Anti-Semitism in Lithuania, 2009–2010

The main anti-Semitic problem of Lithuanian society involves historic memory and crimes during the Holocaust. Quite a few observers believe that official Vilnius does not do enough for learning the identities of and former Nazi criminals and their condemnation. There are many questions connected with the aspiration of the authorities to equal the tragedy of the Holocaust and the crimes against the people of the republic during the Soviet occupation. The attempts to condemn members of the anti-Nazi resistance for war crime, in particular the famous Israeli historian of the Holocaus Yitzhak Arad, have gathered significant international resonance.

In 2010, two anti-Semitic acts were recorded in Lithuania. Both were aimed at synagogues.

On the early morning of April 21, in the city of Sveksna of the Silute Distict municipality, a flag with a swastika had been found on a non-functioning synagogue. The flag seems to have been put up on the previous day, the 20th of April – Hitler's birthday.

The second incident caused a far greater public response. On the 21st of August, a pig head with a Chasidic hat and side-locks reminiscent of the side-locks of religious Jews had been found near a Kaunas synagogue.

In both cases the anti-Semites were not found.