8 August 2025

A lecture by book collector Dan Rabinowitz „The Strashun Public Library Reading Room: Diversity in Pre-WII Vilna“

On August 20 at 6 p.m., we invite you to a lecture by book collector Dan Rabinowitz „The Strashun Public Library Reading Room: Diversity in Pre-WII Vilna“. This discussion will delve into the nature of the Strashun Library and its patrons, with information sourced from newly discovered library ledgers that offer a unique snapshot of Jewish intellectual culture. The lecture will be held in English (with translation into Lithuanian).

Dan Rabinowitz is the author of The Lost Library: The Legacy of the Strashun Library in the Aftermath of the Holocaust (Brandeis University Press). He is also the Director of the Strashun Library Ledger Project, which is digitizing the reading room records of the Strashun Library preserved at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, and the founder and co-editor of the Seforim Blog.

The Strashun Library was among the most important Jewish public institutions in Vilna, and indeed in Eastern Europe, prior to its destruction during World War II. Mattityahu Strashun, descended from a long and distinguished line of rabbis, bequeathed his extensive personal library of 5,753 volumes to the Vilna Jewish community on his death in 1885, with instructions that it remain open to all. In the summer of 1941, the Nazis came to Vilna, plundered the library, and shipped many of its books to Germany for deposition at a future Institute for Research into the Jewish Question. When the war ended, the recovery effort began. Against all odds, a number of the greatest treasures of the library could be traced. However, owing to its diverse holdings and its many prewar patrons, a custody battle erupted over the remaining holdings. Who should be heir to the Strashun Library? This book tells the story of the Strashun Library from its creation through the contentious battle for ownership following the war until present day. Pursuant to a settlement in 1958, the remnants of the greatest prewar library in Europe were split between two major institutions: the secular YIVO in the United States and the rabbinic library of Hechal Shlomo in Israel, a compromise that struck at the heart of the library’s original unifying mission.

The lecture will take place at the Vilnius Jewish Public Library (Gedimino 24). Attendance is free.

The organizers may be taking photographs and videotaping the event as part of the Vilnius Jewish Public Library's historical record of its programs over the years.

Registration to the event ›

Briefly about the event

Date

20 August

Time

6 PM

Place

Vilnius Jewish Public Library (Gedimino av. 24)

Duration

2 hours

Attendance

Please register here ›

Organizers

Vilnius Jewish Public Library

Important

the opening of the exhibition will be held in English
the event will be held in English (with translation into Lithuanian)

More information

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