animal” [bastard] in the world – ISRAEL. One with tanks destroys schools, the other with tractors”. “After such events, it is no wonder why such sayings are born: ‘A Jew climbed a ladder and fell accidentally. Take a stick, children, and kill that Jew…”.
“It is disgusting that I. Šimonytė speaks such nonsense when on 3 June 1944 the Lithuanian Jews, together with the Russians, murdered the people of PIRČIUPIAI village.
That this was German revenge and cruelty is true, but not the whole truth.
This shows once again that our government is completely indifferent to the murder of the Lithuanians in 1941-1944 by Jews.
As I understand our government’s value policy is below the line- if one goes to Israel and tells the fairy tales of friendship, one can go to the 9 May commemorations in Russia next year!
HOW LONG WILL OUR POLITICIANS CONTINUE TO KOWTOW TO THE JEWS WHO MURDERED OUR FELLOW LITHUANIANS, CONTRIBUTED TO THE PERSECUTION, TORTURE AND DESTRUCTION OF OUR COUNTRY.
There was a HOLOCAUST OF JEWS, but there was an even BIGGER HOLOCAUST OF LITHUANIANS IN LITHUANIA!
If our “joke” politicians in Israel apologize to the Jews, when will the JEWS APOLOGIZE TO US [LITHUANIANS]?”
On 14 June, the Day of Mourning and Hope, when Lithuania commemorates the victims of the deportations to Siberia, Žemaitaitis writes about Aleksandras Slavinas, who was a Lithuanian Jew and for whom “THE MURDERS OF THE LITHUANIANS, THE KILLINGS, THE RAPTURE OF WOMEN, AND THE SEPARATION OF CHILDREN FROM THEIR FATHERS, WERE ONLY A LITTLE DISTANCE AND AN ACCIDENT!
We, the Lithuanian people, must never forget the Jews and the Russians, who were very active in the DESTRUCTION OF OUR NATION!”
On the same day, Žemaitaitis continued his anti-Semitic and hate-filled speeches.
“I am posting a partial list of the LITHUANIAN JEWS who, by their own signatures, have shown their loyalty to the Russians on 15 June 1941.”
On 15 June, writing about the historical events of June 1941, he again blames the Jews for the deportations carried out by the Soviets and, distorting the historical concept, calls it the Holocaust of the Lithuanian people: “It was the HOLOCAUST OF LITHUANIA!!!
Even after more than 80 years, one “sub-species” group, the Jews, still fail to acknowledge that in this Lithuanian tragedy, their representatives played a very important role in the torture, deportation and murder of Lithuanians. Together with the Russians, they destroyed LITHUANIA not only as a state on a territorial basis, but also as a nation, its culture, customs, intelligentsia, and destroyed the future of the state, which was only restored in 1990-1991.”
Later that day, he publishes the names of 40 Jews who allegedly contributed to the destruction of the Lithuanian nation, and again attacks and despises the Israeli government and the nation as a whole: “Our President, A.M. Brazauskas, has apologized to the Jewish people for the actions of our Lithuanians, but their [Israeli] masters, even after 82 years, are still not able to learn to say the word SORRY.
It seems that such a word is not to be found in that [Jewish] nation.”
The Vilnius District Prosecutor’s Office launched a pre-trial investigation into the alleged promotion of hate and incitement to hatred against a group of people on the basis of their nationality. His remarks were condemned by all the highest-ranking leaders of the Republic of
Lithuania – President Gitanas Nausėda, Speaker of the Seimas Viktorija Čmilytė – Nielsen and Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.
Nevertheless, this wave of anti-Semitic rhetoric is causing a sense of humiliation and insecurity among members of the Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) community. If the Member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania continues his activities and mobilises his followers around him, the Jews of Lithuania will not be able to feel safe in their own homeland, in a democratic European country.
Yes, the European Union has adopted an EU strategy to combat anti-Semitism and promote Jewish life, and the Convention for the Protection of National Minorities protects national minorities. However, only the state can ensure their implementation, protect the dignity of the people who have lived in Lithuania for centuries, destroy the feeling of insecurity and protect against the tragic memories of the Holocaust.
The Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) Community hopes that the State will take active steps to prevent all forms of anti-Semitism in Lithuania.
Incidentally, the Russian press has already seized on this situation and used it to its advantage, with articles appearing abroad under the headlines “Russian media publish declassified documents on the Holocaust” and “Russia has published new documents claiming that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were deeply involved in the mass murder of Jews during the Holocaust”.
Lithuanian Jews have never blamed the entire Lithuanian nation for the Holocaust in Lithuania and now believe that the articles that appeared in the Russian media were not the aim of the Parliament Member. The Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) community strongly distances itself from these articles.
Respectfully,
The Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) Community, uniting 32 Jewish organisations in Lithuania.
The statement was discussed at the general board meeting of the members of the Lithuanian Jewish community and adopted unanimously”