On the 8th of October, 2013, the exhibition „Educating for Life: ORT in Lithuania“ was opened in the Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum. Traveling exhibition in Lithuanian and English languages was created on the initiative of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum and the International World ORT organization with participation of The Office of the Chief Archivist of Lithuania, focusing on the activities of ORT Jewish organization in pre-war Lithuania: the important and significant period for ORT history. In the end of September within the frames of the IV World Litvak Congress „Educating for Life: ORT in Lithuania“ was opened in the Seimas of Lithuania III Palace Art Gallery.

„Simcha“ ensemble

The representative from the International World ORT organization Rachel Bracha, Chancellor of Lithuania’s Ministry of Education and Science Dainius Numgaudis, Director of the Sholom Aleichem ORT High School Misha Jakobas participated in the opening ceremony of the exhibition at the Tolerance Center. Director of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum addressed the guests, marking the historical importance of this exhibition, breaking down the myths on the Jewish professional spectrum in pre-war Lithuania. Chancellor Numgaudis encouraged preparing the digital version of this exhibition, making it available for all Lithuanian Schools, using it as the material to learn about the educational system of the First Republic of Lithuania. International World ORT representative Bracha told the movie plot - worth history of photos discovery, found by chance, later to be used as the basis for this exhibition. Photos from the ORT archive of the Eastern Europe ORT organization were found in 1996, in the basement of the ORT France organization (Word ORT organization shared the same building for some time, forced to abandon their premises in Germany during WWII). Director of Sholom Aleichem ORT High School presented the contemporary World ORT input into the quality of High School students‘ education and invited to listen to the musical performance of High School‘s „Smicha“ ensemble.

Rachelė Kostanian, Head of the Holocaust Exhibition, greets Curator
of the exhibition Neringa Latvytė-Gustaitienė, Head of History Research
Department

Viktorija Sideraitė-Alon (in the right side), 
Designer of the exhibition, Head of the Exposition Department

Now ORT is the world's largest Jewish education and vocational training non-governmental organization. For the first time the original documents and photos are used in this exhibition, presenting the establishment of ORT (The Society for Trades and Agricultural Labour) in Lithuania under Tsarist Russia and its later successful activities in the independent Lithuania as well as in the Southeastern Lithuania and Vilnius under Polish rule.

Exposition

Photos by P. Račiūnas