Detailed Description

Guide to the Vilna Collection, 1872, 1884, 1900-1940, (bulk 1917-1940), RG 29, Series 2

Arranged by Shloyme Krystal. Edited by Rivka Schiller in 2006 with the assistance of a grant from the Gruss Lipper Family Foundation. Additional processing by Rachel Harrison 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 Rachel Harrison in February 2012. Customized in Archon in 2012. Description is in English.

Collection Overview

Title: Guide to the Vilna Collection, 1872, 1884, 1900-1940, (bulk 1917-1940), RG 29, Series 2

Predominant Dates:bulk 1917-1940

ID: RG 29, Series 2 FA

Extent: 10.0 Linear Feet

Arrangement:

This is a subject collection that relates to the inter-war Jewish community in Vilna. The collection is comprised of discrete pages that were once part of various collections in the YIVO Archives in Vilna. Record Group 29 is divided into two chronological series. Series 1 (c.1822-1917) covers the period leading up to the end of World War I. Series 2 (c.1900-1940) pertains to Vilna in the interwar period.

The criterion employed for the arrangement of this collection is topical in nature. Documents are generally arranged according to the names of the societies, organizations, associations, and institutions to which they pertained. The collection is comprised of 263 folders. Materials in this collection are in a variety of languages, primarily Yiddish, Polish, Hebrew, Russian, as well as some Lithuanian and English.

Languages: Yiddish, Polish, Hebrew, German, Russian, Lithuanian, English, Latin

Abstract

This collection consists of correspondence, reports, minutes of meetings, financial records, statistical surveys, election materials, announcements, flyers, and other materials related to Jewish life in Vilna during the inter-war period. Documents of earlier years are also included.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

These materials are, for the most part, representative of various Jewish organizations and institutions active in Vilna prior to World War II. These records were part of the YIVO Vilna Archives which were taken by the Germans in 1942 and recovered from the premises of the NSDAP Institut zur Erforschung der Judenfrage (The Institute for the Study of the Jewish question) in Frankfurt am Main and sent to YIVO in New York City in 1947. The collection consists of correspondence, reports, minutes of meetings, lists, financial records, statistical surveys, leaflets, posters, and other material relating to Jewish life in Vilna circa 1900-1940, the bulk of which date circa 1917-1940. These materials relate to the following categories, although they are not strictly arranged in this way.

Communal and social welfare organizations – among them are HIAS, ORT, OSE/TOZ, Tsentraler Hilfs Komitet (Central Relief Committee), YEKOPO (Jewish War Relief Committee), JDC (Joint Distribution Committee), and AJRF (American Joint Reconstruction Foundation). Also included are charity organizations (e.g. Linat Hatzedek, Achva, Ezra, Agudat Achim), orphanages and old age homes, child-care agencies, soup kitchens, subsidized school kitchens, societies to assist the ill and poor (e.g. Gemiles Khesed, Mishmeret Kholim, Kasa Chorych, etc.), and interest-free loan associations (e.g. CEKABE, Dwora Esther Free-Loan Association, Bafrayung Free-Loan Society, and the Central Jewish Peoples’ Cooperative Bank).

Educational and cultural institutions – schools (e.g. the Tarbut Teachers’ Seminary, TSYSHO, Shul-kult, Hevrah Mefitsei Haskalah, Takhkemani, Tushia, Herzlia), cultural and scientific societies (e.g. Der bin (The Bee), Jewish Scientific Society, S. Ansky Historical and Ethnographic Society, Kultur lige, Yidisher Kultur Fareyn (Jewish Culture Society), Tiferes Bachurim,), private study groups, artists clubs (e.g. the Jewish Arts Society), musical societies (e.g. the Jewish Music Society), libraries (e.g. the Strashun Library), language clubs (e.g. the Jewish Esperanto Association, Lovers of the Hebrew Language), theater groups (e.g. Friends of the Yiddish Theater), and publishing houses and publications (Kletzkin and Ahiasaf publishing houses, Grininke beymelekh (Green Trees), Der shtern (The Star), Vilner tog (Vilna Day), Kol mevasser (The Herald), Fraye shriftn (Free Writings), and Der vilner ekspres (The Vilna Express)).

Political organizations – election leaflets and questionnaires for organizations such as Hapoel Hatzair, Hashomer Hatzair, Histadrut Hehalutz, Hovevei Zion, Ze’irei Zion, Gordonia, Keren Hayesod, Betar, Agudas Israel, the Bund, and the Jewish Democratic Party (the Folkspartey).

Religious institutions, yeshivot, synagogues, study groups – included are religious appeals and letters from rabbis, the Taharat Hakodesh Synagogue, the Beit Haknesset Hagadol (Great Synagogue), the Poalei Zedek Synagogue, and the Kabronishe Synagogue.

Official government, municipal and legal documents – election leaflets pertaining to the Sejm (Polish Parliament), City Council, and the Vilna Kehillah, minutes, budgets, and reports of the Vilna municipality, statistical population studies, census forms, tax decrees, and manifests.

Trade unions and professional association – included are the Union of Garment Workers, the Trade Union of Industrial and Commercial Employees, the Union of Metal Workers, the Union of Bakery Workers, the Association of Jewish Writers and Journalists, the Association of Jewish Physicians, and the Union of Medical personnel.

Also included within this collection are memoirs about World War I, as well as accounts of pogroms and persecution of the Jews, c.1917-1919, and materials on the German occupation during World War I and the Soviet occupation, 1918-1920. There are also general statistical materials on the Jewish and non-Jewish population of Vilna, 1916-1920, records relating to Soviet and Lithuanian rule, and materials on refugees, 1939-1940.

Historical Note

Historical Note The documents in this subject collection reflect the experience of the Jews of Vilna in the inter-war period. During and after World War I, various relief committees were developed to aid the Jewish community. Among those organizations that served the needs of the Jewish people of Vilna were those focused on health care, education, social welfare, economic needs, cultural outlets, political parties and groups, and a spectrum of religious organizations. Until 1915, Vilna was part of the Russian Empire, at which point the German army occupied the city from 1915 until early 1918. The city was then under Soviet occupation from 1918-1920. Poland, Soviet Russia and Lithuania then fought for possession of the city for several years until it officially became part of the Polish Republic in 1922. Vilna was part of Poland until its annexation by the Russians in 1939. The city was subsequently invaded by the Nazis in 1941. The documents in this subject collection reflect the experience of the Jews of Vilna in the inter-war period. During and after World War I, various relief committees were developed to aid the Jewish community. Among those organizations that served the needs of the Jewish people of Vilna were those focused on health care, education, social welfare, economic needs, cultural outlets, political parties and groups, and a spectrum of religious organizations. Until 1915, Vilna was part of the Russian Empire, at which point the German army occupied the city from 1915 until early 1918. The city was then under Soviet occupation from 1918-1920. Poland, Soviet Russia and Lithuania then fought for possession of the city for several years until it officially became part of the Polish Republic in 1922. Vilna was part of Poland until its annexation by the Russians in 1939. The city was subsequently invaded by the Nazis in 1941.

Subject/Index Terms

Banks and banking, Chief Rabbinate, Documents - Administrative reports, Documents - Correspondence, Documents - Financial records, Documents - Minutes, Documents - Surveys, Fraternal organizations, Gegnt komitet "Yekopo" in Vilne, Germany, Jewish labor unions, Jewish population studies, Jewish refugees, Jews - Charities, Lithuania, Obshchestvo dlia rasprostr. prosv. mezhdu evreiami v Rossii (Hevrah Mefitsei Haskalah), Obshchestvo remeslennogo i zemledel cheskogo truda sredi evreev (Soviet Union) (ORT), Obshchestvo Zdravookhraneniya Yevreyev (OSE), Poland, Poland - Religious life and customs, Political campaigns, Politics and government, Posters - Political posters, Professional associations, Russia, S. Ansky Historical and Ethnographic Society, Soviet Union, Strashun Library, Tarbuth Organisation, Towarzystwo Ochrony Zdrowia Ludności Żydowskiej w Polsce (TOZ), Trade associations, Tsentraler hilfs komitet, Vilna, YIVO Archives

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, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011

email: archives@yivo.cjh.org

Acquisition Method: These records were part of the YIVO Vilna Archives which were taken by the Germans during World War II and recovered by YIVO New York in 1947.

Separated Materials: There is no information about materials that are associated by provenance to the described materials that have been physically separated or removed.

Related Materials: Related material can be found in various collections in the YIVO Vilna Archives which contain similar geographic and historical content about Vilna Jewry. The YIVO Archives have a great many other collections about Jews in Poland and the Russian Empire. Among these are the Poland (Vilna) Collection RG 28; Vilna Jewish Community Council, RG 10; the Papers of Hirsz Abramowicz, who was the director of Hilf Durkh Arbet, RG 446; Records of Hevra Mefitsei Haskalah Society, RG 22; Records of the ORT Society, RG 47, and the ORT Vocational School (Vilna) RG 21; Records of OSE-TOZ, RG 53; Papers of Tsemakh Szabad, RG 19; Records of Tarbut Hebrew Teachers Seminary (Vilna), RG 23; Records of Vaad Hayeshivot (Vilna), RG 25; Records of TSYSHO (Tsentrale Yidishe Shul Organizatsye), RG 48; Papers of Khaykl Lunski, RG 58; and many others.

Preferred Citation: Published citations should take the following form:Identification of item, date (if known); Vilna Collection; RG 29, Series 2; folder number; YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

Series1:]] Vilna Collection, 1872, 1884, 1900-1940

Series 1: Vilna Collection, 1872, 1884, 1900-1940

Extent: 5.625

Folder 1: Vilna City Council, 1918-1935

budget

minutes

(from Tsemakh Szabad papers)

Folder 2: Vilna City Council, 1919-1928

minutes

budgets

reports

Folder 3: Vilna City Mayor, 1919-1926

published announcements about city taxes and fees

Folder 4: Vilna City Municipality, 1920s

various announcements and decrees regarding taxes, mandatory education, inoculation against cholera, etc.

(from Tsemakh Szabad papers)

Folder 5: Elections to the Vilna City Council, 1918

reports from Jewish voting districts

Folder 6: Vilna City Council, 1925-1935

Technical Commission report, 1925

audit report, 1935

electricity expenses

other municipal matters

(from Tsemakh Szabad papers)

Folder 7: Register of tenants residing at 15 Witoldowa Street, Vilna, 1925-1926

Folder 8: Health Care Organization (Kasa Chorych), 1922-1923

statutes

(from J. Rafes papers)

Folder 9: Health Care Organization (Kasa Chorych), 1923-1938

various documents and lists

Folder 10: Committee to Aid the Unemployed in the Vilna Region, 1937-1938

Winter report on activities

Folder 11: Revolutionary Committee of Lithuania, 1919

various materials

Folder 12: Accounts about the pogrom in Vabalnik (Vabalninkas), 1919

Folder 13: Leaflet condemning the riot on July 2, 1922, 1922

in which two people died and several Jews were beaten up

Folder 14: Vilna under the German occupation, 1916-1919

official notices

(German, Polish, Yiddish, Lithuanian)

Folder 15: Committee to Fight the Persecution of the Jews in Germany, 1933-1934

minutes of meetings

Folder 16: Committee to Fight the Persecution of the Jews in Germany, 1933

leaflets

Folder 17: Committee to Fight the Persecution of the Jews in Germany, 1934

correspondence

Folder 18: A business agreement to open a restaurant, 1918

(Russian)

Folder 19: Miscellaneous rabbinical materials, 1872, 1884, 1918, undated

miscellaneous bills, expenses

ketuba

Folder 19.1: Materials from synagogues, 1900-1920

sermons, communal fundraising appeals for children who do not have prayer shawls, announcements about cantors and yahrtzeit observances

for specific synagogues and religious societies

Folder 19.2: Letters from rabbis, undated

how to pray for rain

how to write a mourning announcement for a great tzaddik

announcement telling the community to pray in a crisis

Folder 20: Central Jewish Cooperative Bank of Vilna, 1921-1932

invitations to general annual bank meetings, 5/18/21, 11/18/28, 5/25/31

bank statements

deposit slips

receipts

letter requesting aid for the town of Iwie, due to a recent fire on 5/15/29 that destroyed the local Jewish Peoples’ Cooperative Bank

correspondence

bank account books

Folder 21: Association of Retail Merchants of the Vilna Region (klaynhendler), 1917-1938

correspondence with individuals

Dos Vort newspaper, 1928

invitations to general meetings

thank you letter to Zalmen Reisen of the Tog, 9/8/27

Folder 22: Cooperative Bafrayung (Liberation), 1920-1923

receipts

blank bank notes

correspondence, 1920

agreement signed between the Kehillah and the cooperatives Bafrayung, Tsukunft and others, 4/15/20

invitation to the general Bafrayung meeting, 3/25/23

Folder 23: Bank of the Association of Merchants and Manufacturers, 1934-1935

correspondence

bank balance as of 1/1/34

Folder 24: Central Jewish Cooperative Bank of Vilna, 1930-1932

general finance reports

Folder 25: Central Jewish Cooperative Bank of Vilna, 1934-1936

general finance reports

Folder 26: Central Jewish Cooperative Bank of Vilna, 1937-1938

general finance reports

Folder 27: General Jewish Association of Craftsmen (Artisans), 1917-1937

primarily information about apprenticeships and courses of instruction for adolescents

Folder 28: General Jewish Association of Craftsmen (Artisans), 1918, undated

leaflets about:

membership registration

various Association sectors and corresponding members

elections propaganda

Folder 29: Lists of Vilna merchants according to business category, undated

Folder 30: Association of Merchants and Manufacturers, 1919-1934

correspondence, c.1919

meeting program, 3/20/34

notice requesting the involvement of individuals in the Association

finance records

general meeting invitations

open letter from the Vilna craftsmen to Warsaw members of the Association

Folder 31: Association of Merchants and Manufacturers, 1917-1921

3 notices

Folder 32: Association of Merchants and Manufacturers, 1916

questionnaire and corresponding answers

Folder 33: Cooperative Arbayter (Worker), 1916-1923

invitations and notices regarding upcoming general meetings, 1921, 1923

stamps

payment notices

finance accounts

minutes, 1916, 1919-1920

balance for 1920

correspondence, especially with the Kehillah

Folder 34: Vilna Manufacturing Cooperatives, 1916-1923

correspondence

finance accounts

circular about the recent establishment of various workshops

advertisement for the sale of electrical appliances

meeting invitations

Folder 35: Cooperative Taharat Hakodesh Synagogue, 1915-1918

financial statements

bills

correspondence

Folder 36: Cooperative Taharat Hakodesh Synagogue, 1915-1918

same as above

Folder 37: Jewish Mutual Insurance Company, 1913-1914

statutes

Folder 38: Rules and regulations about the sale and slaughter of cattle and other animals, 1936

Folder 39: Leaflets protesting excessive prices, undated

handwritten and printed

Folder 40: Announcements about using the communal baths (mikva), 1914, undated

Yiddish, Polish

Folder 41: CEKABE (Central Organization for the Support of Interest-Free Credit), 1933-1934

correspondence, 1933-1934

monthly questionnaires, c.1933

statutes of the Gemilas Khesed Society, undated

Folder 42: Gemilas Khesed, 1935–1936

finance reports of Vilna district (Yiddish)

Folder 43: Mishmeret Kholim (and related charities), 1920s

leaflets about charity donations

Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian

Folder 44: Mishmeret Kholim, 1910-1939

correspondence, various years

Folder 45: Mishmeret Kholim, 1917-1928

meeting invitations, 1920-1921

soup kitchen ticket, 1917-1918

receipts, 1921, 1928

ambulatory: daily hours of hospital departments

stamps

Folder 46: Vilna Jewish Aid Committee, 1915-1926

stubs of aid distributed

miscellaneous

Folder 47: Agudat Achim aid society, 1916-1918

promissory notes, 1917-1918

letter from an unemployed man requesting financial assistance

sign for theatrical performance sponsored by Agudat Achim

Folder 48: Association Nichum Avelim (charity to aid families in mourning over the deaths of loved ones), 1921-1930

loan statements, 1924, 1927-1929

meeting invitations (duplicates), 1921, 1928

statutes and leaflets

donation requests, 1925

authorization notes, 1925

payment verification letter, 1930

memorial anniversary (yortsayt) reminder notices

circulars

Folder 49: Association to Help Jewish Orphans, 1923-1932

"list of orphans, 1923

meeting invitation, 1932

invitation, 1932 "

Folder 50: Gemilas Khesed, 1917, 1935

Sheva Kiruyim

Oseh Khesed

YEKOPO

Folder 51: Somech Noflim Fund, undated

Folder 52: Home for the Aged, 1916-1935

notice about theft of 2 cows

finance reports, 1916, 1920

leaflets requesting financial assistance

list of assets in 1890

Folder 53: Home for the Aged, 1915-1936

leaflets and correspondence

Folder 54: Charitable organization, Achva (Brotherhood), 1917-1918

minutes

Folder 55: Charitable organization, Achva (Brotherhood), 1915-1917

finance records (balances)

Folder 56: Charitable organizations: Achva, Achiezer, Agudat Achim, Ezra, 1916-1918

includes notices about upcoming and recent meetings, especially in regard to the Jewish bread bakers

blank membership card

circular requesting that people donate to the charitable fund for free bread, 1918

bread coupons

finance report, 1916

Folder 57: Beit Lekhem, 1917, undated

bread coupons

circular requesting donations

Folder 58: Kinder Farzorgung Society (Children’s Care), 1911-1919

correspondence

expenses

Folder 59: Public kitchen, undated

bylaws

Folder 60: Matn-Beseyser (Charity given anonymously), 1916

leaflets about donations

notice about upcoming meeting

Folder 61: Gemilas Khesed Sheni, 1907-1908

minutes

elegies

Folder 62: Hakhnoses-Orkhim, c.1924

leaflets calling for financial contributions

blank contributions form

Folder 63: Linat Hatzedek (Sokolka), 1926-1933

finance reports and minutes

Folder 64: Dwora Esther Free-Loan Association, 1921-1928

minutes

correspondence

leaflet

Folder 65: Jewish free-loan societies in Vilna, 1905-1933

miscellaneous records, minutes

loans given to street peddlars

Folder 66: Leaflet against begging, 1935

Folder 67: Jewish Committee to Aid the Unemployed, 1926, 1939

food stamps

general meeting invitation

correspondence with the Jewish Teachers’ Association relating to the establishment of a soup kitchen

letter to Dr. Szabad thanking him for his recent help in establishing a soup kitchen

Folder 68: Charitable societies, 1919

Jewish Aid Committee in Oszmiana, 1919

Hovevei Zion Society

Home for the Aged in Jerusalem

Folder 69: Charitable societies, 1925-1929

Committee To Aid the Victims of the Pogrom in Palestine, 1929

Hadassah Medical Organization, 1925

Folder 70: Report about free-loan associations in Vilna District, undated

pp. 7-9 only

Folder 71: YEKOPO (Jewish Relief Committee for War Victims), 1923-1928

documents about the establishment of a YEKOPO publishing house and bookstore, 1923

lists of books distributed, 1924, 1928

Folder 72: YEKOPO, 1925

reports about rebuilding Jewish homes destroyed or damaged in the war, 1925

minutes of a meeting held by YEKOPO

Folder 73: YEKOPO and (AJDC) Joint Distribution Committee, 1919-1924

documents about an agreement between the (AJDC) Joint Distribution Committee and YEKOPO, 1919–1924

report concerning YEKOPO activities, 1921

Folder 74: YEKOPO, 1920-1921