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J.
Gens
Last
year they said that the theater was just a fad of mine.
"Gens is amusing himself." A year has passed and
what do we see? It was not just a fad of Gens. It was a vital
necessity. The little theater, the first concert, the first
mourning assembly, the second concert, a light performance by
the second Commissariat and another performance and after that
big performances followed by the big schools in Vilna. For the
first time in the history of Vilna we were able to get a
curriculum of studies that was all Jewish. A big Jewish
Writers association, big children's homes, a big Day Home, a
wide Jewish life. Our care for children has reached a level
never seen before in the Jewish life of Vilna. Our spiritual
life reaches high, and we have already held a literary
competition. A musical competition will be held in another few
weeks. All this was achieved by artists who mounted the stage.
How
did the idea come up? Simply to give people the opportunity to
escape from the reality of the ghetto for a few hours. This we
achieved. These are dark and hard days. Our body is in the
ghetto, but our spirit has not been enslaved. Our body knows
work and discipline today because this maintains the body. The
spirit knows of tasks that are harder.
Before
the first concert they said that a concert must not be held in
a graveyard. This is true, but the whole of life is now a
graveyard. Heaven forbid that we should let our spirit
collapse. We must be strong in spirit and in body.
The
singer Lyuba Levicka is not with us today,* but we must not
despair. I am certain that we shall still hear her. I am
convinced that the Jewish [life] that is developing here and
the Jewish [faith] that burns in our hearts will be our
reward. I am certain that the day of the phrase "Why hast
Thou deserted us?" will pass and that we shall still live
to see better days. I would like to hope that those days will
come soon and in our lifetime.
Moreshet
Archives, D. 1.363.
*
She had been arrested about this time on a charge of smuggling
food and was executed. |
