Minister of Defense Arvydas Anusauskas
Lithuania’s current defense minister, Dr. Arvydas Anusauskas, is a Holocaust revisionist and antisemite. I have spoken of him many times, in many articles, which are listed at the conclusion of this article.
Dr. Anusauskas claims to hold Western values. I therefore call on him to answer why Lithuania’s military continues to glorify the Holocaust perpetrator named Jonas Noreika.
Here is the edition of Lithuania’s official military magazine that honors Noreika:
Long before World War II, when he became one of Lithuania’s primary apex genocidal murderers, Jonas Noreika authored “Hold Your Head High, Lithuanian!” (“Pakelk galvą, lietuvi!”). It is Lithuania’s own equivalent of Adolf Hitler’s infamous Mein Kampf and it is now taught to conscripts in the Lithuanian army and those who dream of becoming a Lithuanian military officer. These are the words of Lithuania’s military, as seen in this Google translated page of the official re-publication of Noreika’s hate material.
The Lithuanian Defense Ministry added an introduction to Noreika’s words in their re-publication: “Works of officer of the interwar Military Academy of Lithuania, editor of the ‘Cadet’ (‘Kariūnas’) magazine, writer, novelist, and journalist, prominent organizer and leader of the Lithuanian Armed Forces captain Jonas Noreika-General Vėtra (1910-1947), published in this book, are first of all meant to be read by the cadets of Military Academy of Lithuania, as well as cadets and high-school students all over the country, young riflemen, and all those whose dream is to be a military officer of Lithuania, who are interested in the history of Lithuanian military, military in general, and the daily life of military officers.”
After a multi decade campaign of denying the truth of this vile man, the Lithuanian government has finally capitulated and admitted Noreika’s crimes. Previously, in order to protect his ill-deserved reputation, Lithuania has undermined its own courts and government agencies, casting grave doubt on the integrity of its institutions. Lithuania is the only country in the world to have gone to court in an attempt to burnish the reputation of a genocidal murderer.
And it should not for a moment be assumed that the hatred in Jonas Noreika’s 1933 pamphlet “Hold Your Head High, Lithuanian!”, is out of place in 21st Century Lithuania. The entire text, with no edits or clarifications, was reprinted in the 2016 book, “Trace in the Morning Frost” (“Brydė ryto šerkšne”).
Noreika also went by the name of “General Storm.” Minister Anušauskas was the “scientific” editor of V. Ašmenskas’s book “General Storm”. He also wrote this Holocaust deception article on Noreika: https://lithuaniatribune.com/mp-anusauskas-on-testimony-of-jesuit-priest-on-jonas-noreika-general-storm/. Defense Minister Anusauskas is either incredibly stupid, or a determined liar. We know he is willing to lie about the greatest crime in the country’s history. To me, this signals that there is nothing about which he would not lie. In my opinion, he has neither legitimacy nor integrity. Western powers should be very careful in dealings with this man.
No member state of the European Union and member of NATO should be teaching open racism and genocide while simultaneously objecting to Russia’s crimes. Defense Minister Anusauskas needs to provide official answers before the NATO Summit begins in July, 2023. He should apologize to the world for his deceptions.
A list of my articles mentioning Lithuania’s Defense Minister Anusauskas:
August 7, 2019: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/will-lithuania-pass-the-skirpa-test/
September 6, 2021: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/defending-the-indefensible-2/
November 13, 2021: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/fit-for-high-office/
March 11, 2022: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/idf-witnesses-in-uniform/
July 19, 2022: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/undermining-international-education/
August 12, 2022: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/holocaust-perpetrators-presented-as-victims/
September 4, 2022: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-value-of-a-jewish-life/
September 12, 2022: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/silent-testimony/
October 11, 2022: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/america-and-israel-beware/
November 15, 2022: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-roadmap-for-putin/
November 23, 2022: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/nato-2023-in-lithuania-rife-with-political-pitfalls/
December 1, 2022: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/they-have-done-it-again/
December 27, 2022: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-value-of-a-jewish-life/
May 6, 2023: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-value-of-a-jewish-life/