This article explores the personal diary of Shulamit Pilitovski, a young Jewish woman from Lazdijai, Lithuania, who studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem between 1936 and 1939.
“What will the next five years bring me?”: Shulamit Pilitovski’s personal diary, Lithuania–Jerusalem, 1936–1939
Discovered in a cardboard box at the Moreshet Holocaust Archive, the diary is an intimate ego-document written in poetic Yiddish and Hebrew. It captures her intellectual journey, romantic experiences, and developing feminist awareness, alongside her profound tension between her affection for her native Lithuania and her deep Zionist commitment to Mandatory Palestine.
Furthermore, the manuscript provides a vivid historical window into the daily life of immigrant students at the Hebrew University during the turbulent years of the Arab Revolt and the escalation of British restrictions. Pilitovski’s writings reflect the pressing political dilemmas of the era, ranging from passionate protests against British policies to conflicting emotional reactions to ethnic violence.
Tragically, after returning to Lithuania in the summer of 1939 for what was intended to be a brief family visit, Pilitovski was trapped by the outbreak of World War II. Incarcerated in the Vilna Ghetto following the Nazi invasion, she ultimately perished in 1941. By analyzing this rare ego-document, the author illuminates the micro-historical experiences of ordinary individuals caught amidst cataclysmic historical forces. Pilitovski’s poetic diary serves not only as a testament to the shattered dreams of a gifted young woman, but also as a powerful preservation of human identity and cultural resilience on the eve of the Holocaust.
Stern, D. O. (2023). “What will the next five years bring me?”: Shulamit Pilitovski’s personal diary, Lithuania–Jerusalem, 1936–1939. Jewish Culture and History, 24(2), 140–156.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1462169X.2023.2184077
