Detailed Description

Guide to the Records of the YIVO Aspirantur, 1934-1940, RG 1.3

Processed by Ezekiel Lipschutz in 1954. Translated and edited by Rivka Schiller in 2007 with the assistance of a grant from the Gruss Lipper Family Foundation. Described and encoded by Sarah Ponichtera in 2012 as part of the CJH Holocaust Resource Initiative, made possible by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany .

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
Email: archives@yivo.cjh.org
URL: http://www.yivo.org

Electronic finding aid was encoded in EAD 2002 by Sarah Ponichtera in May 2012. EAD finding aid customized in ARCHON in 2013. Description is in English.

Collection Overview

Title: Guide to the Records of the YIVO Aspirantur, 1934-1940, RG 1.3

ID: RG 1.3

Extent: 5.6 Linear Feet

Arrangement:

The series are arranged by type of material, namely research papers or administrative materials.

The Record Group 1.3 is a segment of a larger block of the Vilna YIVO records within which all folders are numbered consecutively from # 1 to the end. The RG 1.3 begins at #3961 and ends at #4064.

Languages: Yiddish, Polish, German, Russian, Hebrew

Abstract

The Aspirantur, a graduate training program for scholars of Jewish culture, was founded by the YIVO Institute For Jewish Research in 1935. Led by key figures such as Simon Dubnow, Max Weinreich, and Zalmen Reyzen, the Aspirantur educated students who continued to play an important role in the growth of Jewish studies, including Lucy Dawidowicz, Avraham Sutzkever, and Yosl Mlotek. This collection contains research projects produced by the students, evaluations by their professors, and administrative materials produced in the course of running the program, including planning documents, applications, and correspondence.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The records in Series I consist mainly of research papers on topics relating to Jewish life in Eastern Europe, which were prepared in fulfillment of course requirements. Topics include literary analyses of major literary figures such as Mendele Moykher-Sforim and Yisroel Axenfeld, descriptions of individual towns in Eastern Europe, statistical materials on economic life, including agriculture and the leather trade, and research on daily life, including household budgets and family diaries. Among the 60 program participants there are some who survived World War II and continued to be active in Jewish culture decades later. These are the poet and publisher Avrom Sutzkever, the historian of the Holocaust Lucy Dawidowicz, (nee Libe Schildkret), the educator Yosl Mlotek, the Bundist leader Motl Zelmanowicz, and scholar Moishe Kligsberg.

In Series II there are administrative materials relating to the Aspirantur program, such as records of student meetings, notes from lectures and discussions, professors’ evaluations of research projects, applications from prospective students, and correspondence.

Historical Note

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (Yidisher visnshaftlekher institut), established in Vilna in 1925, was divided into four academic sections: Philology, History, Economics and Statistics, Psychology and Education. In 1935 the YIVO Institute added a graduate training division known as the Aspirantur (graduate-level training program). Named in honor of Zemach Shabad (1864-1935), YIVO’s chairman, the Aspirantur aimed to educate scholars who wished to pursue research and teaching careers in Jewish scholarship. It was part of a larger project, espoused by intellectuals such as Zalman Reisen, Chaim Zhitlowsky, and Shmuel Niger, of creating a university that would not only serve to educate Jews excluded from national universities by the quota system, but also train a generation of scholars to study Jewish culture for its own sake. In a period when producing knowledge about Jewish culture was highly politicized, the founders of the Aspirantur sought to train scholars in the most sophisticated methods of the social sciences and humanities who would serve the interests of the Eastern European Jewish population itself, unbiased by Zionist or assimilationist commitments. This project, Zalman Reisen stated, was an essential part of arguing for Jewish self-determination.¹ The YIVO Aspirantur program was thus a prototype for a national university that merged a concern for quality scholarship with the goal of promoting Diaspora nationalism. The teachers in the Aspirantur program included Simon Dubnow, Max Weinreich, Zelig Kalmanovitch, Zalmen Reyzen, Jacob Lestschinsky, Raphael Mahler, Philip Friedman, and Noah Prylucki.

Although the Aspirantur was not an accredited academic program and did not demand a formal university diploma it was “designed to provide graduate-level instruction for students with the equivalent of a university education” ² and required its students to conduct independent scholarly work in the fields of the Jewish humanities and social sciences and in Yiddish language and literature. Students were also required to write papers summarizing their findings. Several of these papers were publicly presented and some of them were later published by YIVO.

Aspirantn, as the Aspirantur participants were called, would come to Vilna for a financially subsidized academic year. They would each choose a research topic and participate in seminars and classes led by YIVO affiliates. YIVO initially planned to accept ten students for the first year, but due to the program’s overwhelming response, fifteen applicants were admitted. Enrollment continued to rise in subsequent years.

In 1937 a new division called the Pro-aspirantur, named in memory of Borukh Kahan-Virgili was added to the Aspirantur program, as a two-year preparatory program for prospective aspirantn who had not received a university-level education and were not yet sufficiently prepared to enter the Aspirantur program. The Pro-Aspirantur evolved into a teacher-training program, filling the educational void of the Vilna Teachers Seminary, which closed in 1931.

The Aspirantur was originally intended to be a one-year program, but the decision was made subsequently to allow “outstanding” students to return for a second year. By its fourth year, several of the participants were returning students who were attending the program for the second, third, and fourth time. Due both to the Aspirantur program’s success and the limited professional prospects for young Jews in Poland in the late 1930s, it was not uncommon for students to remain longer than originally envisioned.

The Aspirantur and Pro-Aspirantur and several program faculty members and participants are described in greater detail by Lucy Dawidowicz, an aspirant (1938-1939)—then known by her maiden name Libe Schildkret—in her memoir, From That Place and Time: A Memoir, 1938-1947.

Footnotes

1. Kuznitz, C.E. The Origins of Yiddish Scholarship and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (doctoral dissertation, Stanford University), p. 18

2. Dawidowicz, Lucy. From That Time and Place: A Memoir, 1938-1947. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2008

Reference

Kuznitz, C.E. The Origins of Yiddish Scholarship and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (doctoral dissertation, Stanford University)

Dawidowicz, Lucy. From That Place and Time: A Memoir, 1938-1947. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2008.

Subject/Index Terms

Documents - Correspondence, Documents - Manuscripts, Documents - Research Notes, Documents - Theses, Education, Higher - Europe, Eastern, Jews - Study and teaching, Language and education, Vilna, Yivo Institute for Jewish Research

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions: Permission to use the collection must be obtained from the YIVO Archivist.

Use Restrictions:

Permission to publish part or parts of the collection must be obtained from the YIVO Archives. For more information, contact:

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011

email: archives@yivo.cjh.org

Acquisition Method: These records were among the Jewish collection looted by the Einsatzstab Rosenberg in Vilna under the Nazis and brought to Germany in 1942. Placed after the war in the U.S. military Offenbach Archival Depot, these documents were returned to the YIVO in New York in 1947.

Related Materials: This collection constitutes one part of RG 1, the Records of YIVO in Vilna. The other parts contain administrative materials and materials on other sections of YIVO.

Preferred Citation: Published citations should take the following form:Identification of item, date (if known); Records of the YIVO Aspirantur; RG 1.3; box number; folder number; YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

Series I: Student Research, undated, 1934-1940,
Series II: Administrative Materials, undated, 1934-1940,
All

Series I: Student Research, undated, 1934-1940

Projects conducted under the auspices of the Aspirantur and the Pro-Aspirantur are interspersed with one another. Materials that belong to the Pro-Aspirantur program are marked with an asterisk; if unmarked, materials originate in the Aspirantur program proper.

Language of Material: In Yiddish , Polish , German , Russian , and Hebrew .

Arrangement: Materials are arranged by writer’s last name.

Subseries 1: Research Papers and Notes, undated, 1934-1940

Materials in Subseries 1 primarily consist of original research papers, notes, and statistical materials, but also include some professors' evaluations.

Language of Material: In Yiddish , Polish , German , Russian , and Hebrew .

Box 1

Folder 3961: Ayzn, A. Myth and Ideas in Moshe Kulbak’s Works: Philosophical Motifs in Moshe Kulbak’s Works., 1937: Also includes research notes and professors' evaluations.
Folder 3962: Ayzn, A. Yiddish Art Prose in Poland After the World War, 1937: First part
Folder 3962a: Ayzn, A. Yiddish Art Prose in Poland after the World War, 1937: Second part
Folder 3963: Arnshteyn, Dovid. Jewish Male and Female Apprentices in Vilna;, 1937: Final draft; notes.
Folder 3963a: Arnshteyn, Dovid. Jewish Male and Female Apprentices in Vilna;, 1939: Evaluation.
Folder 3964: Arnshteyn, Dovid. Questionnaires to the Work: Jewish Male and Female Apprentices in Vilna., undated: Questionnaires; notes.

Box 2

Folder 3965: Babicki, J. Agricultural Research on Jews in East Galicia: Statistical Materials on the Stanislawow Region; Jewish Colony in Leifun., undated: Data sheets on Stanislawow
Folder 3966: Babicki, J. Statistical Materials about the Lemberg, Stanislawow and Tarnopol Regions., undated: Data sheets on Lemberg, Stanislawow, and Tarnopol
Folder 3967: Babicki, J. Questionnaires about Petranka., undated: Data sheets and notes on Petranka
Folder 3968: Babicki, J. Statistical materials about Wierzbowce, Slobodke, Jakovke, and other towns in the Stansilawow region., undated: Data sheets and notes on Wierzbowce, Slobodke, Jakovke, and other towns.
Folder 3969: Babicki, J. Questionnaires about towns in the Stanislawow region., undated: Data sheets, questionnaires, and notes on towns in the Stanislawow region.
Folder 3970: Babicki, J. Correspondence with YIVO about the research; questionnaire forms., 1938-1939.
Folder 3971: Babicki, J. Statistical table of the Jewish farm workers in Zelwa, Grodno Province., 1935: Project report.

Box 3

Folder 3972: Berezin, Shloyme. Jewish Small Industry in Vilna., undated: Research notes.
Folder 3973: Berezin, Shloyme. Jewish Small Industry in Vilna., undated: Research materials, drafts
Folder 3973a: Berezin, Shloyme. Jewish Small Industry in Vilna, 1938-1939: Project report.
Folder 3974: Berezin, Shloyme. Jewish Small Industry in Vilna., 1938: Research materials and periodicals.
Folder 3975: Berkman, Anna. Statystyka Zydow w Wilnie w 1795 r. (Statistics of Jews in Vilna in the Year 1795)., undated: Draft of research paper; tables and supporting evidence.
Folder 3976: Hoyz, G. The Vilna Ghetto at the Present Time. (The Sociological Aspect of Three Streets), 1937-1938: Final report and rough draft with Zalman Raisen's corrections.
Folder 3977: Hoyz, G. Article about Territorialism., 1937
Folder 3978: Valt, L. Types of Germanisms in the Works of Dik; the Problem of Germanisms in Contemporary Yiddish; Jewish Migration during the Past 100 Years.*, 1940: Drafts of research papers, research notes, Research activity reports.

Box 4

Folder 3979: Warhaftig.*, 1939: Reviews of articles; research activity reports.
Folder 3980: Zak, L. Features of Perl’s Satire.*, 1940: Drafts of research papers; reviews of articles; research activity reports.
Folder 3981: Zelmanowicz, Motl.*, 1940: Reviews of articles; research activity reports.
Folder 3982: Tapuakh, S. (Berezin, S.) The Jewish Agricultural Settlement in Stojaciszki, Vilna Region, 1935-1936: Rough draft and proof sheets.
Folder 3983: Tapuakh, S. Land, Capital, Buildings: Agricultural Technology., 1937: Draft of article; tables with supporting evidence.

Box 5

Folder 3984: Tapuakh, S. Jewish Agricultural Settlements in the Region of Vilna, 1935-1936: Questionnaires, correspondence, reports
Folder 3984a: Tapuakh, S. Correspondence regarding the Agriculture project, 1935-1939
Folder 3985: Tapuakh, S. Agriculture among Jews: Regional Questionnaires of the Vilna Statistical Material, 1921., undated
Folder 3986: Tapuakh, S. Questionnaire about Jewish Gardening, along with reports and analysis., 1939
Folder 3986a: Tapuakh, S. Evaluation, undated
Folder 3987: Tykocinski, P. Jews in Eastern Europe during the First World War., 1937-1939: Minutes, reports, correspondence, and materials.
Folder 3987a: Tykocinski, P., 1937: Review of the work by Dr. Kurt Stillsweig, Die Juden Osteuropas in den Minderheitsverträgen (The Jews of East Europe in the Minorities Conventions); miscellaneous pages of a paper about anti-Semitism in liberated Poland.
Folder 3988: Tykocinski, Pinkhes. Jewish Parliamentary Representation in the Polish Constituent Sejm., undated: Complete draft
Folder 3989: Tykocinski, P. Jewish Parliamentary Representation in the Polish Constituent Sejm., undated: Research notes organized by subject.

Box 6

Folder 3990: Yones, Eliyohu., 1939: Short research papers (5-10 pp) on both ancient and modern Jewish cultural topics, as well as research notes.
Lubacki, Khasye. Series of short research papers on Haskalah and older Yiddish literature, for example, The language use of positive and negative characters in Aksenfeld (Shterntikhl, Rekrut, Genarte velt).*, 1938: Reports, papers, lecture notes.
Folder 3992: Lubacki, Khasye.*, undated: Activity reports and evaluations.
Folder 3993: Leizerowicz, Yankev. History of Secular Education of Jews in Russia in the first half of the nineteenth centurty., 1940: Draft of research paper and associated notes.
Folder 3993a: Leynman, S. Mendele-Moykher Sforim: Yiddish and Hebrew., undated: Draft of this and other research papers; research notes.
Folder 3994: Likhtshteyn, Ruven, S. The Problems of Ansky’s Personality., 1937-1938: Seminar report. Some papers at the end may belong in folder 3995.
Folder 3995: Linder, Menakhem. The Suede-Leather Trade in Vilna., 1937: First Part. Questionnaires.

Box 14

Folder 3995a: Linder, Menakhem. The Suede-Leather Trade in Vilna, 1937: Second Part. Oversize.
Folder 4065: Pipe, S.Z. The Yiddish Art-Song among the People: Folklorized Forms of of M. Gordon's Di Mashke., undated: Handwritten draft.
Folder 4066: Pipe, S.Z. The Yiddish Art-Song among the People: Folklorized Forms of D. Edelstadt’s “Der arbeter” (The Worker)., undated: Research notes

Box 7

Folder 3996: Linder, Menakhem. The Suede-Leather Trade in Vilna., undated: Manuscript fragments.
Folder 3997: Levin, Shloyme. Lithuanian Jews in the Uprising of 1831, 1937-1938: Drafts of research paper.
Folder 3998: Lerner, Daniel. Ozdziutycze, a Jewish Shtetl in Volhynia., 1937: Research materials.
Folder 3999: Lerner, Daniel. Tarnopol: Description of a Shtetl in Eastern Poland., undated: Chapter of an article
Folder 4000: Mlotek, Yosl.*, undated: Research notes
Folder 4001: Natisz, M., 1937: Rough copy of a Yankev Dinezon biography, with materials.
Folder 4002: Natisz, M., undated: Rough copy of a Yankev Dinezon biography, with remarks.

Box 8

Folder 4003: Nutkiewicz, S. (Sergey). The May-Regime and the Jewish Question in Poland., 1940: Work plan, notes, bibliography.
Folder 4004: Slutsky-Kestin, Khane. School Holidays and Entertainment in the Life of Children, 1936: Report.
Folder 4004a: Slutsky-Kestin, Khane. School Holidays and Entertainment in the Life of Children, undated: Reports on school holidays.
Folder 4005: Szmuszkiewicz, Kh. Jewish Guilds in Vilna at the Beginning of the 19th Century., 1938: Reports, bibliography, evaluations.
Folder 4006: Szmuszkiewicz, Kh. Jewish Guilds in Vilna., undated: Collection of excerpts from sources, card-index, materials, notes.
Folder 4007: Pipe, S.Z. The Yiddish Art-Song among the People: Folklorized Forms of D. Edelstadt’s “Der arbeter” (The Worker)., 1935-1938: Correspondence.
Folder 4008: Piczaczer-Mann, Khane. Diaries about Children., 1936-1938: Includes diaries themselves, correspondence, notes.

Box 9

Folder 4009: Piczaczer-Mann, Khane. Diaries about Children; Education of infants., undated: Supplementary notes to the diaries; discrete sheets, reports.
Folder 4009a: Piczaczer-Mann, Khane. Diaries about Children; Education of infants., 1938: Evaluation.
Folder 4009b: Miscellaneous notes from several sources; unidentified by name and unnumbered; frequently incomplete pieces of research notes or letters., undated
Folder 4010: Feygenberg, R. Essays, research-lectures, research activity reports., 1940: Mixed works of R. Feygenberg and Elisheva Feygenberg.
Folder 4011: Friedman, Leyb. The Brush Industry in Poland., 1937: Polished draft.
Folder 4012: Kowalski, Gershon.*, 1940: Lectures, research activity reports.
Folder 4013: Kaplanowicz, Shoel.*, 1939-1940: Research papers on historical and literary topics, reports.
Folder 4014: Kligsberg, Moyshe. The Meaning of Normal Play among Children, undated: Typed draft (3pp); research notes.
Folder 4015: Krugli, Usher.*, 1939-1940: Research notes, lecture notes, research activity reports.
Folder 4016: Rovner, S. (Lastik, S.) Der Yugnt Veker.*, 1934-1935: Manuscript; research notes

Box 10

Folder 4017: Rivkind, J. Family budgets in Vilna., undated: Statistical materials, research notes.
Folder 4017a: Rivkind, J. Family budgets in Vilna., undated: Additional research notes.
Folder 4018: Rivkind, J. Family budgets in Vilna., undated: Materials, address, card-index.
Folder 4019: Rivkind, J. Family budgets in Vilna., undated: Questionnaires.
Folder 4020: Rivkind, J. Family budgets in Vilna., undated: Questionnaires to Jewish families.

Box 11

Folder 4021: Rivkind, J. Budgets of Jewish Families in Vilna., undated: Questionnaires.
Folder 4022: Rivkind, J. Budgets of Jewish Families in Vilna., undated: Budget books. Part I.
Folder 4022a: Rivkind, J. Budgets of Jewish Families in Vilna., undated: Budget books. Part II.
Folder 4023: Shulman, Eliyohu. The Growth of Yiddish Literature in the United States, 1881-1900., 1936: Complete text (printed). Part I.

Box 12

Folder 4023a: Shulman, Eliyohu. The Growth of Yiddish Literature in the United States, 1881-1900., 1936: Complete text (printed). Part II.
Folder 4024: Schlossberg, B. Khaykl Hurvits’ Seyfer tsofnas paneyakh, 1936-1937: Handwritten draft; research notes
Folder 4025: Schlossberg, B., undated: Evaluation of the research-paper: “Eastern Yiddish in the 16th Century”; also a report about “The Yiddish Written Language in the Second Half of the 19th Century.”
Folder 4026: (No name). Die Anzahl der Juden in der ganzen Welt. (The Total World Jewish Population)., undated: With tables.
Folder 4027: Miscellaneous papers. Parts of research results and lectures., undated

Subseries 2: Professors' Evaluations, undated, 1935-1940

Materials in Subseries 2 consist exclusively of professors' evaluations, and do not include the research papers themselves.

Language of Material: In Yiddish , Polish , and German .

Box 12

Folder 4028: Blecher, Moyshe. Evaluation of Heinrich Heine’s Influence on Yiddish Poetry, 1935-1936: Evaluation.
Folder 4029: Bernstein, M. Bio-bibliographical index of the Participants in the Jewish Revolutionary Movement, 1940: Evaluation.
Folder 4030: Brestowicki, Aaron. Nationality and the National Problem in Dr. Zhitlowsky’s Work., undated: Evaluation.
Folder 4031: Galinski, Rokhl. The Vilna Kahal in the First Half of the 19th Century., undated: Evaluation.
Folder 4032: Gininger, Khayim. Dr. Alfred Landau’s Dictionary, 1936-1940: Evaluation.
Folder 4033: Glickson, Sergius. The Provincial Jewish Youth in Vilna,, 1935-1936: Evaluation.
Folder 4034: Khayim Domb. Evaluation of Heredity and Environment, 1936-1940: Evaluation.
Folder 4035: Derwiansky, Yosef Dovid. The Rabbinical Seminary in Vilna (1847-1873), 1935-1936: Evaluation.
Folder 4036: Valt, Reyzl. The History of Jewish Secular Education in Vilna, 1936-1937: Evaluation.
Folder 4037: Wrona, Irene. The School in American Society, 1937-1938: Paper and notesbooks.
Folder 4038: Teitelboym, Eliyohu. Teaching Singing in the Yiddish School, 1938-1940: Evaluation.
Folder 4039: Munits, Khayim. Jewish Attire in Eastern Europe, First Half of the 19th Century., 1936-1939: Evaluation. Also includes illustrations and notes
Folder 4040: Melamedowicz, Y. Jews in Non-European Countries: A Geography Textbook; The Sephardic Communities in the USA, 1940: Evaluation.
Folder 4041: Epshteyn, Nekhame. Jewish Jokes, 1937-1938: Evaluation.
Folder 4042: Ehrlich, Alexander. The Main Problems of Business Cycle Theory, 1940: Notes and evaluations.
Folder 4043: Patt, Emanuel. Youth research, 1940: Evaluation, notes, and photostat of evaluation.
Folder 4044: Friedlan, D. Nominal Inflection in the Mayse bukh, 1939: Evaluation.
Folder 4045: Kantor, J. Methods of Studying National Character, 1938: Evaluation.
Folder 4046: Kantor-Lichtenstein, R. The Working Conditions of Jewish Bakery Workers in Warsaw, 1936: Evaluation.
Folder 4047: Reyzen, Shoel. The Evaluation of the Jewish National Programs in Russia (1897-1907)., 1935-1936: Evaluation.
Folder 4048: Schildkret, Libe (Lucy Dawidowicz): The Beginning of the Jewish Press in England., undated: Evaluation.
Folder 4049: Schindelman, Esther. Polish Motifs in Yiddish Literature, 1937-1938: Evaluation. Vaysenberg’s work.

Browse by Series:

Series I: Student Research, undated, 1934-1940,
Series II: Administrative Materials, undated, 1934-1940,
All