The Guardians of Vilkaviškis: The Outdoor Photographic Exhibition
Beyond the Yizkor Books: Capturing Living History
After the Second World War, most survivor communities published a Yizkor Book (Book of Memory). While invaluable, these books often gave a one-sided story focused primarily on the tragic end of the community.
In Israel, a visionary named Soli Sperling decided to do something different. He began collecting photographs from all of his fellow townsmen of Vilkaviškis to capture how they lived. He later presented this incredible collection to the Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv (now known as the ANU, The Museum of the Jewish People). These pictures give a magnificent, vibrant representation of Jewish life in the interwar period.
Antanas and Algis looking at Soli Sperling's Vilkaviskis albums at the Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv
The Discovery of the Old Fire Station
While mapping the historical Jewish sites in Vilkaviškis, my dear friend Mr. Andrius Balanda sent me a picture of a 1940 map showing the exact site of the old town Fire Station. Amazingly, the building had survived the war—and Irma immediately identified it as a building currently functioning as a local electrical goods store.
Researching the history of firefighting in the town, I discovered that the original fire station had been established in 1899, marking it as the first volunteer fire brigade in Lithuania. The volunteers were uniquely comprised of both Christian and Jewish citizens. Bound by a shared duty to protect their town, their motto was simple and sacred: “For God’s glory and our neighbor's good.”
Deeply moved by this history and remembering Soli's photographs of the Jewish Volunteer firemen, I wondered what we could do to honor them. It was Irma’s brilliant idea to ask the owners of the electrical goods shop if we could use their unused, exterior walls for a permanent, outdoor photographic exhibition. They graciously agreed, apologizing only for the sad state of repair the old walls were in.
The site of the Fire Station from the 1940 map
You can see the state of the walls before the renovations
A Community Effort on Vytautas Street
Turning the old walls into an open-air gallery became a beautiful collaborative effort:
The Curation: Irma and I selected 15 distinct pictures of Jewish life in Vilkaviškis, prominently featuring the brave Jewish volunteer firemen.
The Graphics: Her friend Jurga from the local Culture Center handled the complex graphics, professional enlargement, and production of the weather-resistant prints.
The Restoration: Other friends of Irma who owned a local building supply company volunteered to completely restore and prep the damaged walls.
The walls of the fire station before the restoration
The walls of the fire station after the restoration
The Funding: With a small, successful crowdfunding campaign, I was able to cover the modest physical expenses of the project.
One memorable day, we walked together from the Community Center, carrying these massive, incredible pictures through the streets. Irma’s friends carefully attached them directly to the exterior walls of the old fire station, creating a permanent mark on the town's landscape.
The History: Honor God, Help Your Neighbor
(This text is displayed at the exhibition site to educate visitors)
"For centuries, Vilkaviškis lived in the shadow of fire. At the end of the 19th century, repeated blazes drowned the town in smoke and tears. Between 1882 and 1888, three catastrophic fires destroyed over three hundred dwellings, halving the population and threatening the town's very existence. Yet, despite the devastation, the Tsarist authorities refused permission to form a brigade, fearing any organized local activity.
It was only with the dawn of independence that the people of Vilkaviškis could finally protect their own. From a small team of three, the Vilkaviškis Firefighters' Society grew into a disciplined force of over one hundred volunteers. By 1924, they had their own home on Vytautas Street—a model of efficiency for the entire district.
Under the leadership of Jonas Vilčinskas, the brigade became a point of provincial pride. Visitors in 1938 noted it as an 'exemplary' society, where every tool was polished and every volunteer stood ready. Their motto, 'Glory to God, honor to our neighbor,' was more than a slogan; it was a sacred vow. Today, that legacy of bravery is immortalized on the very walls where they once stood guard, a final salute to those who spared themselves to save the lives and property of their neighbors."
Reflections on the Exhibition
A few weeks after the launch, a close friend and visitor shared this moving review of the site:
"A few weeks ago, I had the good fortune to travel to the former shtetl of Vilkaviškis, where among other things I finally managed to visit the permanent exhibition of prewar Lithuanian Jewish photographs that are on display on the external walls of the town’s former Jewish fire station.
Conceived and curated by the inspiringly unconventional Ralph Salinger, a long-standing friend and supporter of the International Centre for Litvak Photography, the exhibition provides a powerful antidote to the vast majority of lacklustre Jewish memorials in Lithuania, allowing visitors to literally come face to face with the town’s rich and diverse Jewish past.
The exhibition, which features several enlarged copies of original prints that are held in the archives at the ANU Museum of the Jewish People’s Oster Visual Documentation Center in Tel Aviv, is proof that sometimes all that’s required to produce something genuinely worthwhile and outstanding is a little bit of imagination, energy and enthusiasm..."