Mallory Needleman
American Intelligence, Lithuanian Collaboration, and Holocaust Atrocities in Lithuania: The Case of John F. Mazionis and Stasys Žakevičius
2018 | Full access
Between the months of June and December 1941, the population of Lithuania’s Jewry dropped by an estimated eighty percent, a striking plunge fundamentally due to mass murder perpetrated by Nazis and their local collaborators. This dramatic loss of life underscores the actions of those who are responsible for the deaths of thousands despite having never brandished a weapon. This is particularly true for Stasys Žakevičius, the Vilniaus miesto komiteto pirmininkas (Vilnius City and Region Citizens’ Committee Chairman). Research shows that, in this capacity, he called for violence against the Jews and issued a variety of anti-Jewish decrees that contributed to the persecution of local Jewry in 1941. Despite such morally questionable activity, he remained acquaintances (if not friends) with John F. Mazionis, who, as a British-Lithuanian, had been working for the US Department of State at the American Legation in Lithuania since the mid-1920s. This thesis analyzes the two men and their ties, thereby illuminating the under-researched areas of the Lithuanian-American bond during and after the Holocaust. Findings indicate that their ties lasted through the Cold War, when Žakevičius and Mazionis worked for the CIA and US Department of State to thwart the Soviet authority in Lithuania. The research presents how Žakevičius was never punished for his part in the persecution of Vilna Jewry; rather, on the contrary, he was rewarded for his postwar efforts regarding threat intelligence and anti-Soviet subversive organizations. In fact, by 1966, he and his wife were naturalized American citizens, living in the United States, due in part to a 1955 recommendation written by Mazionis on their behalf. The aim of this thesis, then, is to offer the most comprehensive presentation of John F. Mazionis and Stasys Žakevičius and, by extension, the problematic nuances of American foreign relations. The conclusion of such research affirms broader polemics: The US as a refuge for Nazi collaborators, protecting them from proper adjudication for their Holocaust-related crimes in exchange for their postwar anti-Communist intelligence.
Supervisors:
Dr. David Silberklang
Prof. Hagit Lavsky