Jerusalem of Lithuania: The Rise and Fall of Jewish Vilnius

Norman Ravvin is an assistant professor of English at the University of
New Brunswick. He is the author of Café des Westens, Sex, Skyscrapers,
and Standard Yiddish, and A House of Words.

Jerusalem of Lithuania is part of a developing trend in Holocaust
literature in which authors mix elements of history and memoir in an
effort to come to terms with extremely difficult themes. Shneidman
describes his relationship to his subject this way: “I lived an
eventful and stirring life. I faced a Nazi firing squad at the age of
sixteen and spent two years in a ghetto. I did battle for a year in the
ranks of a Soviet partisan unit … I was among those who reached the
outskirts of Berlin early in May 1945 … Yet I do not regard myself as
a hero.”

Shneidman makes use of personal experience, as well his skills as a
historian (he is professor emeritus at the University of Toronto), to
address the historical record of the destruction of his home town while
also considering the response this record has received in discussions of
the events in recent years. As a result, Jerusalem of Lithuania is a
rather careful and varied examination of Holocaust events. There are
also chapters at the outset that describe the vibrant Jewish life that
existed in Vilnius before the war.

By mixing genres related to history and memoir, Shneidman avoids some
of the more predictable excesses of Holocaust memoir, as well as the
flat coldness of tone that can appear in traditional historical studies.
As a Canadian since 1958, he can also comment on the way in which issues
connected with the war are—or are not—relevant to his postwar
experience in North America. His bonds to his native country are still
strong: “I have visited Vilnius more than a dozen times. I am still
drawn to the city by the few remaining old friends, by the gravestones
of my family members buried there, as well as by the memories of my
youth.”