Vilniaus Pasas (Vilnius passport) of a Lithuanian Jew Koganos, lithographed Illustr., 1932.
Lithographed illustrated cover, lithographed illustrated pages inside with views of Vilnius.
16 pages, Size: 12.5 x 8 cm. (4.9 x 3.1 inches)
A public organization that operated in Lithuania between the wars was Vilnius vadouti s?junga (VVS), which operated in 1925-1938. The initiators of the creation of the Union were the nationally interested political and cultural elite. The goal of this organization, using only cultural means, was to unite society around the main idea of the Lithuanian nation - to liberate its capital Vilnius and the Vilna region. The slogans created by the Union became an expression of national patriotism: “Oh, don’t forget Vilnius, Lithuanians!” and “We can’t calm down without Vilnius!” On October 9, the Day of Mourning for Vilnius was celebrated throughout Lithuania on the initiative of the union that led Vilnius - it was first organized in 1925. This was the first public action of the Vilnius Leadership Union and the first public performance of the Air Force itself. 20th century December 4. At the end of the year, there were 612 divisions of the organization, employing more than 25,000 people. members and 600 thousand supporters. Membership in the Air Force was considered proof of political loyalty and adherence to the ideals of nationalism demanded by the political regime. The political regime looked at the Air Force as a political instrument with the help of which the propaganda campaign of the Vilnius leadership was carried out. At the same time, the activities of the Air Force encouraged the public to gather, purposefully influenced the public in order to maintain loyalty to the political regime.
From 1928 to 1938, the union published the magazine "M?s? Vilnius", which was the main propaganda publication of the Vilnius leadership campaign. It has become one of the main tools for creating and implementing a multi-layered image of Lithuanian Vilnius. The basis of this multi-layered image was the image of historical Lithuanian Vilnius or Vilnius as an old Lithuanian city, in which the history of this city, material and spiritual cultural heritage are used as proof of Lithuanianness. The idea was introduced that Vilnius, since its founding, had been a center of education, industry, trade and culture, Vilnius was everything that was dear to every Lithuanian. Vilnius is the historical political, religious and cultural center of Lithuania.
In the 40s, the distribution of Vilnius passports became especially popular; in the fall of 1932, the first batch of passports was printed with a circulation of 500 thousand copies. Distributing symbolic Vilnius passports among the residents of Lithuania became an excellent way to collect donations for the activities of the Air Force (money was collected from people who had Vilnius passports and stuck badges of a certain value on them every year). At the same time, it turned into a propaganda campaign aimed at the naturalization of Lithuanian citizens in Vilnius. Thus, the Air Force contributed to an increase in the number of at least symbolic citizens of Vilnius.