Subscribe to Print Edition | Tue., July 08, 2008 Tamuz 5, 5768 | | Israel Time: 03:16 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Peres Conference Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Tensions mount over probe into Jewish 'war crimes' By Lana Gersten and Marc Perelman A meeting between Jewish communal officials and Lithuania's prime minister did not dispel increasing tension over Lithuania's investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Jewish partisans during World War II. During a visit to New York, Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas made stops at both the American Jewish Committee and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. At both places, he was grilled on a current judicial probe in which three Jewish partisans, all of whom fought with the Red Army's anti-Nazi resistance movement, are being questioned. Advertisement The three people being questioned, including a former chairman of Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust museum and two women who give tours of the Vilnius (Vilna) Ghetto, have denied the allegations. While no charges have been pressed, and the details of the probe remain cloaked in secrecy, it is known that Lithuanian authorities are looking to interrogate the Jewish suspects about their role in a January 1944 massacre in the village of Koniuchy (now Kaniukai), Lithuania. Given that only three Lithuanians have ever been tried for wartime crimes against Jews - nearly 200,000 of whom were murdered - the ongoing investigation of Jews has not gone over well outside Lithuania. There had been rumblings before Kirkilas's trip that the probes may be dropped, but the prime minister's visit with Jewish communal officials only heightened tensions. "There was a fair degree of frustration and disappointment because there was nothing really forthcoming, nothing new, no commitments, no promises," said Andrew Baker, director of international Jewish affairs at AJC. "We are all puzzled at why the investigation isn't closed." Lithuania was once home to one of the world's most vibrant Jewish communities and was a hub of Jewish scholarship. YIVO, the organization that Kirkilas visited in New York, was based in the Lithuanian capital before World War II. It is estimated that more than 90 percent of Lithuanian Jews were killed, one of the highest rates in Europe, during the war. More recently, anti-Semitism has been a continuing problem in the country. Kirkilas was in the United States for a series of meetings in New York and Washington with government officials. His office initially contacted YIVO in order to request a tour of its library collection. More recently, the executive director of YIVO, Carl Rheins, asked to add the probe of the Jewish partisans to the agenda. The probe appears to focus on Yitzhak Arad, former chairman of Yad Vashem. Arad was appointed in 2005 by Lithuania's president to a high-level commission examining past war crimes. As a part of his work, Arad drew the ire of right-wing groups when he publicly asked that the country address the role of Lithuanians in the murder of Jews during the Holocaust. After a number of attacks on Arad in right-wing Lithuanian newspapers, Lithuania's chief prosecutor opened a pretrial investigation of Arad's wartime actions in Kaniukai. A Polish institute had earlier found that 38 people in the town were killed in 1944 by a Soviet anti-Nazi unit consisting of 120 to 150 people, including both Jews and non-Jews. In June 2007, Israel was formally asked to question Arad - a request that Israel declined. Since then, Lithuanian authorities also have questioned two women: Fania Branstovsky, a former partisan and now a librarian at the Vilnius Yiddish Institute, and Rachel Margolis, who wrote a memoir about her experiences in the resistance. "The murderers are now becoming national heroes," Arad told the Forward, "and we, the few surviving victims who took up arms and fought the murderers, are under investigation as criminals." Before his visit to the United States, Kirkilas met with Branstovsky in an apparent gesture of good will, though he did not give any indications that the investigation would be shelved. Jewish communal officials say that Kirkilas expressed "shock" about the probe of Arad at his meetings in New York but declined to condemn it or to promise any changes. After the meeting, an official at the Lithuanian Consulate in New York told the Forward that "The prime minister expressed his personal sorrow that such cases as Arad's are going on; however, justice must prevail, and everybody has to face justice." Rheins says that he told Kirklas how much the incident was damaging Lithuania's reputation abroad. "These are absurd charges," Rheins said. "It's an outrage that these charges are being leveled. Even seeking these people as witnesses is obscene." By arrangement with the Forward. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Prisoner exchange Israel signs swap deal, begins exhuming bodies of Hezbollah guerillas. Provocative questions Gaydamak tells TAU student to 'shut up and go to hell' over Angola question.

Read & React Barak outlaws 36 NGOs for Hamas fundraising Responses: 149 Akiva Eldar: Terrorist reflected mood of thousands in J'lem Responses: 76 Yehuda Ben Meir: For a united J'lem, spare the terrorist's home Responses: 41 Israel to exhume bodies of Hezbollah men ahead of swap Responses: 33 More Headlines 01:19 Israel signs swap deal, begins exhuming bodies of Hezbollah guerillas 00:44 ANALYSIS / Ron Arad info crucial in advancing Hezbollah deal 01:22 Assad: Direct talks with Israel only after Bush leaves office 21:51 Olmert lambasts Labor for being unreliable and weak 02:51 Nazi hunters arrive in Chile seeking Mauthausen 'Dr. Death' 23:24 Israel to close Gaza crossings Tuesday in wake of mortar fire 22:26 Italy to expel Palestinian who took part in Achille Lauro cruise hijacking 02:53 Kinneret hits red line, endangering water quality 02:09 Accidents on Ayalon Freeway plummet after billboards removed 02:37 Russian-born U.S. billionaire offers to buy Ma'ariv 22:49 Katsav to Treasury: Give me a luxury car, lavish Tel Aviv office 19:18 Ahmadinejad: Israel and U.S. won't dare attack Iran 18:13 Just 10 of 66,000 Holocaust survivors' heirs get assets back 21:31 Abbas meets with Islamic Jihad leader in Syria, but no sign of Hamas encounter Previous Editions Select Day 07 jul 06 jul 04 jul 03 jul 02 jul 01 jul 30 jun 29 jun 27 jun 26 jun 25 jun 24 jun

Special Offers Advertisement Dan Hotels Israel Live the Legend & experience an Unforgettable Summer Vacation Yossi Avrahami Presents: New Luxurious Projects in North Tel Aviv & Eilat Jerusalem of Gold Luxury apartments in Jerusalem's finest location Holyland Park Jerusalem Apartment Tower World Class Luxury In the heart of Tel-Aviv The Meier on Rothschild tower Your vacation starts here Israel Travel Center Guaranteed Lowest Rates Hebrew Summer courses From $39.95 Pardes Institute Summer Sessions http://www.pardes.org.il/ Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel

birthright Israel | Search engine marketing

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved