The Book Smugglers, page 35
27. Abraham Sutzkever, letter to Max Weinreich, September 21, 1947, file 562, Max Weinreich Collection, RG 584, YIVO archives. On the remaining pages of the Kruk diary, see the letters from Pinkhas Schwartz and Z. Szajkowski to Abraham Sutzkever, October 28, 1955, and January 16, 1956, file 1, YIVO letters, Sutzkever Collection. Sutzkever donated a large addendum of materials to YIVO in 1956.
28. Shmerke Kaczerginski, letter to Abraham Sutzkever, December 8, 1947, file 3, Kaczerginski letters, Sutzkever Collection. See also Max Weinreich’s letter to Shmerke Kaczerginski, September 8, 1948, file 8, Shmerke Kaczerginski Collection, RG P-18, Yad Vashem Archives, Jerusalem, Israel.
Chapter 27. Return from Offenbach, or Kalmanovitch’s Prophecy
1. Charles Kindleberger, chief of Division of German and Austrian Economic Affairs, Department of State, letter to John Slawson, executive vice president, American Jewish Committee, May 7, 1946, box 2, “Restitution of YIVO Property, 1945–1949,” YIVO archives; O. P. Echols, director, Civil Affairs Division, War Department, letter to John Slawson, May 24, 1946, box 2, “Restitution of YIVO Property, 1945–1949,” YIVO archives. See also Paul Vanderbilt, assistant archives and libraries officer, Restitution Branch, OMGUS, June 28, 1946, letter to Luther Evans, Librarian of Congress, file 457, p. 457, general records of US military government in Germany, RG 260, National Archives, College Park, MD.
2. See Dana Herman, “Hashavat Avedah: A History of Jewish Cultural Reconstruction Inc.” (PhD diss., McGill University, 2008).
3. Jerome Michael, letter to J. H. Hilldring, assistant secretary of state, August 21, 1946, esp. pp. 1, 5, box 2, “Restitution of YIVO property, 1945–1949,” Yivo archives.
4. Cable from Dean Acheson to Political Affairs Department, Berlin, April 30, 1946, 440.00119 EW/4–146, Department of State, RG 59, National Archives, College Park, MD; War Department, cable to OMGUS, May 2, 1946, Restitution: Religious and Cultural (Jewish), general records of US military government in Germany, RG 260, National Archives, College Park, MD.
5. Hadassah M. Ribalow, letter to Max Weinreich, August 8, 1946, box 2, “Restitution of YIVO Property, 1945–1949,” YIVO archives.
6. Max Weinreich, letter to John Slawson, August 13, 1946, box 2, “Restitution Box of YIVO Property, 1945–1949,” YIVO archives.
7. Yankl Gutkowicz, letter to the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, September 17, 1947, op. 1, d. 923, pp. 49–50, Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, F. 8114, State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF), Moscow; see also Gutkowicz’s later appeal to the chairman of the State Committee on Cultural Educational Institutions, August 2, 1948, d. 10, Committee on Cultural Educational Institutions of the Council of Ministers of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, F. 476, Lithuanian Archives of Literature and Art, Vilnius.
8. Michael Kurtz, “The Allied Struggle over Cultural Restitution, 1942–1947,” International Journal of Cultural Property 17, no. 2 (May 2010): 177–94; and, more generally, Michael Kurtz, America and the Return of Nazi Contraband (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).
9. Luther Evans, Librarian of Congress, letter to assistant secretary of state John H. Hilldring, February 25, 1947, and John H. Hilldring, letter to Luther Evans, March 11, 1947, both in “Restitution of YIVO Property, 1945–1949,” YIVO archives.
10. Nancy Sinkoff, “From the Archives: Lucy S. Dawidowicz and the Restitution of Jewish Cultural Property,” American Jewish History 100, no. 1 (January 2016): 117–47; Lucy Schildkret, letter to Max Weinreich, February 16, 1947, “Restitution of YIVO Property, 1945–1949,” YIVO archives.
11. “Summary of YIVO collections,” March 31, 1947, YIVO OAD 18, p. 44, general records of US military government in Germany, RG 260, National Archives, College Park, MD.
12. Lucy Schildkret, letter to Max Weinreich, June 17, 1947, box 2, “Restitution of YIVO Property, 1945–1949,” YIVO archives.
13. Handwritten chronology of restitution, letter from Harborside Warehouse Company to YIVO, box 2, “Restitution of YIVO Property, 1945–1949,” YIVO archives ; Mark Uveeler, letter to Lucy Schildkret, July 2, 1947, box 47-8, file “Germany,” YIVO Administration, RG 100, YIVO archives.
Chapter 28. The Path to Liquidation
1. See David E. Fishman, “Evreiskii muzei v vilniuse, 1944–1949,” in Sovietica Judaica, 193–211 (Jerusalem: Gesharim Press, 2017).
2. Gutkowicz, “Der yidisher,” 3; H[irsh] O[sherovitsh], “A sholem aleichem oysshtelung in vilnius,” Eynikayt (Moscow), June 8, 1946, 3.
3. Alexander Rindziunsky, Hurban vilna, 219; Osherovitsh, unpublished memoirs, no. 370, box 3608, p. 206, Hirsh Osherovitsh Collection, RG 370, Genazim Institute, Tel Aviv.
4. Rindziunsky, Hurban vilna, 219–20.
5. See Kostyrchenko, Gosudarstvenyii antisemitizm, 138, 147; Gennady Kostyrchenko, Tainaia politika Stalina: Vlast’ i antisemitizm (Moscow: Mezhdunarodnie Otnoshenia, 2003), 352.
6. Joshua Rubinstein, “introduction,” in Stalin’s Secret Pogrom: The Post-War Inquisition of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001), 41–44; Kostyrchenko, Gosudarstvenyii antisemitizm, 234, 287–88; Kostyrchenko, Tainaia politika Stalina, 478.
7. Vytautas Tininis, Komunistinio Režimo Nusikaltimai Lietuvoje, 1944–1953, vol. 2 (Vilnius: International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania, 2003), 239–44.
8. Ibid., 247–49.
9. “O reorganizatsii evreiskogo muzeia v. gorod vilnius v vilniusskii kraevecheskii muzei,” op. 2, d. 133, pp. 117–26, Council of Ministers of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, F. R-754, Lithuanian Central State Archive, Vilnius; see Yu Rozina, “K voprosu ob unichtozhenii pamiatnikov istorii i kultury Vilniusa v poslevoenyi period,” in Evrei v rossii: Istoria i kultura, sbornik trudov, ed. Dmitry Eliashevich, 246–52 (St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Jewish University, 1998), 250–51.
10. Rindziunsky, Hurban vilna, 213, Alexander Rindziunsky, interview by Dov Levin, A 529, 118–19, Oral History Division, Hebrew University; Akiva Yankivsky, interview by author, Lod, Israel (via telephone), February 3, 2010.
11. E. Raˇckovska, “Respublikin˙es spaudiniu˛ saugyklos suformavimas,” in Iš bibliografijos aruodu˛, 13–20 (Vilnius: Knygu˛ rūmai, 1985).
12. “Di likvidatsye fun vilner yidishn muzey,” Nusekh vilne buletin (New York), no. 2 (August–September 1957): 4; Ran, Ash fun yerushalayim, 196.
13. Beilis, “A vertfuler mentsh,” 5; Shloime Beilis, letter to Abraham Sutzkever, February 24, 1987, Beilis, file 5, Sutzkever Collection; Rindziunsky, Hurban vilna, 225; anonymous obituary in Folks-Shtime (Warsaw), July 29, 1988.
14. Levin, “Ha-perek ha-aharon,” 94; Genrikh Agranovskii and Irina Guzenberg, Vilnius: po sledam litovskogo yerusalima (Vilnius: Vilna Gaon State Museum, 2011), 228; Y. Bekerman and Z. Livneh, eds., Ka-zot hayta ha-morah zehava (Tel Aviv: Igud yeotsei vilna ve-ha-sevivah be-yisrael, 1982), 198, 200.
15. Agranovskii and Guzenberg, Vilnius, 559–60.
16. Ibid., 77–78; minutes of meeting of Vilnius municipal architecture commission, op. 11, file 158, pp. 58–59, Institute for Projecting of Urban Construction, F. 1036, Vilnius District Archive, Vilnius.
Chapter 29. Later Lives
1. Kuhn-Ludewig, Johannes Pohl, 273–85.
2. Herbert Gotthard file, file 14, pp. 82–86, United Nations War Crimes Commission, RG 67.041M, USHMM.
3. Ludmila Hanisch, Die Nachfolger der Exegeten: Deutschsprachige Erforschung des Vorderen Orients in der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts (Wiesbaden, Germany: Harasowitz Verlag, 2003), 187; Christian Albrechts Universität, Kiel: Personal- und Vorlesungsverzeichnis, Sommersemester, 1959 (Kiel, Germany: Walter G. Muhlau Verlag, 1959), 29, 44, 79.
4. Abraham Sutzkever, letters to Chaim Grade, November 17, 1947, February 12, 1948, file 252, YIVO archives, RG 566.
5. See Ruth Wisse, “The Poet from Vilna,” Jewish Review of Books (Summer 2010): 10–14.
6. Krinsky-Melezin, “Answers to the Questionnaire,” box 1; Abraham Melezin memoirs, “Making a New Life in America,” box 1, Abraham Melezin Collection, RG 1872, YIVO archives.
7. Alexandra Wall, communication to author, e-mail, August 3, 2016.
8. Rachela Krinsky-Melezin, letter to Abraham Sutzkever, September 11, 1991, file 1728.8, Sutzkever Collection.
9. “Ershter zhurnalistisher tsuzamentref mitn dikhter-partizan Sh. Kaczerginski,” Idishe tsaytung (Buenos Aires), June 7, 1950, 5.
10. Preface, in Shmerke kaczerginski ondenk-bukh, 13; Jeanne Joffen, “Shmerke kaczerginski’s letste teg,” in Shmerke kaczerginski ondenk-bukh, 92.
11. “A. Sutzkever baveynt dem toyt fun Sh. Kaczerginski,” Idishe tsaytung (Buenos Aires), May 11, 1954, 3; Max Weinreich, letter to Abraham Sutzkever, May 6, 1954, file 552c, Max Weinreich Collection, RG 584, YIVO archives.
12. Chaim Grade, “Eykh noflu giboyrim,” Shmerke kaczerginski ondenk-bukh, 43–45.
Chapter 30. Forty Years in the Wilderness
1. Raˇckovska, “Respublikin˙es spaudiniu˛,” 13–20; Fishman, “Tsu der geshikhte,” 293–98.
2. Shulamith and Victor Lirov, interview by author, Israel, December 23, 1997; Rivka Charney, interview with author, January 2, 1998.
3. Meile Urnieziute, unpublished interview by unknown interviewer, 1; Almone Sirijus Giriene, unpublished interview by unknown interviewer, 3, both interviews in author’s possession.
4. Chaim Shoshkes, “Mayne ershte bagegenishn mit yidn in vilne,” Tog-morgn zhurnal (New York), October 21, 1956.
5. Fishman, “Tsu der geshikhte”; Shlomo Kurlianchik, interview by author, Natanya, Israel, December 16, 1997.
Chapter 31. Grains of Wheat
1. Emanuel Zingeris, “Bikher un mentshn (vegn dem goyrl fun yidishe un hebreyishe bikher-fondn in lite),” Sovetish heymland (Moscow) (July 1988): 70–73; Dina Abramowicz, memo to Samuel Norich, box 1, uncataloged collection, YIVO Vilna Transfer, 1989–, YIVO archives.
2. Samuel Norich, interview by author, Manhattan, New York, April 18, 2016.
3. Richard Shephard, “Rejoining the Chapters of Yiddish Life’s Story,” New York Times, August 30, 1989.
4. See Hirsh Smoliakov, “Far di kumendike doyres,” Yerusholayim de-lite (Vilnius), June 1990, 4.
5. I was present at that meeting, in the offices of the State Committee on Printed Matter of the Lithuanian SSR, June 1989.
6. Jonathan Mark, “Soviet Crackdown in Lithuania Clouds Jewish Archive’s Fate,” Jewish Week (New York), January 18, 1991; Norich, interview.
7. “Yivo Unpacks Treasure-Trove of Documents Lost since World War II,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency Bulletin, February 28, 1995; Jeffrey Goldberg, “The Shtetl Is Sleeping,” New York Times Magazine, June 18, 1995; YIVO Institute, “YIVO Institute Recovers Lost Vilna Archives,” YIVO News (Fall 1995): 1. “Report on the Work Completed on the YIVO-Vilnius Documents,” January 30, 1996, box 2, YIVO Vilna Transfer, 1989–, YIVO archives.
8. Masha Leon, “How Jewish It All Was: A Peek at YIVO’s Lost World,” Forward, March 3, 1995, 1.
9. Larry Yudelson, “YIVO Unpacks Documents Lost since War,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency Bulletin, February 28, 1995; Steve Lipman, “Paper Trail,” Jewish Week (New York), March 3, 1995, 1.
10. Sutzkever, Baym leyenen penimer, 205–8 (selections from these pages).
11. Yudelson, “YIVO Unpacks Documents”; similarly, Alexandra Wall, “Babushka and the Paper Brigade,” Jewish Standard (Teaneck, NJ), February 9, 1996, 6.
GLOSSARY
Aktion. A German raid or operation to round up, deport, or murder Jews.
Bericha. Underground operation after the Holocaust to move Jews from Europe from the Land of Israel, largely by illegal immigration.
Bimah. The platform in the synagogue from which the Torah is read.
Bund. The main Jewish socialist party in Imperial Russia and Poland, founded in Vilna in 1897. Its adherents, called Bundists, were democratic socialists who opposed Bolshevism and supported secular Yiddish culture.
Chanukah. Jewish winter holiday, commemorating the rededication of the Temple in 165 BC. It is marked by the kindling of lights.
combine. Soviet term for a group of industrial enterprises that work in close association with each other.
commissariat. A ministry of Soviet government.
displaced persons. Term used after World War II for Holocaust survivors who could not or would not return to their home country. The allies and United Nations administered displaced persons’ camps in Germany, Austria, and Italy.
Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR). Nazi party organization dedicated to the looting of cultural property. It was headed by Nazi ideologist Alfred Rosenberg.
Eretz Israel. The Land of Israel (in Hebrew and Yiddish).
FPO. Abbreviated named of the Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye, the underground armed resistance organization in the Vilna ghetto.
Galicia. Region of southern Poland that belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire before World War I.
Gebietskommissar. Highest regional administrator in the occupied eastern territories under the control of Nazi Germany.
Haggadah. Text read on the holiday of Passover, recounting the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
Hasidism. Jewish religious movement in Eastern Europe, characterized by a theology of divine immanence, enthusiastic prayer, and reverence of holy men called Rebbes.
Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). American Jewish relief organization founded during World War I. It served as a major support for Jewish social welfare and educational programs in interwar Poland and aided Holocaust survivors after the war.
Judenrat. Nazi-imposed council responsible for administering the affairs of the Jewish population in a city or ghetto.
kaddish. Hymn in praise of God recited by mourners at burial and during periods of mourning.
kiddush. Prayer and blessing over wine recited on the Sabbath and holidays.
kloyz (Yiddish). House of prayer and study, usually smaller and less decorous than a synagogue.
malina (Yiddish). Hiding place in the ghetto, to avoid discovery by the Germans.
menorah. A sacred candelabrum lit by priests in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem.
mitzvah. A good deed done out of a sense of religious duty.
Monuments Men. Men and women who served in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Department of the American military to locate and protect cultural property, including art and books that had been stolen by the Nazis.
NKVD. Soviet law enforcement agency known for mass executions and political repression during the rule of Joseph Stalin. Predecessor to the KGB.
pinkas. Traditional record-book of a synagogue or Jewish religious association.
pogrom. Violent riot directed against Jews.
Ponar (Yiddish; in Polish: Ponary, Lithuanian: Paneriai). Mass-murder site on the outskirts of Vilna.
Purim. Holiday celebrating the rescue of the Jews from annihilation in ancient Persia, as recounted in the biblical book of Esther.
Revisionist Zionism. Movement led by Vladimir (Ze’ev) Jabotinsky that called for the establishment of a Jewish state in all of the historical Land of Israel, including Transjordan, and advocated armed action against British rule in Palestine.
Rosh Hashanah. The Jewish New Year’s festival, which usually occurs in September.
Seder. Ritual recounting and reenacting the Israelites’ liberation from Egyptian slavery, in celebration of the holiday of Passover.
shiva. Seven-day period of mourning, during which one sits on a low chair near the floor.
Shomer Ha-Tza’ir. Secular socialist-Zionist youth movement; Shomer HaTza’ir was a scouting movement that stressed agricultural training, collectivism, and study of Hebrew.
shtot-shul (Yiddish). The Great Synagogue of Vilna, founded in 1572.
shulhoyf (Yiddish). The synagogue courtyard, which housed the Great Synagogue, Strashun Library, the synagogue of the Vilna Gaon, and other institutions. The historic heart of Jewish Vilna.
Talmud. The central text of postbiblical Judaism, completed in Babylonia in the sixth century.
yeshiva. Religious academy for study of the Talmud.
Yiddish. The language spoken by East European Jews. A Germanic language with Hebrew and Slavic components.
yishuv. The Jewish community in pre–State of Israel Palestine.
YIVO (Yiddish acronym for Yiddish Scientific Institute). Research academy for the study of Yiddish language and literature, Jewish history, and the social science study of the Jews. YIVO was founded in Vilna in 1925.
Yom Kippur. The fast of the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year on the Jewish calendar.
zhid. Derogatory word for Jew in Russian.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Interviews
Most of the following individuals interviewed were either inmates of the Vilna ghetto or inhabitants of postwar Vilnius.
Rivka Charney, Cholon, Israel
Shlomo Kurlianchik, Natanya, Israel
Shulamith and Victor Lirov, Israel
Rachel Margolis, Yeruham, Israel
Michael Menkin, Fort Lee, New Jersey
Samuel Norich, Manhattan, New York
Chaya Palevsky, Bronx, New York
Maria Rolnikaite, St. Petersburg, Russia
Alexandra Wall, Berkeley, California
Akiva Yankivsky, Lod, Israel (via telephone)
Avraham Zheleznikov, Melbourne, Australia
Archives
ISRAEL
Genazim Institute, Tel Aviv
RG 370, Hirsh Osherovitsh Collection
Moreshet Archive, Givat Haviva, Israel
A 350, Yehuda Bauer interview with Aba Kovner; Yehuda Bauer interview with Aba Kovner, Vitka Kempner Kovner, and Ruzhka Korczak
A 1175, testimony of Alexander Rindziunsky
D. 1.433, Kovner memorandum on the creation of an institute for Jewish culture
D. 1.4.94, “A Plea to Our Jewish Brothers and Sisters” with explanatory notes
