History of the building

The Vilnius Children's Home named after Marshal Jozef Pilsudski was established on the initiative of the Vilnius Committee of Honour for the Celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Polish State, as a 'living monument' to commemorate the anniversary of regaining independence. A proclamation issued appealed to the public: "We owe it to our children and grandchildren to leave a lasting reminder of those days (...) we will thus save for the Republic the hosts of doomed children wandering around the world at this most important period of their lives". The home was to be intended for orphaned pre-school children from the Vilnius province, without distinction of religion or nationality.

In the spring of 1930, the Inter-Communal Union for the Construction and Management of Social Care Institutions in the Vilnius province was established and took over the patronage of the construction; work began the same year. The orphanage was located on the far outskirts in the Antokol district, in a sparsely urbanised part of the city, on the edge of a vast green complex. The project was developed at the Construction Bureau of the Vilnius Regional Public Works Directorate, by a team consisting of arch. Stefan Bohusz-Siestrzencewicz, arch. Jerzy Paprocki, and technicians K. Rozwadowski and H. Lewulis.

The construction was financed by public contributions and public funds (funds for this purpose were provided by the districts of Vilnius Province and the Vilnius City Magistrate). For the poor of the region, this was a huge material effort, especially in times of economic crisis, and for this reason work was halted several times between 1931 and 1932. The project was completed thanks to a loan and with the support of the government and numerous private donors.

The orphanage was designed to accommodate 140 children between the ages of three and fourteen. Priority was given to orphaned children of those who had distinguished themselves in the struggle for independence and local government employees of the Vilnius province, as well as children from poor working-class backgrounds. The ceremonial opening of the Vilnius Land Children's Home took place on 29 November 1933. ""A new, living monument" - as the Vilnius Land Children's Home in Antokol was termed - was to provide orphaned children with care and a peaceful childhood under the patronage of Marshal Jozef Pilsudski.

Architecture

The Vilnius Land Orphanage stood on a vast plot of land, surrounded by a tall pine forest. The complex consisted of a two-storey main building and two small free-standing buildings - an administrative building and an outbuilding.

The spacious orphanage building was built on an elongated rectangular plan, covered with a flattened hipped roof, with three prominent avant-corpses in the rear elevation. The architecture of the building was maintained in the spirit of traditionalism, with a restrained, styleless form. The house had modern furnishings and technical infrastructure, designed with all the requirements of functionality and hygiene in mind. Huge rectangular windows provided excellent light and sufficient sunlight to the spacious rooms. Inside, four bedrooms were located in the side risalits; the main body housed the waiting room, dining room, common room, library, as well as gymnasiums and a knitting room. A bronze bust of the Marshal was placed in the common room; the stained glass windows in the hall were a source of admiration. They were designed by a Vilnius artist of Karaite origin, Lidia Szole, a graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Stefan Batory University.