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Visiting Info
Opening Hours:

Sunday to Thursday: ‬09:00-17:00

Fridays and Holiday eves: ‬09:00-14:00

Yad Vashem is closed on Saturdays and all Jewish Holidays.

Entrance to the Holocaust History Museum is not permitted for children under the age of 10. Babies in strollers or carriers will not be permitted to enter.

Drive to Yad Vashem:
For more Visiting Information

The Jewish Community of Vilna after World War II

Immediately following liberation, survivors who returned began to document the events of the Holocaust and commemorate Vilna's Jews and its once thriving community. A historical institute was founded by Abraham Sutzkever, Abba Kovner, Shmerke Kaczerginski and Dr. Shmuel Amarant. The institute collated all it could retrieve from the different hiding places: manuscripts and books, documents and diaries, artifacts and photographs. It also began to collect testimonies from the survivors.

Ruins of buildings next to the Friedrichstrasse train station in Vilna, 1946
Ruins of buildings next to the Friedrichstrasse train station in Vilna, 1946

Ruins of buildings next to the Friedrichstrasse train station in Vilna, 1946
Ruins of  "Glaziers'" (today Stikliu) Street in the Vilna ghetto, postwar
Ruins of "Glaziers'" (today Stikliu) Street in the Vilna ghetto, postwar

Ruins of  "Glaziers'" (today Stikliu) Street in the Vilna ghetto, postwar
The Jewish Orphanage in Vilna, 1944. Front row, 4th from left, kneeling, in a grey dress: Zlata (Zehava) Burgin. Center, in uniform: Prof. Rabelski, the 'Father' of the orphanage
The Jewish Orphanage in Vilna, 1944. Front row, 4th from left, kneeling, in a grey dress: Zlata (Zehava) Burgin. Center, in uniform: Prof. Rabelski, the 'Father' of the orphanage

The Jewish Orphanage in Vilna, 1944. Front row, 4th from left, kneeling, in a grey dress: Zlata (Zehava) Burgin. Center, in uniform: Prof. Rabelski, the 'Father' of the orphanage
14-year-old Sarel Nechemya recites Kaddish (memorial prayer for the dead) in Ponary immediately after the liberation of Vilna
14-year-old Sarel Nechemya recites Kaddish (memorial prayer for the dead) in Ponary immediately after the liberation of Vilna

14-year-old Sarel Nechemya recites Kaddish (memorial prayer for the dead) in Ponary immediately after the liberation of Vilna
Ruins of the Torah Ark in the synagogue of the Vilna Gaon in Vilna, 1946
Ruins of the Torah Ark in the synagogue of the Vilna Gaon in Vilna, 1946

Ruins of the Torah Ark in the synagogue of the Vilna Gaon in Vilna, 1946
Bringing Torah scrolls for burial in Vilna, presumably postwar
Bringing Torah scrolls for burial in Vilna, presumably postwar

Bringing Torah scrolls for burial in Vilna, presumably postwar
Memorial at the murder site of the Jews of Vilna and the surrounding areas, Ponary
Memorial at the murder site of the Jews of Vilna and the surrounding areas, Ponary

Memorial at the murder site of the Jews of Vilna and the surrounding areas, Ponary
Torah scrolls from Vilna. From the exhibition "…and the Letters Soar Heavenwards": Vilna as a Metaphor for Jewish Identity
Torah scrolls from Vilna. From the exhibition "…and the Letters Soar Heavenwards": Vilna as a Metaphor for Jewish Identity

Curator: Yehuda Levy-Aldema
Design: Ido Bruno
Photography: Naor Ankri 

Torah scrolls from Vilna. From the exhibition "…and the Letters Soar Heavenwards": Vilna as a Metaphor for Jewish Identity
Moshe Bagel (Bahelfer) (1908-1995): Vilna and Ponary, 1989
Moshe Bagel (Bahelfer) (1908-1995): Vilna and Ponary, 1989

Mixed-media

Moshe Bagel (Bahelfer) (1908-1995): Vilna and Ponary, 1989

From the Yad Vashem Artifacts Collection