Date/Time
Date(s) - September 16, 2018
1:30 pm
Speaker
Judy Baston
Categories No Categories
Judy Baston:
Documenting the Vilna Ghetto Library
September 16th, 2018 Sunday Afternoon
1:30 pm at AJU
VILNA– known as the Jerusalem of Lithuania – had a strong cultural tradition that endured and flourished even after the Vilna Ghetto was established in 1941. Perhaps the most important cultural institution in the Ghetto was the Vilna Ghetto Library; it was considered the only fully-functioning library in a Holocaust-era ghetto.
When Judy Baston discovered that her three young cousins in the Vilna Ghetto had been on the list of Ghetto Library patrons, she was stunned to realize that the grimness of their daily lives had been brightened even a bit by the stories in the books they read. Further research led her to uncover additional documentation from the Vilna Ghetto Library in the Lithuanian State Central Archive.
Judy will share information about the lists of readers in the Library, lists of workers in the Library and even a list of readers who did not return books to the Library. In addition, she will discuss the question, “What did Vilna Ghetto Library patrons read?” She will cite from reports from two Ghetto librarians that provide a detailed look at which authors and titles were read by different kinds of Ghetto Library patrons.
The JGSLA Traveling Library and Mentors Corner will be available starting one-half hour before program time.
JGSLA MEMBERS FREE – GUESTS $5.00 –