The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, dedicated to the preservation of Jewish heritage, is marking a significant milestone in its journey as it celebrates its centennial anniversary.
Nestled in a charming brick building in New York City, YIVO boasts an extensive archive, library, and galleries that house over 24 million items.
In celebrating this remarkable achievement, YIVO has published a coffee table book featuring 100 carefully selected objects from its vast collection. Each object is accompanied by an essay reflecting its unique story and significance.
Stefanie Halpern, the director of the YIVO archives and the book’s editor, illuminated the critical role of zamlers, or “collectors” in Yiddish, in preserving the YIVO archives during the Holocaust.
As the Jewish people faced existential threats during this dark period, these committed individuals helped safeguard the organization’s future and the heritage entrusted to it.
Many zamlers found themselves forced by the Nazis to sort through various materials, facing tough decisions on what to discard and what to send to the Institute for the Study of the Jewish Question in Frankfurt.
However, a dedicated group among these forced laborers devised a plan to protect the materials at all costs.
“Amongst these groups of forced laborers, there was a smaller group that decided that they were going to save these materials at all costs,” Halpern recounted.
The zamlers, who held deep connections to YIVO and recognized the historical importance of the materials, took tremendous risks to preserve their ancestors’ heritage.
They smuggled artifacts out of the YIVO building into the Vilna ghetto, burying them for safekeeping.
Remarkably, two members of the so-called paper brigade survived the war, returning to the ghetto after its end to excavate these buried materials and resume collecting more artifacts.
These precious items made their way to New York City, where YIVO has been headquartered since 1940.
As YIVO reflects on 100 years of preservation work, the hope is that this newly released book, available since June 22, will bridge gaps between the institute and the general public.
The book categorizes items into diverse themes, including beliefs and customs, history, the written word, performing arts, visual arts, labor, youth, the Holocaust and its aftermath, immigration, and YIVO’s own history.
Halpern shared that she has contemplated the concept of this collection for quite some time.
“It’s something that I’ve been thinking about for a long time,” Halpern expressed.
“We have such rich material in the archive and in the library, and the collections are so varied and so wide-ranging. It’s often intimidating to walk into an institution like ours, or just come to the reading room and use the materials.”
With this book, she aimed to showcase the extensive breadth of YIVO’s collection while helping demystify its archives for readers.
Growing up in Philadelphia, Halpern noted that one artifact in the book—a handbill advertising a Yiddish play presented at the historic Arch Street Theatre—holds a special connection to her hometown.
Elucidating the importance of the play, she pointed out that until its demolition in 1936, the Arch Street Theatre was the second-oldest theater in the country.
The one-night performance of “Hirsh Lekert” in 1932 featured a New York cast and had a significant impact on Yiddish dramatic entertainment.
Joel Berkowitz, who authored an essay included in the book, remarked on the way Yiddish drama often spotlighted conflicts between everyday people and those wielding more power and wealth.
The task of selecting just 100 objects from a collection of millions was not a simple feat for YIVO’s team.
Initially, they compiled a list of noteworthy items that had intriguing stories or backgrounds, resulting in a list of several hundred potential candidates.
Halpern explained, “Then, we sat down and looked at them and saw the natural patterns that emerged in terms of the thematic areas, and then within that, we placed these things … and then really had to narrow down.”
They also prioritized the inclusion of objects with strong narratives and essays that would engage readers, with a collaborative effort from 57 scholars contributing entries.
Halpern stressed that while the first 75 items were relatively easy to choose, the final selections proved to be much more challenging.
She emphasized the collaborative nature of the project, crediting the entire team for their contributions, as no single editor could have undertaken this monumental task alone.
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