A prominent Nazi-hunter from Israel and the Jewish Community of Lithuania are calling on the city of Kaunas to stop the use of a former concentration camp for recreational purposes.
Efraim Zuroff, the Israel director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, writes to Kaunas Mayor Visvaldas Matijosaitis about the area known as the Seventh Fort, after it emerged that various activities are being held in the grounds, including treasure hunts, summer camps, costume parties for adults, camping excursions and BBQ parties.
A film crew preparing to record at the former concentration camp known as the Seventh Fort in Kaunas, Lithuania, July 12, 2016. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
“As you no doubt are aware, the site of the mass murder of several thousand Jews in 1941 was privatized several years ago, and has now been turned into a recreation and entertainment center which violates the memory of the victims,” writes Zuroff, who conducted his own investigation of the site together with the Lithuanian novelist Ruta Vanagaite.
“I urge you to immediately suspend such activities at the Seventh Fort and find a way to restore the site to the municipality or to an organization whose purpose will be to honor the memory of the victims, rather than insult them,” adds Zuroff.
— JTA
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