WJC opposes Chicago monument honoring Lithuanian commander alleged to have collaborated with Nazis to murder Jews

 The World Jewish Congress regrets the decision of the Lithuanian-American community in Chicago to dedicate a monument in the city, with the support of the Lithuanian government, in honor of World War II-era commander Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas.
 
At a time of surging antisemitism and increasing denial and obfuscation of the facts of the Holocaust, it is disturbing that the Lithuanian diaspora and the government of Lithuania itself would choose to honor a figure whose personal involvement in the oppression and destruction of the Jewish community during World War II and the Nazi occupation of Lithuania remains in question.
 
We join our affiliate, the Lithuanian Jewish Community, in noting that there should be no opposition to honoring war-era officials and nationalists whose records are absolutely clear of guilt with regard to their treatment of Jews at that time. However, the very fact that the details of Ramanauskas’ own collaboration and involvement are unverified solidifies the position of the World Jewish Congress that paying tribute to his activities runs the very real risk of glorifying Nazi collaboration and the systematic attempt to annihilate European Jewry.