Jewish History in the Contexts of Lithuanian Historiography

Abstract

The author of the current article seeks to answer the question how the change of historiographic paradigms, the political order of the day and other similar factors influenced Jewish studies in Lithuania. It is asserted in the article that the Jews were basically excluded from the Lithuanian ethnocentric narrative formed in the 19th century. In the interwar period, it was only Augustinas Janulaitis who took a greater interest in the history of Lithuanian Jews. In the Soviet period, according to the dogmas of classical Marxism, the social classes (progressive versus non-progressive) and ethnic Lithuanians were the key figures of Lithuanian history. Thus, the historical narrative that prevailed in 1940–88/90 only minimally discussed the Jewish past (most often in the context of the socialist movement). The Holocaust as a specific expression of Jewish suffering was also eliminated from the Soviet historical discourse. At that time it was common to write about Nazis killing “Soviet citizens”. The author of the article also asserts that a larger amount of historical research devoted to Jewish history has been published in Lithuanian historiography in the last twenty years than during the entire earlier period of professional Lithuanian historiography. This increased interest in Jewish history is related with the paradigmatic change, when part of the historians renounced the ethnocentric treatment of history and began to write a history of Lithuanian society, as well as with certain political considerations. Obstacles that prevent both professional historiography and mass historical consciousness from integrating Jews into the Lithuanian historical narrative are also discussed in the article.