Papers by Justas Stončius
Istorija, Mar 27, 2024
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Istorija
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Book review CERNEVICIŪTĖ, Sigita; KAUBRYS, Saulius. Kartuvių kilpa, kulka ir dujų kamera: mirties... more Book review CERNEVICIŪTĖ, Sigita; KAUBRYS, Saulius. Kartuvių kilpa, kulka ir dujų kamera: mirties bausmė Lietuvoje 1918–1940 metais: monografija. Vilnius: Gimtasis žodis, 2014. – 251, [2] p. ISBN 978-9955-16-529-3
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Istorija, 2015
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Deeds and Days
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STONČIUS, Justas. The Jewish Businesses in Palanga in the Interwar Period, 2017
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Žydų verslai Palangoje tarpukario laikotarpiu, 2017
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Soviet anti-Semitism was a specific phenomenon in the European anti-Semitism history as it never ... more Soviet anti-Semitism was a specific phenomenon in the European anti-Semitism history as it never had systemic or formal features and was more suggested or anticipated.The genesis of the hostility of the USSR, the transformation of the anti-Western attitude to “anti-cosmopolitism,” propaganda campaigns against Zionism and the policy of Israel state, and the features of Soviet anti-Semitism during the period of perestroika (перестройка) have been analysed sufficiently in historiography. On the other hand, among different pieces of research, anti-Semitic attacks after the Second World War, which caused wider resonance in society, have been scarcely discussed, and only episodic information about the incidents in Plungė in 1958, Malachovka (a suburb in Moscow) in 1959, in the Dagestan Autonomous Republic in 1960, in the Uzbek SSR in 1961-1962, and the Georgian SSR in 1962 has been provided. Thus, the aim of the present article is to reveal the anti-Semitic excesses recorded in the society layers of the Lithuanian SSR when the Jews faced a real physical threat in the context of the USSR.
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The article provides an analysis of anti-Semitic trends in the Lithuanian SSR in the period 1948–... more The article provides an analysis of anti-Semitic trends in the Lithuanian SSR in the period 1948–1953 based on the communist newspaper Tiesa and reminiscences of Jews. Hostility towards Jews was instigated at a state level in the Soviet Union, yet it manifested itself differently in peripheral republics. Therefore this study attempts to analyze the development of campaigns against “cosmopolitanism” and “doctors-saboteurs” in Lithuanian SSR and to reveal Jewish experiences in the anti-Semitic discourse built by the Soviet propaganda. The following
thesis is verified: propagandists employed anti-Semitism not so much to divert frustrations and dissatisfaction of the USSR citizens with the Soviet regime but rather to promote the assumption that the struggle against “enemies” inevitably requires reconciliation with systematic
repressions targeted at certain groups within society.
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The aim of the paper is, referring to the content of the Tiesa daily and documents kept in the Li... more The aim of the paper is, referring to the content of the Tiesa daily and documents kept in the Lithuanian Special Archives, to prove the statement that the image of Jews, created by Soviet propaganda, could have been aimed at inspiring anti-Semitism in public discourse. There was a close link between the anti-Zionist and anti-I srael campaigns carried out in the Soviet Union; Zionism, the ruling ideology of Israel, was presented as a tool used by imaginary and “hidden” powerful forces of international imperialism. After the Six Day Arab-I sraeli War in 1967 Israel’s aggressive and expansionary policy and Zionism became
a dominant theme in the Soviet media. Soviet propaganda tried to show that the Soviet Union was not against Jews, that its hatred was directed only towards Israel and Zionism. Criticism of Zionism and Israel as a Jewish state could have inspired hostility towards Jews and provoked anti-Semitism in part of the public. Ideological commentaries on the events in the Middle East, implications that “Jews are enemies and aggressors”, doubts over their loyalty to the USSR prevailed in Soviet propaganda. Anti-Semitism was demonstrated in many articles, Israel was shown as an aggressor, instrument of the US, enemy of socialism.
Articles presenting another opinion were eliminated from public discourse, efforts were made to force society to accept official opinion.
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After World War II the movies concerned with the Jews were eliminated from the Soviet
cinematogra... more After World War II the movies concerned with the Jews were eliminated from the Soviet
cinematography. Even though there were scenes of Nazi massacres of the Jews or related episodes,
the word ‘Jews’ was never mentioned. The Jews as a nation ended up outside of the screen and
became implicit characters because the Holocaust and Nazi crimes and their perception were
unified, making the Jews to ‘share’ the victim status with other ‘peaceful citizens’. The concept
‘Holocaust without Jews’ came into life as an identity of Nazi victims could have been guessed
only through allusions in the movies (archival footage from Jews’ mass killing, ghettos, and
concentration camps). Movies, as audiovisual representations of the past, tended to retouch the
Holocaust and sort of erase it from history. It was not in the best interest of the Soviet regime
to recognize the Jews as a focus group of the Third Reich genocide politics. The Holocaust
representation in the movies of the Lithuanian SSR was in line with the ideological line of the Soviet
historical memory politics. The allusions to the Holocaust were symbolic and had the function
of a stenographic element in the background of the main plot line. It was noticed that the Star of
David was often used to indirectly convey the passivity and insensibility of the people around in
the films of Soviet Lithuania. On the other hand, unlike the communist Polish cinematography,
less significant artistic expressions, there were no Jewish preservation moments and no intentions
to condemn antisemitism. There were no Jewish characters in the Lithuanian film studio. It may
be assumed that the indoctrination of the ideological mythology of the fascist crimes through
cinema was one of the elements, which produced a distorted perception of the Holocaust in the
Lithuanian collective consciousness.
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The file of foreign exchange traders is related to criminal
trials of currency exchange speculato... more The file of foreign exchange traders is related to criminal
trials of currency exchange speculators in the Soviet
Union (1961–1963). This file is reflected as a part of SSRS
anti-Semitic politics against Zionism in the historiography
data. This statement can be confirmed by the fact that
the ranks of the accused were dominated by the Jewish
people. The consequence of speculation was currency
exchange trading of the United States dollar and British
Pounds Sterling. The United States dollars bought by
currency exchange traders were sold to the citizens of
the USSR that aimed to travel abroad because they were
authorized to buy foreign currency for up to 30 rubles
of value. At the beginning KGB aimed to find out the
process of speculative exchange trading, therefore firstly
persecuted the suspects in Moscow and subsequently in
the whole USSR. As this file has never been researched
in the historiography of Lithuanian SSR, therefore current
theses are verified in this paper: was the USSR anti-
Semitic political direction reflected in the Lithuanian SSR?
What were the characteristics of the current campaign
propaganda in general? It was useful for the USSR to have
ideological – political “internal enemy” and criminal trials
inspired negative view of Jews – speculators. Thus Soviet
regime tried to ground its political legitimacy, the status
of “peaceful USSR” as well as it was tool of mass control
and social tension deflection, especially after unsuccessful
Nikita Khrushchev agro reforms. Leaders of USSR aimed
to avoid society dissatisfaction, therefore used the concept
of Jew-Scapegoat. However, anti-Semitism was already
positioned in the USSR society by latent forms, therefore
functioned as not evident but foreknown phenomenon.
Soviet propaganda did not lack rhetorical methods to cast
a new light on the question of Jewish population loyalty
to the regime. Even though non-socialistic behavior was
defined without national and religious identity having
involved, Jewish names and other semantic Jew’s image
details made picture that Jewish people participated in
the currency exchange trading speculations. Therefore
the making of Jews as the rhetoric figure of the USSR
propaganda is the main question analyzed in the research.
The noteworthy fact is that it was not useful for the Soviet
regime to accept Jews as the objective group for the Third
Reich genocide politics, because such a decision might
have invited to consider the idea if USSR is also against
the same group of Soviet citizens which was killed by the
Nazi regime. This circumstance affected tendencies for
the formation of negative Jews image which defined not
only the identity of currency exchange traders, but also
strengthened the influence of ideological anti-Semitic
attitudes in the society.
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Books by Justas Stončius
Neapykantos ribos: antisemitizmas Lietuvoje 1944–1990 metais, 2022
Neapykanta žydams Lietuvos istorijoje buvo religijos, modernizacijos procesų ir kaimyninių (okupa... more Neapykanta žydams Lietuvos istorijoje buvo religijos, modernizacijos procesų ir kaimyninių (okupacinių) valstybių įtakų (su)formuotas fenomenas. Jo raiška pasižymėjo dichotomija, t. y. tarp tų, kurie buvo laikomi „savais“ (krikščionys, lietuviakalbiai, valstiečiai ir „garbingi žemdirbiai“), ir „svetimųjų“ (žydai, kitakalbiai (jidiš), palūkininkai, lupikautojai). Šių skirtybių įveikoms (abipusiam pažinimui) kliudė tautinių grupių uždarumas, valstietiškos sanklodos visuomenei būdingas neišmanymas arba pragmatiniai (ekonominiai) interesai.
Atkūrus Lietuvos nepriklausomybę, antijudaizmo ir antisemitizmo Lietuvoje tyrimams buvo skiriamas nemenkas dėmesys. Istoriografijoje atskleistos neapykantos (diskriminacijos) žydams formos skirtingomis istorijos epochomis – Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės (LDK), Rusijos imperijos ir lietuvių tautinio atgimimo, tarpukario Lietuvos, pirmosios sovietinės ir nacistinės okupacijos laikotarpiais. Nepaisant atliktų reikšmingų ir išsamių studijų apie neapykantą žydų atžvilgiu, iki šiol dar menkai tyrinėtas antisemitizmas sovietų antrą kartą okupuotoje (reokupuotoje) Lietuvoje 1944–1990 metais.
Viena svarbiausių sovietinio režimo tezių buvo ta, kad konfliktai tarp skirtingų tautinių grupių išnyks tuomet, kai neliks išnaudojimo, ekonominės konkurencijos ir socialinės buržuazinės visuomenės klasės su jai būdingu priešiškumu žydams. To meto antisemitizmas Sovietų Lietuvoje formaliu požiūriu buvo persekiojamas ir negalėjo būti skleidžiamas dėl prieštaravimų pagrindiniams ideologiniams komunistinio režimo principams. Sovietmečiu Lietuvos SSR propagandiniame diskurse antisemitizmas buvo apibrėžiamas kaip iracionalus išankstinis nusistatymas prieš žydus, būdingas
carizmui, imperializmui ir kapitalizmui. Antisemitizmas buvo vertinamas kaip „nepažangiųjų“ sistemų „liekana“, kuri turėjo būti užkardoma, persekiojama ir taikoma baudžiamoji atsakomybė. Tačiau okupacijos metais per latentinį („paslėptą“, neakivaizdų) turinį sovietinis režimas formavo neigiamas nuostatas Lietuvos SSR žydų atžvilgiu.
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Papers by Justas Stončius
thesis is verified: propagandists employed anti-Semitism not so much to divert frustrations and dissatisfaction of the USSR citizens with the Soviet regime but rather to promote the assumption that the struggle against “enemies” inevitably requires reconciliation with systematic
repressions targeted at certain groups within society.
a dominant theme in the Soviet media. Soviet propaganda tried to show that the Soviet Union was not against Jews, that its hatred was directed only towards Israel and Zionism. Criticism of Zionism and Israel as a Jewish state could have inspired hostility towards Jews and provoked anti-Semitism in part of the public. Ideological commentaries on the events in the Middle East, implications that “Jews are enemies and aggressors”, doubts over their loyalty to the USSR prevailed in Soviet propaganda. Anti-Semitism was demonstrated in many articles, Israel was shown as an aggressor, instrument of the US, enemy of socialism.
Articles presenting another opinion were eliminated from public discourse, efforts were made to force society to accept official opinion.
cinematography. Even though there were scenes of Nazi massacres of the Jews or related episodes,
the word ‘Jews’ was never mentioned. The Jews as a nation ended up outside of the screen and
became implicit characters because the Holocaust and Nazi crimes and their perception were
unified, making the Jews to ‘share’ the victim status with other ‘peaceful citizens’. The concept
‘Holocaust without Jews’ came into life as an identity of Nazi victims could have been guessed
only through allusions in the movies (archival footage from Jews’ mass killing, ghettos, and
concentration camps). Movies, as audiovisual representations of the past, tended to retouch the
Holocaust and sort of erase it from history. It was not in the best interest of the Soviet regime
to recognize the Jews as a focus group of the Third Reich genocide politics. The Holocaust
representation in the movies of the Lithuanian SSR was in line with the ideological line of the Soviet
historical memory politics. The allusions to the Holocaust were symbolic and had the function
of a stenographic element in the background of the main plot line. It was noticed that the Star of
David was often used to indirectly convey the passivity and insensibility of the people around in
the films of Soviet Lithuania. On the other hand, unlike the communist Polish cinematography,
less significant artistic expressions, there were no Jewish preservation moments and no intentions
to condemn antisemitism. There were no Jewish characters in the Lithuanian film studio. It may
be assumed that the indoctrination of the ideological mythology of the fascist crimes through
cinema was one of the elements, which produced a distorted perception of the Holocaust in the
Lithuanian collective consciousness.
trials of currency exchange speculators in the Soviet
Union (1961–1963). This file is reflected as a part of SSRS
anti-Semitic politics against Zionism in the historiography
data. This statement can be confirmed by the fact that
the ranks of the accused were dominated by the Jewish
people. The consequence of speculation was currency
exchange trading of the United States dollar and British
Pounds Sterling. The United States dollars bought by
currency exchange traders were sold to the citizens of
the USSR that aimed to travel abroad because they were
authorized to buy foreign currency for up to 30 rubles
of value. At the beginning KGB aimed to find out the
process of speculative exchange trading, therefore firstly
persecuted the suspects in Moscow and subsequently in
the whole USSR. As this file has never been researched
in the historiography of Lithuanian SSR, therefore current
theses are verified in this paper: was the USSR anti-
Semitic political direction reflected in the Lithuanian SSR?
What were the characteristics of the current campaign
propaganda in general? It was useful for the USSR to have
ideological – political “internal enemy” and criminal trials
inspired negative view of Jews – speculators. Thus Soviet
regime tried to ground its political legitimacy, the status
of “peaceful USSR” as well as it was tool of mass control
and social tension deflection, especially after unsuccessful
Nikita Khrushchev agro reforms. Leaders of USSR aimed
to avoid society dissatisfaction, therefore used the concept
of Jew-Scapegoat. However, anti-Semitism was already
positioned in the USSR society by latent forms, therefore
functioned as not evident but foreknown phenomenon.
Soviet propaganda did not lack rhetorical methods to cast
a new light on the question of Jewish population loyalty
to the regime. Even though non-socialistic behavior was
defined without national and religious identity having
involved, Jewish names and other semantic Jew’s image
details made picture that Jewish people participated in
the currency exchange trading speculations. Therefore
the making of Jews as the rhetoric figure of the USSR
propaganda is the main question analyzed in the research.
The noteworthy fact is that it was not useful for the Soviet
regime to accept Jews as the objective group for the Third
Reich genocide politics, because such a decision might
have invited to consider the idea if USSR is also against
the same group of Soviet citizens which was killed by the
Nazi regime. This circumstance affected tendencies for
the formation of negative Jews image which defined not
only the identity of currency exchange traders, but also
strengthened the influence of ideological anti-Semitic
attitudes in the society.
Books by Justas Stončius
Atkūrus Lietuvos nepriklausomybę, antijudaizmo ir antisemitizmo Lietuvoje tyrimams buvo skiriamas nemenkas dėmesys. Istoriografijoje atskleistos neapykantos (diskriminacijos) žydams formos skirtingomis istorijos epochomis – Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės (LDK), Rusijos imperijos ir lietuvių tautinio atgimimo, tarpukario Lietuvos, pirmosios sovietinės ir nacistinės okupacijos laikotarpiais. Nepaisant atliktų reikšmingų ir išsamių studijų apie neapykantą žydų atžvilgiu, iki šiol dar menkai tyrinėtas antisemitizmas sovietų antrą kartą okupuotoje (reokupuotoje) Lietuvoje 1944–1990 metais.
Viena svarbiausių sovietinio režimo tezių buvo ta, kad konfliktai tarp skirtingų tautinių grupių išnyks tuomet, kai neliks išnaudojimo, ekonominės konkurencijos ir socialinės buržuazinės visuomenės klasės su jai būdingu priešiškumu žydams. To meto antisemitizmas Sovietų Lietuvoje formaliu požiūriu buvo persekiojamas ir negalėjo būti skleidžiamas dėl prieštaravimų pagrindiniams ideologiniams komunistinio režimo principams. Sovietmečiu Lietuvos SSR propagandiniame diskurse antisemitizmas buvo apibrėžiamas kaip iracionalus išankstinis nusistatymas prieš žydus, būdingas
carizmui, imperializmui ir kapitalizmui. Antisemitizmas buvo vertinamas kaip „nepažangiųjų“ sistemų „liekana“, kuri turėjo būti užkardoma, persekiojama ir taikoma baudžiamoji atsakomybė. Tačiau okupacijos metais per latentinį („paslėptą“, neakivaizdų) turinį sovietinis režimas formavo neigiamas nuostatas Lietuvos SSR žydų atžvilgiu.
thesis is verified: propagandists employed anti-Semitism not so much to divert frustrations and dissatisfaction of the USSR citizens with the Soviet regime but rather to promote the assumption that the struggle against “enemies” inevitably requires reconciliation with systematic
repressions targeted at certain groups within society.
a dominant theme in the Soviet media. Soviet propaganda tried to show that the Soviet Union was not against Jews, that its hatred was directed only towards Israel and Zionism. Criticism of Zionism and Israel as a Jewish state could have inspired hostility towards Jews and provoked anti-Semitism in part of the public. Ideological commentaries on the events in the Middle East, implications that “Jews are enemies and aggressors”, doubts over their loyalty to the USSR prevailed in Soviet propaganda. Anti-Semitism was demonstrated in many articles, Israel was shown as an aggressor, instrument of the US, enemy of socialism.
Articles presenting another opinion were eliminated from public discourse, efforts were made to force society to accept official opinion.
cinematography. Even though there were scenes of Nazi massacres of the Jews or related episodes,
the word ‘Jews’ was never mentioned. The Jews as a nation ended up outside of the screen and
became implicit characters because the Holocaust and Nazi crimes and their perception were
unified, making the Jews to ‘share’ the victim status with other ‘peaceful citizens’. The concept
‘Holocaust without Jews’ came into life as an identity of Nazi victims could have been guessed
only through allusions in the movies (archival footage from Jews’ mass killing, ghettos, and
concentration camps). Movies, as audiovisual representations of the past, tended to retouch the
Holocaust and sort of erase it from history. It was not in the best interest of the Soviet regime
to recognize the Jews as a focus group of the Third Reich genocide politics. The Holocaust
representation in the movies of the Lithuanian SSR was in line with the ideological line of the Soviet
historical memory politics. The allusions to the Holocaust were symbolic and had the function
of a stenographic element in the background of the main plot line. It was noticed that the Star of
David was often used to indirectly convey the passivity and insensibility of the people around in
the films of Soviet Lithuania. On the other hand, unlike the communist Polish cinematography,
less significant artistic expressions, there were no Jewish preservation moments and no intentions
to condemn antisemitism. There were no Jewish characters in the Lithuanian film studio. It may
be assumed that the indoctrination of the ideological mythology of the fascist crimes through
cinema was one of the elements, which produced a distorted perception of the Holocaust in the
Lithuanian collective consciousness.
trials of currency exchange speculators in the Soviet
Union (1961–1963). This file is reflected as a part of SSRS
anti-Semitic politics against Zionism in the historiography
data. This statement can be confirmed by the fact that
the ranks of the accused were dominated by the Jewish
people. The consequence of speculation was currency
exchange trading of the United States dollar and British
Pounds Sterling. The United States dollars bought by
currency exchange traders were sold to the citizens of
the USSR that aimed to travel abroad because they were
authorized to buy foreign currency for up to 30 rubles
of value. At the beginning KGB aimed to find out the
process of speculative exchange trading, therefore firstly
persecuted the suspects in Moscow and subsequently in
the whole USSR. As this file has never been researched
in the historiography of Lithuanian SSR, therefore current
theses are verified in this paper: was the USSR anti-
Semitic political direction reflected in the Lithuanian SSR?
What were the characteristics of the current campaign
propaganda in general? It was useful for the USSR to have
ideological – political “internal enemy” and criminal trials
inspired negative view of Jews – speculators. Thus Soviet
regime tried to ground its political legitimacy, the status
of “peaceful USSR” as well as it was tool of mass control
and social tension deflection, especially after unsuccessful
Nikita Khrushchev agro reforms. Leaders of USSR aimed
to avoid society dissatisfaction, therefore used the concept
of Jew-Scapegoat. However, anti-Semitism was already
positioned in the USSR society by latent forms, therefore
functioned as not evident but foreknown phenomenon.
Soviet propaganda did not lack rhetorical methods to cast
a new light on the question of Jewish population loyalty
to the regime. Even though non-socialistic behavior was
defined without national and religious identity having
involved, Jewish names and other semantic Jew’s image
details made picture that Jewish people participated in
the currency exchange trading speculations. Therefore
the making of Jews as the rhetoric figure of the USSR
propaganda is the main question analyzed in the research.
The noteworthy fact is that it was not useful for the Soviet
regime to accept Jews as the objective group for the Third
Reich genocide politics, because such a decision might
have invited to consider the idea if USSR is also against
the same group of Soviet citizens which was killed by the
Nazi regime. This circumstance affected tendencies for
the formation of negative Jews image which defined not
only the identity of currency exchange traders, but also
strengthened the influence of ideological anti-Semitic
attitudes in the society.
Atkūrus Lietuvos nepriklausomybę, antijudaizmo ir antisemitizmo Lietuvoje tyrimams buvo skiriamas nemenkas dėmesys. Istoriografijoje atskleistos neapykantos (diskriminacijos) žydams formos skirtingomis istorijos epochomis – Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės (LDK), Rusijos imperijos ir lietuvių tautinio atgimimo, tarpukario Lietuvos, pirmosios sovietinės ir nacistinės okupacijos laikotarpiais. Nepaisant atliktų reikšmingų ir išsamių studijų apie neapykantą žydų atžvilgiu, iki šiol dar menkai tyrinėtas antisemitizmas sovietų antrą kartą okupuotoje (reokupuotoje) Lietuvoje 1944–1990 metais.
Viena svarbiausių sovietinio režimo tezių buvo ta, kad konfliktai tarp skirtingų tautinių grupių išnyks tuomet, kai neliks išnaudojimo, ekonominės konkurencijos ir socialinės buržuazinės visuomenės klasės su jai būdingu priešiškumu žydams. To meto antisemitizmas Sovietų Lietuvoje formaliu požiūriu buvo persekiojamas ir negalėjo būti skleidžiamas dėl prieštaravimų pagrindiniams ideologiniams komunistinio režimo principams. Sovietmečiu Lietuvos SSR propagandiniame diskurse antisemitizmas buvo apibrėžiamas kaip iracionalus išankstinis nusistatymas prieš žydus, būdingas
carizmui, imperializmui ir kapitalizmui. Antisemitizmas buvo vertinamas kaip „nepažangiųjų“ sistemų „liekana“, kuri turėjo būti užkardoma, persekiojama ir taikoma baudžiamoji atsakomybė. Tačiau okupacijos metais per latentinį („paslėptą“, neakivaizdų) turinį sovietinis režimas formavo neigiamas nuostatas Lietuvos SSR žydų atžvilgiu.