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Obj. ID: 14283
Jewish Architecture
  Memorial plaque at the entrance to the Large Ghetto in Vilnius, Lithuania, 1993

© Vladimir Levin, Photographer: Levin, Vladimir, 2005

Who is Commemorated?

Victims of the Large Ghetto in Vilnius

Description:

Two granite plaques are attached to the wall of the house at 18 Rūdninkų St. marking the location of the gate to the Large Ghetto (sometimes called the First Ghetto) of Vilnius. The upper plaque depicts the plan of the Small and Large Ghettos. The lower plaque contains identical inscriptions in Lithuanian and Yiddish.

Inscription:

Lithuanian:

Čia 1941.09.06 – 1943.09.23 buvo didžiojo
žydų geto vartai, pro kuriuos buvo
išvaryti mirčiai daugiau kaip 30.000 žydų

Yiddish:

אויף דעם אָרט איז געשטאנען דער טויער פון דער גרויסער
ווילנער געטאָ. דורך אים האָט מען פון 6-טן
סעפטעמבער 1941 ביזן 23-סטן סעפטעמבער 1943
געטריבן צום טויט מער ווי 30.000 ייּדן

Translation: In this place, stood the gate of the Large Ghetto of Vilnius. Through it, from September 6th 1941 to September 23rd 1943, more than 30,000 Jews were driven to their deaths.

Lithuanian inscription on the plaque with the ghetto plan:

Vilniaus getų planas

1. Biblioteka (pasipriešinimo centras)
2. Judenratas
3. Didžioji sinagoga
4. Ligoninė
5. Kalėjimas
6. Vartai

Translation: Plan of the Vilnius Ghetto:/ 1. Library (the center of resistance) / 2. Judenrat / 3. Great Synagogue / 4. Hospital / 5. Prison / 6. Gates

Commissioned by

Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum and the Jewish Community of Lithuania, on the initiative of Vilnius Jewish historian Genrikh Agranovsky, and financed by the Vilnius municipality (Agranovskii 1994; Guzenberg 2013).

Summary and Remarks
Remarks

8 image(s)

sub-set tree:

Name/Title
Memorial plaque at the Entrance to the Large Ghetto at 18 Rūdninkų St. in Vilnius | Unknown
Object Detail
Monument Setting
Public street or square
Ghetto
{"3":"So-called by the Nazis to designate an enclosed area of enforced settlement of Jews within a previously built area in the city or town."}
Date
1993
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Congregation
Unknown
Location
Lithuania | Vilnius County | Vilnius
| Rūdninkų St. 18
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Period Detail
Collection
Unknown |
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Iconographical Subject
Textual Content
Languages of inscription
Shape / Form
Material / Technique
Granite
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
Height
150 cm
Length
Width
125 cm
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition
Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents
Codicology
Scribes
Script
Number of Lines
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Coin
Coin Series
Coin Ruler
Coin Year
Denomination
Signature
Colophon
Scribal Notes
Watermark
Hallmark
Group
Group
Group
Group
Group
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance

The Large Ghetto in Vilnius was established on September 6th and 7th, 1941 and initially contained about 29,000 inmates. Officially, only 12,000 Jews remained in the ghetto at the end of November 1941, but several thousands more were in hiding. The ghetto was "liquidated" on September 23, 1943, when about 8,000 Vilnius Jews were taken out and either murdered or sent to work camps in Estonia. About two thousand more hid in the ghetto houses. Only two to three thousand prisoners of the ghetto survived (Guzenberg 2021, p. 186).

The plaque was unveiled on September 23, 1993, the 50th anniversary of Large Ghetto's annihilation. It was installed on the initiative of Vilnius Jewish historian Genrikh Agranovsky and financed by the municipality (Guzenberg 2013). As a photograph made by the expedition of the Center for Jewish Art in 1993 testifies, the plaque with the plan of the ghettos was added at a later date.

Main Surveys & Excavations
Sources

Agranovskii, Genrikh, "Vekhi istorii," in Žydų muziejus. Evreiskii muzei. The Jewish Museum, ed. Evsey Ceitlin (Vilnius: Lietuvos valstybinis žydų muziejus, 1994), 268-270.

Agranovskii, Genrikh and Irina Guzenberg. Vilnius: Po sledam Litovskogo Ierusalima. Pamiatnye mesta ereiskoi istorii i kul’tury, 2nd ed. (Vilnius: The Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum, 2016)., 164.

Guzenberg, Irina, Vilnius: Traces of the Jewish Jerusalem of Lithuania. Memorable Sites of Jewish History and Culture. A Guidebook (Vilnius: Pavilniai, 2021)., 170.

Guzenberg, Irina. Vilnius: Pamiatnye mesta evreiskoi istorii i kul'tury (Vilnius: Pavilniai, 2013)., 51.

Levinson, Yosif, Skausmo knyga. The Book of Sorrow. Dos bukh fun veytik. Sefer ha-keev (Vilnius: VAGA Publishers, 1997)., 52-53.
Type
Documenter
Vladimir Levin, Aistė Niunkaitė Račiūnienė | 2022
Author of description
Vladimir Levin | 2023
Architectural Drawings
|
Computer Reconstruction
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Section Head
|
Language Editor
Adam Frisch | 2023
Donor
|
Negative/Photo. No.
The following information on this monument will be completed: