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

Identifier
irn90256
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2014.334
  • RG-67.042M
Dates
1 Jan 1939 - 31 Dec 1944, 1 Jan 1939 - 31 Dec 1950
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • German
  • Hebrew
  • Lithuanian
  • Polish
  • Russian
  • Yiddish
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

6,339 digital images, JPEG

5 microfilm reels (digitized), 35 mm

Archival History

Yivo Institute for Jewish Research

Acquisition

The collection is of mixed provenance. The Vilna Ghetto material was generated by a number of governmental and organizational bodies: German military and civil authorities, Lithuanian municipal authorities, the first Judenrat of Vilna, the Judenrats of Vilna Ghetto No. 1 and Vilna Ghetto No. 2, the numerous departments and divisions of these Judenrats, the cultural institutions and organizations of Vilna, and private individuals. In addition to the documents related to the Vilna Ghetto, there are documents generated in the post war period, collected in the Jewish Museum, and sent by Sutzkever and Kaczerginski to YIVO after the war together with the ghetto materials. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received the collection from YIVO via the United States Holocaust Museum International Archives Project in Dec. 2014.

Scope and Content

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.

System of Arrangement

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.

Conditions Governing Reproduction

Copyright Holder: Yivo Institute for Jewish Research

People

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.