Boston City Councilor Mike Ross had always admired U.S. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. But when Ross presented the issue of Lithuanian Jews being prosecuted by the country's government for resisting pro-Nazi forces during World War II, he was startled by the senator's response.
"I was very impressed by the senator; he was very well-informed on the matter," Ross said of Kerry, who assured him that the matter would be presented to the Lithuanian ambassador. "It was brought to his attention, and he came prepared to discuss it and act on the info we provided."
The information was provided by two Holocaust survivors: Steve Ross (Mike's father and the founder of the New England Holocaust Memorial) and Israel "Izzy" Arbeiter, founder and president of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston and the man who initially alerted Mike Ross to the matter. Both were present at the meeting with Kerry.
The meeting addressed the Lithuanian government's targeting of three elderly Jews who defended themselves against a Nazi-backed military action in the village of Kaniukai, Lithuania, in 1944. The assault resulted in the death of 38 villagers, and now, more than 50 years later, three of the village's survivors are again under attack by their government.
On Sept. 24, Lithuanian prosecutors said they are dropping the war crimes probe of one of the three Jews in question, Yitzhak Arad, an Israeli Holocaust historian who served with Soviet forces in the Baltic state. In a statement, the Lithuanian prosecutor's office cited a "failure to collect sufficient data grounding primary suspicions." The historian came under investigation after his memoir revealed that he was a member of the partisan Vilnius Battalion, which fought against the Nazis during their occupation in the early 1940s.
"They were in a war and they were fighting against the Nazis and the Nazis' corroborators," said Arbeiter. "It's very important to bring situations such as this to forefront. Obviously, without the help of others, it wouldn't have gotten to this point."
Acting as a liaison between Arbeiter and Kerry, Ross quickly deflected any due credit to the senator. He also mentioned that Kerry's actions should be looked at in context; he was days away from a pressing primary.
"John Kerry demonstrated himself to be a capable, caring public servant," Ross said. "He was five days away from his own [Democratic primary] election. Really, in the grand scheme, it could've been handled by a staffer, but it was handled by Kerry. Here is a person who has an international profile that took time out for us."
Through an e-mail correspondence, Kerry revealed his motives for making time for the meeting.
"I've known Mike [Ross] for a long time and know of his own connection to the Holocaust," the senator explained. "The mere suggestion [by prosecutors] that the actions taken by Lithuanian Jewish partisans acting out of undeniable self-defense are comparable to the barbaric and inhumane practices of the Nazi collaborators determined to hunt them down and kill them -- and every other Lithuanian Jew -- is absolutely outrageous."
Ross agreed.
"[The prosecution] was spearheaded by a rampantly anti-Semitic government and that's concerning on so many levels," he said. "But I was pleased to have an advocate in John Kerry. And Izzy did what he always does, which is bring these sorts of issues to people's attention."
Arbeiter was thrilled to hear that one of the indicted Jews was cleared of all charges, but he was adamant that there is still work to be done.
"I'm grateful to all the people that put so much work into this and all of the appeals," he said. "Whatever message was sent, it must've gotten to the Lithuanian government, the Jewish people and all other righteous-minded people who said that this is the right thing to do. The Lithuanian government should have dropped the charges against all of them long ago."

http://www.thejewishadvocate.com/this_weeks_issue/news/?content_id=5666