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One of the gates of the Vilna ghetto. Presumably a view from within the ghetto looking out.
Yad Vashem Photo Archives 3271/38 Courtesy of Central Government Archives, Moscow
The prison in the Vilna ghetto, named "Lukiszki" (Lukiškės) by the prisoners, after the street on which it was located.
Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 3380/596
Map of the Vilna ghetto. Black areas: Ghetto I, shaded areas: Ghetto II
Yad Vashem Photo Archives 2074/66
Work certificate (exterior) that replaced the yellow "Schein" given to all skilled workers
Left: Stamped by the ghetto police at the beginning of every month on receipt of a bread ration card. The code on the center page: 23 A 14 is a secret reference number indicating the worker's professional status. Right: The worker's personal details. The work-certificate was produced by the German Labor Department and distributed by the Ghetto Police.
Yad Vashem Photo Archives 2074/71
The Judenrat 1. Jacob Gens 2. Felix [Salk] Desler 3. Anatol Fried 4. The Judenrat building 5. Die Shtarke - “The strong ones…” (food smugglers and “underworld” members)
Yad Vashem Photo Archives 2074/87
Felix (Salek) Dessler, Chief of the Jewish Police in the Vilna ghetto
Yad Vashem Photo Archives 2074/87
Jacob Gens, Chief of the Jewish Police in the Vilna ghetto and head of the Vilna ghetto from July 1942
Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 3380/137a
Notice concerning a lottery organization in the Vilna ghetto, established for charity purposes. The income from the lottery will be donated to "Winterhilf", a winter clothing collection project.
Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 3380/398
View of a street in the Vilna ghetto
Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 3380/582
Ring worn by Frida Verkshtal (née Berlin)
Frida's father was murdered during the first Aktion in Vilna, and she and her mother were moved to the Vilna ghetto. In September 1943 her mother was murdered and Frida was deported to the Riga concentration camp. Frida managed to hide the ring during body searches. In the spring of 1944 she was transferred to the Dundaga concentration camp and from there to Stutthoff, to Kaufering and to Dachau where she was liberated. She arrived in Eretz Israel (Mandatory Palestine) on the eve of the War of Independence and joined the Stern Gang.
Yad Vashem Artifacts Collection
The first night in the ghetto is the first night in the grave, After that you get used to it…
Avraham Sutzkever, The First Night in the Ghetto (1941)
At the end of August 1941 the Civil Administration in Lithuania decided to establish a ghetto in the old Jewish quarter of Vilna, an area where thousands of Jews already lived. The Aktion known as took place from the 31st of August until the 2nd of September. Thousands of Jews were murdered, among them ten members of the Judenrat. On the 6th of September the Jews of Vilna were forced into two ghettos. Approximately 30,000 Jews were forced into the larger ghetto, known as "Ghetto I" and 11,000 into the smaller ghetto, known as "Ghetto II". A further Aktion took place during the resettlement to the ghetto; about 6,000 Jews were deported to the Lukiszki (Lukiškės) prison and from there to Ponary.
"The Great Provocation" – 31st August – 2nd September 1941
On the 31st of August two Lithuanians in civilian dress entered a non-Jew's apartment on the corner of "Glazers'" ((today Stikliu)) Street and "Breite" (Wielka) Street. They shot two shots from the window, ran out into the street and shouted that Jews had shot at Germans. The Lithuanians and a group of German soldiers burst into another apartment in the building, took two Jews out into the street and shot them. Thus began the "cleansing" of the area that had been designated for the ghetto. All residents of the streets where Jews had lived for centuries, were deported and their homes plundered. They were not allowed to take anything with them, or even to dress. Many were taken in their underwear. The victims were deported to Ponary. Most of them were first sent to the Lukiszki (Lukiškės) prison where they were abused. The men were marched on foot and the women, children, elderly and weak were deported in trucks. In Ponary the men were murdered in groups of ten, followed by the women and children. Six women who were only lightly injured managed to escape the pits at night; they returned to Vilna with the help of local farmers and were treated in the Jewish hospital. On the 1st of September Hingst announced that the entire Jewish population was responsible for firing on the Germans. On the 2nd of September most of the members of the original Judenrat were sent to Ponary. According to various sources, 3,700 – 8,000 people were murdered in "The Great Provocation". A number of Jews bribed the German soldiers that they worked with and thus were able to secure the release of individual relatives from the Lukiszki prison.
The two sections of the ghetto were crowded and resembled ant colonies. Every day, at the crack of dawn, the Jews would go to work – to factories, building sites and German army units. The hardest jobs were cutting peat, laying train tracks and moving heavy items around huge warehouses. They would be taken to work in orderly lines, like soldiers… Every worker carried a white work certificate (schein) detailing his name, workplace and profession… Those who had work certificates felt themselves to be safe and immune… nevertheless it wasn't unknown for the Lithuanians to tear to shreds the permits they had been presented when checking documents in the street and to transport the Jews, that for some reason had not found favour in their eyes, straight to the prison. …
The young (German soldiers) would abuse the Jewish workers from the ghetto. For example, they forced everyone who crossed their path to remove their hat and to step aside. Anyone who delayed, they slapped in the face and cruelly beat with sticks and whips. So too, most of the work that they gave the Jews had no practical purpose and was abuse for its own sake. The men were forced to run up a hill while carrying timber on their backs and anyone who fell was beaten; the women were forced to collect horse dung with their bare hands and they were harnessed to wagons in order to transport building materials from place to place. The women who cleaned the army bases were not given brooms, they worked with their hands or using twigs that they had picked from trees; they were forced to clean the windows and doors of the barracks with the dresses that they had been wearing… People were scared to object and gave in to everything… As long as no one took away their certificates, which they viewed as a document that bought them the right to live.
Gregory Szur, Notes from the Vilna Ghetto, 1941-44, p.35-36
On the 7th of September the Germans appointed five-member Judenrats in both ghettos. The Judenrat in Ghetto I consisted of known public figures but the Judenrat in Ghetto II was randomly chosen. A Jewish police force was also established in both ghettos. Jacob Gens was appointed as chief of police in Ghetto I. The Judenrats organised food supplies, welfare, accommodation, work and education. Additional Aktionen were carried out while the institutions were still getting themselves organised. In Ghetto II the Aktionen began on the 15th of September and the ghetto was liquidated on the 21st of October. 2,000 – 3,000 Jews from this ghetto survived, some by moving to Ghetto I. In Ghetto I the Aktionen began on the 24th of October, continuing till the 22nd of December 1941. At the end of December 1941 approximately 20,000 Jews remained in the Vilna Ghetto.
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![The Judenrat 1. Jacob Gens 2. Felix [Salk] Desler 3. Anatol Fried 4. The Judenrat building 5. Die Shtarke - “The strong ones…” (food smugglers and “underworld” members)](https://www.yadvashem.org/sites/default/files/styles/main_image_1block/public/2074_87.jpg?itok=FQd0dwK0)
![The Judenrat 1. Jacob Gens 2. Felix [Salk] Desler 3. Anatol Fried 4. The Judenrat building 5. Die Shtarke - “The strong ones…” (food smugglers and “underworld” members)](https://www.yadvashem.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2074_87.jpg?itok=2hzdAGf6)
