Dating back to 1388, Vytautas the Great invited Jews to settle in Lithuania. Exhibiting tolerance for different peoples' religious practices and origins was Vytautas' way of squelching the moral claims the Teutonic Knights held against pagan Lithuania in their attempts to convert Lithuania to Christianity. Jewish people from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania are known as Litvaks.
Lithuanian Jews experienced a somewhat free way of life with the ability to practice religion openly. Up until 1593, when they were permitted to own land, Jewish families could only rent homes. By the beginning of the 17th century, a Jewish quarter was formed in the Old Town in Vilnius, but there were restrictions. For example, homes along Vokieciu street were forbidden to have any windows facing the street. The block became an informal enclosed, defensive wall where Jewish life proceeded freely within.
Vilnius Census
1750: Jewish population 2,500
1789: Jewish population 5,000
1897: Jewish population 64,000
1923: Jewish population 55,000
1939: Jewish population 60,000
1940: Jewish population 80,000
1750: Jewish population 2,500
1789: Jewish population 5,000
1897: Jewish population 64,000
1923: Jewish population 55,000
1939: Jewish population 60,000
1940: Jewish population 80,000
This is the last Jewish synagogue left in Vilnius. Before World War II, Vilnius had 110 synagogues and 10 yeshivas.
The Choral Synagogue
Former location of the Great Synagogue
Eyliohu ben Shloyme-Zalmen (1720-1797), known as the Gaon of Vilna, lived in the blue building below. The Gaon is most famous for his extensive writings about the Babylonian Talmud, a book of Jewish laws, ethics, customs and history dating back to 200 c.e.
In 1939, the Soviet Union returned Vilnius to Lithuania (Vilnius was annexed to Poland in 1918), and in 1940 Lithuania was annexed to the Soviet Union. Polish Jews fled to Lithuania in hopes for a better life, creating a total national Jewish population of a half million. But the Soviets instituted a Russification banning all non-Russian languages and cultures to complete the unification of the Soviet states. In 1941, Nazis invaded Lithuania, implementing the annihilation of all Jews in Lithuania; ninety percent were killed.
Despite losing almost all of its population, the Litvak community managed to withstand annihilation from the Nazis and Russification from the Soviets. In the late 1980s, during perestroika and glasnost, Litvaks were ready to take advantage of the cultural openness and regenerate their traditions.
In 1990, when Lithuania declared independence, the Republic of Lithuania mandated equal rights for all minorities including Jews, and laws were passed abolishing discrimination and supporting the reestablishment of Jewish cultural life. Jewish schools and the Jewish State Museum were opened in addition to the Center for Judaic studies at Vilnius University and the Judaic section at Martynas M. Mazhvydas National Library. The Centre for Stateless Cultures housed at Vilnius University studies the heritage of Lithuanian national communities: Lithuanian Tartars, Karaites, Roma, Litvaks, etc.
Today, however, Lithuania is considered one of the most intolerant states in the EU. The Capital of Culture events kicked off at the Sports Palace, a soviet building constructed on a desecrated Jewish cemetery. This is also the location where new apartment buildings were permitted for construction. Antisemitism runs high in Lithuania and other former-Soviet countries. In August 2008, the Vilnius Jewish community center was vandalized: swastikas were spray-painted on the building. It is partially an issue rooted in Nazi-ism. It was the Nazis who liberated Lithuania from the Soviets in 1941, even though they were handed back to the Soviets in 1944. And Lithuanian Jews were more likely to side with the Soviets over the Nazis, were likely to kill them.
Despite losing almost all of its population, the Litvak community managed to withstand annihilation from the Nazis and Russification from the Soviets. In the late 1980s, during perestroika and glasnost, Litvaks were ready to take advantage of the cultural openness and regenerate their traditions.
In 1990, when Lithuania declared independence, the Republic of Lithuania mandated equal rights for all minorities including Jews, and laws were passed abolishing discrimination and supporting the reestablishment of Jewish cultural life. Jewish schools and the Jewish State Museum were opened in addition to the Center for Judaic studies at Vilnius University and the Judaic section at Martynas M. Mazhvydas National Library. The Centre for Stateless Cultures housed at Vilnius University studies the heritage of Lithuanian national communities: Lithuanian Tartars, Karaites, Roma, Litvaks, etc.
Today, however, Lithuania is considered one of the most intolerant states in the EU. The Capital of Culture events kicked off at the Sports Palace, a soviet building constructed on a desecrated Jewish cemetery. This is also the location where new apartment buildings were permitted for construction. Antisemitism runs high in Lithuania and other former-Soviet countries. In August 2008, the Vilnius Jewish community center was vandalized: swastikas were spray-painted on the building. It is partially an issue rooted in Nazi-ism. It was the Nazis who liberated Lithuania from the Soviets in 1941, even though they were handed back to the Soviets in 1944. And Lithuanian Jews were more likely to side with the Soviets over the Nazis, were likely to kill them.
In 2008, the US Congress urged Lithuania to end the prosecution of anti-Nazi Jewish partisans. Prominent Jewish community historians and leaders in Vilnius were being indicted for war crimes (for their anti-Nazi or "pro-Soviet" resistance). On May 18, 2008, a statement was made by the Conference of the Lithuanian Jewish Community addressing antisemitism and xenophobia in Lithuania and concerns over the restitution of Jewish community property and the prosecution of Jewish partisans.
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