The Simon Wiesenthal Center today praised an op-ed in the
popular Lithuanian news portal Lrytas.lt by prominent journalist VytautasBruveris calling upon the government to finally undertake a comprehensive investigation of the scope of Lithuanian complicity in Holocaust crimes.
In a statement issued here today by its chief Nazi hunter, Dr. Efraim Zuroff, who is currently in Lithuania on a research expedition, theCenter expressed its appreciation and support for the content of the article and expressed the hope that the government would indeed implement the ideas raised by Bruveris.
According to Zuroff:
"This important article by Bruveris, following a recent op-ed in the same spirit by journalist Rimvydas Valatka (on July 26 in www.delfi.com), points togrowing awareness in the circles of Lithuanian intelligentsia of the necessity to finally fully investigate the role and scope of Lithuanian collaborators in Holocaust crimes.
Also of great significance is the call to stop the glorification of Lithuanian freedom fighters who actively participated in the murder of Jews during the Holocaust. These public calls for suchan investigation will hopefully mark a positive turning point in the history of Lithuania's dealing with its Holocaust past and, if acted upon, will no doubt significantly help improveLithuanian-Jewish relations."
For more information: Dr. Efraim Zuroff 972.50.721.4156, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agenciesincluding the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).
