Exploring Karaim songs : Karaim Literature Wednesday in Vilnius, 1932

This article details the history of Karaim Literature Wednesday, an event which took place on November 9, 1932 in the “Room of Konrad” of the Basilian monastery on Ostrobramska street in Vilnius. It was one of 371 popular and authoritative weekly events organized during the interwar period by the Vilnius Branch of the Polish Writers Labour Union. During this event, Hachan Seraja Szapszał - the leader of Polish Karaims - gave a lecture on the history and culture of his nation, after which several Karaim songs were sung by Walentyna and Halina Łobanosówny, accompanied by Lidia Szole on the piano. The songs were broadcast by the Vilnius Radio, and aroused great interest among the listeners. Using source material from the private archive of Józef Sulimowicz in Warsaw, I have attempted to recreate Karaim Literature Wednesday, in particular the diversity, origin and richness of Karaim songs. The annex to this article contains the original lyrics to 19 Karaim songs written in the Karaim language, most of which were sung at the event.