Grapevine: Paths of Jewish Lithuania - Not Just News - Jerusalem Post Grapevine: Paths of Jewish Lithuania By Greer Fay Cashman 28 July 2016 15:55 On August 1, there will be a premier of the documentary In the Paths of Jewish Lithuania, at the Hibba Center, on Herzog Street near the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens. Stones lie on a tombstone in a Jewish cemetery in Vilnius August 7, 2007. (photo credit:REUTERS) ■ VILNIUS, THE capital of Lithuania, was once known as the Jerusalem of the north, and in the annals of Judaism is referred to as Vilna. This is where Eliahu Ben Shlomo Zalman, better known as the Vilna Gaon, held sway and persuaded many of his followers – including his relatives – to migrate to the Land of Israel, even though he himself did not do so and is buried in Vilnius. Descendants of the Vilna Gaon and his disciples include the Rivlin and Netanyahu families.

On August 1, there will be a premier of the documentary In the Paths of Jewish Lithuania, at the Hibba Center, on Herzog Street near the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens. The film will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by well-known radio and television personality Shaul Meisels, a broadcaster who focuses on religious and Jewish folklore topics and who produced and directed the film. Participants will include Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein, Prof. Zehavit Gross, Israel Rosenson and Akiva Sela. Reservations can be made at (02) 679-0011. Grapevine: Changes at the TA Museum The film is one of a series of events during the three-week mourning period between 17 Tamuz and Tisha Be’av. With this in mind, there will be a lecture on August 4 on “The Love of Israel (as a people) and Living Together” to be delivered by Rabbi Duki Ben Artzi, followed by a lecture on A Time to Love in Israel by Bat Galim Shaer, the mother of Gil-Ad Shaer, one of the three yeshiva students abducted and murdered by terrorists two years ago.

In the interim the unity surrounding the fate of the three boys has to some extent disintegrated, and Sha’ar would like to see it restored. The final lecture in the series on August 11 will naturally be devoted to “The Temple Mount – the realities and the untenable” by Nadav Shragai, journalist, author and a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. This will be followed by a lecture by Rabbi Menachem Makover on “The Temple Mount in our Times – a Vision or a Dream.” All the above events begin at 8:15 p.m. ■ THE ANNUAL Israel Medical Conference will take place at the Jerusalem International Convention Center on Tuesday, August 16 in the presence of Mayor Nir Barkat and President Reuven Rivlin. Registration is through the Hadassah Medical Center or (02) 531-5832.

Under the heading of 360º of Health, conference participants will discuss specific health issues, technological innovations in medical therapies, the importance of transparency in medical treatments, when and when not to prescribe antibiotics, new techniques in surgery and a topic no less intriguing for lay people than for medical professionals: the relationship between nutrition of the body and health of the soul. Health Minister Rabbi Ya’acov Litzman will present his vision of overall improvements in Israel’s medical services in 2017. ■ IT’S HARD to believe that Khutsot Hayotzer, the annual Jerusalem Arts and Crafts Fair will begin its fifth decade on August 15 at the Mitchell Gardens facing the walls of the Old City. The fair will continue till August 27. Originally an outlet for Israeli exponents of arts and crafts, including artisans from minority communities, the fair gradually grew into a huge international event with leading artists from around the globe performing and exhibiting their works, as well as demonstrating the artistic traditions of their countries. Painters, sculptors and jewelers, along with designers of unique fashions and accessories will show off their creativity. Countries represented at the fair include those of Central and South America, Asia, Europe and Africa.

Entry to the fairgrounds is from 6 each evening (except Friday; Saturday from 9 p.m.), with mega performances in the Sultan’s Pool, and performances on a smaller scale in the actual fairgrounds. The big concerts in the Sultan’s Pool begin at 9. Performers include Shalom Hanoch with Shlomi Shabbat, Hadag Nahash with Dudu Tassa, Omer Adam with Liran Danino, Mooki with Static and Ben-El Taboori, Eviatar Banai, Moshe Peretz with Agam Bohbot, Dani Gid and Friends with Efraim Shamir, Rita with Harel Skaat, Peer Tasi with Eden Ben Zaken, and Aviv Gefen, who will be the performer on the closing night. Relevant to your professional network?

Please share on Linkedin Tags: Jonathan Steele: In the Jerusalem of the North, the Jewish story is forgotten | Opinion | The Guardian Opinion In the Jerusalem of the North, the Jewish story is forgotten Three times as many people died in Lithuania under the Nazis than the Soviets, but the state is myopic about the past Thursday 19 June 2008 19.01 EDT First published on Thursday 19 June 2008 19.01 EDT Share on Messenger Close Follow the English signs to this elegant baroque city's Museum of Genocide Victims and you reach a massive building resembling a respectable prewar bank. Every granite block on the facade's lower section now bears an engraved Lithuanian name, plus a year of birth and, judging from the dates, a premature death. During almost 50 years of Soviet occupation this was where Stalin's secret police, the NKVD, and its successor until 1990, the KGB, held sway. The high-ceiling rooms tell a terrible story of executions and deportations to Siberia. A recording of a steam train chuffs softly beside photos of prisoners wrapped in felt jackets and children sitting bleakly outside wooden huts.

Corpses caught by a ghoulish camera lie in the woods. But as I moved from room to dismal room, I had a growing sense something was missing. Vilnius was once known as the Jerusalem of the North. What about the Jews? Did their fate not merit remembrance? In a corridor I eventually found a placard with a brief, though telling, mention. It gave estimates for the victims of Lithuania's Soviet occupation and of the Nazi one as well. The number summarily shot, or who died in prison and during deportation in the Soviet period, reached 74,500. During three years of Nazi rule from June 1941, those killed amounted to 240,000, "including about 200,000 Jews". Three times as many deaths, but the museum contains no exhibits on them. A guide assured me Vilnius also had a "museum of the holocaust". Well, not exactly. There is a state-supported "Jewish museum", with three sections in different buildings, but no prominent signs to help you find them.

"Ah well, the other genocide was more important," a woman at one of the Jewish exhibition centres told me with an ironic shrug. I asked Arvydas Anusauskas, the director of Lithuania's Genocide and Resistance Research Centre, whether it wouldn't be more accurate to call the former KGB building the "museum of Soviet repression". Nodding in agreement, he said that after the Soviet collapse, historians originally proposed creating a combined "museum of terror" to record Lithuania's fate under both totalitarian regimes. If it could not be housed in a single location, there would at least be a common management for branches in separate buildings. The state finances Dr Anusauskas's centre to research both regimes, and it has produced three volumes on Soviet and three on Nazi repression. There is also a subsidised International Commission for the Evaluation of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania. But even-handedness disappears when it comes to museums. They have a higher profile, so politicians put in their oar. The fact that anti-Communist emotions are still so raw in Lithuania was also visible during a down-memory-lane conference in the parliament building the other day.

Western Europe has been bombarded this year with 1968 anniversary reflections. Next year comes a central European extravaganza of 1989 memoirs. The equally momentous events of 1988 have been almost overlooked, though there is a strong case for claiming them as the key to the later revolutions: without the peaceful Baltic uprisings of 88, would protesters have flocked to vote Poland's communists out of power in 89, or to call for regime change in Leipzig, Berlin and Prague? As this paper's Moscow correspondent I watched a huge throng outside Vilnius cathedral in October 1988, celebrating mass and singing nationalist songs the day after the building was handed back to the church. Describing themselves as movements in support of Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika, each of the three Baltic republics set up "popular fronts" to push for "autonomy" and "economic sovereignty". They played their cards carefully at first - independence was not mentioned in public and, in the first few weeks, it was not even discussed behind closed doors.

The 36 founders of Lithuania's popular front, known as Sajudis, included several communists and, in order not to provoke Moscow, excluded anyone who had been deported to Siberia. Within weeks, Sajudis had a membership of several hundred thousand. Its increasingly euphoric rallies raised demands for dignity and freedom that Lithuania's Communist party soon adopted. By chance I was the only foreign reporter in Vilnius on June 24 1989, when the Communist leader, Algirdas Brazauskas, recommended to his central committee that they break with the Soviet party. No other Communist party in the Soviet Union's 15 republics had gone so far. Arguably, this was the moment when the USSR's collapse became irreversible. Until then, amid the rebellions going on below, Gorbachev expected the Soviet party to hold things together. Once the Lithuanian communists split away, everything was doomed. Brazauskas later became Lithuania's president, and now lives in a villa outside the capital. His study is dotted with photos of him standing beside, or shaking hands with, world leaders. Pointedly, there are none of him and Gorbachev.

Brazauskas recalled his clashes with the Soviet leader, which sometimes culminated in threats of force. "In November 1989 I was summoned to the Politburo. For five or six hours they harangued me," he told me. He gave no ground. In spite of his record, bitterness among Lithuania's independence veterans is still so sharp, almost 20 years later, that Brazauskas was advised by the Sajudis conference organisers not to address the anniversary meeting. I listened in amazement as a professor who praised the Lithuanian Communist party's role was barracked and prevented from finishing his speech. Now a member of the EU and Nato, Lithuania tends to be a tougher critic of Russia than its Baltic neighbours, Latvia and Estonia. It insisted on a strong mandate for the EU's negotiations with Russia and demanded changes before accepting the other 26 EU members' draft a few weeks ago. But however clear-eyed Lithuania's decison-makers claim to be about today's Russia, many seem myopic about their own country's past. Anger over 48 years of Soviet occupation clouds their judgment about the Communists' recent role.

Worse, it blocks discussion of Nazi mass murder and the fact that too many Lithuanians eagerly supported it. Next year will bring yet another big European anniversary, the 70th since the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact that "gave" the Baltic states to Stalin. It should be a time to remember two tyrannies, not just one. And for the Baltics, the longer one was not the more brutal. Vilnius tries to restore `Jerusalem of North' - tribunedigital-chicagotribune Vilnius tries to restore `Jerusalem of North' Lithuanian capital sees tourist draw January 22, 2003|By Alex Rodriguez, Tribune foreign correspondent. VILNIUS, Lithuania — The sidewalks of Zydu Street, a winding cobblestone lane in the heart of Lithuania's capital, once bustled with the din of peddlers and cabarets, with streetside marionettes lampooning Neville Chamberlain and theaters performing Shakespeare in Yiddish. Zydu Street anchored this 680-year-old city's Jewish Quarter, renowned in Europe as a citadel of Yiddish learning and Jewish culture.

Europe's top Talmudic scholars studied there. So did musician Jascha Heifetz, who was 5 when he played violin at the quarter's Imperial School of Music. <script type=\"text/javascript\" src=\""></script>");document.close();})();' frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="300" height="160"> The quarter flourished for more than three centuries. Then, in a span of three years, it vanished. Nazi occupation of Vilnius lasted from 1941 to 1944. German soldiers cordoned off the quarter with barbed wire and systematically murdered virtually all of its 60,000 Jews. They razed the quarter's treasured landmarks, including the Great Synagogue on Zydu Street and the Strashum Library, once home to the world's largest collection of Yiddish-language books. Today, nothing distinguishes Zydu Street and the rest of the Jewish Quarter from any other Vilnius street or neighborhood. In a crusade deemed quixotic by some and vital by others, a former member of Lithuania's parliament is spearheading an effort to rebuild much of the quarter, brick by brick.

Emanuelis Zingeris' idea is not unprecedented. Prague and Krakow have worked to restore their Jewish quarters, taking sections with synagogues and other landmarks still standing and turning them into tourist attractions. But Vilnius is starting from scratch, envisioning the reconstruction of 30 buildings in vacant lots and parks at a cost of nearly $100 million. The cornerstone of Zingeris' dream is the reconstruction of the Great Synagogue, a huge Renaissance-style structure that once towered over the neighborhood's two-story buildings. Zingeris estimates rebuilding it will cost $10 million and take years to complete. Zingeris, 45, has pursued the project for four years. On New Year's Eve, he won an important victory when Lithuania's prime minister appointed a commission, led by Zingeris, to oversee the restoration effort. He convinced federal and city government officials that his ambitious plans would pay off in practical terms. Vilnius, a tourism draw, would be even more attractive if the Jewish Quarter were revived, he said. But if tourism is important, Zingeris says, reclaiming identity is doubly important.

When he walks through Vilnius' Jewish Quarter, he sees the erasure of Jewish existence that the Nazis strove to achieve. The Great Synagogue has been replaced by a Soviet-built, tan-bricked kindergarten building and a basketball court. All but one of the broad, basket-handle archways characteristic of the quarter's architecture are gone. On some walls, scrawls of graffiti have replaced the Yiddish script that advertised bakeries and butcher shops. Tour groups from Western Europe and Japan who visit the quarter walk away surprised, asking whether they've been directed to the wrong place. <script type=\"text/javascript\" src=\""></script>");document.close();})();' frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="300" height="110"> "We didn't just lose houses and buildings," said Zingeris, who is Jewish. "Vilnius lost a part of its identity. We used to be known as the `Jerusalem of the North,' and we lost that." Zingeris still must find financial backing, which would come exclusively from the private sector. He says he doesn't have "a euro in my pocket yet," but plans to push for funds this year. The project has its critics.

Some point out that only a few thousand Jews still live in Vilnius and say the money would be better spent on aiding the thousands of Lithuanians who live below the poverty line. Several Jewish leaders in Vilnius say city resources instead should go toward educating people about the Jewish experience. Zingeris and his backers say they see restoration as a kind of living museum, educational in its own right. "This is very much educational," he said. "We are restoring the sights and sounds of prewar Jewish culture in Vilnius, a culture that was silenced through the war and through the Soviet regime." <script type=\"text/javascript\" src=\""></script>");document.close();})();' frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="300" height="110"> MORE: Jewish Vilnius: A city concealed, a city revealed - Features - Jerusalem Post Jewish Vilnius: A city concealed, a city revealed ByNORMA DAVIDOFF SHULMAN 12 August 2010 01:46 This storied city known as Vilna, Wilno, Vilne – however you spell it and say it – was a place of spirituality and learning for Jews.

Vilnus 311. (photo credit:Lynn O’Rourke Hayes) Amost intriguing aspect of Vilnius, Lithuania, is that it’s “first you don’t see it, then you do.” You can walk along the winding streets and past small inviting houses in its Old Town, without realizing you are in what was the Jewish ghetto. Yes, it is memorialized by a sign here and there, but unless you know what to look for, you will see nothing. And if you know what to look for, a world awaits. Vilnius is not what it seems – even its name. This storied city known as Vilna, Wilno, Vilne – however you spell it and say it – was a place of spirituality and learning for Jews. Scholars and religious leaders were so profoundly important to Jewish life here that Vilna was known as the “Jerusalem of the North.” Taken with the city’s charm and vibrant religious life, Napoleon supposedly was the first to pay it that tribute. Be the first to know - Join our Facebook page. Visiting Vilnius can be delightful.

Compact and stylish, it has a medieval castle, intriguing Old World architecture, high-quality concerts and ballet, a variety of restaurants and accommodations in every price range. It earned its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and 2009 European Capital of Culture. But, as on TV’s Betipul, Vilnius has secrets. Peel back the layers, peer into the past and become inspired. There are fascinating traces beyond the faint Yiddish letters on ghetto buildings. Starting with the Middle Ages, Jews arrived here. By the 1700s, their numbers and influence became significant. Before World War II, Jews made up more than a third of the city. Then the whole country seemed to disappear for 50 years behind the Iron Curtain; it was the first to break away from the USSR, in 1990. By that time most of its Jews were already gone. Some had made Aliya, like the Litvak families of Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak. Shimon Peres lived 100 kilometers from Vilnius. Before the war, there were a hundred synagogues and study houses. Fifteen years ago Chabad opened its doors in an apartment house.

The city has but one synagogue building: the Choral Synagogue in the heart of the ghetto. This Moorish-style edifice, with its blue letters in Hebrew, had a congregation with a progressive outlook when it was built in 1894. It allowed music, thus the name “choral.” WHEN I WENT there to Shabbat services, there were initially so few people that services were to be held in a small side chapel. It seemed difficult to get a minyan. But Rabbi Chaim Burnshtein, who commutes between Vilna and Israel, told me they always have a minyan and hold services three times a day. “Vilna’s Jews don’t have strong roots,” he said, “but they have a strong sense of Jewish identity.” Just minutes before we were to begin, the situation changed. Local tour guide Yulik Gurewich brought in a raft of young Russians to tell them about this beautiful synagogue with its domed ceiling painted with clouds. The visitors wanted to stay for services, so the congregants switched to the main sanctuary. As a woman, I was seated behind a lace curtain on the first floor off to the side.

The young Russian women sat upstairs in the ornate balcony, also reserved for females. The Russian men prayed along with the locals on the first floor facing the ark and then turning around to face Jerusalem. Again things are not what they seem. The synagogue was used as a warehouse during the war, its contents stolen by both Germans and Lithuanians. Today it is sparingly furnished. Finances are a constant problem for this synagogue, as they are for the whole fragile Jewish community, which is subsidized by the Joint Distribution Committee and several other Jewish organizations. As Simonas Gurevicius, executive director of the Jewish Community of Lithuania, explained, “From more than 50 families before the [economic] crisis, now we have got more than 150 young Jewish families who are in need.” After services, I made my way through the ghetto area. It is charm central! Cobblestone streets, smallscale buildings with folkloric motifs painted on window shutters. Store windows are full of tempting designer pastries, amber and luxury linens, mostly for visitors. Antiques and art galleries make up the rest of the shops. Vilna’s one kosher restaurant, the Kinneret, sports white tablecloths.

Vilna’s past glories overshadow today’s luxuries. Old Town once was truly Jewish. In fact, one street is named Jew Street (Zydu Street). Another is named for the revered Vilna Gaon who lived here from 1720-1797. The Gaon’s house on Zydu Street was destroyed, along with others. Close by was the Strashun Library, renowned for Jewish scholarship. The Great Synagogue, built in 1572, was nearby. All gone, except for a few plaques! But it is what the plaques don’t say that is most important. During World War II, Jews not from this part of the city, were forced into the ghetto. People lived too many to a room, struggling to get by. The Jewish community was basically in prison, one in which contagion spread easily. These people were cut off from the rest of the city – its schools and culture. What did they do? The Jewish community started its own schools, set up medical clinics, created its own orchestra – even an active lending library. Songs of defiance, songs of hope were composed. (You can hear them once again at the city’s Holocaust museum.) The community held strong.

It kept its humanity and its desire to live. This besieged Jewish community created, lived, studied, taught, and survived– up to a point. Statues of significant Jewish citizens erected in the last few years can be found throughout the area. One statue is of Dr. Tzemah Shabad, the community leader who, among other contributions, created TOZ, providing much-needed medical services for the poor. Another sculpture honors novelist Romain Gary, who lived here before moving to France. (Strangely enough, there is a statue of rock star Frank Zappa, who has no connection to the city. Citizens liked him so much they honored him.) At the Little Green House in town, more comes into perspective. This unassuming place is a Holocaust museum with a profound impact. Photos on the wall remind us of the talented and famous of Vilna: violinist Jascha Heifetz, painter Chaim Soutine and sculptor Jacques Lifschitz. Prominent artist Samuel Bak was just a boy in the ghetto. This is where YIVO, the repository of East European Jewish culture and history, now based in New York, started. Documents present straightforward facts. They are staggering.

A German report lists the number of Jews killed in each country: 220,000 Jews were in Lithuania before the war, 3,500 after. Today, according to the Jewish Community, there are 5,000 in the whole country – 3,500 in Vilnius. Equally meaningful in the ghetto area is the Tolerance Museum, also known as the Museum of the Vilna Gaon. This building survived from the 1800s. Its incarnations reflect some history of Jewish life here. Early on, it was a soup kitchen for the poor – as the Jewish community always looked after its own. Then it became a small exquisite concert hall – concerts can still be held here. It has been beautifully restored in the last 20 years. Today its glass and its gleaming floors help create an aesthetic setting for a museum of Jewish culture. You can’t help feeling proud to see what Jews created for their spiritual and daily life. Strikingly crafted are sterling Torah pointers, colorful painted wooden plaques, memorabilia of the great Romm publishing family – numerous reminders of the rich center of Jewish learning and spirituality that typified Vilna for 600 years.

Not just artifacts, but people and ideas, of course, made Vilna great. SADLY, THE many deaths in this ghetto area was only phase one. One of Vilnius’s beautiful aspects became its ugliest. Pine forests surround much of the city, peaceful, quiet, lush – so attractive that feature film producers use them for location shoots. But it was to one of these forests, Panaerai, also called Ponar, that the Jews were transported by the Nazis. Some were killed immediately and thrown into death pits. Others were forced to clear the bodies. More than 70,000 Jews were murdered. Large marble monuments attest to those atrocities. Right by the monuments is a small museum. The exhibits are both edifying and horrific; victims’ shoes, photos, clothing, tefillin, remnants of papers and identification are on display. One story about forced laborers tells how they dug a tunnel to escape from their German captors. Chilling, remarkable accounts, like this one, known as the escape of the burner’s brigade, are still being researched and revealed. The history of Vilna is sobering, heartbreaking and heartening all at the same time.

Although much has been lost, if you go to the “Jerusalem of the North,” there is still much to be found. Relevant to your professional network? Please share on Linkedin Tags: By Gil Stern Stern HOFFMAN Promoted Content Vilnius, the Jerusalem of Lithuania – tangential travel listen ) ; see also other names ) is the capital of Lithuania , and its largest city, with a population of 539,939 (806,308 together with Vilnius County) as of 2014. [1] Vilnius is located in the southeast part of Lithuania and is the second biggest city of the Baltic states . Vilnius is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality . It is also the capital of Vilnius County . The first known written record of Vilnius as the Lithuanian capital is known from Gediminas ‘ letters in 1323. Vilnius is classified as a Gamma global city according to GaWC studies, and is known for its Old Town of beautiful architecture, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

Its Jewish influence until the 20th century has led to it being described as the “Jerusalem of Lita” and Napoleon named it “the Jerusalem of the North” as he was passing through in 1812. In the year 2009, Vilnius was the European Capital of Culture , together with the Austrian city of Linz . Etymology and other names The name of the city originated from the Vilnia River . [2] The name of the river derives from the Lithuanian language word vilnis (“a surge”) or vilnyti (“to surge”). The city has also been known by many derivate spellings in various languages throughout its history: Vilna was common in English. The most notable non-Lithuanian names for the city include: Polish :Wilno, Belarusian : Вiльня, German : Wilna, Latvian : Viļņa, Russian : Вильнюс, Yiddish : ווילנע (Vilne), Czech : Vilno. An older Russian name was Вильна / Вильно (Vilna/Vilno), [3] [4] although Вильнюс (Vilnius) is now used.

The names Wilno,Wilna and Vilna have also been used in older English, German, French and Italian language publications when the city was part of Poland. The name Vilna is still used in Finnish, Portuguese, Spanish, and Hebrew. Wilna is still used in German, along with Vilnius. The neighbourhoods of Vilnius have also names in other languages . History Early history Historian Romas Batūra identifies the city with Voruta , one of the castles of Mindaugas , crowned in 1253 as King of Lithuania . During the reign of Vytenis a city started to emerge from a trading settlement and the first Franciscan Catholic church was built. King Mindaugas Monument in Vilnius The city was first mentioned in written sources in 1323, when the Letters of Grand Duke Gediminas were sent to German cities inviting German members of the Jewish community to settle in the capital city, as well as to Pope John XXII . These letters contain the first unambiguous reference to Vilnius as the capital; Old Trakai Castle had been the earlier seat of the court of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania .

According to legend, Gediminas dreamt of an iron wolf howling on a hilltop and consulted a pagan priest for its interpretation. He was told: “What is destined for the ruler and the State of Lithuania, is thus: the Iron Wolf represents a castle and a city which will be established by you on this site. This city will be the capital of the Lithuanian lands and the dwelling of their rulers, and the glory of their deeds shall echo throughout the world”. [5] The location offered practical advantages: it lay within the Lithuanian heartland at the confluence of two navigable rivers, surrounded by forests and wetlands that were difficult to penetrate. The duchy had been subject to intrusions by the Teutonic Knights . [6] Grand Duchy of Lithuania St. Nicholas Church (built before 1387) Vilnius was a flourishing capital of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the residence of the Grand Duke. Gediminas expanded the Grand Duchy through warfare along with strategic alliances and marriages. At its height it covered the territory of modern-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Transnistria, and portions of modern-day Poland and Russia.

His grandchildren Vytautas the Great and Jogaila , however, fought civil wars. During the Lithuanian Civil War of 1389–1392 , Vytautas besieged and razed the city in an attempt to wrest control from Jogaila. The two later settled their differences; after a series of treaties culminating in the 1569 Union of Lublin , the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed. The rulers of this federation held either or both of two titles: Grand Duke of Lithuania or King of Poland . In 1387, Jogaila granted Magdeburg rights to the city. Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Church of St. Casimir The city underwent a period of expansion. The Vilnius city walls were built for protection between 1503 and 1522, comprising nine city gates and three towers, and Sigismund August moved his court there in 1544. Its growth was due in part to the establishment of Alma Academia et Universitas Vilnensis Societatis Iesu by King Stefan Bathory in 1579.

The university soon developed into one of the most important scientific and cultural centres of the region and the most notable scientific centre of the Commonwealth. Gate of Dawn During its rapid development, the city was open to migrants from the territories of the Grand Duchy and further. A variety of languages were spoken: Lithuanian , Polish, Ruthenian , Russian, Old Slavonic , Latin , German, Yiddish , Hebrew and Turkic ; the city was compared to Babylon . [6] Each group made its unique contribution to the life of the city, and crafts, trade, and science prospered. The 17th century brought a number of setbacks. The Commonwealth was involved in a series of wars, collectively known as The Deluge . During the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667) , Vilnius was occupied by Russian forces; it was pillaged and burned, and its population was massacred. During the Great Northern War it was looted by the Swedish army.

An outbreak of bubonic plague in 1710 killed about 35,000 residents ; devastating fires occurred in 1715, 1737, 1741, 1748, and 1749. [6] The city’s growth lost its momentum for many years, but even despite this fact, at the end of the 18th century and before the Napoleon wars, Vilnius with 56 000 inhabitants entered the Russian Empire as its 3rd largest city. In the Russian Empire La Grande Armée in Vilnius during its retreat (near the Vilnius Town Hall ) The fortunes of the Commonwealth declined during the 18th century. Three partitions took place, dividing its territory among the Russian Empire , the Habsburg Empire , and the Kingdom of Prussia . After the third partition of April 1795, Vilnius was annexed by the Russian Empire and became the capital of the Vilna Governorate . During Russian rule, the city walls were destroyed, and, by 1805, only the Gate of Dawn remained.

In 1812, the city was taken by Napoleon on his push towards Moscow , and again during the disastrous retreat. The Grande Armée was welcomed in Vilnius. Thousands of soldiers died in the city during the eventual retreat; the mass graves were uncovered in 2002. [6] Inhabitants expected Tsar Alexander I to grant them autonomy in response to Napoleon’s promises to restore the Commonwealth, but Vilnius didn’t become autonomous by itself nor as a part of Congress Poland . Following the November Uprising in 1831, Vilnius University was closed and Russian repressions halted the further development of the city. Civil unrest in 1861 was suppressed by the Imperial Russian Army . [7] During the January Uprising in 1863, heavy fighting occurred within the city, but was brutally pacified by Mikhail Muravyov , nicknamed The Hangman by the population because of the number of executions he organized. After the uprising, all civil liberties were withdrawn, and use of the Polish [8] and Lithuanian languages was banned.

[9] Vilnius had a vibrant Jewish population: according to Russian census of 1897 , out of the total population of 154,500, Jews constituted 64,000 (approximately 40% percent). [10] During the early 20th century, the Lithuanian-speaking population of Vilnius constituted only a small minority, with Polish, Yiddish, and Russian speakers comprising the majority of the city’s population. [11] St. Anne’s Church and the church of the Bernardine Monastery in Vilnius In Poland Gediminas Tower During World War I, Vilnius and the rest of Lithuania was occupied by the German Army from 1915 until 1918. The Act of Independence of Lithuania , declaring Lithuanian independence from any affiliation to any other nation, was issued in the city on 16 February 1918. After the withdrawal of German forces, the city was briefly controlled by Polish self-defence units which were driven out by advancing Soviet forces .

Vilnius changed hands again during the Polish-Soviet War and the Lithuanian Wars of Independence : it was taken by the Polish Army , only to fall to the Soviet forces again. Shortly after its defeat in the battle of Warsaw , the retreating Red Army , in order to delay the Polish advance, ceded the city to Lithuania after signing the Soviet-Lithuanian Treaty on 12 July 1920. [12] Poland and Lithuania both perceived the city as their own. The League of Nations became involved in the subsequent dispute between the two countries. The League-brokered the Suwałki Agreement on 7 October 1920. Although neither Vilnius or the surrounding region was explicitly addressed in the agreement, numerous historians have described the agreement as allotting Vilnius to Lithuania. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] On 9 October 1920, the Polish Army surreptitiously, under General Lucjan Żeligowski , seized Vilnius during an operation known as Żeligowski’s Mutiny .

The city and its surroundings were designated as a separate state, called the Republic of Central Lithuania . On 20 February 1922 after the highly contested election in Central Lithuania , the entire area was annexed by Poland, with the city becoming the capital of the Wilno Voivodship (Wilno being the name of Vilnius in Polish). Kaunas then became the temporary capital of Lithuania . Lithuania vigorously contested the Polish annexation of Vilnius, and refused diplomatic relations with Poland. The predominant languages of the city were still Polish and, to a lesser extent, Yiddish . Orthodox Cathedral of the Theotokos , with Gediminas’s Tower in background Museum of Lithuania’s theatre, music and cinema Lithuanians at the time, were a small minority, at about 6% of the city’s population according even to contemporary Lithuanian sources.

[22] Vilnius University was reopened in 1919 under the name of Stefan Batory University [23] By 1931, the city had 195,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in Poland with varied industries, such as Elektrit , a factory that produced radio receivers. World War II Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society World War II began with the German invasion of Poland in September 1939. The secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact had partitioned Lithuania and Poland into German and Soviet spheres of interest. On 19 September 1939, Vilnius was seized by the Soviet Union ( which invaded Poland on 17 September ). The USSR and Lithuania concluded a mutual assistance treaty on 10 October 1939, with which the Lithuanian government accepted the presence of Soviet military bases in various parts of the country. On 28 October 1939, the Red Army withdrew from the city to its suburbs (to Naujoji Vilnia ) and Vilnius was given over to Lithuania.

A Lithuanian Army parade took place on 29 October 1939 through the city centre. The Lithuanians immediately attempted to Lithuanize the city, for example by Lithuanizing Polish schools. [24] However, the whole of Lithuania was annexed by the Soviet Union on 3 August 1940 following a June ultimatum from the Soviets demanding, among other things, that unspecified numbers of Red Army soldiers be allowed to enter the country for the purpose of helping to form a more pro-Soviet government. After the ultimatum was issued and Lithuania further occupied, a Soviet government was installed with Vilnius as the capital of the newly created Lithuanian SSR . Between 20,000 and 30,000 of the city’s inhabitants were subsequently arrested by the NKVD and sent to gulags in the far eastern areas of the Soviet Union. [25] The Soviets devastated city industries, moving the major Polish radio factory Elektrit , along with a part of its labour force, to Minsk in Belarus, where it was renamed the Vyacheslav Molotov Radio Factory, after Stalin’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Cathedral in Vilnius, seen in 1912 German occupation On 22 June 1941, the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union. Vilnius was captured on 24 June. [26] Two ghettos were set up in the old town centre for the large Jewish population – the smaller one of which was “liquidated” by October. [27] The larger ghetto lasted until 1943, though its population was regularly deported in roundups known as “ Aktionen “. [28] A failed ghetto uprising on 1 September 1943 organized by the Fareinigte Partizaner Organizacje (the United Partisan Organization, the first Jewish partisan unit in German-occupied Europe), [29] was followed by the final destruction of the ghetto. During the Holocaust , about 95% of the 265,000-strong Jewish population of Lithuania was murdered by the German units and Lithuanian Nazi collaborators, many of them in Paneriai , about 10 km (6.2 mi) west of the old town centre (see the Ponary massacre ).

Lithuanian SSR – in Soviet Union Old KGB building in Vilnius. In July 1944, Vilnius was taken from the Germans by the Soviet Army and the Polish Armia Krajowa (see Operation Ostra Brama and the Vilnius Offensive ). [30] The NKVD arrested the leaders of the Armia Krajowa after requesting a meeting. Shortly afterwards, the town was once again incorporated into the Soviet Union as the capital of the Lithuanian SSR . The war had irrevocably altered the town – most of the predominantly Polish and Jewish population had been expelled and exterminated respectively, during and after the German occupation. Some members of the intelligentsia and hiding in forests former Waffen SS members, were now targeted and deported to Siberia after the war. The majority of the remaining population was compelled to relocate to Communist Poland by 1946 , and Sovietization began in earnest. Only in the 1960s did Vilnius begin to grow again, following an influx of Lithuanian and Polish population from neighbouring regions and as well as from other areas of the Soviet Union (particularly Russians and Belarusians).

Microdistricts were built in the elderates of Šeškinė , Žirmūnai , Justiniškės and Fabijoniškės . Lithuania Vilnius TV Tower , the main site of January’s Events On 11 March 1990, the Supreme Council of the Lithuanian SSR announced its secession from the Soviet Union and intention to restore an independent Republic of Lithuania. [31] As a result of these declarations, on 9 January 1991, the Soviet Union sent in troops. This culminated in the 13 January attack on the State Radio and Television Building and the Vilnius TV Tower , killing at least fourteen civilians and seriously injuring 700 more. The Soviet Union finally recognised Lithuanian independence in September 1991. The current Constitution , as did the earlier Lithuanian Constitution of 1922, mentions that …”the capital of the State of Lithuania shall be the city of Vilnius, the long-standing historical capital of Lithuania”. Today Gediminas’ Avenue in Vilnius Vilnius has been rapidly transformed, and the town has emerged as a modern European city.

Many of its older buildings have been renovated, and a business and commercial area is being developed into the New City Centre, expected to become the city’s main administrative and business district on the north side of the Neris river. This area includes modern residential and retail space, with the municipality building and the 129-metre (423′) Europa Tower as its most prominent buildings. The construction of Swedbank ‘s headquarters is symbolic of the importance of Scandinavian banks in Vilnius. The building complex “ Vilnius Business Harbour ” was built in 2008, and one of its towers is now the 5th tallest building in Lithuania. More buildings are scheduled for construction in the area. Vilnius was selected as a 2009 European Capital of Culture , along with Linz , the capital of Upper Austria . Its 2009 New Year’s Eve celebration, marking the event, featured a light show said to be “visible from outer space”. [32] In preparation, the historical centre of the city was restored, and its main monuments were renewed.

[33] The global economic crisis led to a drop in tourism which prevented many of the projects going ahead to their planned extent, and allegations of corruption and incompetence were made against the organisers, [34] [35] while tax increases for cultural activity led to public protests [36] and the general economic conditions sparked riots. [37] Today, Vilnius’ population and economy are rapidly growing. In 2011, Arturas Zuokas was elected Mayor. Vilnius has some of the highest internet speeds in the world, [38] [39] with an average download speed of 36.37 MB/s and upload speed of 28.51 MB/s. Vilnius has access to groundwater, and there is no need to use extensive chemicals in treating surface water from lakes or rivers, providing residents with some of the cleanest and healthiest tap water access in Europe. [40] [41] On November 28-29th, 2013, Vilnius hosted Eastern Partnership Summit in the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania . Many European presidents, prime ministers and other high-ranking officials participated in the event.

[42] On 29 November 2013, Georgia and Moldova initialed association and free trade agreements with European Union . [43] Previously Ukraine and Armenia was also planning to initial such agreement, but decided to delay it. Due to such decision, Euromaidan began in Ukraine. On 20 December 2013, CNN named Vilnius Cathedral Square Christmas tree as the best in the world, [44] while EssentialTravel.co.uk mentioned Vilnius as one of the ten best destinations to spend your Christmas. [45] Religion Three Crosses Church of St. Catherine Once widely known as Yerushalayim De Lita (the “Jerusalem of Lithuania”), Vilnius since the 18th century, was a world centre for the study of the Torah , and had a large Jewish population. A major scholar of Judaism and Kabbalah centred in Vilnius was the famous Rabbi Eliyahu Kremer, also known as the Vilna Gaon . His students have significant influence among Orthodox Jews in Israel and around the globe.

Jewish life in Vilnius was destroyed during the Holocaust; there is a memorial stone dedicated to victims of Nazi genocide located in the centre of the former Jewish Ghetto — now Mėsinių Street. The Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum is dedicated to the history of Lithuanian Jewish life. Karaite Kenesa The Karaim are a Jewish sect who migrated to Lithuania from the Crimea to serve as a military elite unit in the 14th century. Although their numbers are very small, the Karaim are becoming more prominent since Lithuanian independence, and have restored their kenesa . [62] Vilnius is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vilnius , with the main church institutions and Archdiocesan Cathedral located here. There are a number of other active Roman Catholic churches in the city, along with small enclosed monasteries and religion schools. Church architecture includes Gothic , Renaissance , Baroque and Neoclassical styles, with important examples of each found in the Old Town . Additionally, Eastern Rite Catholicism has maintained a presence in Vilnius since the Union of Brest . The Baroque Basilian Gate is part of an Eastern Rite monastery.

Vilnius has been home to an Eastern Orthodox Christian presence since the 13th or even the 12th century. A famous Russian Orthodox monastery, named for the Holy Spirit , is located near the Gate of Dawn . St. Paraskeva’s Orthodox Church in the Old Town is the site of the baptism of Hannibal , the great-grandfather of Pushkin , by Tsar Peter the Great in 1705. Many Old Believers , who split from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1667, settled in Lithuania. The Church of St. Michael and St. Constantine was built in 1913. Today a Supreme Council of the Old Believers is based in Vilnius. A number of Protestant and other Christian groups [63] are represented in Vilnius, most notably the Lutheran Evangelicals and the Baptists . The pre-Christian religion of Lithuania, centred around the forces of nature as personified by deities such as Perkūnas (the Thunder God), is experiencing some increased interest. Romuva established a Vilnius branch in 1991.

[64] Jewish Vilnius Tour - Vilnius City Tour Jewish Vilnius Tour Price: 130 € (for 1-2 persons) If there are more persons in the group price varies. Price includes: pick up from hotel, guide and transportation. Tour price with Paneriai Memorial: 175 € (for 1-2 persons) If there are more persons in the group price varies. Price includes: pick up from hotel, guide service and transportation. Learn about the Jewish history in Lithuania ﻿﻿ Walk in the former Bigger and Smaller Ghettos of Vilnius Visit the synagogue* Drive to the Jewish cemetery* where the Gaon of Vilnius was buried Visit the Centre of Jewish Culture and Information * closed for tourist visits on Shabbat and other Jewish holidays ﻿﻿ Lithuanian Jews can be traced back to the 13th century. The classic Lithuanian Jew (Litvak) is known in folklore for a love of education, no-nonsense straight-talk and certain sardonic wit. Jews were settled in Vilna, as the capital was and still is known in Jewish culture from around the time of its founding in 1323.

By the 18th century Vilna had become the world capital of traditional religious (Talmudic) learning, often referred to as the Jerusalem of Lithuania, or Jerusalem of the North. Towering over the many great Jewish figures the city has produced is Gaon of Vilna. Between the wars, Vilna was a bustling international centre of modern Yiddish culture and scholarship. Within a few years 94% of the 250,000 or so Litvaks, including the 80,000 Jews living in Vilnius at that time perished in the Holocaust, the highest percentage of genocide in Europe. Today small community of 5,000 or so Litvaks makes bold efforts to maintain its heritage.

Question: Once known as 'the Jerusalem of the North', which city is the capital of Lithuania ?
Answer: VILNIUS