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.

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

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, 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, Political campaigns, Posters - Political posters, Professional associations, Religious life and customs, 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, Vilnius, Vilnius (Lithuania), 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:

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

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

Browse by Series:

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