At the ceremony in the Great Synagogue of Europe, in Brussels, the second Rabbi Moshe Rosen Prize was awarded to Lithuanian novelist Mrs. Ruta Vanagaite, whose novels have challenged her nation’s understanding of its treatment of Jews during the war.

Ruta Vanagaite is the best-selling author of Mūsiškiai (“Our People; Journey with an Enemy”), coauthored with world-famous Israeli Nazi-hunter and Holocaust historian Dr. Efraim Zuroff. The book deals with the role of Lithuanians in the Holocaust crimes. At 19,000 copies sold, it became a runaway bestseller and has deeply affected public discourse on the Holocaust in Lithuania, inspiring a search for truth on this subject among many young Lithuanians.