The end of theseAktionen on 21 December 1941 saw the beginning of a long period of relative stability in the ghetto, which lasted until April 1943. The population that remained, having been cleared of its older and less able- bodied members, had a younger and more politicized character than many of the other east European ghettos. At the same time, the patterns of authority that developed in the ghetto were similar: those involved with the Judenrat and the Jewish Police in particular wielded considerably more inXuence than
8 Ibid. 145–7; Dawidowicz,The War against the Jews, 347. 9 Arad,Ghetto in Flames, 149–58.
other inmates; those involved in large-scale food traYcking became some of the community’s wealthier members.10
Reduced to a third of its original size, the community began slowly to take stock of what had been lost. It also quickly set about re-establishing the footholds of its own existence, which had been so violently disrupted, and which still remained fear-ridden and precarious. Cultural life was one of the most important ways in which this was achieved. With astonishing rapidity, the ghetto community was able to revive some of its cherished institutions, and within a few weeks of theAktionen had already established several new ones.
First priority was given to children and education. Schools were opened and regular teaching began in late 1941; after only a few months, the librarian Herman Kruk noted in his diary the existence of two schools in the ghetto, with a daily attendance of over 700 pupils. A year later, he observed with some pride that the ghetto now boasted three elementary schools, a secondary school, a technical school, a nursery, and boarding schools for orphans. Orthodox groups had also established akheyder (traditional Jewish religious school) and two yeshivas. By the end of 1942 school curricula were organized under Wve broad headings: Yiddish and Hebrew, religion, Jewish and general history, natural science and geography, and arithmetic.11
One of the ghetto’s most important cultural centres became the famous pre-war MeWtse-Haskole library, located at 6 Strashun Street. Kruk assumed the task of reorganizing the library within days of the ghetto’s establish- ment—reports suggest that it was vandalized and its contents partially dispersed—and people were soon Xocking to borrow books or to spend time in the reading room. In August 1942 it reached a peak membership of nearly 4,000 subscribers. The library building also housed the ghetto archive, statistical authority, and museum. The archive and museum assembled hundreds of valuable documents and artefacts relating to Jewish life in Vilna, some of which were buried in the hope that they would be preserved.12
Musical institutions were also quickly re-established. Under the leadership of Avraham Slep and Tamara Girshovitsh, a music school was set up oVering tuition in piano, violin, singing, and later music theory.13 The school was
10 Arad,Ghetto in Flames, 307, 311–12.
11 Herman Kruk, ‘Diary of the Vilna Ghetto’,YIVO Annual of Jewish Social Science, 13 (1965),
9–78 at 26–7, 52, 32–3, 46.
12 Avraham Sutzkever,Fun Vilner geto (Moscow, 1946), 111; Mark Dworzecki, Yerushalayim de-
Lita in kamf un umkum (Paris, 1948), 242; Dawidowicz, The War against the Jews, 316.
13 Slep (1884–1942) was a well-known conductor and singing teacher in pre-war Vilna. He was
attended by over 100 pupils, and concerts were organized regularly.14 The
well-known conductor Ya’akov Gershteyn revived his popular pre-war stu- dent choir, which continued to enjoy great success.15
In December 1941 a small orchestra was established under the leadership of Wolf Durmashkin, a promising young conductor and accompanist from Warsaw. The Wrst per- formance took place in March 1942, with under twenty musicians; within a year, the number of members had doubled. During the time of its existence, the orchestra performed some thirty-Wve concerts. Part of its repertoire consisted of standard concert fare, including solo and symphonic works by Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky. No formal restric- tions existed on works by Aryan composers, as they did in Warsaw. In addition, its programmes often included folksongs, ‘light’ music, and jazz, and interspersed musical pieces with recitations or theatrical sketches on contemporary topics. Many Jews had performed in the Vilna Symphony Orchestra as well as in Jewish orchestras before the war, and they made up the bulk of the new ensemble’s members. According to former ghetto inmates, the level of performance was reasonably high.16
The ghetto also saw a proliferation of cultural activities centred around Jewish and Zionist themes. Under the auspices of the Brit Ivrit (Hebrew Union), a Hebrew choir with over 100 members was established, also under Durmashkin’s leadership. The choir sang pioneer songs, songs with biblical texts, operatic excerpts, Chassidic songs, and folksongs. A smaller Hebrew choir, with Wfteen members, was led by Shlomo Sharf from the Vilna Synagogue Choir. Both performed regularly at the conclusion of lecture evenings about Zionist history and other Jewish topics, and were accompan- ied by Durmashkin’s orchestra. The Brit also had a Hebrew theatre, which staged, among other pieces, David Pinski’s encouraging Ha’y’hudi ha’nitschi (The triumphant Jew) in June 1943. A Yiddish choir led by Slep performed
Vilna educational society). He continued to work with the choir in the ghetto, and its performances were enthusiastically received. The repertoire was made up of standard classical works and Jewish folksongs, which he arranged himself. Slep was deported to Estonia a few months before the liquidation of the ghetto, and died there. Girshovitz was a well-known pianist and teacher, and had been an active member of the Jewish Music Institute in Vilna. Kaczerginski and Leivick, 89; Yisaskhar Fater,Yiddishe muzik in Poyln tsvishn beyde velt-milkhomes (Tel Aviv, 1970), 172–8, 272.
14 Dworzecki,Yerushalayim de-Lita, 234; Kruk, ‘Diary’, 244, 376; Zelig Kalmanovitch, ‘A Diary
of the Nazi Ghetto in Vilna’,YIVO Annual of Jewish Social Science, 8 (1953), 9–81 at 31.
15 Yitzkhok Rudashevski,The Diary of the Vilna Ghetto, June 1941–April 1943 (Tel Aviv, 1973), 60;
Kruk, ‘Diary’, 353–4.
16 Anonymous statement about Wolf Durmashkin, Yad Vashem Archive (hereafter YV), M.1.E/
1538; Dworzecki,Yerushalayim de-Lita, 244; Skurkovitz, Sima’s Songs, 3; Sutzkever, Fun Vilner Geto, 107.
Yiddish folksongs, usually accompanied by the orchestra, while a religious chorus presented liturgical choral music.17
The most controversial of the new developments in the ghetto’s cultural life was undoubtedly the establishment of the ghetto theatre. The poet Avraham Sutzkever was present at the meeting, attended primarily by the theatre community, where a young director by the name of Viskind proposed the venture in January 1942. According to Sutzkever, although many were taken aback by the suggestion, Viskind convinced them that the theatre would play an important role in uplifting the community. During the twenty months of its existence, the theatre hosted four full-scale dramatic presenta- tions in Yiddish. The Wrst,Grine felder (Green Welds), a well-known pastoral romance by the Yiddish-American playwright Peretz Hirshbein, opened in August 1942.Der mentsh untern brik (The man under the bridge), a Yiddish translation of the play by the Hungarian Otto Indig, was premiered in November of that year. David Pinski’s comedy Der oytser (The treasure) was staged in March 1943, and Der mabl (The Xood), a Yiddish translation of Henning Berger’sSyndaXoden, opened during the last weeks of the ghetto’s existence in the summer of 1943. A performance of Sholem Aleichem’sTevye der milkhiker (Tevye the milkman) was in preparation when the ghetto was liquidated. The actors in these productions were generally able to rehearse only at night, when they had returned from work. The most popular among them were Ya’akov Beregolski, Max Shadovski, Esther Lipovski, Shabsai Blyakher, Yekusiel Rutenberg, Dore Rubin, and the ‘ghetto-star’ Khayele Rozental.18
Shortly after the theatre came the establishment of the Faraynikung fun Literarn un Kinstler under the charismatic leadership of the well-known writer and intellectual Zelig Kalmanovitch. The organization aimed to stimulate creativity in the ghetto and to promote Jewish art and culture. Founded on the initiative of the artists themselves, and representing a wide range of political aYliations, it organized regular literary evenings, lectures, and discussions. Some of the ghetto’s leading personalities came to talk on subjects ranging from Barukh Spinoza to the work of the artist Chagall, Yiddish writers such as I. L. Peretz and Mendele Moykher Sforim, and Jewish music. Gatherings would often be concluded with songs in Hebrew or Yiddish. Although musicians were included in this initial group, they estab- lished their own association on 10 February 1942, with a membership of Wfty.
17 Dworzecki,Yerushalayim de-Lita, 245–6, 253; Trunk, Judenrat, 227.
18 Solon Beinfeld, ‘The Cultural Life of the Vilna Ghetto’, in Joshua Sobol,Ghetto (London,
The FLK also held three art competitions in the ghetto, with separate categories for literature, music, and painting. These received an enthusiastic response both from the numerous entrants and from the ghetto public.19
Apart from organizing these events, the FLK made an enormous eVort to provide material help to the ghetto’s struggling artists. It assisted them with obtaining work permits, and in some cases was able to support their spouses as well. The organization was also concerned with preserving works by Vilna Jews, both those who had been killed and those who continued with their activities in the ghetto. Material was collected for publication after the war, and some artists were even paid in advance for work-in-progress.