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2010-09-21

Forum Geschichtswerkstatt Europa in Vilnius

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Jewish Street in Vilnius   

The history of Vilna Jews was the main subject of the International Forum Geschichtswerkstatt Europa 2010, which took place in Lithuanian capital city from 14th to 19th of September. The students from Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey participated in the Forum.

They had an opportunity to see the places connected with Jewish culture in Vilnius as well as to get know more about Jewish contribution to Polish and Lithuanian cultures. The lecture on Jewish culture and politics in a interwar period was delivered by professor David Fishmann, who conducts researches on Jewish history in Central and Eastern Europe. His books include Russia's First Modern Jews and The Rise of Modern Yiddish Culture. Moreover, he was an editor in chief of YIVO-Bleter, the Yiddish-language scholarly journal of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. During the lecture, professor Fishmann discussed why Vilnius was given the name ‘Jerusalem of Lithuania’, stressing on the influence of rabbi Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman.

He also talked about the assimilation of local Jews to Russian language which found its opponents among Hebrew and Yiddish writers. Moreover, he mentioned difficult political decisions made by Jews during Polish-Lithuanian conflict after I WW. However, the development of Jewish culture in the interwar Vilnius was the main topic of his lecture. In 1930, 30% of Jewish pupils attended to the schools with Yiddish as a main language of instruction. The group of artists ‘Yung Vilne’, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and many associations were established in the city. The books and newspapers were published. Although, ‘Jerusalem of Lithuania’ was less important than it used to be. The economical crises and the increasing nationalisms inspired Jews to emigrate from Vilnius to Palestine, Americas and Soviet Union.

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Ponary (Paneriai)   

During the seminar ‘Political Concepts of Jewishness in interwar Poland’ the participants of the Forum became familiar with the history and main goals of such parties as: Agudat Yisrael, Mizrahi, Folkspartei, Bund, Poalei Zion and Zionists. However, the key point of the conference was a visit in Ponary (Paneriai) where 100 000 people were killed by Nazis. (The number of victims included 20 000 Poles and 70 000 Jews.) Fania Brantzovsky, who escaped from Vilnius ghetto and joint a partisan group, was the guide in the Ponary Memorial Park. A testimony of a woman, who survived the Shoah, was heart-rending.

Moreover, the participants of the Forum visited Jewish Museum (Tolerance Center) and Genocide Museum. They also took part in guided tour ‘Belarusian realms of memory in Vilnius’ and listened to the lecture delivered by Tomas Venclova and entitled ‘Vilnius – the city as an object of nostalgia’.

 

 

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