VILNIUS - A list displaying close to a thousand names, along with the location and the occupations of alleged Jew murderers from World War II has been discovered online on a Web site authored by the Association of Lithuanian Jews in Israel, angering many Lithuanians who feel falsely accused by the Web site.
"May God punish these cowards. May they and their associates and closest collaborators and their descendant and offspring, stand defamed cursed to all posterity," reads the Web site at the end of each of the lists of names, which are organized by region.
The Web site has been lambasted by the Lithuanian Jewry who are fighting an uphill battle of reconciliation between Lithuanian Jews and mainstream society.
"The Jewish community doesn't blame any nation," Simonas Gurevicius, the head of the Lithuanian Jewish community told The Baltic Times.
"I believe the son is not guilty for the actions of the father, but the son has to learn from what was done and if he or she doesn't learn from the mistakes, they have to take responsibility."
Gurevicius said that this is a backwards step in mending the rift in society.
"Not accusing is the way to make the future 's this is the way for our nations to live together. Accusing one anther is not a good way."
"Only the court can say who is guilty and who the one not guilty is. Justice has to be equal. The moral pain of the holocaust survivors 's I feel this, but this is not an argument to put the names up. Many of them probably did collaborate with the Nazis, but they weren't found guilty. They should have given these names to the prosecutors, not publish them." Gurevicius said.
"Just putting these names on the webpage, it can create more tensions. People who are neutral to the issue will get offended. Young people, who aren't involved but their nation is accused, they get offended. We have to be very, very careful," he added.
Sarunas Liekis of the Yiddish Institute told TBT the Web site had been in existence for some time, but that it had come to light only because radicals on both sides had begun to communicate.
"This is a clear manipulation 's there are extreme right-wingers in Israel and there are extreme right-wingers in Lithuania and they are happy to throw stones at each other."
"They accuse these people who they have never seen and some of them were not in the genocide. These people [who write the Web site] are extreme right-wingers and scholars don't talk to them," Liekis said.
Despite being disparaged by the local Jewry, the Web site has angered some elements of society.
Some, who have had their relatives names published in the Web site, feel that the claims are fallacious and should be amended.
Parliamentarian Auksute Ramanauskaite-Skokauskiene said she was shocked to see her father's name on the list. Her father, Adolfas Ramanauskas, is a renowned freedom fighter in the country.
"I think that this is ridiculous 's it can't be true because my father is a fighter for freedom and is very tolerant and it can't be true. He has even received awards for being a guerilla fighter against the Soviets," she said.She is yet to decide on what action to take against the Web site owners, who are not contactable.
A spokesperson for the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) told TBT that there could be reason to make claims against the Web site, but they require personal complaints from the relatives of those concerned in order to act.
"They could sue those who put this info into the Web site for libel if the information isn't true. The people are in Israel, but the organization is known and it is possible to investigate," Aurelija Juodyte, press spokesperson at the PGO said.
"According to our law, these things go by private law and so the relatives have to complain. These things could only be publicly investigated if it was publicly relevant. The prosecutors are looking to see if this is of public importance," she said.
The Web site also contains photos of those who are alleged to be particularly prominent criminals in the genocide of Lithuania where over 90 percent of the Jewry were killed.
The lists can be viewed at
http://www.lithuanianjews.org.il
