Dr. Lazar Epstein — Association of Jews of Vilna and vicinity in Israel

Dr. Epstein, a public health expert, headed the Ghetto's Sanitary- Epidemiological Section of the Health Department from its establishment in the fall of 1941 until its liquidation in the fall of 1943. His records included reports and lists of public affairs as well as personal reflections and notes. In his diary, he reviewed activities in areas of health, culture, and education, and more than once presented tables and data in various fields in the Ghetto that gave a fairly comprehensive picture of life and death in Vilna Ghetto. Lazar Epstein's writings highlight the changes brought about by the German occupation and imprisonment in the ghetto in intergenerational relations, in the nature of gender relations, the social stratification created in the Ghetto, and the consequences of these changes on the daily lives of the individual and the Jewish public. More than once, Epstein pointed to manifestations of social and moral disintegration in Jewish society in the ghetto. His book "The Silenced Human Soul," together with his diary notes, includes several poems he wrote while in the Ghetto, a skit he wrote to promote sanitation in the Ghetto, and a list of sayings.

The following remarks were written by Dr. Lazar Epstein during his stay in the Vilna Ghetto: People become strangers to each other; people writhe with the urge to live, the horror of death, the great unknown and feelings of uncertainty. Is there anyone who thinks of something, of what tomorrow will bring? No! Eventually, the ghetto will completely silence the best of human instincts, forcing the worst and lowest animal feelings to erupt. Like a body no longer ashamed of its nakedness, so too the soul [...]. Hygiene is no longer an issue, neither are aesthetics, manners, and traditions. Man becomes completely hollow.