Abraham Sutzkever and Szmerke Kaczergingski Collection (RG-223, Vilna Ghetto, Part 1)

This collection contains materials relating to the Vilna ghetto, its daily life and living conditions in the ghetto, social and cultural work, activities of the Judenrat (Jewish Council) and the Jewish interaction with the German and Lithuanian authorities.The records consists of: maps of the ghetto, 1942, diaries, chronicles and manuscripts on the history of the ghetto by Zelig Kalmanovitch, Herman Kruk, Yitschak Rudashevsky, Szmerke Kaczerginski, personal identification documents such as badges, armbands, identification cards, passes; materials on the ghetto administration and its divisions: health, social relief, distribution and supply, statistics, ghetto police, ghetto court, cultural affairs, labor, education; materials on various cultural groups; the issues of the Geto yedies (Ghetto News),1942-43, a weekly bulletin, appearing every Sunday; materials about the partisan groups in and outside the ghetto, including underground publications, and materials on life in the labor and concentration camps; photographs of daily scenes in the ghetto, partisans, destroyed buildings of the YIVO, the Strashun Library, and the Vilna Gaon's synagogue. Also included in this collection are items which relate to Jewish life in Vilna immediately after the Holocaust, and post-war testimonies against war criminals or in praise of righteous gentiles.

Arranged in 31 series: 1. Maps; 2. Diaries and chronicles of the Ghetto; 3. Notices, orders, announcements, releases, ordinances, etc.; 4. Badges, armbands, and personal documents; 5. Department of Housing; 6. Department of Health; 7. Department of Social Services; 8. Department of Distribution and Care; 9. Relief Committee; 10. Employment in and outside the Ghetto: Slave labor, Brigade Council; 11. “Geto-yedies” (Ghetto News-Bulletin); 12. Statistical Office; General Division; 13. The Ghetto Police; 14.The Ghetto Court; 15. Culture in the Ghetto; General materials of the Cultural Department; 16. The Library and reading room; The bookstore; 17. The school system; 18. The theater; 19. Union of Authors and Actors; 20. The Museum; 21. Cultural institutions; 22. Cultural events; 23. Sports Department and the Youth Club; 24. Ghetto organizations; 25. Ghetto documents; 26. History of the Ghetto; Research works written in the Ghetto, etc.; 27. Partisans; 28. Various materials from inside and outside the Ghetto; 29. Ghettos outside of Vilna; 30. Photographs [The following folders were not microfilmed: #710.1-710.37]; 31. Supplement.