| The Second World War resulted in the almost total
liquidation of the Jewish community and destroyed much
of the city. Around 95% of Lithuanian Jews were
murdered, including 80,000 Jews who lived in the city
prior to the Nazi invasion. When the few Jewish
survivors returned to Vilnius, they found a city in
ruins, a population struggling for survival and a Soviet
government that immediately re-imposed totalitarian
rule. After a few years the few memorials to the
Holocaust were removed or changed to monuments for
“Soviet citizens”. All remaining expressions of Jewish
cultural life were banned.
Visitors to Vilnius now find very little of the Jewish
past. Although there are several museums and several
plaques that indicate where the Vilnius ghetto was, one
really has to know the city to understand what Jewish
Vilnius looked like Also the younger generations of
Lithuanians lack this understanding; they live in a city
whose past remains hidden. As a result, they unknowingly
miss part of their roots, and the chance is missed to
pass the city’s history on to future generations. And
there is so much to be remembered: the cultural,
academic and spiritual heritage, and also the painful
events that continue to influence Lithuania even today. |