Vilna, the Jerusalem of the North,
the city of the
great Elijah Gaon, a place of Jewish culture and activity, is
stimulated by the hustle-bustle and competition among various Jewish
groups: Zionists, Bundists, Orthodox Jews, and Haskalniks.
Walking in the street, you can hear discussions of a variety of Jewish
ideas. That the Germans and the Russians signed a friendship pact in 1939
affects little. It's quiet on the surface, but underneath there is
always a current of anti-Semitism and the Russian threat that
undesirables
will be sent to Siberian labor camps.
In 1941, despite the peace treaty, the Nazis treacherously attack Russia and overrun Lithuania. You are now in the same situation you were in two years ago in Cracow: you are required to wear a yellow Star of David and to endure anti-Jewish laws and persecution. Your greatest fear is that you will be among the nearly 500 Jews deported every day to the concentration camp at Ponary. Yet life goes on. You and the other Jews resist by trying to keep Jewish life alive. Some belong to Kibbutz Akiva, training to go to Palestine.
On Yom Kippur 1941, 1,700 Jews were arrested as they came out of the synagogues and are sent to their death at Ponary. Thousands of Jews protest. The Germans break up the demonstration viciously, killing many people. At least Jews have openly expressed their opposition. Perhaps now the world will take notice and help.
If you decide to flee from Vilna, continue to page 21.
If you decide to join a partisan unit in the region of Vilna, continue to page 22.