Jewish Community of Viljandi

Collection description

Scope and content:: The collection includes books of civil records of the Jewish community of Viljandi from the years 1917-20 and 1921-26.

Archival history:: The civil record books were kept in the archive of the Estonian Ministry of the Interior until 2009, when they were transferred to the Estonian Historical Archives in Tartu.

Administrative/biographical history:: A Jewish community in Viljandi did not exist before the last decades of the 19th century. Artisans and demobilised soldiers settled in the town from the 1860s. A Jewish prayer house was established in 1876; a burial society and other communal institutions were established in subsequent years.

In 1897 the community numbered 166 members. In 1920 the community was accredited by the authorities of independent Estonia and in 1926 it joined the system of Jewish cultural self-government in Estonia as part of the Regional Jewish Cultural Self-Government of Viljandi. In 1934 the community numbered 121 members; it functioned officially until the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940.

Access, restrictions:: The collection is open for reference at the Historical Arсhives of Estonia, Tartu. For further data and online access (registration may be required), see the digital access system of the Estonian Archives.

Finding aids:: Data is available at the web portal of the National Archives of Estonia: http://ais.ra.ee, Detailotsing – Leidandmed – EAA.5420.

For further data see the following collections: ERA.14 (Ministry of Interior of Estonia); ERA.2277 (Regional Jewish Cultural Self-Government of Viljandi); see the list of Jewish-related materials at the digital access system of the Estonian Archives.

For statistical data on the Jewish community of Viljandi gathered by the local Police Board see: EAA.351.1.118, EAA.351.1.137.

Yerusha Network member:: Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People

Author of the description:: Tatjana Schor, Historical Archives of Estonia, and Alex Valdman, Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, 2015