The lost library : the legacy of Vilna's Strashun library in the aftermath of the Holocaust / Dan Rabinowitz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rabinowitz, Dan, 1975- author.

Series:

Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry series

The Tauber Institute series for the study of European Jewry

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Strashun, Mathias, -1885.

Strashun Library.

Strashun, Mathias, -1885--Library.

Strashun, Mathias.

Jewish libraries--Lithuania--Vilnius--History.

Jewish libraries.

Libraries--History--Destruction and pillage--Lithuania--Vilnius--20th century.

Libraries.

History.

Lithuania--Vilnius.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xii, 284 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Waltham, Massachusetts : Brandeis University Press, [2019]

Summary:

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.

Contents:

1 The Study House p. 12 / Vilna

2 The Book Collector p. 31 / Mattityahu Strashun

3 Vilna Builds Its Public Library p. 49

4 Jewish Books and the Ravages of World War II p. 75

5 Lost and Found in a German Book Depot p. 87

6 A Transatlantic Crossing p. 102

7 Ex Libris and Obscurity in Postwar America p. 128

8 Another Port of Call p. 143.

Notes:

A Sarnat Library book.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Rabinowitz, Dan, 1975- Lost library.

ISBN:

9781512603088

1512603082

9781512603095

1512603090

OCLC:

1039207771