Wiesenthal Center Welcomes Lithuanian Adoption Of Antisemitism Definition

January 25, 2018

The Simon Wiesenthal Center today welcomed the news that Lithuania has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism.                                                                                  

Mark Weitzman, the Wiesenthal Center’s Director of Government Affairs who as the past Chair of IHRA’s Committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial spearheaded the IHRA’s adoption of the Definition said that “the news that Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius tweeted this morning that Lithuania was endorsing the IHRA definition is a very welcome and positive step. By becoming the eighth country to adopt the definition Lithuania has recognized the need for an international standard in fighting antisemitism, and has placed itself among those countries committed to fighting history’s longest hate.”

Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Wiesenthal Center's Chief Nazi-hunter and director for Eastern European Affairs, said, “The Center hopes that this step is also an indication of the Lithuanian government's willingness to reexamine several problematic issues of Holocaust distortion which have cropped up in recent years in the Baltic Republic.”

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036. Join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).

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