Wiesenthal Center Urges Lithuanian Government To Reconsider Decision To Pass Bill Prohibiting Sale Of Books Which "Distort Lithuanian History"

Jerusalem-The Simon Wiesenthal Center today called upon the Lithuanian government to reconsider its decision announced late last week to pass a law which would prohibit the sale of books which"distort Lithuanian history."
In a statement issued here today by its director of Eastern European affairs Holocaust historian Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center emphasized that such a law would be yet another step taken inLithuania to hide the truth about Lithuanian complicity in Holocaust crimes.

According to Zuroff:
"Given the consistent efforts of the Lithuanian government to hide, or at least minimize, the highly significant role played by Lithuanian Nazi collaborators in the murder of Jews during theHolocaust, the passing of such a law is hardly surprising. Yet it represents a more drastic attempt to silence those local historians who, despite various obstacles, have written objectivelyabout the Holocaust in Lithuania, as well as books like MÅ«siškiai, which exposed the collaboration of all strata of Lithuanian society in implementing the Final Solution. It is hard to believethat, while Lithuania is currently celebrating the 100th anniversary of its independence, its Parliament is about to pass a law reminiscent of dictatorships like the Soviet Union."

For additional information please contact the Israel Office of the Wiesenthal Center: Tel: 972-2-563-1274 or Tel: 972-50-721-4156, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal @EZuroff 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 UnitedStates. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).