“Operation Barbarossa“, launched by the Nazis exactly 80 years ago on June 22, 1941, marked the beginning of the “The Holocaust by Bullets” and the annihilation of Jewish communities in Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus. Over 2.2 million Jews and Roma were executed by the Einsatzgruppen, Nazi mobile killing units, and their willing local assistants in over 1,893 execution sites in 7 countries. Until today, despite the incomprehensible dimensions of these crimes, this chapter of the Holocaust has received too little attention.  In Lithuania, politicians and revisionists are actively involved in covering up the crimes committed by their citiziens and “war heroes”. Join us we commemorate this day in history with authors Grant Gochin and Silvia Foti who became the unlikeliest of allies. A Jew and a Christian, Grant and Silvia joined together in the fight to get the Lithuanian government to acknowledge that those who they had been honoring as heroes, including Silivia’s own grandfather, had been responsible for the murder of thousands of Jews.

Silvia Foti, author of The Nazi’s Granddaughter: How I Discovered My Grandfather was a War Criminal, is a journalist, creative writer, teacher, writers’ conference organizer, and mother. She holds Masters’ degrees in Journalism, Education, and Creative Nonfiction has been a journalist for twenty years, has published two mystery novels, and has been a high school English teacher since 2007. Handed the biggest assignment of her life upon her mother’s death – to write the story about her famous grandfather Jonas Noreika, a Lithuanian war hero – Silvia discovered that her grandfather collaborated with the Nazis by facilitating the murder of thousands of Lithuanian Jews. Silvia had no idea that her discoveries would bring her to a personal crisis, unearth Holocaust denial, and expose an official cover-up by the Lithuanian government that resulted in an internationally followed lawsuit.

Grant Gochin is actively involved in Jewish affairs, focusing on historical justice. He has spent the past thirty years documenting and restoring signs of Jewish life in Lithuania. He has served as the Chair of the Maceva Project in Lithuania, which mapped / inventoried / documented / restored over fifty abandoned and neglected Jewish cemeteries. The author of “Malice, Murder and Manipulation” (documenting the oppression of his family in Lithuania), Grant is presently working on a project to expose the current Holocaust revisionism within the Lithuanian government. The Granddaughter of the murderer of Grant’s family, Silvia Foti, is combining her research with Grant’s in order to expose Lithuanian Holocaust distortion.

There is no fee, but please RSVP for planning purposes. This event is held virtually on Zoom. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the event. For more information, contact Program Director Ilene Tatro at itatro@cbisd.org.

CSP Partners: Beth Israel (San Diego, CA), Congregation Beth Shalom (Seattle, WA), Congregation B’nai Tzedek (Fountain Valley, CA), Congregation B’nai Israel (Tustin, CA), Jewish Collaborative of Orange County, CA, Temple Bat Yahm (Newport Beach, CA), Temple Beth El of South Orange County (Aliso Viejo, CA), Temple Beth Emet (Anaheim, CA), Temple Beth Ohr (La Mirada, CA), Temple Beth Tikvah (Fullerton, CA), Temple Beth Shalom (Needham, MA), Temple Beth Sholom (Santa Ana, CA), Temple Emanuel (Newton, MA), Town & Village Synagogue (NYC, NY), University Synagogue (Irvine, CA), Valley Beth Shalom (Encino, CA) & Walnut Street Synagogue (Chelsea, MA)