Glossary

The Elephant in the Darkroom

דער העלפֿאַנט אין דער טונקל־קאַמער

GLOSSARY

Considerably more than just an interesting read, the Glossary doubles as a repository for useful and practical information to help readers get more involved in the subject of their own research.

ACQUISITION RECORD BOOKS

A collection of short but often very useful records of each object a museum owns, from furniture to photographs, kept in various books. All museums, archives and libraries in Lithuania are required to keep them. It’s understood that the general public, including historians and researchers etc., generally need to get permission from the director of the institution in order to see them. The exact legal position however remains a mystery. Many appear to have been lost during the Second World War. Pretty much essential for anyone doing any kind of provenance research in museums etc. Acquisition Record Books is a made up name for the purposes of this guide. Nobody seems to know (tell us?) what they're really called...

ALKA MUSEUM OF SAMOGITIAN HISTORY

Website

See The Elephant in the Darkroom Cheat Sheets (↑), and the institution’s entry in Hidden Treasures.

ARCHIVES

No archives are complete. No archives are without mistakes. Methodology is subjective. More coming soon.

AUŠROS MUSEUM

Website

See The Elephant in the Darkroom Cheat Sheets (↑), and the institution’s entry in Hidden Treasures.

BALTIC PROPAGANDA SQUADRON NO. 3

Not much known at present, either about them or precisely what they did. They seem to have been involved in looting somehow.

ALEKSAS BRUNAS

The Lithuanian Jewish photographer Giršas Rivkindas and his wife Luiba’s former studio in Šiauliai seems to have been taken over by the Lithuanian photographer Aleksas Brunas in 1944 after the Šiauliai Ghetto had been emptied of its last inhabitants. This no doubt explains the fate of a great many Jewish photography studios around the country during the war, an as-yet completely unresearched subject. What on earth happened to all that equipment and all those negatives?

COMMISSION FOR THE LIQUIDATION OF JEWISH PROPERTY

A local department in every Lithuanian municipality was given the task by the Nazis of sorting out Jewish possessions as the original owners were no longer alive. Distribution mostly went via local auction or given to the 'needy'. Any valuables were added to a list and handed over to the Germans. A fascinating subject that remains off limits and strictly taboo in Lithuania. How many valuable things were diverted at source was no doubt considerable.

CULTURAL HISTORY

Here.

DARKROOM

Coming soon.

EINSATZSTAB REICHSLEITER ROSENBERG

Founded soon after the Nazi invasion of France in May 1940, the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR) was created for the sole purpose of looting cultural treasures from countries occupied by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Part of the German Foreign Office, and based in Berlin, during the five years the ERR was in existence, it plundered property from hundreds of thousands of private homes, art galleries, museums, libraries and other institutions to a total value in today’s terms of over €300 billion. The ERR was run by the eponymous Alfred Rosenberg, an enthusiastic Nazi who briefly led the National Socialists during Adolf Hitler’s short spell in Landsberg Prison between April and December 1924, and who was executed in Nuremberg on October 16, 1946 at the age of 52. Divided into several departments, of which there were six in total—Sonderstab Bildende Kunst, Sonderstab Wissenschaft/Bibliotheken, Sonderstab Archiv, Sonderstab Musik, Sonderstab Kirchen/Kultus and Sonderstab Institut zur Erforschung der Judenfrage. Jewish property fell into each category, plus there was one of the six—Sonderstab Institut zur Erforschung der Judenfrage, or Special Staff Institute for Research on the Jewish Question—that dealt exclusively with Jewish property (in particular books, literature, art… and photographs), and had its own bespoke building in Frankfurt Am Main. More than eighty years after the event, research into the theft of Lithuanian Jewish property by the organisation has been pretty non-existent. See also the Institute for Research on the Jewish Question (↓).

EMIGRATION TO PALESTINE

See the small box under Alytus in The Invisible Magicians.

FIRST SOVIET OCCUPATION

An extremely complicated year before the arrival of the Germans.

PRANAS GENYS

Lithuanian poet and cultural figure, 1902-1952. Founded the Alka Museum of Samogitian History in Telšiai, and served as its first director. Surviving records in the Lithuanian Central State Archives in Vilnius show that between June 30 and September 8, 1941, Mr. Genys wrote at least three official letters on behalf of the museum, asking the city’s mayor for permission to take possession of all photographic negatives from Telšiai’s Jewish-owned photography studios, all technical equipment (cameras, lights, enlargers etc.) from the same businesses, and two silver items from unnamed synagogues. Today, the museum still has some of these items in its possession, plus many other cultural objects that once belonged to Jews. Genys, who was murdered by the Soviets in 1952, was never given the chance to explain about his activities. Research is ongoing.

GLASS PLATE NEGATIVES

Photographic glass plate negatives were originally produced using two different processes, wet (collodion) plate negatives from 1851 until the mid-1880s, and thereafter the so-called dry (gelatin) plate negatives, of which the latter are still manufactured in small quantities for a select group of people, who use them primarily because of the extraordinary image quality that they can provide. Generally available in three sizes, namely quarter-plate, half-plate and full-plate, the most popular in Lithuania before the Second World War, including in Jewish-owned studios, was the half plate variety, measuring 120mm x 165mm. Many of the more exclusive photography studios would advertise their businesses on the fronts and reverse sides of their often elaborate and fancy-looking prints, which often include variations on the words Негативь Хранятсяor (until approximately 1915), or the more pretentious Tous les Clichés Sont Conserves, which both loosely translate as ‘we keep all of our negatives’, alluding to the fact that some less well-off photography studios were sometimes forced to reuse their negatives by scraping off the original image and re-coating the surface of one side with a fresh layer of light-sensitive emulsion.

Historical contexts

An initiative-specific breakdown of the six roughly divided provenance research periods covered by the investigation.

Klaipėda/Memel

March 23, 1939-January 28, 1945

Nazi Germany invaded Lithuania on June 22, 1941? The Elephant in the Darkroom considers the date to be much earlier, i.e. March 22, 1939, when the Klaipėda Region/Memel Territory became the last uncontested area of land to be occupied by the Nazis before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Wilno/Vilnius

September 18, 1939-June 15, 1940

One of the more bizarre periods in the history of Lithuania began when the Red Army occupied Wilno/Vilnius on September 18, 1939. See Osvaldas Daugelis and Giedrė Jankevičiūtė’s Collecting Art in the Turmoil of War for some particularly interesting information on the subject of looting Jewish art and cultural objects in general that took place during the chaotic nine months that followed.

First Soviet occupation

June 15, 1940-June 22, 1941

The huge nationalisation programme that accompanied the first Soviet occupation of Lithuania saw the mass closure and/or restructuring of both secular and religious Jewish institutions all over Lithuania.

Provisional Government

June 22, 1941-August 5, 1941

A relatively short period during which Lithuanian institutions participated quietly and unilaterally in the expropriation of Lithuanian Jewish cultural objects.

German civil administration

July 17, 1941-January 28, 1945

During which time various Nazi organisations appear to have carried out the majority of their looting operations in Lithuania.

Second Soviet occupation

July 1944/January 28, 1945-March 11, 1990

The theft of Jewish-owned property is (re)legitimised. See the Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History in numerous places for more.

INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH ON THE JEWISH QUESTION

Part of Goebbels’ propaganda ministry, the Institute for Research on the Jewish Question was Alfred Rosenberg’s personal contribution towards the plan for the elimination of the world's Jewish population. Not to be confused with the similar sounding Institute for the Study of the Jewish Question. See also the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (↑).

JEWISH CULTURAL RECONSTRUCTION

An American organisation founded after the Second World War whose purpose was to gather together and redistribute all Jewish cultural property that no longer had an owner and/or whose original ownership was unknown. Most of the objects in question were books, of which nearly all were redistributed from the Offenbach Offenbach Archival Depot (↓). A considerable percentage of this literature is now located at the Library of Congress. An interesting article on the subject can be read here.

JEWISH DIGITAL CULTURAL RECOVERY PROJECT

Website

One of the main challenges for anyone with a personal and/or professional interest in researching Nazi-era looting of Jewish cultural property is trying to navigate the very fragmented information available. The Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project is ‘creating a cross-searchable digital platform for archival documentation, research, and education on the looting of Jewish-owned cultural property by the Nazis, their allies, and collaborators’ that’s hoped will at least partly fix the problem.

KINDERAKTION

Not to be confused with the Kindertransport...

KLAIPĖDA REGION

Coming soon.

LANGUAGE

If you're genuinely serious about carrying out some meticulous and meaningful research into the history of Lithuania (in particular into the Lithuanian Jews who once lived there), then you must learn among many other things at least the bare basics of the countless languages that have been historically used in the country. Regrettably, Camera Obscura isn't the kind of website to go into detail about any of this, but we're more than happy to point you in the right direction. Expect a page dedicated to the subject hopefully soon. Help speed things up a bit by clicking here.

LIMIS

Website

The Lithuanian Integral Museum Information System (LIMIS) was designed to give access to Lithuanian museum artefacts to all. Although navigating both the English and the Lithuanian interfaces can be exasperating to say the least, for the casual and/or curious user, it’s an undeniably brilliant website. Among its many irritating design faults is the fact that searching for photographs is impossible, as technically every single one of the 900,000 or so digitised artefacts on the site is a photograph/scanned image.

LITHUANIA

At their most elongated towards the middle of the 15th century, Lithuania’s borders stretched all the way from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. Some Jews—and non-Jews—from the region and elsewhere still measure the country this way. Thus to some, a Lithuanian Jew is technically any Jew who originates from within this enormous land mass. For the purposes of Camera Obscura however, Lithuania is the country that exists within the borders most people recognise it as being within today.

LITHUANIAN CULTURAL HERITAGE RESEARCH CENTRE
Website
Its archives are known to hold Soviet nationalisation lists of private art collections that were owned by Lithuanian citizens before the war. After translating what they needed into German, the ERR used these lists to identify collections that belonged specifically to Lithuanian Jews. What happened next appears to have never been researched. An example page from one of the lists is here. Also other important documents. Restructured in 2023. Now under the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture.

LITHUANIAN JEWISH PHOTOGRAPHY
Coming soon.

M. K. ČIURLIONIS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ART

Website

The full story remains very much untold. Full of secrets. See also Hidden Treasures (↑). Coming soon.

OFFENBACH ARCHIVAL DEPOT

Coming soon.

ORIGINAL LOCATIONS

Private Homes. State Institutions. Private Institutions. Photography Studios. Photography Studio Storage Facilities. Police Records. Laboratories. Jewish schools etc. Newspaper Offices. Abroad. Coming soon.

THE PAPER BRIGADE

Coming soon.

REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA LAW ON MUSEUMS

The introduction of the Law on Cultural Heritage Protection by the occupying Soviet regime in July 1940 paved the way for the nationalisation of nearly all privately owned movable cultural property of value throughout Lithuania, a process that significantly enriched the collections of the country’s museums. When Lithuania began the process of re-establishing its independence from Moscow during the late 1980s, one of its priorities was to begin returning previously nationalised property to its rightful heirs and owners. Understanding that repealing the 1940 Law on Cultural Heritage Protection was going to leave the country’s museums embarrassingly empty (and its law courts conversely full) among other things, a clause was added to the Lithuanian law on Museums (V.18.2), making all possessions that museums acquired before March 11, 1990 the property of the Lithuanian State… in perpetuity. This clearly stupid law has been successfully challenged in the past, and will be challenged again.

RETOUCHER

Someone who cleans up/improves a photograph by changing tiny details, fixing flaws, scratches etc. to the negative. Can be done to the original negative if it's large enough, or to the enlarged print if it isn't. Retouchers used to be employed by the better, more expensive studios, or the photographer would sometimes do it themself. See also Judith Balk in the Klaipėda section of The Invisible Magicians.

ALFRED ROSENBERG

Coming soon.

SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL LITHUANIAN PHOTOGRAPHERS

Lietuvos Fotografų Profesionalų Draugiją

Founded on March 13, 1926. The inaugural meeting at Laisvės al. 57 (today 97) in Kaunas attracted over 50 people, including the Lithuanian Jewish photographer Mejeris Smečechauskass, who was appointed to the board.

SOVIET LAW ON THE PROTECTION OF CULTURAL MONUMENTS

Coming soon.

SPECIAL THANKS

Wesley Fisher

Vitalija Girčytė

Mark Adam Harold

Mariana Iljina

Zach Miller

David Roskies

TOTAL DESTRUCTION

With almost no exceptions, nearly every single original negative, studio camera, light and piece of darkroom equipment vanished along with the vast majority of Jews who owned and used them in the first few months of the Nazi invasion of Lithuania.

UNION OF LITHUANIAN PHOTOGRAPHY ENTHUSIASTS

Lietuvos Fotomėgėjų Sąjunga

Founded on December 17, 1932.

VILNA GAON MUSEUM OF JEWISH HISTORY

Website

In 1940 there were thousands of independent Jewish organisations throughout Lithuania, including libraries, theatre groups, synagogues and private schools, plus some larger organisations in the bigger cities, particularly in Vilnius and Kaunas. Almost without exception, all were closed when the Soviet authorities (i.e. Moscow) took control of the country in the summer of the same year. A tiny handful of the more substantial ones stayed open (VIYO and the Strashun Library in Vilnius are two such examples), but they were all nationalised, renamed and their collections altered to better reflect Soviet ideology. After the three years of genocidal insanity at the hand of the Nazis that interrupted the Soviet occupation, the return of the Soviets starting in the summer of 1944 saw the opening of a new Jewish institution in Vilnius on July 26 (there were also plans to open a similar institution in Kaunas, but it never came to pass), primarily the brainchild of the Vilna Ghetto survivors and members of the Paper Brigade, Abraham Sutzkever and Shmerke Kaczerginski (who was also its first director), and originally located in the apartment they shared in the city centre before moving to premises in the former ghetto library. Part museum, part research institute and part mausoleum, the institution, which fell under the auspices of the Commissariat of Education of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, was known as both the Museum of Jewish Art & Culture and the Vilna Jewish Museum during its short lifespan, and had a total of 2,162 photographs recorded among its collection among much more, limped along for five years until it was shuttered on June 10, 1949, and the collection split between different—non-Jewish—institutions. Although there were some Jewish activities allowed during the Soviet period, it wasn’t until September 6, 1989 that the Government of Soviet Lithuania passed Resolution No. 177 p, permitting the re-opening of the institution. Governmental Resolution No. 56 p, dated February 13, 1991, authorized the return of most of the scattered artefacts, and today the institution, which should be remembered is 100% state-owned, is known as the Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History and has several different branches in a number of different locations.

WASHINGTON PRINCIPLES

Signed by Lithuania and 43 other participating countries on December 3, 1998, the Washington Principles on Nazi-Looted Art laid out the original conditions under which the signatory countries would begin identifying cultural objects—especially Jewish ones—held among the collections of their museums, archives etc. that were acquired as a result of Nazi persecution. Brought up to date in March 2024, when once again Lithuania endorsed the idea with a signature, it’s worth remembering that the Washington Principles on Nazi-Looted Art are non-binding.

A WOMAN’S EYE?

While the ratio of professional women photographers versus professional men photographers in The Invisible Magicians puts the former as representing about 14 percent of the total percentage of the historical workforce (surprisingly quite a high figure in itself), the number of ‘home curators’ for want of a better term was much, much higher. Although things were slowly changing with regards to collecting and curating photographs, it was still mostly women who arranged to have special family portraits made at professional photography studios and regularly kept a simple camera close at hand just in case. They also generally decided which photographs got stuck into albums and which ones got discarded, ensuring extended families always looked at their best when visitors called.

YIVO

Click. See also the entry in Hidden Treasures.

YIZKOR BOOKS

Here.

Zach

In the summer of 2024, Zach Miller flew from his home in California to Lithuania to locate his late grandma Chana’s house and to find out more about her early life and the lives of the family and friends she left behind and never saw again after she emigrated to the United States from Kaunas with her kid brother, Isaac/Isakas, in 1940. Armed with Chana and Isaac’s 50 or so original prewar photographs and other snippets of information he’d managed to assemble as part of his research, Zach was in Kaunas, trying to make sense of the spot he was standing on, which he was pretty sure was very close to the place where the house Chana used to live in once stood. Although some things had changed in the intervening 80 years, there were enough buildings and other landmarks to make sense of where he was located. Only something was wrong. One key photograph just didn’t make sense. He was just about to give up when he realised that the print had somehow been printed the wrong way round. After it was reversed everything made sense, and he was indeed in the exact place where his family once lived. There are booby traps located all over the research landscape. Be careful where you step.

ZAMLER

One who voluntarily collects artefacts for Jewish museums. Primarily but not exclusively before the Second World War. YIVO was very reliant on a large international network of zamlern in the early days.