Rescuing the Jews in Lithuania during World War II: Practices of Creating a Lithuanian Museum Narrative
Lithuanian historiography shows that the topic of rescuing the Jews in Lithuania during World War II (WWII) is intertwined into different narrative schemes: the pre-Holocaust story of the rescue of Jewish refugees at the beginning of WWII and the topic of the Holocaust in Lithuania. The question is...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Vilnius University Press
2023-12-01
|
| Series: | Lietuvos Istorijos Studijos |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.zurnalai.vu.lt/lietuvos-istorijos-studijos/article/view/33914 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1823857892375134208 |
|---|---|
| author | Rūta Šermukšnytė |
| author_facet | Rūta Šermukšnytė |
| author_sort | Rūta Šermukšnytė |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Lithuanian historiography shows that the topic of rescuing the Jews in Lithuania during World War II (WWII) is intertwined into different narrative schemes: the pre-Holocaust story of the rescue of Jewish refugees at the beginning of WWII and the topic of the Holocaust in Lithuania. The question is: what narrative schemes of the rescue of the Jews are used in Lithuanian museums, what does the museum want to communicate to the public on the topic of the rescue of the Jews, by what means does the museum create a historical narrative, what historical cultural events promote the emergence of themes of the rescue of the Jews in one or another Lithuanian museum? The analysis of four cases (Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History, ‘Sugihara House’ in Kaunas, The Ninth Fort of Kaunas, ‘Lost Shtetl’ museum under construction in Šeduva) is used to answer these questions. It revealed that the aim of the topic of rescuing the Jews is to present the most objective, all-encompassing image of this past and to perform several important functions with the help of it. This is the education of Lithuanian and foreign visitors (the museum as a space of knowledge), honoring, remembering and thanking the Jewish saviors (the museum as a memorial space), refuting stereotypes related to the rescue of Jews (the museum as a space of demythification).
|
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2e005ac3d8084397befee79dcfd49f21 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1392-0448 1648-9101 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Vilnius University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Lietuvos Istorijos Studijos |
| spelling | doaj-art-2e005ac3d8084397befee79dcfd49f212025-02-11T18:10:50ZengVilnius University PressLietuvos Istorijos Studijos1392-04481648-91012023-12-015210.15388/LIS.2023.52.6Rescuing the Jews in Lithuania during World War II: Practices of Creating a Lithuanian Museum NarrativeRūta Šermukšnytė0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7206-5175Vilnius University, Lithuania Lithuanian historiography shows that the topic of rescuing the Jews in Lithuania during World War II (WWII) is intertwined into different narrative schemes: the pre-Holocaust story of the rescue of Jewish refugees at the beginning of WWII and the topic of the Holocaust in Lithuania. The question is: what narrative schemes of the rescue of the Jews are used in Lithuanian museums, what does the museum want to communicate to the public on the topic of the rescue of the Jews, by what means does the museum create a historical narrative, what historical cultural events promote the emergence of themes of the rescue of the Jews in one or another Lithuanian museum? The analysis of four cases (Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History, ‘Sugihara House’ in Kaunas, The Ninth Fort of Kaunas, ‘Lost Shtetl’ museum under construction in Šeduva) is used to answer these questions. It revealed that the aim of the topic of rescuing the Jews is to present the most objective, all-encompassing image of this past and to perform several important functions with the help of it. This is the education of Lithuanian and foreign visitors (the museum as a space of knowledge), honoring, remembering and thanking the Jewish saviors (the museum as a memorial space), refuting stereotypes related to the rescue of Jews (the museum as a space of demythification). https://www.zurnalai.vu.lt/lietuvos-istorijos-studijos/article/view/33914Rescuing the JewsWorld War IIHolocaustLithuanian museumsexhibition |
| spellingShingle | Rūta Šermukšnytė Rescuing the Jews in Lithuania during World War II: Practices of Creating a Lithuanian Museum Narrative Lietuvos Istorijos Studijos Rescuing the Jews World War II Holocaust Lithuanian museums exhibition |
| title | Rescuing the Jews in Lithuania during World War II: Practices of Creating a Lithuanian Museum Narrative |
| title_full | Rescuing the Jews in Lithuania during World War II: Practices of Creating a Lithuanian Museum Narrative |
| title_fullStr | Rescuing the Jews in Lithuania during World War II: Practices of Creating a Lithuanian Museum Narrative |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rescuing the Jews in Lithuania during World War II: Practices of Creating a Lithuanian Museum Narrative |
| title_short | Rescuing the Jews in Lithuania during World War II: Practices of Creating a Lithuanian Museum Narrative |
| title_sort | rescuing the jews in lithuania during world war ii practices of creating a lithuanian museum narrative |
| topic | Rescuing the Jews World War II Holocaust Lithuanian museums exhibition |
| url | https://www.zurnalai.vu.lt/lietuvos-istorijos-studijos/article/view/33914 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT rutasermuksnyte rescuingthejewsinlithuaniaduringworldwariipracticesofcreatingalithuanianmuseumnarrative |