In October 2019 Rebecca Cook traveled to Lithuania to visit Kupichok and Shedova, the shtetlach where her father and grandparents were born. While there she learned about the Lithuanian government’s revisionist history and its promotion of the Dual Genocide version of the Holocaust which states the Lithuanians suffered equally under the Soviet occupation to the suffering of the Jews during the Holocaust. She also learned about Defending History and its efforts to defend the history of the Holocaust from government and ultranationalist East European campaigns to impose the Double Genocide as a model for World War II history, glorify local collaborators and perpetrators, support remnant East European Jewish communities, preserve Yiddish and Litvak culture and defend old Jewish cemeteries.

She returned from her trip determined to help raise money to support Defending History’s efforts and created Preserving Yiddish and Defending History, a 501(c)(3), tax deductible charity.

Please help support this critically important work. Donations to Preserving Yiddish and Defending History can be made using the Paypal button below or by check made out to Preserving Yiddish and Defending History (PYDH) mailed to 431 Linden Avenue, York, PA 17404.