Vilna Jewish Community Council

Title: Vilna Jewish Community Council

Inclusive Dates: 1800-1940

ID: RG 10

Extent Information

12'2"; 28 5"lgl; 1 3"lgl; 1 3"ovr

Arrangement

All boxes are arranged

Creators

Vilna Jewish Community Council

Administrative/Biographical History

Beginning in the 16th century the Jewish community of Vilna, Lithuania was governed by an autonomous administrative body, called the Kehillah (or Kahal). After the partition of Poland in 1794, when Lithuania was annexed to the Russian Empire, the Kehillah steadily declined in power until it was abolished in 1844. The Tsedakah Gedolah which replaced it was limited to charitable and religious functions. In 1919, the Tsedakah Gedolah was replaced by an elected New Kehillah (*Naye kehile*). This institution was eventually dissolved in 1940 by the Soviet authorities.

Subjects (links to similar collections)

Forms of Material (links to similar genres)

Documents - Records

Finding Aid Information

Inventory: Yiddish, 8 pp., typed

Administrative Information

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Other Formats: MK 530

Description: These are incomplete records of the Kehillah covering mainly the period of the Tzedakah Gedolah, 1844-1918, and the New Kehillah, 1919-1940. Some pre-1844 records are included. Originally part of the YIVO Archives in Vilna, only a third of the collection was recovered after World War II. Additional records of the Vilna Kehillah are in the custody of the Central Historical Archives in Vilnius, Lithuania. The collection relates to all three administrations, although records of the first "kahal" period cover only 1800-1844 and are very sparse. Records of the Kehillah, 1800-1844: Agreement with the Talmud Torah, 1825. Materials on relations with the Christian butchers' guild, 1800-1806. List of taxpayers. Legal documents, correspondence. Records of the Tsedakah Gedolah, 1844-1919. Correspondence, minutes, reports, legal documents, court materials, lists, relating to various departments and activities. Minutes of the Kehillah meetings, materials of the Hevrah Kadisha (burial society), 1849-1860. Materials on the meat tax, low-priced housing, Passover relief activities, relief work during World War I. Lists of taxpayers. Correspondence with Russian and German government authorities. Records of the New Kehillah, 1919-1940. Records relating to the following departments: Legal Department; Complaint Committee; Economic, Educational and Financial Departments; Child Care Commission; Social Services; interest free loan (*Gmilas khesed*) office; Community Taxes; Food Supply Section; Firewood Committee; Matzah Committee; Religious Department; the Vaad Harabonim. Lists of candidates in the Kehillah elections. Minutes of the governing bodies such as the Executive Committee, 1919-1931, the Presidium, 1919-1924, Management Committee, 1919-1931. Budget and financial reports, 1919-1939. Correspondence with the Municipality of Vilna. Correspondence with Jewish deputies in the Polish Diet, with Polish and Lithuanian government officials, the Jewish National Council in Lithuania. Correspondence and proclamations of the Vaad Harabonim, 1917-1936. Birth, death and marriage certificates, 1909-1930. Lists of Jews in Vilna, 1925, 1937. Materials on community taxes, hospitals, community elections, 1918, 1928. Minutes, correspondence about the pogrom of April 1919 in Vilna.

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