in detail
The Jewish Museum in Vilnius has had a chequered history: in 1913, the Jewish Ethnographic Society opened the first Jewish museum. After its collection was destroyed during the First World War, the museum reopened in 1919 and in the years that followed it collected predominantly books, folkloric artefacts and periodicals. The museum was looted during the Second World War. Much of the collection was destroyed or lost, a few exhibits survived the war in other museums. In 1944, Holocaust survivors re-established the museum, only for it to be closed again by the Soviet powers in 1949.
The Soviet authorities did not approve the re-opening of the museum until 1989. In 1991, after the Lithuanian state regained independence, a permanent exhibition about the Holocaust in Lithuania entitled »The Catastrophe« was opened. In its premises at Pylimo g. 4, the Jewish Museum also includes an exhibition about synagogues in Lithuania and testimonies concerning Jewish life in Lithuania. The Jewish Museum's »Tolerance Centre« was inaugurated in 2001, in the building of the former Jewish Theatre, at Naugarduko g. 10/2. It hosts regular cultural and educational events.
The first Jewish Museum was opened in 1913, but its collections were destroyed during the First World War. Following its re-opening in 1919, folkloric artefacts and literature were collected there until 1941. After the museum was looted by the German occupying forces, it was re-established in 1944, only to be closed by the Soviet powers in 1949. It has been open to the public again only since 1989. In 1991, the permanent exhibition about the Holocaust in Lithuania was set up, and in 2001, the »Tolerance Centre« was inaugurated.
1913
Opening of the first Jewish Museum, whose collections were destroyed in the First World War.
1919
Re-opening, collecting of books, folkloric artefacts and periodicals.
1941 to 1944
Looting of the museum's collections.
1944
Re-establishment of the museum by Holocaust survivors.
1949
Closure by the Soviet powers.
1989
Re-opening with the approval of the Soviet authorities.
1991
Opening of the permanent exhibition »The Catastrophe«, about the Holocaust in Lithuania.
2001
Inauguration of the »Tolerance Centre« in the building of the former Jewish Theatre.
Vilna, before 1939, Arched gateway in the historic Jewish Quarter, Coll. Tomasz Wiśniewski.
Vilnius, 2004, The Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum, SDJE.
Vilnius, 2004, the branch of the Jewish Musuem Vilnius in which the Holocaust Exhibition is located, SDJE.
