"We didn't play that type of game," Vytautas Norkus insisted to both the ESPN sports network and in an interview with a local newspaper. "We had to work, go to college, teach, and date girls. We didn't have time to kill the Jews."

Despite the denials, officials from the Simon Wiesenthal Center confirmed that they had passed the names along to Lithuanian authorities in early March.

"A special prosecutor in Lithuania is investigating the crime," said Efraim Zuroff, director of the organization's Jerusalem office. "We have all types of sound evidence confirming that this game took place and that the players beat up Jews as they took them to be murdered. I can say this is under investigation at this time."

Zuroff added that information regarding the brothers was also given to the US Department of Justice's Office of Special Investigations, which is involved in pursuing suspected war criminals living in the country.

A department spokesman, however, said he could not comment on the issue.

Although the case is in the beginning stages, the twins indicated that they did not wish to remain silent as the investigation proceeded.

"This is very upsetting to us," Vytautas Norkus stated. "We didn't want to be famous."

While Zuroff acknowledged that more evidence is needed, he remained confident in the case as more facts are uncovered.

Such recently discovered evidence includes a testimonial from Noach Blatt, a well-known Jewish basketball player from the World War II era who managed to escape the massacre.

Moreover, the Norkus twins admitted to ESPN that they played basketball for the Lithuanian team, including a game against a German team.

But Vytautas insisted that the competition actually occurred in 1939, well before the country was invaded by the Germans.

"The team didn't play the Germans in 1941 and didn't participate in any massacre," he said.
The brothers have lived in Waterbury since coming to the US in 1949.

Algirdas Norkus lived alone and worked for various steel and manufacturing companies in the city. His brother married and worked from more than 30 years at a factory that assembled shoes.

Approximately 90 percent of Lithuania's nearly 220,000 Jews were killed during World War II.
The 30 Jews reportedly killed after the basketball game have been dubbed the "victims of the 7th fort."

They received this name because of the tower from where the Lithuanian team is said to have climbed to take turns firing rifle shots at the Jewish townspeople who had been assembled below.