Abstract

There is a saying of warfare: inter arma silent musae – when arms speak, muses are silent. And yet some Lithuanian journalists had found their inspiration even in 1941 – when Lithuania was at the epicenter of war and the Holocaust. Later on, this period will be defined as the darkest page in the history of Lithuanian journalism,1 because the genocide of the Jews had been accompanied by an outbreak (on a scale previously unseen) of anti-Semitism in Lithuanian press. It is a well-known but little-studied case. Moreover, usually anti-Semitism within the press was interpreted only as an integral part of the Nazi propaganda in Lithuania. It is not surpris­ing, since this already mythical concept appears as a “phantom,” most often when someone wishes to employ easily understandable arguments for justi­fication or explanation. Political activists sought to restore the independence of Lithuania in the summer of 1941. It was the main reason why they also rebuilt press orga­nizations in the country. Initially, it was certainly not a Nazi propaganda project. Therefore, the same Lithuanian activists could be held responsible for the escalation of hate aimed at Jews as much as the Germans. On the other hand, Lithuanian anti-Semitism can be seen in many ways: as a form of revenge, a collaboration strategy or an uncritical adoption of totalitar­ian Nazi rhetoric, finally, as an integral part of Lithuanian nationalism or National Socialism – a pragmatic ideology used to achieve political goals. So, this essay revolves around two main questions: who and why pub­lished the anti-Semitic writings within Lithuanian press in 1941? Study findings are based on a combination of primary sources and secondary liter­ature. This study was also supplemented by an analysis of hundreds of anti- Semitic articles (their headlines and content) published June 24-December 31, 1941. The purpose of this analysis is to characterize the discourse of anti-Semitism in Lithuanian press. Our study seeks to identify the authors of these publications and their sources, determine the most common topics and genres, as well as to see whether there was a proposition (direct or indirect) to prosecute and use physical violence or even murder Jewish individuals.

Highlights

  • During the Soviet occupation, the Holocaust was one of the purposely-forgotten subjects of the history of World War II in Lithuania

  • This period will be defined as the darkest page in the history of Lithuanian journalism,1 because the genocide of the Jews had been accompanied by an outbreak of anti-Semitism in Lithuanian press

  • The negative attitude of the media toward the Jews is presented in a number of monographs, but only a few historians have analyzed the content of these publications, among them Linas Venclauskas,3 Algis Kasparavičius,4 Alfonsas Eidintas,5 Liudas Truska

Read more

Summary

Introduction

During the Soviet occupation, the Holocaust was one of the purposely-forgotten subjects of the history of World War II in Lithuania. Before World War II, Keliuotis had expressed a similar hostile attitude toward Jews – in his book The Social Ideals, the author prophetically argued that the Jews were provoking frustration and that sooner or later Lithuanians will request a review of Jewish rights in the country.22 Such statements are far from the “angriest” form of anti-Semitism; it is important to remember that Mr Keliuotis was a Catholic-minded nationalist, and an intellectual. Before World War II, Lithuanian anti-Semitism was based on economic issues and the leaders of a new nation-state justified anti-Jewish sentiments to a certain degree. The real threat to the Jewish community arose only after the rapid and dramatic political changes during 1939-1940, when the illusion to identify Soviet authorities only with the Jews spread widely in Lithuania

LAF’s Role and Attitude Toward the Jews
Analysis of the anti-Semitic articles
End of June – Beginning of August
Beginning of August – End of December
Findings
Conclusions
Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.