} .,! Leyb Koniuchowsky 1 A Brief History of Jews in Lithuania Note: All references are from the book Lite: Volume I, published in Yiddish in New York in 1951. TABEL OF CONTENTS Page Dr. Mark Wischnitzer: The History of Jews in Lithuania 2 Grand Duke Vytautas and the Privileges Granted to Jews 3 Destruction and Restrictions in the Wake of the Muscovite Invasion 7 Lithuanian Jewry Under Russian Rule 8 Louis Stein: The Outbreak of the First World War (1914-1918): Lithuanian Jews Deported Into Russia 9 Dr. Mendel Sudarsky: Jews in Independent Lithuania: 10 The Beginning of Jewish National Autonomy 12 The Establishment of the Jewish National Council 14 Jewish Deportees Return to Lithuania from Russia 14 crewish Participation· in Poli tics and Industry Decline and Disappointment 16 The Resignation of Dr. Soloveitchik 16 Harrassment of Jews; the Defacers of Signs 17 Liquidation of the Ministry for Jewish Affairs 18 Liquidation of the Jewish National Council 18 Liquidation of the Local Jewish Community Councils 18 The Fascist Uprising, December 17, 1926 19 Dr. Shmuel Grinhoyz: The Last Year of Jewish Life in Lithuania (a selected number of excerpts from his article in Lite: Volume I ) 21 Leyb Koniuchowsky 2 A Brief History of Jews in Lithuania The History of Jews in Lithuania To the northeast of the Baltic Sea an ancient ·people, the Lithuanians, have lived for many centuries. According to their origins and their language, they are a branch of the Indo-European family of nations. Lithuanian, an Indo-Sanskritic language, closely guarded the traces of its distant origins, both in regard to phonetics and syntax. •. In ancient times the Lithuanians were divided into tribes. One of them settled the lower regions, and was called Zhemaitija. Another tribe occupied the higher portion of the country, extending as far east as Vilnius and as far south as Kaunas; these were called Lithuanians. The Nevezhis river, which/flows from north to south and empties into the / Nemunas outside of Kaunas, was the border between the two tribes. The people of Zhemaitija lived in isolation among their ancient forests, in scattered settlements near lakes or on the banks of rivers and streams. They had lived as an independent people for hundreds of years, with their own prince and army. The Zhemaitija people stubbornly clung to the nature religion of their great-great grandparents. Not ------ -- ----'-..!)-~ until the sixteenth century did the Catholic church strike roots in Zhemaitija. For many years the people of Zhemaitija conducted wars against their own brethren, the Lithuanians, and against the knights of the Livonian order. In the thirteenth century Grand Duke Mindaugas, the first crown prince of Lithuanian, succeeded in uniting all of the tribes into a single Lithuanian state. Grand Duke Gediminas (1316-1341) ruled a huge realm. Thanks to his successful military campaigns and the matches he arranged between his children and neighboring grand dukes, his state grew larger and larger. Gediminas enjoyed the reputation of an intelligent, tolerant and kind- Leyb Ko~iuchowsky 3 A Brief History of Jews in Lithuania hearted duke. He remained faithful to the ancient Lithuanian religion thr·oughout his life, but was friendly toward those who followed other religions. Gediminas realized that he needed a class of merchant and artisan middlemen. He welcomed foreigners into his expanded territories. Jewish immigration to Lithuania began during Gediminas' reign. As early as 1349, Jews from Germany escaped to Eastern Europe. Gediminas' heirs continued their ancestor's policy of welcoming immigrants. In those years Lithuania became a major refuge and a new home for those escaping the German Gehennom. Germany and other parts of Europe were suffering the ravages of the Black Plague, and Jews were accused of causing the gruesome epidemic. The level of Jewish immigration to Lithuania increased in the second half of the fourteenth century. Gediminas' sons, Algirdas and Kestutis, further extended the borders of Lithuania, which became a major power in Eastern Europe. Lithuania controlled large regions between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. Grand Duke Vytautas and the Privileges Granted to Jews Grand Duke Vytautas ruled Lithuania from 1386 until 1430. Early in his reign, in 1388 and 1389, he granted formal privileges to Jews. These formed the basis of the legal, political and economic structure of Lithuanian Jewry from the end of the fourteenth century until the end of the eighteenth century. During the Middle Ages the.Jews iived as a distinctive caste among the various sectors of the surrounding population. Legal privileges which were granted to the Jews, or which they managed to obtain through their own efforts, were the basis of their relations with the state and with the various sectors of the population. Leyb Koniuchowsky 4 A Brief History of Jews in Lithuania The Privileges of Trakai, the first one granted by Vytautus, was a sort of "Magna Carta" granting personal protection to Jews.- The rights enumerated included free movement through the country; full freedom to engage in trade and credit operations; overt defense of the Jewish religion and religious institutions. Specific provisions included the following: 1) Any Christian who killed a Jew was to be tried in the general courts, and his possessions would be confiscated by the Grand Duke. 2) Provision Number 32, perhaps the most important, concerned the blood libel. It stated that "Papal bulls have confirmed that it is forbidden to Jews, by their own ;aws, to use human blood or any other blood. If, however, a Jew is accused of murdering a Christian child, the accusation must be confirmed by three Christians and three Jews. If the Christian accuser is unable to back up his accusation, the perpetrator of the baseless accusation will suffer the same punishment the Jews would have suffered had he been convicted of the crime." 3) A Christian who vandalized a Jewish cemetery was to be punished .. ·-·--' 0·,· according to the general statutes then in force, and his possessions were to be confiscated. The Trakai Privileges proclaim the autonomy of the Jewish community and the Jewish courts, which had jurisdiction over internal Jewish disputes. 4) In Point 19 of the Privileges, the authority of the Jewish community over its members is backed by the Grand Duke. The Trakai Privileges were written in the Polish language, in the city of Lutzk, on June 24, 1388. On June 18, 1389, Vytautas signed a charter of privileges for the Jews of Gardinas (Grodno) in the White Russian language. At that time White Russian was the official language of the Lithuanian government. Leyb Koniuchowsky 5 A Brief History of Jews in Lithuania The strategic position of the expanded Lithuanian realm was constantly threatened by the tireless German "push toward the east." The murderous German crusaders, under the mask of Christendom, would attack the Lithuanian towns and villages, looting the farms, raping and robbing the women, and causing untold pain, suffering and human sacrifices among the Lithuanian people. At the battle of Grunwald in 1410, Vytautas decisively defeated the Crusaders, putting an end to the German warriors' plans to occupy the East European countries. Polish military units assisted him in the battle. These events fostered closeness and unity between the two countries. The Jewish refugees from Germany in Lithuania could breathe more easily. Given Vytautas' accomplishments in the political-strategic area, as well as the economic advances he encouraged, his reign (1386-1410) was considered by the Jews to be the Golden Age of Jewish history in Lithuania. Among the prisoners whom Vytautas brought back from his military _,,,,-.- ----·------'-&j;rerations against the Tatars at the end of the fourteenth century were· Jews and Karaites. These helped to strengthen the Jewish and Karaite elements in Lithuania. After the death in 1370 of King Casimir the Great of Poland, the crown of Poland passed into the hands of the Hungarian King Ludwig. However, he did not rule for long. He died in 1382 without an heir. His daughter Jadwiga married the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila. Through this match the ruling families of Poland and Lithuania were unified. The King of Poland was simultaneously the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Jogaila permitted Vytautas to rule Lithuania for the rest of his life. Vytautas, like his grandfather Gediminas, was a tolerant ruler, unswayed by clerical fanaticism. Leyb Koniuchowsky 6 A Brief History of Jews in Lithuania In the year 1386 the Lithuanian people, together with their Grand Duke Jogaila, accepted the Roman catholic faith. Nevertheless, aggressive clericalism was held in check during Vytautas' reign. After Poland and Lithuania were formally unified in 1386, contacts between the two countries became progressively closer. The relations between Jews in Poland and Jews in Lithuania also grew more intensive. The Jewish community in Lithuania enjoyed normal growth and development through the 52-year reign of Casimir, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1440-1492). Casimir refused to be swayed by Catholic clericalism, and resisted the anti-Semitic tendencies of high religious officials. His attitude was secular and tolerant, and had / friends among the humanists of his time. In regard to Jews, Casimir continued Vytautas' policies. At that time the Jews were still the only middlemen in the country. The conditions weren't ripe for competition to arise against them. During Casimir's reign, the Grand Ducal distilleries were run by Jewish contractors, and staffed by Jewish clerks, employees and guards. ------------,- ~-·· _____ ,.__ f'.''l---o-• ·-Jewish franchisees· ran guest houses alcing the main tr·ade ~routes. The Jews loaned small sums to the peasants and the Tatars. The trade, however, was extremely poor. Jews often borrowed money from noblemen and priests in order to conduct business.