Fascinating inside look at partisan life, its many fractured and conflicted groups polish, lithuanian, russian, jewish. Lithuanians, one of the baltic peoples, later conquered neighboring lands and established the grand duchy of lithuania in the th. Jewish life in lithuania before the holocaust facing. The lithuanianspeaking population at the time was a small minority, at about 6% of the citys population according to. During the fair in 1507 in vilna, michael of brisk brzesc in lithuania sold goods to the value of 114. Studying yiddish in vilna, the jerusalem of lithuania. Of the cultural institutions and organizations a special mention should be made of the jewish cultural club that attracts jewish and nonjewish audiences, of ilan, a children and youth club. Books of lithuania 39 books meet your next favorite book. The most original and lasting contribution of this book is its core. Under the terms of the germansoviet pact, vilna, along with the rest of eastern poland, was occupied by soviet forces in late september 1939. Vilna was handed over to lithuania by the soviets in october 1939. Excellent history of the avengers, a group of jewish partisans who lived in the vilna ghetto, and escaped to the surrounding forest before the liquidation of lithuanias jews. Throughout, the jews of lithuania were resilient, managing to refine a culture steeped with history, tradition, education, and family.
Nevertheless, by the end of 1941 the jews of vilna and lithuania were doomed. The origin of baltic tribes in the area is disputed but it probably dates to 2500 bc. When germany invaded poland and later lithuania, many jews fled to vilna for safety. This book was published in israel by the divenishok societies of israel and the united states and contains some history beginning in the 0s, memoirs, stories of community and political life, the holocaust, personal anecdotes, and records of landsmen in other countries. Presents the history of the capital city of lithuania from its 14th century.
But this is a continuing irony that is reflected throughout all of jewish history. Before world war two, vilnius also known as vilna was home to one of the largest jewish communities in europe. Distinguished british historian, israel cohen, opens with the legend of the origin of vilna in 22 and traces the history of its jewish community through. Vilna by israel cohen, 1992 online research library. A megillah scroll of the book of esther which was found in vilna after the war. Polish forces occupied vilna in 1920, and before the outbreak of world war ii, the city of vilna was part of northeastern poland. Lithuania history, baltic countries history, books. The following is freunds summary of his teams work in vilna, lithuania this summer. The remaining jews living in lithuania were emancipatedtheir rights were mostly recognizedbut by the early 1930s, the economic crisis known as the great depression. Cultural activities the community is active in a number of fields, among them a special attention is given to maintaining the jewish national identity and the restoration of the religious life and of the jewish cultural heritage.
There is an inscribed plaque on the side of the shell casing. First known habitation of lithuania dates back to the final ice age, 10 000 bc. Under the rule of democratic lithuania, the situation of the jews improved. At the jewish theological seminary of america jts, fishman is an authority on the history and culture of jews in eastern europe.
See more ideas about jewish history, history and wwii. There is an inscribed plaque on the side of the shell casing that reads, the last megillah from our city. The lobbying to bring murderers of jews to trial fell naturally upon the leaders of vilna, capital of lithuania and the seat of the rulers of the duchy. Vilna, the jerusalem of lithuania, was the vibrant core of eastern european jewish life. Sep 19, 2000 excellent history of the avengers, a group of jewish partisans who lived in the vilna ghetto, and escaped to the surrounding forest before the liquidation of lithuania s jews. The huntergatherers were slowly replaced by farmers. Before the war, vilnius had been known as yerushalayim dlita yiddish. The book includes vivid descriptions and reflections on past and present in lithuania, including an extensive section on the kovno ghetto, vilna, shavl, rakishok, and keidan, as well as the vilnius yiddish institute and our rich litvak heritage. Lithuania is a relatively small country in eastern europe with a small population. Even though the story is fictional, the description of vilnius is stunning and all the characters are really.
However, the capital and the city with the largest jewish population, vilna, had been incorporated into poland. Also known as vilnius, vilna is the capital of todays independent lithuania, and a sweeping history covering many centuries is provided for both it and the country. Dieveniskes is located about 57 kilometers sse of vilna. The years from 1861 to 1917 are a very significant period in the history of the lithuanian nation. The smuggling of books across the border from lithuania minor created a difficult problem for the tsarist administration.
The full and fascinating history of this remarkable community, from its. List of books and articles about lithuanian history online. Mar 10, 2015 fira bramson former bibliographer of the judaica collection of the lithuanian national archives explains that keeping yiddish documents in vilna will show future generations what lithuanian. The predominant languages of the city were polish and to a lesser extent, yiddish. The book smugglers contributes greatly to our understanding of jewish cultural history, showing us how vilna jewrys devotion to the written word helped sustain the jewish people at. Lithuania, as a bridge to russias baltic provinces which were administered by german barons, was an important link in the german policy of exploiting russias difficulties. Vilna, which was known as the jerusalem of lithuania, was a special prize.
A detailed history of the cultural work and cultural associations in the vilna ghetto, with chapters on armed resistance, in the former yivo, and sports. Lithuania has a long history of book smuggling, but the lithuanian side of the story usually focuses on efforts by smugglers to import books in. But the jerusalem of lithuania, the jewish city of the book, was no. The jews of vilna at the beginning of the 20th century the. David fishmans the book smugglers tells the story of the vilna writers and intellectuals who saved jewish texts from the nazis. Under his influence, the yeshiva world of eastern europe became the leading current in ultraorthodox judaism, and remains so today. The book smugglers is the nearly unbelievable true story of ghetto residents who rescued thousands of rare books and manuscripts by hiding them on their persons, burying them in bunkers and smuggling them across borders. The 1915 vsia vilna all of vilna database contains over 17,400 entries from the 1915 city directory for vilnius, lithuania. A wagon of newspapers and artwork, including a bust of leo tolstoy, recovered in vilnius in july, 1944. In the process, these scientists have reminded the world that the history of vilnius is largely the history of its jews. Read these books to understand lithuanian culture, traditions, and colorful history through the eyes of the best lithuanian writers.
Having declared wilno his royal town, gediminas created the conditions for its subsequent growth as well as the political, economical and cultural center of lithuania. Steinacher is an associate professor of history at the university of. As soon as world war two began, the soviet union occupied a large sector of poland. The books four main chronological sections describe the history of lithuania and its jewish residents, including. Set in vilna, lithuania, also known as the jerusalem of lithuania for their robust jewish culture rich with art, music. The beginnings of the vilna community the jews of vilna at the beginning of the 20th century. The vilna ghetto was called yerushalayim of the ghettos because it was known for its intellectual and cultural spirit. Lithuania, directories from several towns and shtetls, 18161944. Etkes is a master in reconstructing the history of ideas. During his life, vilna became known as the jerusalem of lithuania. New york or lithuania where do vilnas yiddish treasures.
Vilna was an important centre of yiddish and hebrew literature and media, including ultraorthodox literature in yiddish. In june 1940, lithuania was occupied by the soviet union. In 1495, during the banishment of the jews from lithuania, a house owned by jews in vilna is mentioned as passing into the hands of the city. List of books and articles about lithuanian history. As we are going to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the great lithuanian rabbi, the litvak misnagd religious leader and the most prominent litvak cultural representative vilna gaon elijah ben solomon zalman, the year 2020 are proclaimed the year of vilna gaon and the history of the jews of lithuania. Various towns, lithuania, birth records index, 18371940. The making of the polishlithuanian union, 851569 oxford history of early modern europe robert i. The history of lithuania dates back to settlements founded many thousands of years ago, but the first written record of the name for the country dates back to 1009 ad. In the lithuanian context, vilnius as the jerusalem of lithuania jerusalem. In 1901, vilna had a jewish population of some 76,000 about half of the citys total population. The book smugglers contributes greatly to our understanding of jewish cultural history, showing us how vilna jewrys devotion to the written word helped sustain the jewish people at large. David fishman on vilna ghettos book smugglers the forward. The list of the vilna ghetto prisoners was published in a new book. The city of vilnius, the capital and largest city of lithuania, has undergone a diverse history since it was first settled in the stone age.
The jewish population of lithuania is estimated at some 5,000 6,000 in 1997, most of them living in vilna. While i am familiar with the history of vilnius, having visited the city a number of times, this book provides. Lithuanian community that considered the city its historical capital, and not. Discover librarianselected research resources on lithuanian history from the questia online. Lithuanian history book, information on lithuanian environmental system, lithuanian existence route, lithuanian politics, lithuanian culture, lithuanian people, lithuanian travel guide,traditions of lithuanian statehood date from the early middle ages. The vilna gaon detested longwinded debate, instead preferring to learn and teach in a manner that led to direct religious rulings. Quite a few thousand jews were saved by the interventions of the dutch and japanese consuls in vilna. A mere week after the initial nazi foray into vilna a member of the einsatzstab reichsleiter rosenberg err, the nazi agency in charge of looting cultural property in occupied territory, arrived to survey local libraries, museums, and art collections. Many jewish refugees arrived from poland to seek haven in vilna. As was the case throughout much of lithuania prior to 1941, jews composed a significant portion of the citys population, and those in vilna were widely acknowledged as the most.
Jews were particularly entrenched in lithuanian society at the outset of this century, and no place was more important than vilnius, an ir haem, or a great mother city. Vilna lies on a number of hills and the valley below them at the confluence of the rivers wilija and wilejka. Before the germansoviet invasion of poland in september 1939, wilno vilna in hebrew was the capital of the wilno voivodship in the second polish republic. After world war i, lithuania became an independent state again. He was born in 1721 in vilna, the capital of lithuania. Books about jews in lithuania lietuvos leideju asociacija. Jews were particularly entrenched in lithuanian society at the outset of this century, and no place was more important than. In the megillah case was a yad pointer which was probably meant to be used for reading the megillah. The economic status of the vilna community can be gauged from the. The jews of vilna at the beginning of the 20th century. Fira bramson former bibliographer of the judaica collection of the lithuanian national archives explains that keeping yiddish documents in vilna will show future generations what lithuanian. Distinguished british historian, israel cohen, opens with the legend of the origin of vilna in 22 and traces the history of its jewish community through vivid portraits of scholars, heroes, and leaders. Jordan kutzik, translator and yiddishist, talks about his learning yiddish in vilna vilnius, lithuania with vilna native and former partisan fighter fania brantsovsky.
This is an excerpt from an oral history with jordan kutzik. History of vilnius the tolerant capital of the largest medieval state until 1655 according to a legend, vilnius was established by duke gediminas in the early 14th century, after his dream of an iron wolf was so interpreted by a pagan oracle lizdeika. Based on jewish, german and soviet documents, the book smugglers chronicles the daring activities of a group of poets turned partisans and scholars turned smugglers in vilna, the jerusalem of lithuania. Originally the head of the grand duchy of lithuania and later part of the polishlithuanian commonwealth, it changed hands between imperial and soviet russia, germany, poland, and lithuania multiple times. History of vilna the honour for founding wilno is justly given to gediminas lithuanian duke in 23. List of books and articles about lithuanian history online research. Mar, 2020 the book smugglers is the nearly unbelievable true story of ghetto residents who rescued thousands of rare books and manuscripts by hiding them on their persons, burying them in bunkers and smuggling them across borders. Lithuania borders on the baltic sea in the west, latvia in the north, belarus in the east and southeast, poland in the south, and the kaliningrad oblast a russian exclave. Vilna by israel cohen jewish publication society, 1992. The jews of lithuania and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle.
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