Metadata: Jewish community in Königsberg
Collection
- Country:
- Poland
- Holding institution:
- State Archives in Olsztyn
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archiwum Państwowe w Olsztynie
- Postal address:
- Olsztyn, Partyzantów 18, 10-521 przegródka pocztowa 412
- Phone number:
- +89 527-60-96
- Web address:
- olsztyn.ap.gov.pl
- Reference number:
- Zespół 1645
- Title:
- Jewish community in Königsberg
- Title (official language):
- Gmina żydowska w Królewcu
- Creator/accumulator:
- Jewish Community in Königsberg
- Date(s):
- 1750/1927
- Language:
- German
- Extent:
- 1.7 linear metres
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection comprises documents from the Jewish Community in Königsberg from 1750-1927. The earliest group of documents (dated 1750-1792) shows the implementation of edicts relating to Jews adopted in 1750, with Yiddish translation. There are also documents from the 1790s regarding the use of stamps (“Stempel”) and their taxation.
Many of the documents are certificates from the Napoleonic period. These include behaviour certificates (“Conduiten Attest”) dated from 1810-1816 (67 documents out of 276 in the collection). These certificates were mostly requested by Jews for their own use, or sometimes by family members. One certificate was requested by the employer of a Jewish servant. During this period (1812-1820) Jews also requested poverty certificates (“Armen Attest”, 19 requests dated 1812-1815), claims for working certificates (“Engagement Attest”, 20 cases), and regular birth and death certificates (6 cases dated from 1812 to 1816).The collection also includes a significant number of documents regarding financial operations conducted by the community during the years after the war, including new construction and repair of the synagogue, such as documentation on the rebuilding of the first synagogue (“Alte Synagoge”), which burned down in 1811 and was rebuilt in 1815. In addition, the collection contains a number of insurance and tax declarations. There is also correspondence between the Qahal in Berlin and the Qahal in Königsberg from 1812 and a request from a Jew to the Qahal requesting support in 1818.
Several documents dated from 1815-1832 describe the sale of synagogue artifacts, for example the sale of two altar cards addressed to the King (dated 1819-1820).
Documents referred to in the period from 1840-1913 are mostly lists of births, deaths and marriages, as well as proceedings conducted by the board and by community representatives (cases dated from 1858 to 1919). There are also scholarly works on Judaism (1895-1912) and its teaching at schools (1910-1913).
Documents from World War I discuss aid to Jewish victims, widows and orphans and one request from the community to the central army (dated 1914). After the war there are documents of the Association of German Jews and Jewish Association for Charity, in particular relating to aid to returning emigrants.
- Archival history:
- The State Archive in Olsztyn (Staatsarchiv Allenstein) was established in 1948. The area of the former Kingdom of Prussia was initially under the responsibility of the State Archive of Königsberg. The aim of the Archive was to collect Prussian-related material as well as documents connected with Polish history. After 1953 the Archive was permitted to keep other new valuable historical documents or documents returned to the archive from other institutions. The uneven growth of the collection had ended by the end of the 20th century. In 2001 the collection comprised 1,804 groups of archival materials, among them 910 belonging to pre- 1945. The collection contains extensive material from the 17th and 18th centuries, but the majority of the files were created in the 19th century. The collection includes materials from Prussian governmental institutions, city documents and religious institutions, a large part of which are documents collected from Jewish synagogues and local communities.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- A permanent Jewish community started to develop in Königsberg at the beginning of the 18th century (although the first Jews had settled in the city in the 16th century).The cherva kadisha was established in 1703 and a Jewish cemetery was opened the following year. During the first half of the 18th century, the Jewish community in Königsberg grew from 50 to 300 members. The first synagogue was built in 1756. The growth of the number of Jewish residents was related to the gradual emancipation of Jews in Prussia (according to the edicts of 1750, 1812 and 1869) and, as a consequence, migration of German and Russian Jews to Prussia. During the 19th century and in the beginning of the 20th century about one third of all Jews living in Prussia lived in Königsberg. In 1880 the Jewish population in Königsberg reached 5,000. The community declined from the 1920s due to anti-Jewish campaigns and the Holocaust.
- Access points: locations:
- Olsztyn
- Yerusha Network member:
- Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
- Author of the description:
- Antonina Martynenko
