Note to researchers: This collection is currently closed in preparation for the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Collections Project.
A collection of miscellaneous documents pertaining to Jewish life in Germany. The documents are of varied provenance and include the following: Older documents, 17th and 18th centuries. Official documents issued by various German rulers to their Jewish subjects. Included are: *schutzbriefe* (residence permits); permissions to conduct a trade; litigation between the Jews of Frankfurt and the city municipality, 1732-1738; a *mohel* book. Personal and family papers. These are papers of 59 German-Jewish individuals and families, including communal figures and rabbis, 19th and 20th centuries, and include family correspondence, personal documents, business and financial records. Of special interest are: papers of Lina Morgenstern, a writer and social worker, 1860s-1900; Julius Rodenberg, publisher of Deutsche Rundschau, 1853-1913; Bondi family of Frankfurt and Mainz, 1814-1938; Ernest Rabel, professor of international law and member of the International Court of Justice, 1925-1936. Fragmentary records of German-Jewish communities, mostly from the Polish territories under German domination (the Grand Duchy of Posen), including minutes of meetings, by-laws, communal registers, financial records, correspondence, printed matter. Following communities are represented: Berlin, Bromberg (Pol. Bydgoszcz), Filehne (Pol. Wielen), Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Mannheim, Neisse (Pol. Nysa), Raschkow (Pol. Raszkow), Rybnik.