First published in 1947, The Diary is published in more than 50 countries and there are a record 20 million copies in print. The diary distribution is part of B'nai B'rith's Holocaust Education Project in Lithuania which aims to introduce comprehensive education into the Lithuanian school system. In November, B'nai B'rith, in cooperation with the Lithuanian Ministry of Education, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Lithuanian Jewish community, organized a five day conference in Vilnius to teach 30 Lithuanian high school teachers about the Holocaust. The teachers' next step is to organize Holocaust awareness programs at their schools. Prior to World War II, Lithuania was a center of Jewish culture and learning with dozens of synagogues, Yiddish newspapers and theater groups.
Lithuanian textbooks discuss the Holocaust with scant information.
Today 4,000 Jews remain in Lithuania. Jewish activities there include an active B'nai B'rith unit and a new religious school for children. David Ravich, vice chairman of the Center for Public Policy and Sara Fisher, a B'nai B'rith activist in New York, raised the funds to translate, print and distribute the book. Rhode Island Ave.