Vilnius, Poland (now Lithuania)

Background
Jews have lived in Lithuania since the 14th century, and by the 18th century, Vilnius (also known as Wilno) had become a major centre of Jewish religious and cultural life. The city was home to Elijah ben Solomon Zalman (1720–1797), known as the Vilna Gaon, one of the most influential Torah scholars in Jewish history.

In 1795, following the Third Partition of Poland, Vilnius became part of the Russian Empire, ending the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Widespread antisemitism and pogroms under Russian rule prompted waves of Jewish emigration from Lithuania in the late 19th century.

Interwar Period (1919–1939)
After World War I, Vilnius became part of Poland in 1922 and remained under Polish control until 1939. The city had a large and vibrant Jewish population, known for its synagogues, schools, libraries, theatres, and political activism, earning it the nickname “Jerusalem of the North.”

World War II
In 1939, following the Nazi-Soviet Pact, the USSR seized Vilnius and soon transferred it to Lithuanian control, though Soviet occupation resumed shortly thereafter. In 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union and occupied Vilnius.

The city’s Jewish population was confined to the Vilna Ghetto, where a strong underground resistance movement emerged. Many residents were murdered in the Ponary (Paneriai) forest, where approximately 70,000 Jews from Vilnius and the surrounding region were executed in mass shootings—part of what is now called the “Shoah by Bullets.”

Aftermath
After Vilnius was liberated by the Red Army in 1944, a small number of survivors attempted to rebuild the community. However, most emigrated due to continued Soviet repression. The city was incorporated into the Lithuanian SSR under Soviet rule.

Present-day

Although its Jewish community was largely destroyed, the city still has a small Jewish community

Visiting Vilnius

Getting there

Vilinius has good air and road connections. Trains also run to Riga and Warsaw.

What to see

Ghetto Location

The Little Ghetto was located at the beginning of Stiklių gatve to the right of Vilnius Town Hall, where there is a map and memorial plaque.

Former Great Synagogue was on Žydų gatve. Take the second left turn on Stiklių gatve. Next to it stood the famous Strašūnas Library. The complex was damaged in World War II, though not irrevocably, and it is now undergoin restoration.

The Great Ghetto

Vokiečiu gatve ran between the two ghettos. Now far wider than originally laid out, this was the heart of the Jewish Quarter and once bustled with shoppers and peddlers.

Jewish Culture and Information Centre (Žydų Kultūros Ir Informacijos Centras; Mėsinių 3a/5) Stop here to pick up a map of Jewish Vilnius. In the basement there is a fascinating recreation of a malina, a hiding place. Outside there are information panels, as well as an example of the ‘Walls Th at Remember’ graffi ti art initiative and one of the city’s talking statutes. Use the QR code you’ll fi nd there to activate it.

The Judenrat was located at Rūdninku 8, a few minutes’ walk away. The entrance to the Great Ghetto was at No. 18, where there is a memorial plaque. After the liquidation of the Great Ghetto in September 1943, around 1,250 Jews were transferred to a labour lamp on Subačiaus gatve (Bldgs 47 & 49), 2km east of the city centre. There is a memorial between the two buildings and an information plaque.

Vilna Ghetto Library (Žemaitijos g. 4) This site is being transformed into a new memorial museum for the Holocaust and the Vilna Ghetto.

Synagogue

Choral Synagogue (Choralinė Sinagoga; Pylimo g. 39; ring the bell on the gate for admission), where the partisan leader Abba Kovner made his famous rousing speech after the liberation at Jewish New Year 1944. Do not miss the fascinating old matzo-making machine on display in the women’s gallery.

Museums

Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History (Vilniaus Gaono Žydu Istorijos Muziejus) The Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History covers a number of important museums:

The Samuel Bak Museum in the Tolerance Centre (Tolerancijos Centras; Naugarduko g. 10/2) Much of the museum is dedicated to the artist Samuel Bak, but it also hosts an extremely moving exhibition about children who were saved during the Holocaust. A child’s singing guides visitors to a memorial for the murdered Jewish children of Lithuania.

The Museum of Culture and Identity of Lithuanian Jews, (Lietuvos Žydų Kultūros Ir Tapatybės Muziejus; Pylimo g. 4A) The museum is in the Lithuanian Jewish Community headquarters in the former Tarbut School. It also exhibits the work of Rafael Chvoleso (1913–2002) in the separately named Rafaelio Chvoleso Muziejus and other Jewish cultural figures. It tells the story of Jewish life in Lithuania, notably of Jewish secular schooling.

The Holocaust Exhibition (Holokausto Ekspuzicija; Pamėnkalnio str. 12) Located in a wooden building known as the Green House. The museum is rather old fashioned but is due to be replaced by the new museum in the former ghetto library.

Further afield

Paneriai Forest Paneriai Paneriu Memorialas (Agrastu g. 17; w jmuseum.lt/lt/paneriu-memorialas-2; ( 24hrs; free) During the Soviet occupation, the Red Army dug several huge round pits in which to store aircraft fuel outside the village of Aukštieji Paneriai, 14km southwest of Vilnius. The Germans used them as ready-made death pits. They hold the remains of 75,000 people, mostly Jews but also Soviet prisoners of war and Poles murdered by the Germans and Lithuanian collaborators between 1941 and 1943. The events are well documented in the Visitors Centre.

Rudnicki Forest After the liquidation of the Vilnius Ghetto in 1943, Abba Kovner and his partisans hid out deep in the Rudnicki Forest, south of Vilnius near the border with modern-day Belarus. The partisans, because they had fought with the Red Army, were heroes in Soviet times, and every Soviet school child visited the old partisan bunkers. Since the present Lithuanian government does not celebrate Soviet heroes, Kovner’s hideout no longer appears on maps. If you decide to visit, pack mosquito repellent as the forest is infested.

Present day Country:

Lithiania

Pre 1939:

Poland

1939-1941:

Lithuania

1941-1945:

Reichskommissariat Ostland

Associated Boys:

Hersch Brastman

Map: