DAILY
LIFE IN THE VILNA GHETTO - THEATRE AND MUSIC IN THE GHETTO
This information was sourced directly from Yad
Vashem. Please refer to this link for further information
on the Vilna Ghetto: http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/vilna/during/theatre.asp
Today (17th January 1942) I received an official invitation to the
first concert to be held at the initiative of the artists' group of
the ghetto, on Sunday 18th January in the hall of the gymnasium at 6
Strashun Street. The invitation states that the artistic program will
present dramatic and musical passages… I felt a feeling of humiliation…
Here in the sad situation of the Vilna Ghetto, in the shadow of Ponary,
where of 76,000 of Vilna's Jews only around 15,000 remain – here,
at this moment – it's a disgrace…
- Hermann Kruk, A Diary in the Vilna Ghetto, p.136
The Bundists decided to boycott the invitation. Not one of them would
go to the "sick concert". They posted announcements around
the ghetto that read:
"In a graveyard you do not do theatre."
Individuals and groups took initiative and organised artistic performances
and concerts even before the Judenrat established a department for dealing
with these areas. The Judenrat and the police were convinced that the
theatre would raise peoples' spirits and that the proceeds from the
concerts would be directed towards social welfare. Before the first
concert in the hall of the "Reali" gymnasium Josef Glazman
apologised for holding a performance in the ghetto and eulogised the
victims. Among the performers were the singer Lyuba Lewika, the cantor
Idelson and the pianist Sonia Rechtig playing Chopin. Few were invited
to the concerts and Germans and Lithuanians from the government in Vilna
attended.
On the 17th of April 1942 the ghetto police ordered the registration
of musical instruments that were owned by the public for the use of
the orchestra. Those who initially opposed the theatre and orchestra
came to accept their existence. The concerts, performances and lectures
became an important social occurrence in a starving ghetto which was
also mourning for its dead. A music school for 100 students was established.
The conductor Yakov Gerstein re-established his students' choir and
the conductor Wolf Durmashkin established an orchestra which held 35
concerts.
Hermann Kruk, who initially opposed the theatre, wrote in his diary
on the 8th of March 1942:
And even so, life is stronger than everything. Life is once again pulsating
in the Vilna Ghetto. In the shadow of Ponary life is happening and there
is hope for a better morning. The concerts that were initially boycotted
are accepted by the public. The halls are full. Literary evenings are
full and the great hall cannot hold everyone who comes.
- Hermann Kruk, A Diary in the Vilna Ghetto, p.195
An association of authors and artists was established in the ghetto
which encouraged creativity and spread art and culture. The association
organised fortnightly literary and artistic gatherings "over a
cup of tea" in which lectures were given and artistic performances
were presented including recitals and singing in Yiddish and Hebrew.
In February 1942 the musicians in the ghetto established an organisation
which had 50 members. These organisations held creative competitions
and cultural events and assisted artists in difficulty.
On the 26th of April 1942 the ghetto theatre opened in the "Small
City Hall" with a production of Shlomo Molcho in the presence
of the Judenrat, police, writers, artists and the general public. Performances
and lectures were held on Sunday mornings for workers who returned late
at night. There was also a puppet theatre. In 1942 there were 120 performances
before 38,000 spectators. The theatre was active until the liquidation
of the ghetto.
