The power of a blog to capture oral history and perspectives
Those who know me know that I have a deep love for the people of Lithuania and that, over the course of the past three summers, I have spent more than seven weeks there leading professional development sessions for teachers. The sound of the language, the traditions, the singing and dancing, the heavy burden of history a backdrop against the hilarity of a class party, the ever-changing landscape of an emerging European Union country – it has always been deeply moving and difficult to put into words.
I had to miss this year’s trip, and I have missed being there a great deal.
A few weeks ago, the “Frugal Traveler” blog of the New York Times visited Vilnius to explore his Jewish ancestry. The Jewish population suffered horrifically in Vilnius and in Kaunas (then Kovno). I had been many of those places and had my own sensory and emotional reaction to seeing the images again. (A note about the statue of Gaon in his slide show, known as the genius rabbi of Vilnius — behind it is an elementary school that was built on top of the once-synagogue. As the synagogue, by law, could not be taller than a Christian church, it was dug low into the ground. Rumor has it that the Soviets merely lopped off any above-ground architecture and built a school on top, but that beneath the school, the old synagogue ruins remain.)
What ended up being the most moving part of the blog post ended up being the comments. I had no idea that his post would resonate in so many ways for so many people. People told stories about their family experiences there (the horrid and the sublime), wondered if they might be related to another commenter, debated the issue of Lithuanian Nazi collaboration, and argued history. Stories and debates poured out.
It was an informal historical lesson, a spontaneous oral history gathering. Quite amazing. And a reminder of the power of collaborative tools online.
Image by Ramunas on Flickr