A Poor Showing at School

Nokhum Finkel's problems with tidiness and language

Let's go to the Jewish school that was located somewhere very near here. It's 1922 and school principal Nokhum Finkel stands agitated in one of the school's four classrooms. An inspector has come to review the school and there are bricks, boards, and loaves of bread scattered across the floor. Maybe he won't notice. No chance! The inspector was immediately annoyed to see that the classes weren't being kept clean. He wrote in his report: "The order required for schools has not been maintained."

The principal's problems didn't end there because the inspector was quick to check the students' facility in the Lithuanian language. Yes, they understand some Lithuanian, but read it very poorly... Worst of all, according to the nitpicking inspector, was that the Lithuanian language teacher himself, Iliyon, wasn't doing any better; he found it impossible to communicate with him in Lithuanian. The inspector asked, why haven't you hired a teacher who knows the official language?

Many Jewish school principals faced similar problems. This was the first generation who had begun to learn Lithuanian. The task wasn't an easy one: At that time, there were no Lithuanian language textbooks for ethnic minorities. And it was only a year later that a good command of the Lithuanian language became a requirement for school teachers.

0:00