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2009-04-23
London Lecture

The VYI’s director of research, Professor Dovid Katz, delivered a university lecture at University College London on April 20^th entitled “New Incarnations of Three Old Demons: Holocaust Denial, Antisemitism and the Cold War.” Speaking to a packed hall in the Gustave Tuck Theatre on the university’s main Gower Street campus, Professor Katz outlined his opposition to recent European attempts to delete the Holocaust from European history as a distinct category and merge it in what he considers to be a mendacious new model of “two equal genocides,” a tendency sometimes put forward in the context of east-west relations. Taking his examples from Lithuania, the issues were related to the recent resurgence of antisemitism locally, and to various efforts to “blame the victims” via accusations against Holocaust survivors. The talk was followed by lively discussion, in which members of the public, academics and political figures participated.

During his one-week stay in London, Professor Katz participated in the Lithuanian Publishers Association section of the London International Book Fair (see photo gallery at  http://www.judaicvilnius.com/en/main/gallery?PID=33). He held talks with Lithuanian cultural attaché Ms. Daiva Parulskiene on ways and means of expanding distribution of the many Jewish-interest books published in Lithuania in the English language.

He also held meetings with Sir Martin Gilbert, Lord Janner, House of Commons staff, and others concerned with pressing Lithuanian-Jewish issues. He participated in the public event to mark the 90^th birthday of London University’s Professor Raphael Loewe, one of the leading Hebrew philologists in Britain, as well as in an academic conference on Hasidism at University College London.