The outbreak of the German-Soviet war and the beginning of the German occupation of Lithuania. Summer 1941 in Wilno.

On Sunday morning, 22nd June 1941, due to the outbreak of the German-Soviet war (the start of Operation Barbarossa), a new chapter began for the people of Lithuania, including for the Jews of Wilno. As part of the new administrative division, Wilno found itself within the territory of the General Commissariat of Lithuania (of the Reich East Commissariat (Reichskomissariat Ostland).

Just prior to the outbreak of the German-Soviet war, around 58,000 Jews lived in Wilno, constituting about 57.78% of the city’s population[1.1].

On 24th June 1941, following the occupation of Wilno by German troops, the persecution of the Jews began. They were arrested and imprisoned in the Lukiškės prison[1.2]. Restrictions and orders, which affected their existence, also began to be established.

Already by 4th July 1941, an announcement was issued ordering all Jews to wear, on their chest and on their back, a piece of cloth with a yellow “J” (Jude), measuring 10 centimetres diagonally. They were also prohibited from being on the streets between 6:00pm until 6:00am the following morning.

That day also saw the establishment of the Judenrat (Jewish Council of Elders) which, initially, consisted of ten people. After 15th July, that number was increased to twenty-four. Its composition was then determined by election. Its members included representatives of various Jewish political parties and professional groups such as lawyers, journalists and doctors. Its chairman was Szaul Trotsky (a former city councillor). His deputy was Anatol Fried and secretary was Abraham Zajdsznur. Its offices were located at ul. Straszuna 6.

During this period, the Judenrat’s tasks included providing, daily, around 2,000 workers to the German military and civilian institutions[1.3].

Over the following days, further restrictions and orders were issued, including the prohibition on Jews from using health services in public hospitals and on Jews from treating non-Jews. Hospital No.2, on ul. Zawalna, was then designated for the Jews. That hospital had been maintained by the Jewish community.

At that time, radios and means of transport were also confiscated from Wilno Jews. They were also ordered to buy food only from thirty designated stores and ten bakeries, between the hours oof 4:00pm and 6:00pm, when most of the goods had already been sold.

From 4th-5th July, pogroms against Jews began, the terror against them intensifying with each passing day. Many of them were arrested, imprisoned in the Lukiškės prison and murdered in Ponary near Wilno – on a fuel base, left unfinished by the Soviet authorities. According to Kazimierz Sakowicz’s calculations, by 31st July, circa 5,000 people had been murdered there over seventeen days [1.4].

In August, persecution against the Jews intensified. On 2nd August, the Wilno city commissioner, Hans Hingst, order all Jews to wear the Star of David on their left breast and on their back. Jews were also banned from being in parks, squares, areas for walking and recreation, as well as from using public transport. The ban also included moving around the city’s most important streets. If any Jews lived on those main streets, they could only cross them from their apartments, heading towards the nearest intersection.

On 6th August, Hingst ordered the imposition, upon the Wilno Jews, of a contribution of five million rubles. Delivery of the imposed amount did not prevent the mass murder machine and the deportation of Jews to Ponary.

On 1^st September 1941, a pogrom against the Jews broke out - it lasted for two days. The pretext was accusing several Jews of, on 31st August, attacking two German soldiers on the corner of ul. Szklana and ul. Wielka. The attack was actually carried out by substituted Lithuanians. The consequence was the arrest and imprisonment, in Lukiškės prison, of 3,700 Jews – mostly women and children. On 2nd September, they were taken to Ponary and shot. Among the victims were most of the members of the Judenrat, including Szaul Trotsky.

At the same time, on 1st September, an announcement was issued which introduced further bans. It included a prohibition on those, who were not obliged to work, from leaving their homes from 3:00pm to 10:00am the following morning. Hingst’s next order, issued on 3rd September, concerned the seizure of Jewish property. Among other items, valuables, jewellery, foreign and domestic currency, as well as bills of exchange were to be taken to police stations.

The creation of two ghettos and a period of mass murder

The first waves of repression against the Wilno Jewish population were a prelude to further operations by the Germans and the creation of ghettos in the city. On 6^th September 1941, the establishment of a “Jewish district” in Wilno was announced, to which Jews from other streets in the city were to be transferred.

The ghetto was divided into two areas:

• the “Big Ghetto” (No.1) including the then streets - Rudnicka, Jatkowa, Szpitalna, Dziśnieńska, Żmudzka, Straszuna, Szawelska, as well as parts of one side of Końska, Lidzka and Zawalna streets
• the “Small Ghetto” (No.2) including the then streets - Juliusza Klaczki and Żydowska, as well as parts of Szklana and Gaona streets.

Both ghettos had a separate Judenrat.

Both ghettos were overcrowded and each resident had 1.5 square metres of living space. People lived within buildings and also in attics and in corridors. The two ghettos were separated by ul. Niemiecka, which remained separated from the area inhabited by Jews.

The ghetto was surrounded by a wooden fence. The gate to the “Big Ghetto” was located at ul. Rudnicka 23, not far from All Saints Church.

According to various sources, the “Small Ghetto” contained 9,000 to12,000, mostly the elderly, woman and children, the sick and those who were unable to do any physical work. The “Small Ghetto” Judenrat was headed by the merchant Ajzyk Lejbowicz. Its inhabitants were doomed from the outset. Already, on 15^th September, 1,271 people were transported to Ponary. The next operation took place on Yom Kippur (1st October) in which 2,000-3,000 people were deported.

On 3^rd October, the Germans began its liquidation.

On 15th October, mainly “specialists”, technical professionals, were issued with yellow work permits. They were issued to 3,000 people and, together with their families, they were relocated from the “Small Ghetto” into the “Big Ghetto”. Thanks to this, they escaped death at that time. For the remainder, they were gradually deported to Ponary until 30th October – when the “Small Ghetto” was finally liquidated.

Initially, 29,000-30,000 Jews were placed inside the “Big Ghetto”. In the autumn of 1941, Jews from there were also deported to Ponary – initially, on a smaller scale than from the “Small Ghetto”. Almost all members of the Judenrat, including its chairman, Trotsky. Between 22nd October and 22nd December 1941, selections took place within the “Big Ghetto”.  For example, 1,200 Jews, who were unable to work, were gathered in the Judenrat building courtyard. All were sentenced to death. 

By the end of 1941, the German occupiers had murdered a total of 33,500 people from both ghettos. According to Mendel Balberyszski, on 22nd–24th December 1941, the last great “purge” took place in the Wilno ghetto. It involved a group of “illegal” Jews. who were deported to Ponary. They did not have the yellow work permit, issued by the German Labour Office, nor did they have the protective pink certificate, issued by the ghetto authorities[1.5]. The Germans planned to only leave, inside the ghetto, those who were alble/qualified to work.

A “Period of Stability” in the ghetto – January 1942 to March 1943

It is estimated that, after the first extermination operations in the autumn of 1941, in January 1942, about 12,000 Jews lived legally in the “Big Ghetto”, with another 8,000 in hiding. A period of relative “stability” began in the ghetto. Social and cultural life developed. The institutions, which were established in the autumn of 1941, continued their activities.

From the beginning of 1942, the Judenrat, which was the most important ghetto institution exercising authority, was growing structurally. Following Trotsky’s death, it was headed by Anatol Fried, who held this position until 11^th July 1942 – until the Judenrat’s reorganisation by the Germans.

On 12^th July 1942, the Judenrat was dissolved by order of the Wilno City Commissioner. From that moment on, the ghetto was headed by Jakub Gens (1903 or 1905, Iłowce near Szawla – 14/09/1943 Wilno), who had previously headed the ghetto Jewish police.

As leader of the ghetto, he was nicknamed “Jakub the First”. Many Jews criticised his rule of the ghetto, because he supported a loyal approach towards the German authorities. He believed that, in this manner, he could soften the Germans’ policy towards the Jews in the ghetto and, at least, protect some of its residents[1.6].

In September 1941, the Jewish gimnazjum building, at ul. Rudnicka 8, became the Judenrat’s headquarters. The Judenrat was comprised of departments, which were also managed by Gens and which reported directly to him.

Order in the ghetto was maintained by the Jewish Order Service (Jewish police), which was established in September 1941 at the Judenrat. It was initially headed by Jakub Gens, his deputy, Salomon Dessler, replacing him in July 1942.

The police had their own prison on ul. Lidzka. Initially, around 150 officers worked there and, in the first half of 1942, their number increased to about 200. In addition to maintaining order in the ghetto, the police collected contributions imposed by the Germans, enforced regulations and, sometimes, as an auxiliary service, they also took part in, among other things, the deportations and resettlements.

The Labour Department, headed by Aharon Braude, was divided into three sub-departments:

• Labour Utilisation, managed by Bagranski,
• Records, managed by Niderman, and
• the office, managed by Zygmunt (Mosze) Heller.

A total of twenty-seven people worked there. The department issued the yellow work certificates to Jewish workers and, from 18^th April 1942, work books.

It was also to the department that the German authorities directed their demands for Jewish workers. Prior to the liquidation of the ghetto, about 14,000 were working, which constituted 2/3 of the ghetto’s population. After 12^th July 1942, the department was headed by Marian Nisbaum, with Braude responsible for contact between the Labour Department in the ghetto and the Labour Office.

The Health Department was initially headed by Dr, Rafael Szadowski, and then by Szepsel Milkanowicki. It consisted of a Doctors Council, a hospital and, among other things, an outpatient department, a clinic, a sanitation-epidemiology section, a school medical centre for children, an emergency medical service and baths with disinfection rooms. It employed doctors, nurses and technical staff. Its tasks included caring for the health and hygiene of the ghetto population, so as to prevent any epidemic outbreaks. It employed 1/3 of all Judenrat personnel.

The Social Welfare Department, headed by Beniamin Srołowicz, provided social assistance to the ghetto inhabitants. It was quite active, which resulted in a lower mortality rate than, for example, the Warsaw Ghetto. It subsidised child care institutions, aged care homes, public soup kitchens and also supported labour camps, which operated outside Wilno. For example, in October 1942, Gens created the Winter Aid Committee.

The Finance Department, headed by banker S. Kaszuka, was responsible for the collection of taxes from the ghetto inhabitants. People, who did not pay, did not receive food ration cards.

In December 1942, the Technical Department was reorganised into the Industry Department. Its manager was M.S. Szraiberg, who was later replaced by the engineer Grigorij Guchman. As part of its activities, it established many craft workshops, headed by Joel Fiszman:

• for men – they included carpentry, locksmiths, tinsmiths, electrical engineering
• for women – they included knitting, crocheting

A bathhouse and laundry were established, which created workplaces for ghetto Jews – thus making them “useful” to the needs of the occupier.

The Housing Department was responsible for the allocation of living space for the Jews in the ghetto. From September 1942, it was headed by Józef Glazman, who was later replaced by Barań. The department’s tasks included renovating rooms and adapting them to be suitable for living. Subordinate to the department management were the caretakers and building guards, who were responsible for maintaining cleanliness and order in the buildings.

The Food Department was headed by Chaim Trainer (or Trapido). It was responsible for supplying the ghetto inhabitants with food, which was distributed, via ration cards, through four shops in the ghetto. It also ran four eateries, as well as tearooms and a cafe which opened in 1942.

The General Department was headed by Abraham Notes.

The Culture and Education Department was established in February 1942. It comprised seventy-five personnel and its managers were, successively, Grzegorz (Grisza) Jaszuński, Dr, Leo Bernsztein and Izrael Dimentman. Included within the department was the Child Care and Education Section. The first school was established in the autumn of 1941, including one in the “Small Ghetto”. Two folk schools (folkshule) were established in the “Big Ghetto” in 1941 and, in 1942, a middle school and another folk school.

Religious children studied in a cheder and two yeshivot. A music school was opened on 3rd April 1942. In March 1942, an orphanage was opened, as well as two kindergartens for children aged 3-6 years old. In addition, two schools, under the care of the department, were located outside the ghetto, in a labour camp.

From January 1942 to June 1943, within the ghetto, the department operated the Wilno Jewish Theatre, run by Izrael Segał. It staged a total of 111 performances to a total audience of 35,000. There was also a Yiddish choir, comprising eighty-three people, as well as a Hebrew choir.

In the shadow of death, attempts were made to organise substitutions for a normal life. Thus, symphony orchestra concerts were organised in the ghetto, the first held on 18^th January 1942. Theatrical performances were also staged

From March 1942, there was also a seventeen-person orchestra led by Wolf Durmaszkin. Despite the fact that proceeds from the ticket sales were used to help the poorest Jews, ghetto inhabitants had various evaluations of the performances. While some willingly attended them, other criticised them.

After the first performance, Bundists began to spread the slogan: “Oyjf beis oylem shpilt men nit keyn teater” (Yid.: Theatre should not be staged in a cemetery). Signs appeared on walls, as well as leaflets criticising the theatre[1.7].

From 11^th September 1941, a library operated in the House of Culture at ul. Straszuna 6 – the site of the pre-War Mefice Haskole. Its director was Herman Kruk, a librarian, Bund member and chronicler of the Wilno ghetto. It comprised a reading room, an archive (run by Zalman Kalmanowicz, collecting wartime documentation), a statistics department and the Ghetto Museum. The ghetto elite gathered here.

Apart from its official function, the library served as a place of rest from the hardships of everyday life. It was a place for illegal meetings of the Bundists in the ghetto and also weapons were hidden there. It had its “branches”, including in the prison and youth club[1.8].

Due to the fact that the Germans had carried out organised looting and the destruction of cultural property in the occupied territories, in 1941, Jewish academics were ordered to compile a catalogue of the most valuable books, including from the library on ul. Straszuna. They were also required to organise and select the most valuable specimens from the YIVO Institute collection. These were sent to the Institute for the Study of the Jewish Question, which was located in Frankfurt am Main. A group of forty people was selected to perform this task. Among others, it included Herman Kruk, Szmerke Kaczergiński and Abraham Suckewer.

As part of their activities, when the Germans were not guarding them, they endeavoured to protect the most valuable manuscripts and books from being destroyed by the Germans. Under the watchful eyes of the Germans, some of them were carried out, in their pockets, from the YIVO Institute (located outside the ghetto). They were then buried, in the ground, on the “Aryan side” of the city, as well as being smuggled into the ghetto and placed into hiding places in the library. Ghetto residents called this group the “Paper Brigade” (Yid.: di papirene brigade or papir brigade)[1.9].

Various societies were established within the ghetto, including, on 5th February 1942, a group of one hundred writers, visual artists and musicians, who set up the Ghetto Union of Writers and Artists. Its tasks were to deal with high culture and to support artists financially, including commemorating those who had perished. They were also supposed to collect artistic documentation of the ghetto and song texts. Their office was located at ul. Rudnicka 17.

They organised weekly literary evenings, competitions and discussions on culture, as well as holding various academic meetings. It was managed by a board headed by philologist Zelig Hirsz Kalmanowicz (1885-1943 or 1944).

From June 1942, an academic society was active within the ghetto. On 28^th March 1943, an exhibition of paintings, sculptures and posters was opened in the ghetto. There were also plans to create a museum in the ghetto. All these initiatives took place with Gens’ approval and were financed by the Judenrat.

In September 1942, a Yiddish language information weekly “Geto Jedies” (Yid. Ghetto News) began to be published. It was edited by writer and journalist Dr. Cemach Feldstein (1885-1945). The last issue was published on 12th September 1943 during the liquidation of the ghetto.

The period of stability in the ghetto ended in March 1943, when the small ghettos in the Jewish district were liquidated and Jews from Święciany, Ashmyany and Soła were transported to the Wilno ghetto and then, under the pretext of being transported to Kowno, on 5^th April, they were sent to Ponary were they died.

The Wilno ghetto inhabitants well understood that they, too, could share the same fate. From then on, more people endeavoured to escape into the forest which, in the summer of 1943, resulted in tighter security and control in the ghetto. Everyone was required to be in their apartments by 8:00pm and, at 9:00pm, apartment commanders had to inform the Jewish police if anyone was absent. The absence of a family member resulted in the deaths of the remaining family members.

Despite the development of cultural life in the ghetto, which was intended to be a sign of normality, in everyday life, its inhabitants were accompanied by a fear of German terror and repression – including deportations to Ponary. Ongoing efforts were made to receive news from the outside world, including news of the fighting on the fronts. This was done, for example, by illegally listening to radio broadcasts, including from the BBC and Radio Moscow. One of the radios in the ghetto was owned by Grzegorz Jaszuński.

Apart from that, throughout the existence of both ghettos, their inhabitants struggled with

• serious housing problems and very poor sanitary conditions – which resulted in the spread of diseases
• food supply (there was hunger) and
• forced, hard, physical labour for the Germans, including during the Jewish holidays

Hence, from the very beginning, in the ghetto, there were underground organisations. In November 1941, the Jechiel Group was established and led by Jechiel Szejnbojm. Among other things, the underground led self-help campaigns for the ghetto inhabitants. Following the liquidation of the “Small Ghetto”, one organisation was established which brought together various political groups – the Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye.

Partisan - Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye (FPO)

The Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye (abbr: FPO; Yid: United Partisan Organisation) was established in the ghetto in January 1942. From the very outset, it brought together various political organisations. It was believed that, by uniting forces, it would be easier to fight the occupier and to “not be led to slaughter like a flock of sheep”. Its leader was Icchak Wittenberg, pseudonym “Leon” (the then head of the Judenrat’s Housing Department).

Initially, its members comprised:

• Hashomer Hatzair - Aba Kowner, Abba, Abe, pseud. “Uri”),
• Ha’Noar Ha-Zioni (Nisan Reznik),
• Betar (Józef Glazman, who was previously a member of the Jewish police. He also founded an underground organisation in the ghetto)
• the Communists (Icchak Wittenberg) and
• the Bund (Abraham Chwojnik), who joined after a few months.

The FPO consisted of groups of five (led by a commander). Five of these groups of five formed a platoon and these, in turn, were combined into two battalions commanded by Kowner and Glazman. Each commander underwent military training and then, at night, would pass on his skills to group members. The FPO consisted of about 300 individuals, almost all of whom were armed.

The FPO’s main tasks included collecting information on German activities and plans and sending emissaries to other ghettos, including Grodno, Białystok and Warsaw, in order to provide information about German Operations – as well as to promote armed struggle.

Attempts to reach other ghettos ended with the Germans capturing envoys. The partisans also forged documents, committed acts of sabotage and acquired weapons. The FPO worked together with the Związek Walki Czynnej (Active Struggle Union) – a communist-oriented anti-Nazi organisation, which helped with escapes from the ghetto, thanks to which about three hundred people reached the “Aryan side”.

When, in the spring of 1943, the FPO intensified its activities, the Germans demanded that Jakub Gens hand over the leader of the partisan organisation, under threat of reprisals against all the Jews. On 16^th July 1943, Wittenberg voluntarily surrendered himself into the hands of the Gestapo, which cost him his life[1.10]. He was succeeded by Aba Kowner.

The Liquidation of the Wilno Ghetto

In August 1943, the gradual liquidation of the ghetto began. The Wilno Gestapo then informed Gens about their plans to transfer Jews, from Wilno, to camps in Estonia and Latvia. Jews were to volunteer for the trip. The first deportation to Estonia took place on 6th August and the second on 24th-25th August. The next deportation took place on 1st-4th September, when 7,000-8,000 Jews were deported from Wilno.

The liquidation of the “Big Ghetto” had begun. It was then that the FPO called upon the ghetto inhabitants to fight. A barricade was built at ul. Straszuna 12. An armed conflict ensued. Jechiel Szeinboim and several of his comrades died defending the barricade. Around 500 ghetto inhabitants died. On 23rd–24th September 1943, the last FPO unit, together with Aba Kowner, withdrew from the city and joined the Soviet partisans in the Rudnicka Forest. That group included the poets Abraham Suckewer (1913-2010) and Szmerke Kaczergiński (1908-1954).

On 14th September, Gens was summoned to the Gestapo, where he was murdered. This worsened the mood in the ghetto and also confirmed that the end was near. In order to avoid deportation, ghetto inhabitants hid in previously-prepared hiding places and the younger tried to escape the ghetto. Gens was replaced by Saul Dessler, who then escaped from the ghetto. In his place, Oberscharführer SS Bruno Kittel chose Boria Bieniakowski.

On 23^rd September 1943, the final liquidation of the Wilno ghetto began. Kittel, who led the operation, then informed its inhabitants about their deportation to labour camps in Estonia. People were forcibly dragged out of their homes and hiding places.

The Jews then underwent a selection process and - mainly women and children - were transported, by the Germans, to the Nazi extermination camps in Sobibor and Majdanek, while 8,500-9,000 Jews were able to work in labour camps in Latvia and Estonia. The elderly and the sick were shot in Ponary.

Around 500–700 Jews, who managed to escape from the ghetto, fought in partisan units.

Following the liquidation of the ghetto, the Germans left about 3,000 Jews to work in the “Kailio” factory, in the military automotive workshops (HKP - Heereskraftfahrpark OST 562 in the Wilno district of Holendry (Olendrai)), in the labour camp at the military hospital in Antokol and also in Gestapo workshops. At the beginning of July 1944, when the Red Army were nearing Wilno, most of them were murdered. From HKP, 120-150 Jews managed to save themselves[1.11]

It is estimated that fewer than 5% of Wilno Jews survived the War.

dr Martyna Rusiniak-Karwat

translation: Andrew Rajcher

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