WATCH: How The Jews Of The Vilna Ghetto Saved Precious Books From Nazis

Image by The Yiddish Forverts/YIVO

By Brian Vinik, Jordan KutzikJune 7, 2018

This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts.

A group of several dozen Jewish intellectuals known as the Paper Brigade risked their lives to save thousands of books and documents from destruction during the Holocaust by hiding them in the Vilna ghetto. The Yiddish Forward spoke with Dr. David Fishman, author of the recent book “The Book Smugglers,” which tells their story.

During the conversation, Fishman led a tour of an exhibition featuring materials saved by the Paper Brigade that is currently on display at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York.

Jordan Kutzik is the deputy editor of the Yiddish Forward. Contact him at [email protected].

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO