Guide to the Vilna Collection
1872, 1884, 1900-1940
(bulk 1917-1940)

RG 29, Series 2

budget
minutes
(from Tsemakh Szabad papers)

minutes
budgets
reports

published announcements about city taxes and fees

various announcements and decrees regarding taxes, mandatory education, inoculation against cholera, etc.
(from Tsemakh Szabad papers)

reports from Jewish voting districts

Technical Commission report, 1925
audit report, 1935
electricity expenses
other municipal matters
(from Tsemakh Szabad papers)

statutes
(from J. Rafes papers)

various documents and lists

Winter report on activities

various materials

in which two people died and several Jews were beaten up

official notices
(German, Polish, Yiddish, Lithuanian)

minutes of meetings

leaflets

correspondence

(Russian)

miscellaneous bills, expenses
ketuba

sermons, communal fundraising appeals for children who do not have prayer shawls, announcements about cantors and yahrtzeit observances
for specific synagogues and religious societies

how to pray for rain
how to write a mourning announcement for a great tzaddik
announcement telling the community to pray in a crisis

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

correspondence with individuals
Dos Vort newspaper, 1928
invitations to general meetings
thank you letter to Zalmen Reisen of the Tog, 9/8/27

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

correspondence
bank balance as of 1/1/34

general finance reports

general finance reports

general finance reports

primarily information about apprenticeships and courses of instruction for adolescents

leaflets about:
membership registration
various Association sectors and corresponding members
elections propaganda

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

3 notices

questionnaire and corresponding answers

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

correspondence
finance accounts
circular about the recent establishment of various workshops
advertisement for the sale of electrical appliances
meeting invitations

financial statements
bills
correspondence

same as above

statutes

handwritten and printed

Yiddish, Polish

correspondence, 1933-1934
monthly questionnaires, c.1933
statutes of the Gemilas Khesed Society, undated

finance reports of Vilna district (Yiddish)

leaflets about charity donations
Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian

correspondence, various years

meeting invitations, 1920-1921
soup kitchen ticket, 1917-1918
receipts, 1921, 1928
ambulatory: daily hours of hospital departments
stamps

stubs of aid distributed
register of recipients
miscellaneous

promissory notes, 1917-1918
register of aid distributed
letter from an unemployed man requesting financial assistance
sign for theatrical performance sponsored by Agudat Achim

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

"list of orphans, 1923
meeting invitation, 1932
invitation, 1932 "

Sheva Kiruyim
Oseh Khesed
YEKOPO

notice about theft of 2 cows
finance reports, 1916, 1920
leaflets requesting financial assistance
list of assets in 1890

leaflets and correspondence

minutes

finance records (balances)

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

bread coupons
circular requesting donations

correspondence
expenses

bylaws

leaflets about donations
notice about upcoming meeting

minutes
elegies

leaflets calling for financial contributions
blank contributions form

finance reports and minutes

minutes
correspondence
leaflet

miscellaneous records, minutes
loans given to street peddlars

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

Jewish Aid Committee in Oszmiana, 1919
Hovevei Zion Society
Home for the Aged in Jerusalem

Committee To Aid the Victims of the Pogrom in Palestine, 1929
Hadassah Medical Organization, 1925

pp. 7-9 only

documents about the establishment of a YEKOPO publishing house and bookstore, 1923
lists of books distributed, 1924, 1928

reports about rebuilding Jewish homes destroyed or damaged in the war, 1925
minutes of a meeting held by YEKOPO

documents about an agreement between the (AJDC) Joint Distribution Committee and YEKOPO, 1919–1924
report concerning YEKOPO activities, 1921

records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna

records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna

records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna

records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna

records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna

records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna

records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna

records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna

records of goods distributed from the YEKOPO warehouse in Vilna

various documents including situation report from the Brest Litovsk, post-war
minutes of a meeting of the YEKOPO central committee, Vilna

correspondence from JDC, American Joint Reconstruction Foundation (AJRF), Fund for the Relief of the Jewish Victims of the War in Russia, etc.

insurance certificates

blank forms for reporting economic situation and cultural needs of Jewish population reports
questionnaires
registration cards
savings and loan forms

certificate verifying that Khayim Shneider is unable to work and pay for his children to attend school, 3/18/20
member card, 1928

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

financial reports

reports on help to homeowners

miscellaneous correspondence, announcements

various correspondence, especially between Vilna and Warsaw branches
reports

list of clients

especially in regard to upcoming lectures given by well-known visiting rabbis and for the sake of providing aid to poor and impoverished Jews

leaflet about distribution of sugar

lists of products
minutes
financial papers

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

admissions questionnaires
aid requests

expenses, bills, receipts
inventories

correspondence
ledger

leaflets
correspondence

statute, typed, Vilna, 1920 (Russian)
signatures
shekel coupons
leaflets
letters

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

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”

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

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

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

appeals regarding “Week of the Shekel” imploring people not to remain silent, uncertain, or indifferent at this particular juncture in time (Yiddish)

statistical membership data, April-June 1935
questionnaire concerning Jews who are qualified as laborers and craftsmen and intend to emigrate to Palestine, undated

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

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

lecture invitation on “Woman’s Emancipation amongst All Nations and by Us”
blank membership declaration form
various blank and completed invitations

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

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”

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)

list of kibbutz members who are planning to emigrate to Palestine, February 28, 1940
document of a fragmentary nature

monthly bookkeeping accounts, 1930
newsletters about upcoming events and recent developments, 1933, 1936

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

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)

correspondence with the Tarbut Teachers’ Seminary in Vilna
school materials, such as Hebrew vocabulary words with Russian translations, mathematical calculations, religious Jewish texts

invitation card for a celebratory evening, 1923
reply to the Jewish Journalists’ Syndicate in Vilna, 12/21/33

principles

announcements, pre-1920

miscellaneous correspondence and announcements

announcements and proclamation

during and after the first World War
resolutions and appeals to the Vilna City Council

regarding hunger situation among the city’s workers, 9/4/16

minutes

election leaflets

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

correspondence regarding conflicts with employers

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

minutes of union committees
minutes of strike committees, 1936, 1938
correspondence with employers regarding job problems in their workshops

notes about membership dues
partial list of union members

membership cards
invitations
questionnaire
notices

election leaflets
meeting notice
report of “general principles”

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”

report of a meeting
application form
membership cards

handwritten minutes

meeting notice
handwritten minutes

lists of printers in Vilna
requests for payment from the newspaper Unzer Tog
correspondence about employment issues including the publisher Kletskin
financial report

Construction Workers
Brush Makers
Tobacco Workers

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

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

invitations and RSVPs for doctors’ convention to be held 16-17 May, 1937
correspondence, documents requesting medical aid for Jewish refugees from Germany, 1938

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

union membership and payment cards
copies of certificates in nursing from TOZ Nursing School and other schools in Vilna

bound volume of correspondence

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

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

requests for financial aid for library
minutes
invitation to the conference of Vilna libraries
correspondence with “Menorah,” a Jewish family newspaper

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

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)

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

minute book
including newspaper clippings and handwritten records

appeal to donate materials, 1/1/1920
flyers

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

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

not YIVO
flyers about the Jewish Scientific Society
correspondence
by-laws

correspondence with Hebrew University in Jerusalem
meeting invitation
contact card for Aaron Carlin, editor and manager of the monthly journal, “Die Feder”

invitation from S. Ansky
list of Jewish artists

leaflets announcing cantorial and choir performances
performance ticket
list of choir singers

announcement of lecture on Maxim Gorky
correspondence, 1940
course being offered by Shtern

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

correspondence of the Kletzkin and Ahiasaf publishing houses, 1902-1923
catalog of the Kletzkin’s Vilna Publishing House, 1924

correspondence with Zalmen Reisin

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?”

permits from Vilna’s municipality to organize concerts and lectures

children’s publication
list of subscribers (Polish, Russian, Yiddish)
(misplaced)

correspondence
announcements

contract, 1913
article with the censor’s stamp, 1916

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

handwritten

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)

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

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

Ulk (Spoof), 1918
Wachtfeuer (Watch Fire), c.1915

circulars

miscellaneous correspondence

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

project for the Federation of Secular Schools Platform

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

students’ notes
teachers’ lesson plans
fragmentary memoir and document about student curriculum
school newsletter
poetry

curriculum for week of 3/16/21-3/22/21
student record book from a Yiddish school, c.1921

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

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)

with the Jewish elementary school located at Antokolstrasse 65 in Vilna

openings, graduations

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

course list
minutes
leaflets

minutes and various correspondence

Hebrew and German classes
Polish language and literature

correspondence
flyers
stamps
list of teachers

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

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

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)

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

announcement about the 20-year-anniversary celebration of the Epstein School
financial accounts for 1924-1925
letter from Tarbut requesting financial support from parents

request letter for financial assistance
accounts

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

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

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

financial accounts

financial accounts
correspondence

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)

receipts for aid, 1914-1925
various correspondence, 1922-1925
insurance policy for the Talmud Torah Committee building, 1928
miscellaneous

Samuel Fried, undated
Moishe Karelitz, 1921
about aid for religious teachers

list of students

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

minutes from the second congregants’ meeting, with 47 people in attendance, 1/10/1920 (Polish, Yiddish)

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

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

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

poster announcing Yossele Rosenblatt’s upcoming appearance
synagogue entrance cards
notices upcoming rabbis’ lectures
funeral of a leading synagogue figure, Chaim Rubinowicz, 1920

appeals
card announcing Moshe Koussevitzky’s upcoming visit

sponsored by the Vaad Hayeshivot
letters from the Book of Genesis

Yiddish, Hebrew

Yiddish, Hebrew

handwritten Yiddish

Alte Kloyz
Shaulke's Kloyz
Beit Knesset Dr. Zanvil
Khevra Torah Kloyz
Zavkhey Tzedek
Gesher Hayarok Kloyz
others

(Russian)

(Polish)

(Hebrew, Yiddish)

(Yiddish)

(on cards)

about establishment of an autonomous Polish state, 11/5/1916 (German)

(German, Polish, Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian)

materials removed to RG 29.1

leaflet
(Yiddish, Lithuanian, Russian, Polish)

obituaries
flyers and announcements
political gatherings
election materials

city permit to collect donations, Aug. 20, 1931