Vilna Ghetto posters

 

The source of the phenomenon of cultural activity in the Vilna Ghetto are the spiritual and cultural values created there throughout the centuries. Vilne, Yerushalayim de Lita – famous for its synagogues and yeshivas, teachers’ seminaries and schools, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research an the Strashun Library, the “Jung Vilne” literary group and the “Vilner Trupe” theatre group, newspapers, publishing and printing houses – was a wonderful citadel of Jewish religious and secular culture. The 20^th century was witness to both – its pinnacle and its destruction. Herded into the Vilna Ghetto, the last generation of litvaks brought with it tremendous intellectual potential. Its spiritual elite initiated a broad and multifaceted cultural activity as Resistance against the Nazis, against humiliation and dehumanization, a struggle for the nation’s honour and its survival. Under its leadership, a great many institutions were created and functioned actively within the Ghetto: health care and hygiene facilities, training and educational institutes, childcare and social services, professional and artistic societies, theatres, clubs…