September 16, 2018 1:30 pm

Location – American Jewish University, Burton Sperber Jewish Community Library

Speaker – Judy BastonDocumenting the Vilna Ghetto Library

VILNA– known as the Jerusalem of Lithuania – had a strong cultural tradition that endured and flourished even after the Vilna Ghetto was established in 1941. Perhaps the most important cultural institution in the Ghetto was the Vilna Ghetto Library; it was considered the only fully-functioning library in a Holocaust-era ghetto.

When Judy Baston discovered that her three young cousins in the Vilna Ghetto had been on the list of Ghetto Library patrons, she was stunned to realize that the grimness of their daily lives had been brightened even a bit by the stories in the books they read. Further research led her to uncover additional documentation from the Vilna Ghetto Library in the Lithuanian State Central Archive.

She will cite from reports from two Ghetto librarians that provide a detailed look at which authors and titles were read by different kinds of Ghetto Library patrons.

JUDY BASTON is a longtime Board member and former Vice President of LitvakSIG. She coordinates LitvakSIG’s Lida District and Oshmiany District Research Groups and is also on the the Executive Committee and Board of JRI-Poland. For nearly 20 years, she has moderated the Discussion Groups of LitvakSIG and JRI-Poland, and she also moderates the BialyGen and Lodz discussion groups. She has been involved with the Jewish Community Library in San Francisco for 26 years and coordinates their monthly Genealogy Clinic. In July, 2015, Judy received the IAJGS Lifetime Achievement Award at the organization’s conference in Jerusalem.

The JGSLA Traveling Library and Mentors Corner will be available starting at 1:00 pm.

Program begins at 1:30 pm. JGSLA MEMBERS FREE ~ GUESTS $5.00.