- Summary
- "This remarkable book traces the quest for the truth about the Holocaust in Lithuania by two ostensible enemies: Rūta a descendant of the perpetrators, Efraim a descendant of the victims. Rūta Vanagaitė, a successful Lithuanian writer, was motivated by her recent discoveries that some of her relatives had played a role in the mass murder of Jews and that Lithuanian officials had tried to hide the complicity of local collaborators. Efraim Zuroff, a noted Israeli Nazi hunter, had both professional and personal motivations. He had worked for years to bring Lithuanian war criminals to justice and to compel local authorities to tell the truth about the Holocaust in their country. The facts that his maternal grandparents were born in Lithuania and that he was named for a great-uncle who was murdered with his family in Vilnius with the active help of Lithuanians made his search personal as well. Our People exposes the significant role in implementing the Final Solution played by local political leaders and the prewar Lithuanian administration that remained in place during the Nazi occupation. It also tackles the sensitive issue of the motivation of thousands of ordinary Lithuanians who were complicit in the murder of their Jewish neighbors. At the heart of the book, these are the issues that Rūta and Efraim discuss, debate, and analyze as they crisscross the country to visit dozens of Holocaust mass murder sites in Lithuania and neighboring Belarus. This book follows them on their remarkable journey as they search for neglected graves, interview eyewitnesses, and uncover hints of the rich life that had existed in hundreds of Jewish communities throughout Lithuania."-- Provided by the publisher.
- Uniform Title
- Mūsiškiai. English
- Format
- Book
- Author/Creator
- Vanagaitė, Rūta, author.
- Published
- Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield, [2020]
©2020
- Locale
- Lithuania
- Contents
-
Introduction: Efraim Zuroff: Lithuania and the Holocaust
Part I: Before the Journey
Efraim Zuroff: My Connection to Lithuania
Rūta Vanagaitė: My Connection to the Holocaust
Meeting the Enemy
Part II: Preparation for the Journey
Lithuania, 1941: Getting Rid of the Jews
Lithuania Today: Minimizing the Crimes
Mission Impossible?
Part III: Journey with the Enemy: Thirteen Destinations
Kaunas/Kovno
Linkmenys/Ligmiyan
Švenčionys/Shventzyan
Kavarskas/Kovarsk
Ukmergė/Vilkomir
Šeduva/Shadeve
Telšiai/Telz
Plungė/Plungyan
Plateliai/Plotel
Tauragė/Tavrig
Butrimonys/Butrimants
Panevėžys/Ponevezh
Belarus
Part IV: The Hell of Vilnius/Vilna
Portraits of the Witnesses
Portrait of a Student
Portrait of a Postman
Dreams of a Killer
Portraits of the Victims
Portrait of a Corpse-Burner
The Fates of the Killers
The Last Day
Part V: Conclusion
Human Faces of the Murderers
Lithuania Got Richer
The Farewell
Afterword: Rūta Vanagaitė: Lithuania Is Angry, Lithuania Is Sad.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Zuroff, Efraim, author.
- Notes
-
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction: Efraim Zuroff: Lithuania and the Holocaust -- Part I: Before the Journey -- Efraim Zuroff: My Connection to Lithuania -- Rūta Vanagaitė: My Connection to the Holocaust -- Meeting the Enemy -- Part II: Preparation for the Journey -- Lithuania, 1941: Getting Rid of the Jews -- Lithuania Today: Minimizing the Crimes -- Mission Impossible? -- Part III: Journey with the Enemy: Thirteen Destinations -- Kaunas/Kovno -- Linkmenys/Ligmiyan -- Švenčionys/Shventzyan -- Kavarskas/Kovarsk -- Ukmergė/Vilkomir -- Šeduva/Shadeve -- Telšiai/Telz -- Plungė/Plungyan -- Plateliai/Plotel -- Tauragė/Tavrig -- Butrimonys/Butrimants -- Panevėžys/Ponevezh -- Belarus -- Part IV: The Hell of Vilnius/Vilna -- Portraits of the Witnesses -- Portrait of a Student -- Portrait of a Postman -- Dreams of a Killer -- Portraits of the Victims -- Portrait of a Corpse-Burner -- The Fates of the Killers -- The Last Day -- Part V: Conclusion -- Human Faces of the Murderers -- Lithuania Got Richer -- The Farewell -- Afterword: Rūta Vanagaitė: Lithuania Is Angry, Lithuania Is Sad.
Translated from Lithuanian.
