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Inscription on the wall surrounding the sports field in the Vilna ghetto, encouraging the public to engage in sports.
Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 3380/400
Daily Life in the Vilna Ghetto: Holocaust Survivor Testimonies
Shabtai Shepsel Prushan (seated second from the right) with other factory workers, in Vilna, probably in the ghetto
From a collection of photographs that were found after liberation, in the pockets of people who had been murdered in the Klooga camp
Yad Vashem Photo Archives 4068/94 Courtesy of The Central Historic Museum in Estonia
Abraham Sutzkever (right) and Shmerke Kaczerginski outside their apartment in the Vilna ghetto, July 1943
Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 3380/408
Jew climbing out of a "malina" (hiding place) at 6 Strashun Street in Vilna. The underground fighters learned to shoot in this hiding place.
Yad Vashem Photo Archives 3380/422
Poster published by the culture office in the Vilna ghetto, 1943. The poster describes an art exhibition held in the theater lobby and due to close on Sunday, 4 April. The notice includes opening hours and cites that entrance is free.
Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 3380/164
Two contact prints of scenes from a theater production in the Vilna ghetto
Yad Vashem Photo Archives, F3380/111
Abram Berkon's ghetto work certificate, issued by the Fliegerhorst Kommandantur (German Air Force Headquarters) in Vilna, 22 August 1941
Abram's name appears on a list of Jews detained at the Vilna ghetto prison in June 1943. His fate is unknown.
Yad Vashem Photo Archives 2074/70
Alexander Bogen (1916-2010): Vilna Ghetto 1943
Aquatint
Collection of the Yad Vashem Art Museum, Jerusalem
The murder of Vilna's Jews halted temporarily in December 1941 and a began. Until the liquidation of the ghetto in September 1943, of the 20,000 Jews in the ghetto, it was primarily the sick and elderly that were murdered. Nursing, education, health and cultural institutions were established in the ghetto. In July 1942 the Germans appointed Chief of Police Jacob Gens as sole leader of the ghetto and the Judenrat worked under him to manage the ghetto. The perception of "working to live" strengthened, according to which a productive ghetto would secure the life of its inhabitants and buy them time until the German's defeat. With this perception in mind, Gens established workshops and factories and organised the ghetto as a productive unit that benefited the Germans.
German Policy During the Period of Relative Stability
During the "period of relative stability" the Aktionen stopped as the German losses in the war and the murder of Jews and Soviet prisoners of war had led to a severe shortage of manpower. Lithuanians held back from enlisting for work since they understood that cooperating with the Germans would not lead to their independence but rather the opposite. The value of the Jews who remained as a work force in the ghettos increased. In April 1942 the validity of the scheins expired but in Vilna fresh work certificates were issued and the fear of an immediate liquidation of the ghetto waned.
The Judenrat established departments for assisting with food, health, accommodation and work and departments for social work, education, culture and finances. Associations of lawyers, teachers, writers and artists were established. An old age home was founded and a public library was established on Strashun Street. The library included an archive with much material about the ghetto including the theatre, orchestra, Hebrew and Yiddish choirs and a music school.
Aktionen During the Period of Relative Stability
The Elderly Aktion
On the 17th of July 1942 following Gens's appointment as sole leader, the Jewish police arrested 84 elderly and sick Jews in their homes and a few days later handed them over to the Germans who murdered them in Ponary. There were rumours in the ghetto of additional Aktionen that had taken place against women and children. In a speech to the heads of households, Gens claimed that he had refused the orders of the Germans to take children and that no further Aktionen were expected.
Oszmiana Aktion
In Autumn 1942 the Germans decided to murder 1,500 Jews from Oszmiana. The members of the FPO (Fareynegte Partizaner Organizatsye – United Partisan Organisation) knew about the planned Aktion; they sent underground member Liza Magun to warn the Jews of Oszmiana before the Aktion, she managed to sneak into the Oszmiana Ghetto and to make contact with its residents but they did not believe her warning.
In October 1942 the Jewish police in Vilna were ordered to select victims. Once more the fear of Aktionen arose in the Vilna Ghetto. On the 27th of October, Gens spoke before a gathering of public figures in the Vilna Ghetto. He told them about the Aktion in Oszmiana and explained that he had managed to reduce the number of victims that the Germans had ordered from 1,500 to 406 elderly and sick. At the gathering Gens said:
I do not want to dirty my hands and to send my police to carry out this contemptible act but I say that it is indeed my task to sully my hands, because the Jewish people is living through its most terrible period… and it is our job to save the strong ones, the young, not just in age but in spirit, and not to be dragged along by emotions.
Ruzka Korchak, Flames in the Ashes, p126
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