Jakub Wygodzki
Encyclopedia
Jakub Wygodzki was a Polish-Lithuanian Jewish politician, activist and a medical doctor.
Wygodzki finished a military medical academy in Imperial Russia, and became an important Zionist acitivist in the Jewish community in late 19th century Vilna (Vilnius, Wilno). He supported Lithuanian independence, and joined the Lithuanian government as their Minister for Jewish Affairs. After Wilno was annexed by Poland (see Republic of Central Lithuania
), he became the member of the Bloc of National Minorities
party and a deputy to the Polish parliament (Sejm
).
He published medical articles as well as essays in Polish, Yiddish and German. He also published on the Jewish theater, and was an important supporter of the Jewish theater in Wilno.
After Wilno was occupied by Nazi Germany, for a time he was a member of the Vilna Ghetto
's Judenrat
. After he refused to further collaborate with the Germans, he was tortured and killed in the Lukiškės Prison
in 1941.
Wygodzki finished a military medical academy in Imperial Russia, and became an important Zionist acitivist in the Jewish community in late 19th century Vilna (Vilnius, Wilno). He supported Lithuanian independence, and joined the Lithuanian government as their Minister for Jewish Affairs. After Wilno was annexed by Poland (see Republic of Central Lithuania
Republic of Central Lithuania
The Republic of Central Lithuania or Middle Lithuania , or simply Central Lithuania , was a short-lived political entity, which did not gain international recognition...
), he became the member of the Bloc of National Minorities
Bloc of National Minorities
Blok Mniejszości Narodowych , was a political party in the Second Polish Republic, representing a coalition of various ethnic minorities in Poland, primarily Ukrainians, Belarusians, Jews and Germans. The Bloc was co-founded by Yitzhak Gruenbaum, a Polish-Jewish politician...
party and a deputy to the Polish parliament (Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
).
He published medical articles as well as essays in Polish, Yiddish and German. He also published on the Jewish theater, and was an important supporter of the Jewish theater in Wilno.
After Wilno was occupied by Nazi Germany, for a time he was a member of the Vilna Ghetto
Vilna Ghetto
The Vilna Ghetto or Vilnius Ghetto was a Jewish ghetto established by Nazi Germany in the city of Vilnius in the occupied Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , during the Holocaust in World War II...
's Judenrat
Judenrat
Judenräte were administrative bodies during the Second World War that the Germans required Jews to form in the German occupied territory of Poland, and later in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union It is the overall term for the enforcement bodies established by the Nazi occupiers to...
. After he refused to further collaborate with the Germans, he was tortured and killed in the Lukiškės Prison
Lukiškes Prison
Lukiškės Prison is a prison in the center of Vilnius, Lithuania, near the Lukiškės Square. As of 2007, it houses approximately 1,000 prisoners and employs around 250 prison guards...
in 1941.