Exhibition at Central Synagogue, Great Portland Street W1, London - 21-25 June 2010

Photo: Shivaun and Steven Leas, 14 May 2010

It's been a pretty crazy time for us over the last few months. I don't think we've stopped since we got back from Cape Town, South Africa :) The Surviving History exhibition is still touring South Africa at this moment and will open shortly in Durban. (To read about our time in South Africa, click here.)

We've been hoping to put on the complete exhibition in London for some time now. At one of our events last year, Steven Leas, the cantor at the Central Synagogue of London, expressed interest in bringing it the exhibition to the synagogue. So, it's been a long time coming, but the dates have finally been locked down for the Surviving History exhibition in London.

We still have to iron out the finer details but there will be an amazing concert for the opening, courtesy of international and renowned cantors who will be in London for the International Cantors' Convention. (For more info on the convention, have a look at the Jewish Music Institute's webpage on the event.) The exhibition will run from 21-25 June, 2010. As for opening times and so on, stay tuned for the next update!

Some articles on Surviving History in Cape Town

The Lithuanian Jewish Spirit Lives On - by Claudia B Braude, SA Jewish Report, 7-14 May 2010

Vilna Exhibition Looks 'Beyond Historical Narrative' - Moira Schneider, SA Jewish Report, 23 Apr 2010

Blurred distinctions

This year, ultra nationalists in Vilnius staged another march to mark independence day. Supposedly less vitriolic than the march in 2008 (which was featured in our film Surviving History), in that there wasn't calls for "Jews Out!" or "Russians Out!" as in that previous march, but limited to "Lithuania for Lithuanians!"

This photo from Holocaust in the Baltics (see http://www.holocaustinthebaltics.com/38401/index.html)

Sometimes I wonder if we can recognise the distinction between ultra-nationalists and fascists, or if there is any distinction between them at all? And if such displays are not met with any response, does apathy amount to acceptance or collusion?

Efraim Zuroff has written several scathing articles about this event and condemned the apathy.
See Guardian, 3 April 2010
See The Jerusalem Post, 1 May 2010

I must say I am surprised that the mainstream press has missed out on this repeat incident, unlike the span of coverage in 2008. Perhaps because fascist activities are nothing new, whether in Lithuania or elsewhere. (For example, see article on white supremacist march in LA in April 2010.) However, unlike that reported in Vilnius, counter protesters were involved in the fray.

Will the time come, I wonder, when we will see some counter protesters in Lithuania?

If anti-semitism is a yardstick for intolerance around the world, perhaps we should endeavour to be counter protesters. Ultra-nationlists see Jews as the enemy along with any other minority group that inhabit their lands. In this age of globalisation and transient migrant populations, it is impossible for a country to be 'pure' in terms of ethnicity or nationality. And yet, the world sees no shortage of people blindly and actively inciting hatred. For a snapshot, have a look at this website. Or for those in the UK, just look at the BNP and its use of the term 'indigenious' British population.