[T]he old capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a desired political capital to Lithuanians, Belarusians, and Poles … a spiritual capital to the Jews … and an ancient Russian city to the officials who exercised power. Most of the city’s schools taught in Russian, most of its churches were Roman Catholic, more than a third of its inhabitants were Jews … The city was … ‘Vilnius’ in Lithuanian, ‘Wilno’ in Polish, ‘Vil′nia’ in Belarusian, ‘Vil′na’ in Russian and ‘Vilne’ in Yiddish …
