The number of Jews in Vilna has increased to 4,000 as compared with the few dozens that were there eight months ago when the city was liberated by the Red Army, it was reported here today by Perez Markish, Jewish writer who has just returned from a trip to Lithuania and Poland.
Addressing a meeting at the Writers Club in Moscow, Markish stated that the majority of the Jews who now live in Vilna were partisans. Others have been repatriated from the Soviet interior. It is expected that the number of repatriated Vilna Jews will increase soon, he reported.
Jewish cultural life in Vilna is gradually being revived, the Jewish writer said. An elementary school for Jewish chidren is now functioning and a Jewish museum has been opened. The Lithuanian Soviet Government intends to establish a Jewish high school, he said.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.