Reconnecting the Past and Present at the Vilna/Vilnius Jewish Library

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1 Reconnecting the Past and Present at the Vilna/Vilnius Jewish Library Olga Potap, Librarian Boston University Association of Jewish Libraries 50 th Annual Conference Washington, DC (Silver Spring, MD) June 23, 2015

2 Vilna Jewish Libraries Strashun Library The Hevrah Mefitse Haskalah public library Sirkin s book store library Children s and school libraries Medical library in the Jewish Hospital Library of the YIVO Institute for Jewish research The Ghetto Library

3 The Vilnius Jewish Public Library The Vilnius Jewish Public library opened in 2011 thanks to the initiative of Mr. Wyman Brent. Library s Mission: to establish a cultural institution for Jews and non-jews that would foster compassion, respect and responsibility for all members of the community.

4 Conditions for Establishing the Jewish Public Library in Vilnius The establishment and revival of the Jewish community in Lithuania Creation of environments for integration of Jewish culture into the Lithuanian society Acceptance of the fact that Jewish history and culture in Lithuania is a part of Lithuanian history and culture

5 Lithuanians then, including me, knew practically nothing about Jewish history in Lithuania. The history textbooks of independent Lithuania between the two world wars dedicated at most a half page to Jews Soviet textbooks didn t mention Jews at all, the word itself seemed profane somehow and it was avoided Jews were considered strangers par excellence. Tomas Venclova

6 Learning about Holocaust in the State schools

7 Commemorative plaques and statues in honor and memory of famous Jews, and non-jews, who lived or associated with Jewish Vilnius and/or Jewish Lithuania Monument in honor of the Vilna Gaon Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman ( )

8 Statue in honor of Dr. Zemach Shabad Commemorative plaque for world-famous violinist, Jascha Heifetz

9 Statue in memory of a famous French writer Romain Gary ( ). Born in Vilnius. Monument to Japanese diplomat and mass rescuer Chiune Sugihara.

10 The great stratum of Litvak culture is no longer alien. If it hasn't been integrated into Lithuanian culture, I believe the foundation for doing so has already been laid. Tomas Venclova

11 The Vilnius Jewish Public Library General information Staff Budget Collection Library s patrons Events and exhibitions Ongoing Projects

12 Head Librarian Žilvinas Beliauskas Librarian Žydrūnė Šaulianskaitė

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14 The Conference Room

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16 Photo exhibition Faces of Vilna

17 Dalija Epstein, the Chief Editor Almanac Brasta

18 Recommendations Lectures Brasta publications Annotated bibliography Annotated links to the Web resources

19 Suggested Weblinks Strashun Library digital exhibition Stashun Library at Yad Vashem World Center for Holocaust Research Ghetto Library at Ona Shimaite biography at % pdf Dina Abramowitz biography at The YIVO Vilna project at The Last Days of the Jerusalem of Lithuania: Artifacts of the Vilna Ghetto