The Soviet Embassy here today made public a report of the Extraordinary State Committee, detailing mass slaughters and other crimes of German invaders of Lithuania, including the destruction of numbers of famous Jewish cultural institutions. The report includes statements of eyewitnesses telling how foreigners including Jews were executed at various places.
Among the Jewish cultural institutions reported “completely smashed” are the famous Strashun library, the Jewish Scientific Institute, and the Jewish Museum of History and Ethnography, all in the city of Vilna. The Germans also sent to the Nazi Research Institute on Jewish Affairs in Frankfurt-on-Main paintings and sculptures by Levitan, Chagall, Antokolsky and other well-known Jewish artists, and manuscripts of Sholem Aleichem and other prominent Jewish authors.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
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.