Most of the Jews whom the Nazis forced into the Vilna Ghetto, which they constructed in 1941, did not survive to the end of World War II. But a surprising number of documents did, which provide—in the form of posters advertising various public events—a record of Jewish attempts to preserve some shreds of normal life. The Seforim Blog describes some of these:

For example, one poster announces a basketball tournament that includes men, women, and seniors. Another announces the opening of the Jewish ghetto theater, whereas others announce specific plays and other cultural events, such as a night commemorating Hayyim Nahman Bialik. . . . On the intellectual side, there were lectures on Jewish history, one on . . . the pairs of rabbis [mentioned] in the Mishnah.

One of the most astounding documents was an announcement that on Sunday, December 13, 1942, at noon, a “Celebration of 100,000 books loaned by the Ghetto library” since it opened in September 1941. . . . These were nearly the same circulation numbers—90,000 yearly—as before the Nazi invasion and ghettoization of the Vilna’s Jews.

In his ghetto diary, Herman Kruk describes the way reading habits changed during the war, based on the library’s records:

For example, there was a 600-percent increase in readership for War and Peace, and [other] books on war, such as All Quiet on the Western Front and Emile Zola’s War, were also in high demand. The library’s readers of history were focused on books regarding the Crusades and other martyrdom literature.

Here at Mosaic, we’ve published quite a lot about many Arab states, but one that’s barely received mention is Oman, located at the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. The sultanate has stayed out of the recent conflicts of the Midde East, and is known to have sub-rosa relations with Israel; high-ranking Israeli officials have visited the country clandestinely, or at least with little fanfare. For precisely this reason, Oman has held itself out as an intermediary and host for negotiations. The then-secret talks that proceeded the Obama administration’s fateful nuclear negotiations with Iran took place in Oman. Ari Heistein explains the similar, and troubling, role Muscat is playing with regard to the Houthis in neighboring Yemen:

For more than three decades, Oman has served in the role of mediator for the resolution of disputes in Yemen. . . . Oman allows for a Houthi office in the capital, Muscat, reportedly numbering around 100 personnel, to operate from its territory for the purported function of diplomatic engagement. It is worth asking why the Houthis require such a large delegation for such limited engagement and whether there is any real value to engaging with the Houthis.

Thus far, efforts to negotiate with the Houthis have yielded very limited outcomes, primarily resulting in concessions from the Saudi-led coalition and partial de-escalation when it has served the terror group’s interests. Rarely, if ever, have the Houthis fully abided by their commitments after signing off on international agreements. Presumably, such meager results could have been achieved through other constellations that are less beneficial to the recently redesignated foreign terrorist organization.

In contrast, the malign and destabilizing Houthi activities in Oman are significant. They include: shipment of Iranian and Chinese weapons components [and] military-grade communications equipment via Oman to the Houthis; the smuggling of senior officials in and out of Houthi-controlled areas via Oman; and financial activities conducted by Houthi shell corporations to consolidate the regime’s control over Yemen’s economy and subsidize the regime.

With this in mind, there is good reason to suspect that the Houthi presence in Oman does more harm than good.