Debunk.org: According to the Kremlin’s media, Lithuania is one of the biggest spreaders of anti-Semitism

After realizing the terrible legacy of the Holocaust, these dates became part of the Western effort to turn the genocide of the Jewish people into a lesson about the threats of chauvinist ideology and possible consequences for future generations. Following the example of the West, in Russia the Holocaust was recognized as a tragedy for the Jewish people, unfortunately, in the long run, this did not turn into a lesson about the perniciousness of chauvinism.

In general, many important political events and concepts acquired different meanings both during the existence of the USSR and in present-day Russia than in the rest of the world. The main goals of this were basically two – justifying the activities of the ruling Kremlin regime and discrediting its enemies. The Holocaust, anti-Semitism, Nazism or similar concepts did not become exceptions.

According to Debunk.org chief analyst Algirdas Kazlauskas, the greatest human disaster created by chauvinism – the Holocaust – did not turn into a historical lesson in Russia to beware of the dangers posed by this ideology.

“Paradoxically, Moscow’s propagandists managed to create a fairy tale that Eastern and Central European countries that have escaped from the clutches of the Kremlin empire are allegedly the biggest spreaders of Nazism and anti-Semitism. These are precisely the countries that today announce the loudest to the world about the revival of chauvinism, in the form of the current Russian regime,” says the analyst.

According to research by the Debunk.org disinformation analysis center, in 2023 173 content units were published on the portals managed by persons in favor of the Kremlin regime with the greatest circulation, in which misleading information on the topic of anti-Semitism was found both in the assessment of Lithuanian historical events and today’s Lithuanian politics. This is almost the same as in 2022 (178 publications).

Realizing that Holocaust denial or other manifestations of anti-Semitism are viewed very sensitively in the West, Moscow’s propagandists use these topics to willingly spread true and especially false accusations against Lithuania and other closest neighbors.

“The tendency to discredit political opponents by accusing them of Nazism has especially intensified during the era of Vladimir Putin. Let’s remember that Putin is the greatest leader of the 20th century. geopolitical catastrophe called the collapse of the USSR empire, which in its essence was the bearer of the idea of ​​Russian chauvinism. Conveniently omitting that in the same 20th century even two world wars and the aforementioned Holocaust took place. This is an unequivocal statement that shows the priority of chauvinist-imperial ambition that disregards human dignity,” said the Debunk.org analyst.

The main narrative, most often repeated by pro-Kremlin media, is that a new wave of Nazism, anti-Semitism and “Russophobia” is rising in the Baltic countries and in the West in general. Putin himself sets the tone for this, quoted in 2023. September 5 in the text on the website of Rossijskaja Gazeta: “The current challenges of that time show that in 1945 Nazism was defeated but not destroyed. It manifests itself again in the same Russophobia or anti-Semitism, and glorification of Nazi criminals, direct propaganda of Nazism, for example, in the Baltic countries and Ukraine, has already become the norm. It’s as if Nuremberg never happened.”

It is important to note that the main motive of this narrative is to instill in society the association that what the Jews experienced in the interwar period and during the Second World War is supposedly being experienced by the Russians at the moment, both in the former Soviet colonies and in the entire West. “There is no shame in emphasizing that “Russophobia” increased especially after the start of the “special military operation”, without bothering to explain that many were naturally indignant about the crimes against humanity committed by the Russian army,” says A. Kazlauskas.

Website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia on September 29. published the statement of its representative to the OSCE, which more clearly voices the Kremlin’s position that yesterday’s anti-Semitism is today’s “Russophobia”: “Neo-Nazism and Russophobia have become the norm not only for the Kiev regime, but also for Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. With the start of Russia’s special military operation, the situation there has reached a new level of absurdity. We repeatedly drew attention to the complete discrimination of the Russian and Russian-speaking population, the destruction of the Soviet historical and memorial heritage, as well as to a real war against the spirits of the dead.”

According to the Debunk.org analyst, it can be noticed that the Russian shoe is designed as a 21st century. victims, image. In general, the role of the victim is permeated through the worldview propagated by the official Kremlin. And next to declaring oneself a victim, an allusion is created that any supposed self-defense measures, whatever the Russian authorities choose, are possible and justified.

Another important and often repeated narrative is that persons who supposedly carried out the Holocaust with their own hands are worshiped as national heroes in Lithuania. “The media under the control of the Kremlin create the impression that the cult of anti-Semitic personalities who carried out the Holocaust dominates in Lithuania. The personalities of Jonas Noreikas, Adolfos Ramanauskas, Kazios Škirpa, Juozas Krištaponis have traditionally received the most attention.

It’s true, even Vytautas Landsbergis’ father cast a shadow this time,” said A. Kazlauskas. For example, Sputnik wrote on January 27, on the occasion of the International Day of Holocaust Victims, that “according to certain data”, he held the position of minister of communal economy in the Provisional Government during the Nazi occupation and directly participated in the expropriation of Jewish property.

A letter to Adolf Hitler was also mentioned, where he allegedly thanked the Führer for “liberation from Soviet occupation.” It was concluded that although he did not shoot Jews, he “contributed to the genocide”, and today his son and grandson rule Lithuania. “It kind of lets the reader know that a state run by supposed anti-Semites is necessarily Nazi,” said a Debunk.org analyst.

According to the Debunk.org research, it is important to note that the publication of negative messages about Lithuania on the most popular Russian portals coincided with important historical dates. Targeted disinformation was published on the occasion of the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and Victory Day, ostensibly as a reminder that Lithuania is a Jew-worshipping, “Russophobic” state that regrets the victory over Nazism.

In addition, on June 15 Sputnik and August 22. RIA Novosti (ie on the anniversary of the June 1940 occupation and on the eve of the anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) published information about FBS declassified document packages allegedly linking the resistance of the Baltic countries to the execution of the Holocaust.