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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

©2012 YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. All rights reserved.

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.

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

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

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:

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

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

register of recipients

miscellaneous

Folder 47: Agudat Achim aid society
1916-1918

promissory notes, 1917-1918

register of aid distributed

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
records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna
Folder 75: YEKOPO
1920-1921
records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna
Folder 76: YEKOPO
1920-1921
records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna
Folder 77: YEKOPO
1920-1921
records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna
Folder 78: YEKOPO
1920-1921
records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna
Folder 79: YEKOPO
1920-1921
records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna
Folder 80: YEKOPO
1920-1921
records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna
Folder 81: YEKOPO
1920-1921
records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna
Folder 82: YEKOPO
1920-1921
records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna
Folder 83: YEKOPO
1919-1935, undated

various documents including situation report from the Brest Litovsk, post-war

minutes of a meeting of the YEKOPO central committee, Vilna

Folder 84: YEKOPO
1917-1931
correspondence from JDC, American Joint Reconstruction Foundation (AJRF), Fund for the Relief of the Jewish Victims of the War in Russia, etc.
Folder 85: YEKOPO Publishing
1921-1925
insurance certificates
Folder 86: YEKOPO
c.1920

blank forms for reporting economic situation and cultural needs of Jewish population reports

questionnaires

registration cards

savings and loan forms

Folder 87: Jewish Invalids’ Association
1920-1928

certificate verifying that Khayim Shneider is unable to work and pay for his children to attend school, 3/18/20

member card, 1928

Folder 88: Oyfboy un Zelbhilf (Rebuilding and Self-help)
1930-1931

various documents regarding help for Jewish communities, including a list of branches throughout Poland

resolutions

correspondence

reports

Folder 89: Oyfboy un Zelbhilf (Rebuilding and Self-help)
1930-1931
financial reports
Folder 90: ORT (The Society for Trades and Agricultural Labor)
1921-1936
reports on help to homeowners
Folder 91: HIAS – Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
1928-1929
miscellaneous correspondence, announcements
Folder 92: United Committee for Jewish Crafts and Trades
1934-1936

various correspondence, especially between Vilna and Warsaw branches

reports

Folder 93: Trade firm Brothers Kholem
1915
list of clients
Folder 94: Various leaflets
c.1919
especially in regard to upcoming lectures given by well-known visiting rabbis and for the sake of providing aid to poor and impoverished Jews
Folder 95: Central Union of Jewish Consumer Associations
c.1920
leaflet about distribution of sugar
Folder 96: Lipowka Agricultural Colony
1936-1937

lists of products

minutes

financial papers

Folder 97: Lipowka Agricultural Colony
1936-1938

reports

minutes

correspondence with WILTOR (Association of Jewish Settlement on the Land in the Region of Vilnius)

Folder 98: Lipowka Agricultural Colony
1935-1938

admissions questionnaires

aid requests

Folder 99: Lipowka Agricultural Colony
1936-1939

expenses, bills, receipts

inventories

Folder 100: Lipowka Agricultural Colony
1935-1938

correspondence

ledger

Folder 101: Ze’irei Zion, Gordonia, Hapoel Hatzair
1930s

leaflets

correspondence

Folder 102: Ze’irei Zion
1920

statute, typed, Vilna, 1920 (Russian)

signatures

shekel coupons

leaflets

letters

Folder 103: Ze’irei Zion
c.1916-1924

invitations to Zionist meetings and lectures

correspondence with Ze’irei Zion in Glubok Province

bank notes for Bafrayung

questionnaire

lottery ticket to support emigration to Palestine

membership card

Chanukah ball program

finance statements

correspondence between Ze’irei Zion and Hehalutz

Folder 104: Ze’irei Zion
undated

posters announcing the opening of a Ze’irei Zion cooperative kitchen that will be hygienic and provide food for laborers and the unemployed

posters about upcoming public lectures on such topics as “The Woman’s Role in the Life of a Jew”

Folder 105: Ze’irei Zion
1917-1937

questionnaire on Jewish communities

letter to the Jewish Technical Institute in Vilna about requirements for graduating students who will be emigrating to Palestine

blank membership card for the Achdut organization in Vilna

Folder 106: Miscellaneous Zionist materials
1917-1933

includes letter from Strashun Library about a meeting, 1918

personal signature/memento book of Benjamin Krakowiak, a participant in the Maccabiada in Zakopane, 1933, who returned home on foot collecting signatures along the way

essays on Zionism

Folder 107: General Zionists in Lithuania
1919-1928

various items including invitation to gathering in honor of Nahum Sokolow

shekel coupons to sponsor the General Zionists in Lithuania

essay/speech on the topic, “Herzl as the Hero in Jewish History”

blank thank you card

certification form for collection of shekels signed by Leib Yaffe, 4/14/19

Folder 108: General Zionists in Lithuania
c.1921
appeals regarding “Week of the Shekel” imploring people not to remain silent, uncertain, or indifferent at this particular juncture in time (Yiddish)
Folder 109: Zionist Organizations
1935, undated

statistical membership data, April-June 1935

questionnaire concerning Jews who are qualified as laborers and craftsmen and intend to emigrate to Palestine, undated

Folder 110: Zionist Organizations
1922-1940

membership card for Agudat Ze’irei Emunei Yisrael of Praga (suburb of Warsaw), 1922

invitation to the Tarbut meeting regarding fifteenth anniversary of the Hebrew University, 1925-1940 (Lithuanian, Hebrew)

poster promoting the shekel for Jewish resettlement in Eretz Yisrael

Keren Hayesod membership card from Riga, 1938

Folder 111: Bund in Vilna
1918-1936

printed leaflets relating to the situation in Vilna at the end of the war, c.1918

miscellaneous letters, including a letter to the Realgymnasium (natural sciences high school) protesting its refusal to make rooms available for a Bund gathering, 1932

posters

Folder 112: YAF (Jewish Working Women’s Organization)
1927-1932

lecture invitation on “Woman’s Emancipation amongst All Nations and by Us”

blank membership declaration form

various blank and completed invitations

Folder 113: Agudas Israel
1918-1935

announcement about the meeting of the Ze’irei Yisrael

posters about rabbinic discourses, e.g., “Eretz Yisrael as a Religious National Center," c.1918

correspondence

clippings

bills

Folder 114: Poalei Zion
1917-1933

appeals concerning donations to the Jewish National Fund

posters announcing a lecture “Eretz Yisrael as it Functions at the Present”

various other meetings to discuss such topics as: “The War and the Downfall of Capitalist Society”

Folder 115: League for Labor Palestine
1933

certificate from the League’s chief office for the donation of charity to Eretz Yisrael

petition (with signatures) against the British Government

invitation for the Vilner Tog to attend a press conference at which David Ben-Gurion will be present, 6/15/33

receipt

(Hebrew, English, Polish, Yiddish)

Folder 116: Hehalutz Haklali Tzioni (General Zionist Pioneer)
1940

list of kibbutz members who are planning to emigrate to Palestine, February 28, 1940

document of a fragmentary nature

Folder 117: Histadrut Hehalutz
1930-1936

monthly bookkeeping accounts, 1930

newsletters about upcoming events and recent developments, 1933, 1936

Folder 118: Hashomer Hatzair
1927-1935

membership cards

authorization card for a member

newsletter, 1927

handwritten minutes, c.1928

correspondence with the publication Der bin (The Bee), 1935

blank stationary and meeting invitation

leaflet regarding upcoming spring concert

Folder 119: Histadrut Hehalutz
1928-1935

membership cards

authorization card for a kibbutz member, 1935

correspondence with YIVO administration in Vilna and Hehalutz in Szczuczyn concerning recent activities, 1930

circulars for various Hehalutz branches in the Vilna District, c.1934

blank affidavit for aliyah purposes, c.1930s

blank invitation to a celebratory evening

excerpts from a young woman’s memoir about working conditions in a kibbutz, 6/16-17/28

bookkeeping accounts

lists of people and their corresponding professions for aliyah purposes

blank questionnaires

blank stationary

(Hebrew, Lithuanian, Polish, Yiddish)

Folder 120: Histadrut Hehalutz
1938-1939

correspondence with the Tarbut Teachers’ Seminary in Vilna

school materials, such as Hebrew vocabulary words with Russian translations, mathematical calculations, religious Jewish texts

Folder 121: Zionist Revisionists (Betar)
1923-1933

invitation card for a celebratory evening, 1923

reply to the Jewish Journalists’ Syndicate in Vilna, 12/21/33

Folder 122: The Jewish Democratic Party (Folkspartey)
undated
principles
Folder 123: Professional Union of Unskillled Laborers
undated
announcements, pre-1920
Folder 124: Kultur Amt (Cultural Office of the United Trade Unions)
1920-1933
miscellaneous correspondence and announcements
Folder 125: Workers’ Congress against Anti-Semitism and Fascism
1936
announcements and proclamation
Folder 126: Unions in Vilna
1915-1919

during and after the first World War

resolutions and appeals to the Vilna City Council

Folder 127: Resolution of twelve Jewish unions in Vilna
1916
regarding hunger situation among the city’s workers, 9/4/16
Folder 128: Union of Garment Workers
1937-1938
minutes
Folder 129: Union of Garment Workers
1927
election leaflets
Folder 130: Union of Garment Workers
1922-1939

application form

list of union members who are due to receive matzos

notice about a recent general union meeting, 1929

membership card, 1922

blank invitations

membership card, 1930s

completed registration card, 11/7/39

written permissions from parents allowing their children to join the youth division of the Union of Garment Workers, 1939

Folder 131: Union of Garment Workers
1937
correspondence regarding conflicts with employers
Folder 132: Union of Garment Workers
1921-1939

application forms (duplicates)

registration cards

membership cards

strike questionnaire forms from the Main Office of Statistics in Warsaw

subpoena by the factory inspector, 1924

many forms are filled out

Folder 133: Union of Garment Workers
1936-1938

minutes of union committees

minutes of strike committees, 1936, 1938

correspondence with employers regarding job problems in their workshops

Folder 134: Union of Garment Workers
1937-1939

notes about membership dues

partial list of union members

Folder 135: Trade Union of Industrial and Commercial Employees
1915-1939

membership cards

invitations

questionnaire

notices

Folder 136: Trade Union of Industrial and Commercial Employees
1921-1935

election leaflets

meeting notice

report of “general principles”

Folder 137: Trade Union of Industrial and Commercial Employees
1920-1939

correspondence

meeting invitations

notices regarding strike activities and union members’ rights

announcement of lecture regarding “The Present Day Situation in Poland and the Jewish Masses”

Folder 138: Union of Metal Workers
1919-1929

report of a meeting

application form

membership cards

Folder 139: Union of Bakery Workers
1921
handwritten minutes
Folder 140: Union of Leather Workers
undated

meeting notice

handwritten minutes

Folder 141: Union of the Printers
1920-1936

lists of printers in Vilna

requests for payment from the newspaper Unzer Tog

correspondence about employment issues including the publisher Kletskin

financial report

Folder 142: Various crafts unions
1917-1926

Construction Workers

Brush Makers

Tobacco Workers

Folder 143: Association of Jewish Physicians
1911-1940

minutes

lecture program, 1921

report from the Hebrew Medical Organization of Eretz Yisrael (Yaffo Branch) about the current medical situation in Palestine

statute of the Association of Physicians of the Polish Republic

protest of Jewish physicians against introducing the Aryan paragraph in the statute of the Association of Physician of the Polish Republic, 1938

newspaper clippings

correspondence

miscellaneous

Folder 144: Association of Jewish Physicians
1920-1938

meeting announcements

documents about the cooperative ambulatory of the Association

ambulatory shareholder certificate

outline of medical course being offered at the Stefan Batory University on the subject of tuberculosis

Folder 145: Association of Jewish Physicians
1936-1938

invitations and RSVPs for doctors’ convention to be held 16-17 May, 1937

correspondence, documents requesting medical aid for Jewish refugees from Germany, 1938

Folder 146: Union of Medical Personnel
1919-1939

correspondence about financial matters

the children’s and women’s clinic

requests and letters of recommendation for membership in the Union of Medical Personnel

diplomas from nursing school

Folder 147: Union of Medical Personnel
1925-1939

union membership and payment cards

copies of certificates in nursing from TOZ Nursing School and other schools in Vilna

Folder 148: Union of Postal Workers (non-Jewish)
1931-1939
bound volume of correspondence
Folder 149: Kultur Lige for Lithuania and Belarus
1915-1931

Jewish People’s University, 1915

documents concerning the Jewish Census Committee

leaflets about Hebrew University and the Jewish People’s University

signs

invitations

memoranda, 1916

course schedules and programs, 1916

miscellaneous correspondence, 1910, undated

leaflets, 1918-1919

Folder 150: Kultur Lige for Lithuania and Belarus
1918-1920

temporary by-laws

invitations

leaflet about the Central Jewish Education Committee (Tsentraler bildungs komitet) and Kultur Lige correspondence concerning the establishment of a reading room for the Jewish People’s University

Folder 151: Strashun Library
1916-1931

requests for financial aid for library

minutes

invitation to the conference of Vilna libraries

correspondence with “Menorah,” a Jewish family newspaper

Folder 152: Jewish Workers’ Cultural Association
1915-1933

various forms, 1917-1918

meeting invitations

materials about deliberations whether or not to establish a central cultural association in Poland, 1933

membership card

questionnaire, c.1915

memorandum about equal rights for Yiddish, 1916

Folder 153: Jewish Esperanto Association
empty

invitation to Esperanto program and exhibition in honor of the 75th birthday of Dr. L. L. Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto, c.1934

doubled-sided page outlining the development of Esperanto and its relationship to VILBIG (Yiddish)

(misplaced)

Folder 154: Ansky Historical and Ethnographic Society
1918-1928

appeals to American Jews, Jewish writers and Vilna immigrants in America

Jewish parties, associations, and unions

inventory lists of pinkasim and other museum articles

museum inventory card

invitation to a concert of Jewish folk music

miscellaneous

Folder 155: Ansky Historical and Ethnographic Society
1921–1928

minute book

including newspaper clippings and handwritten records

Folder 156: Ansky Historical and Ethnographic Society
1920

appeal to donate materials, 1/1/1920

flyers

Folder 157: Youth groups, various
1926-1927

minute book of the First Children’s Club in Vilna, 1926-1927

miscellaneous

Folder 158: Lovers of the Hebrew Language
1908-1923

membership cards, 1916-1917

announcement of a commemoration ceremony for Peretz Smolenskin, 1910

announcement of a commemoration ceremony for David Wolfsohn and Nahum Sokolow, 1908

minute book, 1923

leaflets from the women’s division of the Lovers of the Hebrew Language

membership payment guidelines and related forms

Folder 159: Jewish Scientific Society
1923-1930

not YIVO

flyers about the Jewish Scientific Society

correspondence

by-laws

Folder 160: Jewish Scientific Society
1930-1936

correspondence with Hebrew University in Jerusalem

meeting invitation

contact card for Aaron Carlin, editor and manager of the monthly journal, “Die Feder”

Folder 161: Lovers of Jewish Antiquity
1918-1919

invitation from S. Ansky

list of Jewish artists

Folder 162: Musical and choral societies
1917-1934

leaflets announcing cantorial and choir performances

performance ticket

list of choir singers

Folder 163: Educational Society Shtern
1940

announcement of lecture on Maxim Gorky

correspondence, 1940

course being offered by Shtern

Folder 164: Jewish Arts Society
1923-1938

invitations and programs for art events, including a memorial evening for Morris Rosenfeld

art exhibit catalogs

court case of Countess Jadwiga Tyszkiewicz vs. Jewish Arts Society for delinquency in paying rent

Folder 165: Publishers, various
1923-1924

correspondence of the Kletzkin and Ahiasaf publishing houses, 1902-1923

catalog of the Kletzkin’s Vilna Publishing House, 1924

Folder 166: Friends of the Yiddish Theater
1925-1934
correspondence with Zalmen Reisin
Folder 167: Leaflets of lectures and other events
1917-1933

noteworthy speakers and topics include:

H. D. Nomberg about his impressions from a recent trip to Palestine

Chaim Zhitlowsky – “Ideal Goals of Mankind”

Hillel Zeitlin – “Will Jews Be Able to Exist in the Future as They Do Today?”

Folder 168: Announcement about the 25th anniversary of the Czernowitz Conference on Yiddish
1933
Folder 169: Jewish Music Society
1922-1937
permits from Vilna’s municipality to organize concerts and lectures
Folder 170: Grininke beymelekh (Green Trees)
empty

children’s publication

list of subscribers (Polish, Russian, Yiddish)

(misplaced)

Folder 171: Kadima Association of Zionist Students and other student organizations
1929-1939

correspondence

announcements

Folder 172: Der shtern
1913-1916

contract, 1913

article with the censor’s stamp, 1916

Folder 173: Vilner tog
1920-1938

Yiddish daily

publication permits

article (copy) from 3/8/34 entitled, “The Trial of the Eleven in Vilna‘s Circuit Court”

notice of the Press Department of the Vilna administration about closing the paper as punishment for subversive articles, ca. 1920

Folder 174: Excerpts from the Vilner togblat translated into German
1940
handwritten
Folder 175: Jewish newspapers in Vilna
1911-1938

Haolam, 1911

Vilner almanakh, 1938

Kol mevaser, 1931

Fraye shriftn, 1928

Yidishe tsaytung, 1919

Mit oyfene oygn, 1937

Vilner mitogblat, undated

Der Aufstieg, 1930

Letzte Nayes, 1918

Haynt, undated

(Polish, Hebrew, Russian, Yiddish, German)

Folder 176: Der vilner ekspres
1932-1936

correspondence about the publication of a novel, “From the American Underworld,” from Dos emese vort

letter of complaint from Haynt

receipts

Folder 177: Vilner tog
1921-1939

correspondence, including the Tel-Aviv Museum, Vilna Orphans’ Committee, letters from the readers

financial report, May-September 1921

contract between the publishing houses of Kletzkin and Der tog regarding the use of typographic equipment

Folder 178: German publications
1915-1918

Ulk (Spoof), 1918

Wachtfeuer (Watch Fire), c.1915

Folder 179: TSYSHO (Central Yiddish School Organization)
1926-1929
circulars
Folder 180: TSBK (Central Education Committee)
1922-1939
miscellaneous correspondence
Folder 181: Shul-Kult
1929-1936

invitation and program for annual meeting of members, 4/14/34

sampling of subjects being taught by the Shul Kult schools

ticket for a benefit dance production

coupons for the support of the Summer Colony for Infirm Children

preliminary budget, 1930-1931

financial report of a Shul Kult school and kindergarten, 1929-1930

flyer advertising the Shul Kult school system for boys and girls

Folder 182: Frayer Shul Farband (Federation of Secular Schools)
undated
project for the Federation of Secular Schools Platform
Folder 183: Miscellaneous educational materials
1916-1938

model lesson plan

time schedule for schools attending the production of Shakespeare’s, “Much Ado About Nothing,” 1938

class notes for physics and other subjects

announcement of a school strike, 1921

report card from a Jewish elementary school in Swirz, 1926-1927 school year

program for a 50th birthday celebration for Abraham Reisen

program for a Passover ball

program for children’s performances, 1916

program for a nursery school party, 1929-1930 school year

advertisement for Hebrew evening courses

letter by the Hevrah Mefitsei Haskalah School for Boys about the establishment of a local music society, 1918

catalog of a Jewish high school library

Folder 184: Miscellaneous educational materials for Hebrew schools
1929-1940

students’ notes

teachers’ lesson plans

fragmentary memoir and document about student curriculum

school newsletter

poetry

Folder 185: Miscellaneous educational materials
1921

curriculum for week of 3/16/21-3/22/21

student record book from a Yiddish school, c.1921

Folder 186: School Posters and Circulars
1922-1938

ORT’s Jewish Technical School in Vilna, 1922

a 10-year-commemoration of the David Pinski School, signed by students, 1928-1938

ads for home economics, accounting, business courses, various boys’ and girls’ schools (e.g., Vaad Hameuchad, Tushia, and Herzlia)

statistics of pedagogical courses offered by Tarbut in Vilna, 1922

notices about creating an aid agency to support poor and needy Torah scholars

notices about donating funds to an agency that supports poor orphans

Folder 187: Hevrah Mefitsei Haskalah
1921-1930

minutes of meeting about the unification of school committees

notice concerning courses for the preparation of Jewish elementary school teachers

notice about the need to donate money to V. M. Kuperstein’s Mefitsei Haskalah School for Impoverished Girls (est. 1912) (Yiddish)

Folder 188: Correspondence
1916-1917
with the Jewish elementary school located at Antokolstrasse 65 in Vilna
Folder 189: Invitations to various school events
1926-1938
openings, graduations
Folder 190: Hilf Durkh Arbet craft school (Help Through Work)
1920-1930

minutes, 1927

list of names

financial reports by the committee to aid children in Vilna, c.1920

correspondence about students expelled from the school for organizing a strike, 1930

miscellaneous letters

Folder 191: Crafts schools and courses in Vilna
1915

course list

minutes

leaflets

Folder 192: Jewish Technical Evening Courses
1917-1919
minutes and various correspondence
Folder 193: Handbills advertising educational courses
undated

Hebrew and German classes

Polish language and literature

Folder 194: Various Hebrew schools
1919-1934

correspondence

flyers

stamps

list of teachers

Folder 195: Tarbut High School Tushia
1928-1938

correspondence with the rabbi and president of the Jewish Kehillah in Glebokie, 5/25/1928

announcements about the opening of a new Tushia girls’ school

invitation to a school exhibition, 1938

Folder 196: Tarbut Evening School
1921-1937

invitations to a meeting, a cornerstone laying ceremony and other festivities, April 10-13, 1937

announcement about the opening of an elementary school for the Natural Sciences and Humanities

Tarbut monthly budget

minutes

Folder 197: Ze’irei Zion Tarbut Evening School
1915-1919

invitation to a parents’ meeting

school diploma for 1916-1917

general budget for Ze’irei Zion, Vilna, 12/1915-8/1916

minutes

circular announcing the opening of Hebrew language evening courses (multiple copies)

document announcing an upcoming lecture series titled, “Popular Readings on the Jews and Judaism”

(Hebrew, Yiddish)

Folder 198: Epstein Hebrew Tarbut High School
1917-1929

documents of a financial nature

notice about public meeting on the topic “The Question Concerning Lithuania and the Jews,” 12/29/1917

announcement about the beginning of Hebrew courses for educators

circular about the Epstein School’s course of study and entrance exam

student report card, 1928-1929

student ID cards

Folder 199: Epstein Hebrew Tarbut High School
1918-1933

announcement about the 20-year-anniversary celebration of the Epstein School

financial accounts for 1924-1925

letter from Tarbut requesting financial support from parents

Folder 200: Beit HaSefer Ha-Poalim
1919-1920

request letter for financial assistance

accounts

Folder 201: Beit Yehuda School
1920

letter of certification about the school’s kitchen and the baking of bread, 2/24/1920

list of weak children who are in need of larger food rations, c.1920

list of children receiving clothes

Folder 202: Yitzhak Tzirkl Jewish School in Vilna
1919-1921

registration notice

budget for 1919

blank payment form

blank student card from 1919-1920

payment notification letter from Mizrachi, 1921

blank forms for parent-teacher conferences

Folder 203: Vaad Hameukhad shel Hatalmud Toyres (United Committee of Jewish Schools)
1919-1927

report of the teachers’ salary for January-April 1919 from the Talmud Torah

letter on behalf of 2 teachers asking to receive salary payments for the months of January-April

circular from the religious school Tikuni about Hebrew education

budget for the Takhkemoni schools

circular about the opening of a boys’ school where both Hebrew and general subjects will be taught

Folder 204: Kibbutz Beit Shaul
1919
financial accounts
Folder 205: Kibbutz Lomdei Torah
1916-1919

financial accounts

correspondence

Folder 206: Various Jewish school materials
1915-1930

summary of a questionnaire among the students at the Tarbut school in Rowne about student self-government, c.1930

student news bulletin, 11/24/1915

student course schedule

concert program, 1927

music program (on decorated red background)

student’s trilingual, hand-made sign with the message, “Peace with Russia”

2 student notebooks (one containing illustrations)

Folder 207: Vilna Talmud Torah
1914-1928

receipts for aid, 1914-1925

various correspondence, 1922-1925

insurance policy for the Talmud Torah Committee building, 1928

miscellaneous

Folder 208: Letters from rabbis to relgious schools
1921, undated

Samuel Fried, undated

Moishe Karelitz, 1921

about aid for religious teachers

Folder 209: Kheyder Tvuna
undated
list of students
Folder 210: Various Talmud Torah materials
undated

blank lottery ticket on behalf of Achiezer

blank receipts from a Talmud Torah school in Nowogrodek

temporary voucher for Keren Beit Yaakov in Vilna

blank enrollment form for the Torah Vadaat school

student-decorated program for a Chanukah celebration

Folder 211: Germaise and Levinson Synagogue
1920
minutes from the second congregants’ meeting, with 47 people in attendance, 1/10/1920 (Polish, Yiddish)
Folder 212: Kabronishe Synagogue
1916-1922, undated

blank donation card

ticket

“IOU” notice

receipts

request to donate religious books formerly belonging to deceased family members to the Synagogue

circulars about upcoming meetings and lectures being given at the Kabronishe Synagogue, 1916-1922

Folder 213: Taharat Hakodesh Synagogue
1916-1933

entrance cards and assigned seating tickets for High Holiday services, 1926-1929, 1932-1933

Chanukah programs (some duplicates), 12/24/1916

receipts for synagogue donations (Russian, Yiddish)

notice about upcoming rabbi’s lecture

Folder 214: The Great Synagogue (Beit Hakneset Hagadol)
1918-1933, undated

blank form about assigned seating

entrance and seating cards, especially for women, c.1907-1931

synagogue meeting notice

notice concerning upcoming rabbis’ lectures

notice about Chanukah candle lighting ceremony

notice about Rabbi Maisel’s (a religious leader at the Great Synagogue for 40+ years) untimely passing

notice about sending boys to study with rabbis in preparation for their Bar-Mitzvahs

bookkeeping accounts of rabbis who teach classes at the Great Synagogue, 1919-1920

balance payment, 1931

Folder 215: The Poplaver Synagogue
1920, undated

poster announcing Yossele Rosenblatt’s upcoming appearance

synagogue entrance cards

notices upcoming rabbis’ lectures

funeral of a leading synagogue figure, Chaim Rubinowicz, 1920

Folder 216: The Poalei Zedek Synagogue
1925

appeals

card announcing Moshe Koussevitzky’s upcoming visit

Folder 217: List of letters sold for the Sefer Torah written in memory of the Chofetz Chaim
c.1933-1935

sponsored by the Vaad Hayeshivot

letters from the Book of Genesis

Folder 218: Appeals from rabbis
1916-1932
Yiddish, Hebrew
Folder 219: Appeals from rabbis
1915-1917
Yiddish, Hebrew
Folder 220: List of prayer houses in Vilna and the rabbis who will speak there about Zionism on Shabbat Nachamu
undated
Folder 221: Essay about the Alte Kloyz
undated
handwritten Yiddish
Folder 222: Various synagogues in Vilna
1918-1932

Alte Kloyz

Shaulke's Kloyz

Beit Knesset Dr. Zanvil

Khevra Torah Kloyz

Zavkhey Tzedek

Gesher Hayarok Kloyz

others

Folder 223: Sabbath appeals and notices
undated
Folder 224: Statistical population tables
1919
(Russian)
Folder 225: Blank census form
1931
(Polish)
Folder 226: Invitations to family affairs
1913-1938
Folder 227: Obituaries
1929-1930
(Hebrew, Yiddish)
Folder 228: Door signs from around Vilna
undated
(Yiddish)
Folder 229: Part of an archival catalogue
undated
(on cards)
Folder 230: Leaflets relating to the Polish parliament (Sejm)
1923
Folder 231: Manifest of the German Governor-General von Beseler
1916
about establishment of an autonomous Polish state, 11/5/1916 (German)
Folder 232: Personal writings about World War I
1913-1918, undated
(German, Polish, Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian)
Folder 233: Various private correspondence
undated
materials removed to RG 29.1
Folder 234: “Declaration of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania”
1915

leaflet

(Yiddish, Lithuanian, Russian, Polish)

Folder 235: Miscellaneous Lithuanian Government materials
1920, 1939-1940
Folder 236: Elections to the City Council
1919
Folder 237: Announcements from the Starosta (city marshall)
1921
Folder 238: Elections to the Kasa Chorych (Sick Fund)
1923
Folder 239: Elections to the Kasa Chorych (Sick Fund)
1926
Folder 240: Elections to the City Council
1927
Folder 241: Elections to the City Council
1927
Folder 242: Elections to the City Council
1927
Folder 243: Elections to the City Council
1927
Folder 244: Elections to the City Council
1927
Folder 245: Elections to the City Council
1927
Folder 246: Elections to the City Council
1927
Folder 247: Elections to the City Council
1927
Folder 248: Elections to the City Council
1927
Folder 249: Elections to the Sejm
1928
Folder 250: Elections to the Sejm
c.1928
Folder 251: Elections to the Sejm
1930
Folder 253: Elections to the City Council Elections to the Vilna Kehillah
1934, , 1935
Folder 254: Elections to the Vilna Kehillah
1935
Folder 255: Elections to the Sejm
1935
Folder 256: Elections to the Sejm
1938
Folder 257: Announcements and leaflets from the Police government
1918-1921
Folder 258: Elections to the Vilna Kehillah
1921
Folder 259: Elections to the Sejm and Senate
1922
Folder 260: Miscellaneous leaflets
1914-1927

obituaries

flyers and announcements

political gatherings

election materials

Folder 261: Khevra Kadisha (Burial Society)
1931
city permit to collect donations, Aug. 20, 1931

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