THE JEWISH CHRONICLE 3 february 2012 thejc.com WORLD NEWS 11 world news Photo: AP Lithuania attacked over Shoah retort jc reporter troversial subject but wanted to write to you to say you are not alone and eve- v The Lithuanian government has ry decent British and European citizen met intense opposition after its For- stands with you.” Suffering in the Jewish ghetto of Slobodka in a suburb of Kovno, Lithuania, taken between 1941 and 1945 eign Minister criticised eight of his And Dr Shimon Alperovich, the country’s parliamentarians for sign- 83-year-old head of the Jewish Commu- ing a declaration which rejects the nity of Lithuania said at a Holocaust “Double ” theory — that Remembrance Day event last week: were as culpable for atrocities during “Even today there are people who the Second World War as the Nazis. adhere to the Double Genocide theory, A fight over history’s tragic truth On January 20, the 70th anniversary that Jews murdered Lithuanians, and of the Wannsee Conference that codi- so Lithuanians therefore murdered Around a million Jews perished by five times, equalising Nazi and fied the “”, 70 European Jews. An absurdity. One should not analysis bullets there. Here in , Soviet rule. Its demands: overhaul of parliamentarians from 19 EU states even have to enter into discussion with denial, never viable, has been textbooks, a single commemoration signed the Seventy Years Declaration, such people.” replaced by a new ruse: Holocaust day, and a “Nuremberg” process for which explicitly The Seventy Years Declaration rejects v Seventy years is the lifespan for obfuscation. Deflate Nazi crimes, communists. rejects attempts Paper rejects the “Double Genocide” theory inherent latterday humans. It is also the years inflate Soviet crimes, redefine “geno- But 70 parliamentarians from to “obfuscate” the attempts to in the 2008 cham- that have passed since Hitler’s “Final cide” by law, and find ways to turn 19 EU states have now signed . obfusticate pioned by East European nationalists. Solution” Wannsee Conference. In local killers into heroes to fault Jew- Seventy Years Declaration. A bold Lithuania’s For- the Shoah It also attacks the policy in a number the half year beforehand, the Nazis ish survivors. In 2008, a group of East new reaffirmation. The legacy of the eign Minister, a of East European states of using state saw how easy it was to find enthusi- European members of the European Holocaust shall not be undermined. member of the right-wing nationalist resources to honour Hitler’s local col- astic local killers in the parts of East- Parliament proclaimed the “Prague The writer is editor of defendinghistory. government, called the eight Lithua- laborators and, in some cases, actual ern Europe they invaded in June 1941. Declaration”. It has the word “same” com nians who signed the document Holocaust murderers, for being “anti- “pathetic”. He went on to say that “Hit- Soviet” heroes. ler’s moustache was shorter”, imply- The declaration also rejects the ing that there was no other difference Prague Declaration demand to have between the two dictators. European textbooks rewritten to treat This week, British MP Denis Mac- Nazi and Soviet crimes “the same way”. Shane sent letters of support to the It also praises the “nobility of Jewish eight parliamentarians. partisans who survived ghettos or He says in the letter: “I know it must camps and went on to fight the Nazis be lonely to take a stand on such a con- and their allies”.

No date for Anti-gay new talks rabbi back v a month after Israel and the Pales- vAmsterdam’s Orthodox Ashkena- tinian Authority resumed direct nego- zi community has reinstated its Chief tiations, they already seem to have Rabbi, Aryeh Ralbag, who was suspend- reached an impasse. ed two weeks ago for signing an online The talks, that took place in a series declaration calling on homosexuals to of five meetings under Jordanian aus- try to overcome their inclinations. pices in Amman with the participa- The community’s action against the tion of representatives of the Quartet, New York-based rabbi, who travels to (the US, Russia, the EU and the UN), the Netherlands several times a year, have foundered over the Palestinian had prompted a torrent of protests demand for a more detailed proposal from across the Orthodox rabbinic from Israel on the future borders of a world. Palestinian state. On Monday the strictly Orthodox In the final meeting, last Wednes- Agudath Israel of America wrote to the day, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s rep- community to say that it was “trou- resentative, Yitzhak Molcho, presented bling” to suspend a rabbi for “express- a summary of Israel’s position that ing his religious conviction”. included the principles of security The Conference of European Rabbis arrangements and territorial exchang- welcomed Rabbi Ralbag’s reinstate- es that would allow most Israelis liv- ment on Wednesday as “a wise step in ing across the Green Line to remain in the interests of the Amsterdam com- their homes. munity”. A CER spokesman said: “We No new date has been set for further believe the summary suspension of talks. UN Secretary General, Ban ki- Rabbi Ralbag for stating his halachic Moon, who is visiting this Israel this viewpoint was premature and mis- week, urged the two sides to return guided and we are very pleased that immediately to negotiations. the community has decided now to The Israeli Embassy refused a request work through these issues in a positive for comment. and consultative manner.”