TOWARDS THE LITVAK IDENTITY

 

Several years ago, I was wandering with a friend from Israel along the narrow streets of the former Jewish quarter in Vilnius, talking about the vibrant pre-war Jewish life here. We imagined the Jewish faces, the figures, the sounds of Yiddish, the scenes and colors of Litvak civilization that once flourished here, and which is the direct family heritage of thousands of people in the world today. ‘I can imagine it, but where can we see it?’ asked my friend. ‘What is left of it, except the old gravestones, and the heartbreaking memories of the Holocaust? And do you think our children will be as interested in it as we are?’

 

The same questions were behind our motives when we were discussing the idea to bring to light these usually hidden works by Litvak artists, collected now in this album. These questions arose even earlier, and hence, in 2011 a group of enthusiasts, uniting both Jewish and non-Jewish public figures and businessmen, all living in Lithuania, founded an organisation to initiate and support activities aimed at preserving traces of the Lithuanian-Jewish heritage. As it was established in Vilnius (Vilne), our organisation was called Jerusalem of the North, in recognition of the scale of the former Jewish life in the region. We then initiated the Litvakworld project, and set up the website www.litvakworld.com to publish our findings from local archives, books and other sources, all of which are precious marks of the former Litvak culture, making them available to everyone to whom it might be valuable or just interesting. The project became a sensational journey into Yiddishland for our team, and since then we have published more than 200 objects on our virtual map.

 

Eventually, we made another remarkable discovery: works by the famous Litvak artists Marc Chagall, Benzion Zukerman, Neemiya Arbit Blatt, Jacques Lipchitz, Max Band, Pinchus Krémègne, Ossip Zadkine, Chaim Soutine, Michel Kikoïne, and many more, are here in Lithuania, in private collections. Original masterpieces by Litvak artists who grew up in Lite, scattered across the globe and later became known around the world, and today we find their works brought back to their native land … Even more inspired and led by the art expert Dr Vilma Gradinskaitė, we continued to look for more, step by step, and eventually we were amazed to find more than 300 masterpieces by more than 40 artists!

 

The book is now in your hands, and can be enjoyed as a contribution to the history of art, to research into the Litvak heritage, or just as an aesthetic pleasure, regardless of your educational or ethnic background.

 

But our special hope is for the new generation, for those who were born after the war and thus outside the former Yiddishland; for young people from Israel, America, South Africa, Mexico, Europe, Australia who are not shtetl Jews or emigrés any more, whose national identity is a modern one, and to a greater or lesser extent has been formed through the inevitable assimilation of their emigré ancestors. For those who feel more confident in the countries where they live today than their grandparents who had brought them there did, and thus can afford to revive in their souls some of those deeply Yiddish colors which had to be shaded or even rejected due to emigration, still remaining hidden in the family background.

 

It is our great pleasure to invite you to take this step in exploring the civilization of our grandparents, contributing to the revival of Litvak pride, igniting a greater interest in the Litvak heritage, so that more and more people will look after it in the future.

                                                                                                                              

Anna Avidan

“Jerusalem of the North"

Managing director