Between Sympathy and Pragmatism: Raphael Lemkin’s Ties with Lithuania and Lithuanians

Abstract

Drawing on ego-documents, the periodical press, and historiography, this article examines the previously unexplored connections between Raphael Lemkin – the Polish-Jewish lawyer who coined the term “genocide” – and Lithuania and its people, as well as the nature and evolution of these ties. The study reveals that during the interwar period, Lemkin’s relations with Lithuania were episodic and primarily driven by professional interests. At the beginning of World War II, Lemkin spent four months in Lithuania as a refugee, an experience he later reflected upon in his autobiography. In the 1950s–1960s, these sporadic connections evolved into a more systematic collaboration, united by shared political goals, interests, and perspectives on the fate of nations under Soviet rule. The article employs descriptive, reconstructive, and interpretative methodological approaches.