Life in the Vilna Ghetto
The Internal Life in the Vilna Ghetto researched by Dr. Aharon Einat
This research deals with the Vilna Ghetto, and includes a review of the period prior to its establishment and a record of its post-destruction. It contributes to the awareness and understanding of both the individual and social aspect of the Jews in the ghetto who lived in conditions of extreme coercion and terror. Their way of life had changed drastically from the one they had been familiar with for hundreds of years, and in the ghetto they were under constant fear of death and daily dread of what awaited them, broken from the loss of their dear ones, degraded and depressed, suffering from a chronic lack of basic requirements and living in the most difficult cramped conditions. It may be assumed that in such situations each individual would fend for himself and his family and that chaos would reign in the ghetto, but the research reveals that in reality, the process was completely different – the ghetto did not sink into anarchy and life proceeded normally, with organized institutions, voluntary organizations to help the needy, and a well-developed system of education, culture, health and social services. A large portion of this study is devoted to matters concerning the daily life of the individual and his family – existential fears, the search for the “Schein”, finding food, hiding, mutual contact, the relationship to the Judenrat and the ghetto police, concern for health and personal hygiene, and the like – where the material is arranged according to topics and in chronological order, while keeping the “latitudinal connection” between them as far as possible. The ghetto adopted, whether consciously or unconsciously, the strategy of “Überleben” – survival, and both individuals and the Judenrat worked to achieve this aim. The will to live and the desire to survive were evident under the most severe circumstances, even before the execution pits of Ponar. In spite of the laws of suppression and terror inflicted by the Nazi regime, and despite the unbearable conditions, the “Vilna Ghetto spirit” came into being – a unique phenomenon that incorporated a special cultural life exceptional in its intensity, extent and degree of popularity among the inhabitants. It became an outstanding expression of the struggle of the Jews against the policy of the Nazi regime to put them to death by starvation, exhaustion, diseases and internecine warfare. The research attempts to focus on the characteristics and reasons for this development. The research also presents the active struggle of the ghetto against the Germans and their defrauding policy while showing the negative disclosures in the activities of the Jewish police and the Judenrat. It seemed apt to begin this summary with a short review of the course of events and changes that took place between times...Read more
Contact us:
Our Facebook
