In September 2001, Samuel Bak was honored with a major exhibition at the National Museum of Lithuania in Vilnius. This most recent book, Return to Vilna, is a tribute to the artist's return to his birthplace; to the place of his childhood happiness; to the streets of his tenuous survival during World War II; and to the memorial for his grandparents and father, who did not survive. Bak's journey was marked by memories, profound sadness, and a great awareness of his responsibilities to express the spirits of all who were destroyed. The twenty larger painting included in this volume are based on eighty smaller recently completed works, all inspired by his return to Vilna. In this book, filled with color illustrations, Holocaust Scholar Lawrence L. Langer discusses the rich symbolic significance and uniqueness of Samuel Bak's art.