Two Holocaust educators will travel to Lithuania this fall to head a seminar for high school teachers in an attempt to introduce Holocaust education there. The B’nai B’rith-sponsored educators, Shalmi Barmore, former director of education at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, and Judith Shapiro of Philadelphia, had met with Lithuanian Minister of Education Vladislavas Domarkas and… More ▸
A federal court has revoked a man’s U.S. citizenship because of his service in the Nazi-sponsored Lithuanian security police during World War II. Kazys Gimzauskas, 88, went back to Lithuania more than two years ago while he was under investigation by the Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations. He had been living in St. Petersburg,… More ▸
Aleksandras Likeikis, the former head of the Nazi-sponsored Lithuanian security police who was recently deported to Lithuania, says he returned to Lithuania to seek justice. “If I felt guilty, I wouldn’t have returned to Lithuania,” Lilekis reportedly told journalists in his first public statement. Lileikis has not been charged in Lithuania, though he is under… More ▸
A Florida resident who admitted to serving in a Nazi-sponsored battalion during World War II moved last week to Vilnius, Lithuania. In an agreement reached with the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations, Juozas Budreika, 79, admitted that he willfully misrepresented and concealed his service in the Lithuanian Schutzmannschaft (Protective Detachment) when he applied… More ▸
Federal prosecutors have filed a motion in Boston asking a court to find that an accused war criminal admitted to taking part in destroying the Jewish population of Vilnius, Lithuania, during World War II. Prosecutors said this week that the motion was filed because Aleksandras Lileikis, 88, who was lived for years in Norwood, Mass.,… More ▸
Survivors of the Nazi occupation of Lithuania say they are not surprised by last week’s decision by the Lithuanian government to put aside the extradition of Aleksandras Lileikis to stand trial for alleged war crimes. “What do you expect?” said Paul Bagriansky of Newton, Mass., when asked his reaction to the decision. “I expected nothing… More ▸
On the outskirts of Vilnius, tucked in a courtyard behind rows of gray Stalinist buildings, dozens of workers in paint-splattered overalls, frantically hammer away so that the only Jewish day school here will be ready to open in its new home Sept. 1. “Last year there were 170 children. This year there will be 200,”… More ▸
The president of Lithuania has offered a public apology to the Jewish people for the mass murder of Lithuania’s Jews by his country’s citizens during World War II. Addressing the Knesset on Wednesday, the second day of a state visit, President Algirdas Brazauskas sought forgiveness for the role his people played in the murder of… More ▸
Lithuanian President Algirdas Brazauskas Launched a historic state visit to Israel this week, saying he was ashamed of his country’s participation in the murder of Jews during World War II. Brazauskas arrived in Israel on Tuesday with a delegation of 29 businessmen and his foreign minister for a three-day trip aimed at boosting ties between… More ▸
In an about face, the Lithuanian government has decided to reopen the case of an alleged Nazi war criminal. Two weeks ago, Lithuania said it did not have enough evidence to prosecute Aleksandras Lileikis, 87, of Norwood, Mass. The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to deport Lileikis. The department contends that as head of the… More ▸
