The building of the Jewish theatre was built at the end of the 19th century in order to house “a cheap Jewish canteen”. The union of cheap Jewish canteens was established in 1887 by a distinguished society member, a participant of the first Sionist Congress, Arje Naishul (1857 – 1928). The union was in charge of supplying meals to poor Jews at insignificant prices.
In 1907 Arje Naishul reported: “Around 900 to 1,000 people per day have meals in the canteen.” Arje Naishul was the leader of the union until his death, after which Khaim Gordon became Chairman of the union. In the 1920s the Board of the union included two representatives of the best-known family of bankers: Israel Bunimovich and his son Tobiash. In 1937 the union had 327 members. The union of “cheap Jewish canteens” existed until 1930, when it was closed down.
Until the end of its existence, the union owned two houses on the corner of the former Novgorod and Makaryev Streets (now these are houses No. 8 and No. 10 in Naugardukas Street). At the beginning of the 20th century the decision to broaden Novgorod Street was made. In order to broaden the street, the Board of the city had to buy a part of the land belonging to the union. The union was paid 8,500 roubles, which was a considerable sum of money at the time. It was decided to use the money to rebuild the union’s central building, where a meeting hall was located (now it is house No. 10 in Naugardukas Street ). The project was prepared in 1910 and already at the end of the same year a 650-seat hall, which was named the “Philharmonic Society”, was constructed. The Act of Acceptance drawn up by an engineer and other responsible people said:
“On December 17, 1910 we, who have signed below, were examining the concert hall which belonged to the union of cheap canteens for the poor Jews of the Vilna city and was situated at Novgorod Street No. 8. We found that everything was carried out according to the plan, i. e. built from materials of good quality and proper size. The hall is rather spacious, there are a number of exits; therefore, it is safe in terms of construction and fire prevention. Having in mind the aforesaid, the people who have examined the building find the hall suitable for various community gatherings.”
According to the Dictionary of the Russian Language by Ozhegov, a Philharmonic Society is ‘an institution engaged in organisation of concerts and propagation of the art of music.’ There is no evidence as to when the first concert was held in the newly-built hall, but it is known that it was the very place where the majority of various concerts, performances and Jewish community gatherings took place until the beginning of World War II. In 1918 ‘the first national Jewish theatre in Lithuania ’, as it was advertised in a newspaper, was opened here and was directed by the well-known actor Naum Lipovsky (1874 – 1928). On November 5, the theatre staged the play “Der Stumer” (“The Dumb”) by the celebrated playwright Viter (he was killed in a pogrom in 1919).
In the 1920s the inhabitants of Vilnius knew the building of the Philharmonic Society as the centre of “The Maccabi”, a sports and gymnastics group. “The Maccabi” of Vilnius was established in 1916, soon after the establishment of the first in the world “Maccabi” of Warsaw (1915). There has remained a copy of the decree of the “Maccabi” of Warsaw that dates back to the 1920s. The document says that such doctors as Gerc Kobarskii, Abram Makover, Cemach Shabad, Jakov Vigodskii, Eliah Globus, Samuil Levande were honourable members of the group. In 1922 “The Maccabi” was governed by Eliah Globus, Samuil Levande, Chait and others. Eliah Globus, one of the most famous doctors, was the Chairman of the Board and remained in this position until his death in 1938. “The Maccabi” was situated in the house in Novgorod Street until 1932. At the time there were 311 sportsmen in the group. Later, according to the police report of April 21, 1939 , the group consisted of 700 people, 400 of whom took an active part in the group. According to the data of 1932, about 200 people were engaged in gymnastics and about 150 people in water sports (swimming and rowing). According to the police report of April 1938, 750 people were engaged in water sports.
In the archives there is a decree of the group that dates back to 1934 and is signed by famous Vilnius society members Globus, Kobarskii, Vaiman, Romm, Levande, Libo and Shabad.
The hall of “The Maccabi” was also used for social and cultural events. Bund of Vilna often held gatherings and meetings here and they were visited by the leaders of Warsaw Bund Victor Adler and Henrick Erlich, who were shot by order of Stalin in 1942, by the founder of Bund Arcady Kremer (1865 – 1935), by the head of Bund of Vilna Anna Rosental, who died in a Soviet prison in 1940, and other distinguished members of Bund.
After “The Maccabi” moved to another building in 1932, “Undzer Teater” (“Our Theatre’) settled in the “Philharmonic Society”. The theatre did not have a permanent troupe and mainly organised tours of guest artists. In 1934 David Oystrach performed on his tour here. In 1935 the performance “Savincov” by the well-known Jewish writer Isaac Zinger was staged here. In 1936 and 1937 the theatre was visited by the popular puppet theatre “Moydim” and the troupes of Jonas Turcov and Ida Kaminska.
It is to be regretted that only separate documents testifying to the activities of the “Undzer theater” have been found.
At the end of the 1930s, the cinema hall “Mūza” (“Muse”), renamed into “Pionierius” (“Pioneer”) after the war, was established in the building at Novgorod Street 8.
In 1989 by decision of the Lithuanian Government the building of the former Jewish “Philharmonic Society” was transferred to the Jewish Museum. On September 23, 2001, after an extended reconstruction, the first exposition was opened here.
G. Agranovski
Former worker of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum |
