Editorial board of Di Yiddishe Stime, 1924. Sitting, right to left: Nathan Goren, Roza Khazan-Feigin, Moshe Cohen, David Cohen, Reuven Rubinstein, Moritz Helman, Rafael Khasman. Standing, right to left: Ya’akov Feigin, Israel Zhufer, Moshe Rabinowitz, Eliezer Shibolet. Photo courtesy jewishgen.com

Jews were the largest ethnic and religious minority in Lithuania in the period between the two world wars. The Jewish culture of Lithuania, just like that of Eastern Europe as a whole, was multifaceted and diverse, and the Yiddish language was an important vehicle of communication. When Isaac Bashevis Singer received the Nobel Prize for Literature in December of 1978, he wasn’t just speaking in vain when he said: “There are some who call Yiddish a dead language, but so was Hebrew called for two thousand years. It has been revived in our time in a most remarkable, almost miraculous way. … It is a fact that the classics of Yiddish literature are also the classics of the modern Hebrew literature. Yiddish has not yet said its last word. It contains treasures that have not been revealed to the eyes of the world. It was the tongue of martyrs and saints, of dreamers and Cabbalists—rich in humor and in memories that mankind may never forget. In a figurative way, Yiddish is the wise and humble language of us all, the idiom of frightened and hopeful Humanity.” Sixteen daily and 30 weekly newspapers were published in Lithuania in the period between 1919 and 1936, as well as about 20 collections of literature. We invite you to turn back the pages of time with us and turn the pages of editions of the newspapers Mūsų garsas [Our Voice, initially the weekend Lithuanian-language supplement to and later a sort of Lithuanian-language version of the Zionist newspaper Di Yiddishe Stimme (The Jewish Voice) published in Yiddish; the Hebrew edition was called Lithuanian Echo and the Yiddish edition of the weekend supplement was called Di Velt (The World)] from 1924 and Apžvalga [Review, published in Lithuanian by the patriotic Žydų karių sąjunga (Union of Jewish Soldiers)] from 1935.

In editions of Mūsų garsas from August 27 and September 4, 1924, Dr. Jonas Basanavičius argued against discrimination against the language of the Jews after government institutions banned the use of that language on signs: “After finding out from Mr. Katzenelenbogen (Urijas Kacenelenboganas) that a number of district administrators are forbidding the use of the Jewish language on signs, at the same time offending the sense of truth and justice of Lithuanian citizens who speak the Jewish language, I would like—even if it is a vox clamantis in deserto—to support the their linguistic rights in terms of equality and to advise government organs to stop the petty persecution of the language of loyal citizens, and to stop annoying them and setting them against the Lithuanian state.”

Reading reviews of world events, it’s clear much attention was paid to solving the issues of the Jewish minority in many countries, and public figures as well as national leaders spoke out openly and favorably towards Jews:

• Czechoslovakian prime minister Edvard Beneš stated: “To us the Jews are a people and they will receive all the rights of an ethnic minority. We see the Jews as an ethnic group, but we are not opposed if Jews voluntarily proclaim they are not Jews. Regulation of this problem is a matter of our honor and civilization. Among us there have been no excesses against Jews and neither is that possible in the future.”

• Well-known German pacifist, professor of international law at the University of Munich and member of the Bavarian parliament Dr. Ludwig Quidde fought fiercely against militarism and ethnic chauvinism, and spoke out in favor of the rights of Jews living among other peoples and for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. “I have to note that, going by the principles of international law and the concepts of nation and state, there are two concepts of equal import for the Jewish people: an independent Jewish state, and the rights of ethnic minorities in Diaspora. When the Jews have their national political center in Palestine, their ethnic rights in other countries will be respected and protected in a completely different manner.”

•The Russian philosopher sent to the gulag for anti-Soviet activities Nikolai Berdyaev opposed anti-Semitism and said: “The knowledge of each thing requires an appreciation of that thing. Anti-Semites who hate Jews are completely unable to understand because hatred blinds them. The only one with the moral right to be an anti-Semite is a true Christian who is truly filled with Christian love.”

•The rights of Jews in White Russia (the current Belarus), recently partitioned by Poland and the Soviet Union [sic], are discussed in the paper: “A meeting of the Central Committee of Soviet White Russia resolved the language rights of the ethnic minorities of White Russia are guaranteed.” It is reported the Soviet government provided the Jews of White Russia with 200 schools where 20,000 children attended.

Mūsų garsas presented to their readers Jewish culture around the world and celebrated Jewish language:

• The Royal Spanish Academy of Art selected professor Max Liebermann as one of their members. This academy, the oldest art academy in Europe, also sought to honor the famous Jewish artist.

• Two Jewish students appealed to a Paris university which was requiring new students know at least three languages, and requested they be allowed to take the exam in Hebrew. The university’s board of directors decided Hebrew was a living language and allowed it.

• A student requested a London university allow him to write a dissertation in Hebrew. The request was granted.

The October 11, 1935, issue of Apžvalga carried the reaction to the Nuremberg laws adopted in Germany discriminatory to Jews:

• The diplomatic representatives of some states put their objections to the German Foreign Ministry.

• Harvard College director of athletics William F. Bingham announced Harvard wouldn’t be participating at the Berlin Olympics if the German government placed obstacles in the path for Jews.

• More than 6,000 people in Amsterdam turned out to protest Germany’s implementation of its “Jewish laws.”

• The press in England condemns the Nuremberg Laws, with the Daily Telegraph saying they strip German Jews of all their civil rights and create a new kind of second-class citizenship together with insulting restrictions unbecoming a civilized nation.

• US theater and cinema stars speak out against the persecution of colleagues in Germany.

Litvaks were also concerned over their fellow Jews in Germany. Adas Israelis sent League of Nations security council chairman Edvard Beneš a telegram in the name of the Kaunas Jewish Community and other Lithuanian Jewish communities: “Deeply concerned by the unprecedented betrayal of the human rights of our brothers in Germany, we, in the name of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, express our protest, and ask you, sir, Mr. Chairman, and through you the entire League of Nations which was founded to protect and defend all nations, to do everything in your power to protect the life and honor of our unfortunate German brothers.”

Jewish periodicals were printed in Kaunas and Vilnius, but also in Šiauliai, Panevėžys, Klaipėda, Telšiai and Kėdainiai, Lithuania, during the period between the wars. Yiddish was almost the universal language and literary vehicle of Lithuanian Jews at that time and even the Zionist newspapers used Yiddish. The Lithuanian-language weekly newspaper Apžvalga, published by the Žydų karių sąjunga (Union of Jewish Soldiers) and featured above, was an exception to the rule, as was Mūsų garsas, also featured above. Apžvalga testifies to the self-identification of the community which published it and their patriotic love of the ideals of Lithuanian statehood.

Di Yidishe Stimme (The Jewish Voice) was published in Yiddish in Kaunas between 1919 and 1940. Briefly it published the weekly supplement in Lithuanian called Mūsų garsas (Our Voice), featured above. The anti-Zionist Yiddishist Folksblat (People’s Page, i.e., People’s Newspaper) was published in Kaunas beginning in 1930. In Vilnius the Yidishe Tsaitung (Jewish Newspaper) was pro-Zionist and began publishing in 1919, later becoming Tsait (Time, i.e., The Times). Popular publications such as Ovnt Kuryer (Evening Courier, established 1924), Vilner Radio (Radio Vilnius, 1928) and Vilner Ekspress (Vilnius Express, 1934) also appeared.

Different cultural, artistic and literary movements and associations also had their own press, the literary and artistic association Jung-Vilne in Vilnius and the literary association Mir Alein (We Alone) in Kaunas, among others. In Vilnius Solomon Bastomski published a magazine in Yiddish for children called Grininke Beymelakh (Little Green Trees).

Sadly, the traces left behind of the Jewish cultural activities in interwar Lithuania haven’t attracted much scholarly attention yet, and the few academic studies based on primary sources focus mainly on Jewish political and social life. Lithuanian translations of Yiddish literature are few. There is still hope, though, that the treasures of Yiddish will soon help us better understand Lithuanian society in the period between the two world wars.

Prepared by Ruth Reches