JEWISH CULTURE RETURNS TO VILNIUS

to participate in the first display of books compiled by American Wyman Brent.

Photo: Žilvinas Beliauskas  

Many of us had a certain feeling of participating in writing a new chapter of history when we met this early June day two weeks ago. Vilnius, which for hundreds of years had been one of the world's most important centres of Jewish culture and learning, was, as we know virtually wiped out from the Jewish world map during the Holocaust, but as we meet here - individuals from many countries, nationalities and cultures - this early summer day to celebrate that an American Baptist has collected more than 5000 books for what eventually will become a Jewish library of 200,000 titles, the feeling of a new dawn is clearly present.

Wyman Brent's planned new library is not the only signal. Two other men, professor Dovid Katz and professor Mikhail Iossel, have also been very active recently. As a result, not many weeks ago, the new Litvak Studies Institute was established in the premises of the Jewish community in Vilnius city centre (read more about both the library and the institute below).

These two events have not healed the wounds after the Holocaust in this country, and it will take a long time and many more efforts before this will happen. But it is important to maintain and preferably breathe new life into what was once a thriving Jewish culture here. The efforts that are now being made by these three gentlemen is nothing less than admirable, and I do therefore choose to see 10 June 2010 as a turning point in the positive direction.

I've had the pleasure to give my support to the new building of bridges that seems to be developing between Lithuania and the world’s Litvak communities these days, and I must say that I during this process have been impressed by how open and positive also many of Lithuania's governing circles and individuals have become. Wyman Brent's library has, for example, been given free space and also brought into a close cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and other government institutions. This form of transparency and genuine willingness to find reconciliation, symbolized through concrete projects, is of utmost importance, and I applaud all parties involved!

Aage Myhre

Editor

Litvak Studies Institute

Photo: Litvak Studies Institute

The Litvak Studies Institute (LSI) is an interdisciplinary academic and arts centre devoted to the language, literature, history, culture and future of Lithuanian Jewry.

Based within the Jewish community in Vilnius, the international non-profit institute works to support, strengthen and extend the vitality of Lithuanian Jewish heritage, as well as its future and contemporary life. This uniquely vibrant community thrived for over six centuries before being nearly annihilated during the Holocaust—it remains fragile in the present day.

Today, the LSI serves as a resonant local and international voice for contemporary Lithuanian Jewish issues, and provides unique resources about Litvak culture and the global diaspora of Jews of Lithuanian descent.

An educational and creative epicentre for Litvak Studies, the LSI offers a spectrum of projects, initiatives, and partnerships, including the annual publications, public affairs advocacy, Lithuanian Yiddish programs, heritage tours, Holocaust survivor advocacy, and much more.

The Institute will also work to counter the reemergence of anti-Semitic trends in the region (including Holocaust revisionism and "Double Genocide"), and will be a stalwart and loyal advocate for the surviving Litvak communities in the region and the world.

Read more at:

http://www.litvakstudiesinstitute.org/

Jewish Library

Photo: Žilvinas Beliauskas  

An American Christian of British and Irish descent (!) has embarked on an ambitious project to create a Jewish library in Vilnius, whose legendary Jewish community was virtually wiped out during Holocaust.

Wyman Brent a 47-year-old Baptist , is using his own funds to build the library, but his project is backed by a corps of supporters ranging from British historian Sir Martin Gilbert to the co-founder of the US National Organization for Women, Sonia Pressman Fuentes. Also the Lithuanian authorities are now backing Wyman’s plans and have offered space and cooperation for his library project.

If all goes according to Wyman’s plans, the library will have a collection of 200,000 books, plus CDs and DVDs, and will serve as a venue for concerts, art exhibitions, poetry readings and lectures.

The library currently has no permanent home, but it already has around 5,000 items, which will eventually increase to around 200,000. It is expected to open to the public second half of 2010 and will likely be based at Gedimino Avenue 24, the building that houses the Vilnius Small Theatre.

An interesting feature for the Jewish library is that the books do not necessarily have to be about Jewish topics, and Wyman explains his ideology as follows: “If the book is by a Jewish author, it can be on any topic, whether it has a Jewish theme or not. If the book is by a non-Jewish author, whether it is fiction or non-fiction, the topic must have some Jewish connection as long as it is not anti-Semitic.”

All books will be in English so as to draw in the greatest possible number of users.

He returned to Vilnius in 1995 and has lived here for long periods of time since then, since 2008 permanently. “Vilnius is the place I plan to live for the rest of my life,” he explains.

“Another reason for choosing Vilnius is that it was a centre of Jewish culture and learning, known as the Jerusalem of Lithuania. With more than 100 synagogues and prayer houses, and with so many Jewish newspapers, it was a city which spread Jewish thought around the world.”

Nevertheless, he points out, there is an undercurrent of anti-Semitism in Lithuania today.

“I am not the king of the world and I can never end anti-Semitism, but if I can open a few minds to the beauty of Jewish culture, I will have done my part to make the world a better place.”

Read more at:

http://balticreports.com/?p=19332