Library — Association of Jews of Vilna and vicinity in Israel

The reference library at Beit Vilna was built with the help and donation of the Late Soli Zalman Yellin, a proud Vilner. The library currently houses hundreds of books, documents, photographs and other estates donated by Vilners, who gathered them for years. They are now being indexed and catalogued and put on the shelves (with the help of the Navy soldiers) to be used by people who are interested in Jewish history and culture in Lithuania.

With the work of a group of volunteers and soldiers from the Navy unit adopted by the Association, the books on the shelves were arranged, making the library accessible to all.

The inauguration of the library and the conference room took place on November 29, 2010, as part of a commemoration of the late poet Avraham Sutzkever, one of the most important Yiddish poets in the second half of the 20th century, on the anniversary of his passing. Hadas Kalderon, actress and granddaughter of Sutzkever read his poems and told the story of his rescue from the forest. In between, Prof. Moti Zelkin lectured on his work in the re-opened Vilna archives and the Beit Vilna's choir performed Chanukah songs.

Photo: Judith Garien-Kol and Zvika Schwartzman, editor and reporter: Zvika Schwartzman