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Jewish Cultural Life in Vilna between the Two World Wars
Jewish Cultural Life in Vilna between the Two World Wars
Notices for the "Vilna Troupe" theater company. Vilna, 1920s
Notices about the "Purim Spiel" (plays for Purim), Vilna, prewar
Zionist Workers convention in Vilna in the interwar period
Vilna was one of the first cities in Russia to be reached by the Enlightenment movement, via tradesmen and doctors who arrived from Germany. At the beginning of the 19th century, Vilna was one of the most important centers of Enlightenment in Eastern Europe, with many of the greatest Jewish writers and poets living in its environs, among them Lebensohn (Mich"al), of "Chibat Zion" and . Jewish students studied medicine at Vilna University, and female students studied midwifery in the same faculty.
Micah Joseph
Lebensohn – Mich"al 1828-1852 Micah Joseph Lebensohn was born in Vilna. His father, the poet "Adam" Hacohen, was one of the leaders of the Enlightenment movement in Lithuania, and the first Hebrew poet in Russia. At a young age, the Mich"al began to translate poetry, and even pen his own. Many of his translations were published, two of his compilations in Vilna, one – "Shirat Bat Zion" (1851) – during his lifetime, and the other – "Kinor Bat Zion" (1870) – by his father after the Mich"al's death from consumption (tuberculosis) at the age of 24.
Abraham Mapu (1808-1867)
Abraham Mapu was born in a town near Kovno, Russia. He excelled in his heder studies, and after his wedding studied kabbalah, joined the Hassidic movement, and worked as a teacher. At the age of 40 he became attracted to the Enlightenment movement, and studied German, French and Russian. He came to Vilna, joined its writers' circle, and began to teach in the state school for boys, where he remained until his death. Mapu wrote Ahavat Tzion (The Love of Zion) over a period of 20 years, publishing it in 1853. In the book, as in his other work Ayit Tzavua, Mapu describes the sovereign Jewish life of the days of biblical kings, as an expression of his desire to fulfil the dream of a new era of Jewish independence. Ahavat Tzion is considered the first Hebrew novel, and together with Mapu's other works, one of the foundations of the ideas of modern Zionism at its outset, and an inspirational source for Zionist leaders and youth. Among the other books he wrote was a Hebrew textbook and a biography of Shabbetai Zvi.
Judah Leib Gordon (1830-1892)
Judah Leib Gordon, one of the greatest Hebrew poets in the period of the Enlightenment, was born in Vilna and learned in heder (Torah school for young children) and a beit midrash (study hall). From a very early age, he displayed an expertise in biblical sources. He was drawn to the Enlightenment movement, studied foreign languages, and began to read more general literature. When he completed his studies, he went to work as a teacher in the cities and towns in the Vilna region, and also started to write poetry and prose. Gordon wrote about the misgivings of the Jews of Eastern Europe in the era of passage from tradition to the Enlightenment. He called on his fellow Jews to integrate into the wider society. In his poem "Hakitza Ami," he incorporated the rule: "Be a man in public and a Jew in your home." Other works of his were influenced by the Bible and the history of the Jewish people. He also wrote parables, most of which were adaptations of classic and other fables.
Educated Jews in Vilna spoke German, Polish and Russian. At the end of the 19th century, a branch of the St. Petersburg "Association to Disseminate Enlightenment" opened in the city. The historian lived in the city for a number of years at the beginning of the 20th century. Important writers visited the city and gave lectures there, among them Shalom Yaacov Abramowitz (Mendele the Bookseller), Yitzkhok Leibush Peretz and David Frishman. Revenues from their lectures were designated for welfare organizations.
Simon Dubnow
Simon Dubnow (1860-1941), Jewish professor and historian who developed the theory of autonomous Jewish national life in the Diaspora. Dubnow founded the Jewish Peoples Party in 1906, so that Jews could represent themselves within Russian politics. Confined to the Riga Ghetto in July 1941, he was shot to death in December 1941.
In the 19th century, Jewish printing presses opened in the city, publishing opinion pieces and essays by poets and writers of the Enlightenment movement. At the beginning of the 20th century, new presses were established, the most important of which were Sreberk and Klatzkin.
The Interwar Period
During WWI, most of the Jewish writers fled to Russia. After the war, the majority returned, and the rich life of Jewish literature and journalism was renewed. Vilna won back its position as the center of Hebrew and Yiddish literature and media. Most of the writers that returned from Russia left Vilna after a while, but still contributed to the city's spiritual life. These included S. Ansky (author of the play "The Dybbuk"), Pinchas Shifman, Y. Gutman and the religious author Ben-Zion Alphas.
Many Yiddish writers settled in Vilna, including Shmuel-Leib Citron, Zalman Reisin, Max (Meir) Weinreich and Aharon Yitzhak Grodzinski. From 1929, a group of Yiddish artists, writers and poets, painters and sculptors met in the city. The group was called "Jung Vilna," and was led by, among others, Chaim Grade, Abraham Sutzkever, Peretz Miranski,Shmerke Kaczerginski and Hirsh Glik. The city was a cultural hub, attracting visits by Jewish writers from across Eastern Europe, including Hayim Nahman Bialik, Itzhak Katzenelson, Shimon Halkin, Daniel Charney, Peretz Markish, Shalom Asch, Uri Zvi Greenberg and the poet Elisheva (Bikhowsky). The argument between the Yiddishists and the Hebrew supporters brought about a separate association of Hebrew writers. The Polish Yiddish Writers' Club also had its own branch in the city.
After WWI, Yiddish newspapers began to appear in Vilna and, later on, Hebrew newspapers as well. Journals of movements and political parties – including Hebrew culture, secular, socialist and religious Zionism, and communism – were also publicized, most of them for only a short while. By the end of the 1920s, between 100-200 and sometimes more Hebrew and Yiddish books and brochures were published annually in Vilna.
The Jewish sculptor Mark Antokolski began a school for the applied arts, which was opened after his death. In the 1930s, the city held a number of exhibitions of famous Jewish artists, including Arthur Shik and Maneh Katz, who used Vilna as their subject matter. Vilna also ran a local theatre built during WWI, a drama studio, and amateur choirs. In addition, Vilna was the birthplace or place of study for the violinist Jascha Heifetz and other famous musicians and cantors.
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![Notices for the "Vilna Troupe" theater company. Vilna, 1920s](https://www.yadvashem.org/sites/default/files/2074_99a.jpg "Notices for the "Vilna Troupe" theater company. Vilna, 1920s")
![Notices about the "Purim Spiel" (plays for Purim), Vilna, prewar](https://www.yadvashem.org/sites/default/files/2074_99b.jpg "Notices about the "Purim Spiel" (plays for Purim), Vilna, prewar")
