On January 18, 2024, the Lithuanian Museum of Jewish Culture and Identity (LMJCI), the newest and largest branch of the Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History, officially opened its doors. Often referred to informally as the Litvak Museum, it’s a space dedicated to showcasing the diverse, complex, and vibrant world of Lithuanian Jews.
Located at Pylimo St. 4A, the museum is housed in the former “Tarbut” Jewish Gymnasium – a historic building that once played a central role in Jewish education in Vilnius. It is the first museum in Lithuania to offer such a comprehensive and multifaceted exploration of Jewish history, culture, traditions, and daily life. The top floor is home to a dedicated museum for one of Vilnius' most renowned 20th-century Jewish artists, Rafael Chwoles.
The museum also highlights the lives and achievements of world-famous Litvaks – Jews born in or connected to Lithuania – including Nobel laureates Aaron Klug and Bernard Lown, artists Mark Antokolsky, Jacques Lipchitz, and Neemia Arbit Blatas, as well as Hollywood stars Ruth Roman, Al Jolson, and Laurence Harvey.
Spread across four floors, the museum features 17 contemporary exhibition halls, designed by the architecture studio Processoffice, with chief architect Vytautas Biekša. Alongside original artifacts, visitors are encouraged to actively engage with Jewish history through a wide range of interactive installations.
The ground floor welcomes visitors and includes a reception area, a gift shop, and a space for educational programs. The exhibitions are located on the remaining three floors of the building:
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The first exhibition floor introduces the key events and forces that shaped Jewish life and identity in Lithuania: historical context, Judaism, shtetl life, Jewish languages, and other community-defining elements.
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The second floor is dedicated to Lithuanian Jewish creativity and secular culture – literature, music, theater, and visual arts. Here, you can also listen to personal stories told by Lithuanian Jews reflecting on their identity, family histories, and sense of belonging.
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The third floor houses the Rafael Chwoles Museum, which tells the story of 20th-century Lithuanian Jewish history through the life and work of this prominent artist. His sons, Milij and Alexandre, who live in Paris, gifted the artist’s works to the museum.
The Litvak Museum is family-friendly, with games, puzzles, and discovery tools integrated into nearly every exhibition room – perfect for sparking children’s curiosity and imagination while learning about Jewish history in Lithuania.
The building itself is a monument to Jewish life in Vilnius. Designed in the historicist style by Tadeusz Maria Rostworowski, it originally opened as a Hebrew-language Jewish gymnasium in 1915, founded by Dr. Josif Epstein. After his death during a typhus outbreak, the school was named in his honor. In the 1920s, it came under the patronage of the “Tarbut” (Hebrew for “culture”) network and took on the name we know today.
The museum tells a story that extends far beyond Lithuania’s borders. Lithuanian Jews made significant contributions to science, culture, and politics both at home and across the globe after emigration. That’s why the museum resonates not only with local audiences but also with international visitors seeking to understand their roots or discover a piece of Lithuanian Jewish heritage.
Through its exhibitions, the museum invites you to reflect on questions such as:
Who is a Lithuanian Jew? What shaped Jewish identity in Lithuania – and how has it, in turn, shaped Lithuanian culture?
More than just a museum, LMJCI is a space for dialogue, tolerance, empathy, and the celebration of coexistence between cultures.
