Introduction

The introduction to this volume provides historical background on Jewish life in Lithuania from 1772. It briefly describes the specific nature of Lithuanian Jewry, the way in which relationships developed between Jews and Lithuanians in the years after 1772, first under tsarist rule and then in independent Lithuania, the impact of Nazi and Soviet occupation between 1940-1990 on the Jewish community and Lithuanian-Jewish relations, the slow revival of Jewish life since independence and the attempts which have been made to come to terms with the difficult legacy of the Holocaust. He also briefly discusses Jewish schooling, economic activity, antisemicism and the church's attitude to Jews, and Jewish assimilation in Lithuania.