Special premises at the site of the complex of the Great Synagogue of Vilnius. Photo Saulius Žiūra (7)
Culture

Premises on Great Synagogue grounds in Vilnius let to 10 tenants

The City of Vilnius has rented special premises at the site of the complex of the Great Synagogue on the Vokiečių Street to host creative tenants, who will, in their turn, organise various artistic workshops, exhibitions, educational, innovative and artistic projects, teach crafts, there will be educational theatre and visual arts activities. All this will be happening in a 1000 square meters building which used to operate as a primary school and it is atop the former treasured heritage – the Great Synagogue – the Jewish Cultural and Education Centre (13A, Vokiečių Street). […]

Žydų (Jews) street in Vilnius
History

The Jewish Quarter in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania – isolation or privilege?

Quarters comprising of several streets that were designed along religious, ethnic or professional lines were a regular way of life in European cities during the Middle Ages. Thus the settling of Jews, who employed the use of a section of the city that was delegated to them by law did not go counter to the pattern that had developed for settling in cities. Orthodox believers, Germans, Jews, butchers, glass makers and others who established themselves in Great Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) cities divided up living space in a similar manner. Thus Jews brought traditions to the GDL that were typical for them in the quarters they lived, traditions that coincided with other trends that managed to express themselves in GDL cities. […]

Zarasai
Society

Zarasai marks European days of Jewish culture

The town of Zarasai, nestled in the picturesque north-east of the country amongst sparkling lakes and gently rolling hills, may be best known as a summer holiday destination, but for two days this weekend it chose to highlight a different side of its cultural history. To mark the European Days of Jewish Culture, the Zarasai Regional Museum organised three events that gave the public an opportunity to reflect on the region’s largely vanished Jewish heritage. […]

The Great Synagogue of Vilna, 1914-1918
Culture

The Great Synagogue of Vilna, once the Vatican of Europe’s Jews

The Great Synagogue of Vilna was once to Jewish culture and religion what the Vatican is to Christendom, say archaeologists from the United States and Israel who are researching the edifice which was razed to the ground over half a century ago.

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From an exhibit on the Roma in the Holocaust
Society

Genocide research centre may publish list of suspected Lithuanian Holocaust collaborators

The Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania (LGGRTC) has announced that it may publish a list of individuals who had worked in police institutions during the Nazi occupation of Europe. This would amount to a list of individuals who may have contributed to the Holocaust in Lithuania, though it would not be clear in what capacity they may have collaborated. […]