For many centuries Vilnius, Lithuania was one of Europe’s most important Jewish centers.  After spending several weeks in this remarkable city in 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte named Vilnius the ‘Jerusalem of the North.’ The city had more than one hundred synagogues, six daily Jewish newspapers, and was a major cultural hub with its Jewish schools, theaters, and organizations. Vilnius was also home to the Vilna Gaon, one of the most prominent rabbis of the modern era. 

 In June of 1941 when Germany invaded Lithuania, the country was home to nearly a quarter million Jews. Within six months eighty percent of the country’s Jewish population was murdered. The remaining Jews were confined to ghettos throughout the country, with the Vilna Ghetto in Vilnius being Lithuania’s largest and most prominent. 

The following song was first composed and performed in the Vilna Ghetto, nearly every program there opened with it. The lyrics were written by A. L. Wolfson, and the music was composed by Alexander Olshanetsky. The song was published by Vilna Ghetto survivor Shmerke Kaczerginski in 1947. 

This video was filmed in what remains of the Vilna Ghetto, and features several prominent Holocaust locations throughout the city of Vilnius, including the nearby forest of Ponar where Jews from the Vilna Ghetto were taken to be killed.  This rendition of the song is sung by Chava Alberstein.