Page 42 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Estonia Latvia & Lithuania

40 INTRODUCING EST ONIA , LA T VIA AND LITHU ANIA

Jewish History
The history of Jewish settlement in the Baltic region
began in the 14th century, when Grand Duke Gediminas
invited merchants and craftsmen into the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania. Estonia only ever had a small Jewish population,
while Jews arrived in Latvia in the 15th century, but were
only allowed to settle in Rīga much later. During World War
II, almost all Jews who did not flee were killed. Although
some returned, the Jewish communities today are
dwindling, partly due to emigration to Israel.
Jewish Vilna’s itinerant clothes-sellers,
photographed in 1915

The Gaon of Vilna
(1720–97) was
Lithuania’s most
famous Jewish scho lar,
whose writing and
research still guide
many in the Jewish
community today. In
1997, the celebration
of the bicentenary of
his birth brought
Litvaks, former
Lithuanian Jews, back
to Vilnius from all over
the world.

Jews in the Baltic Region
Banned from buying property and taking up
professions until the late 19th century, the Jewish
population lived largely as itinerant tradesmen
and market stall-holders. After World War I, they
were granted full rights as citizens. Until their
persecution by the Nazis in 1941, when Jews
were killed in large numbers, the Jews were
active in the professions, business and politics.

Rīga’s Great Choral Synagogue was built in 1869 for Children celebrating Purim were photo-
the city’s Jews, who thrived after the laws restrict ing graphed in 1933 in Vilnius. Purim, a joyful
Jewish residence were lifted in 1840. The site of a festival in the Jewish calendar, is still
Jewish massacre executed by the Nazis in 1941, the celebrated by the Jewish commu nity
synagogue no longer exists. in the Baltic region today.