Metadata : Tartu Jewish Charitable Society
Collection
- Country:
- Estonia
- Holding institution:
- National Archives of Estonia
- Holding institution (official language):
- Eesti Rahvusarhiiv
- Postal address:
- Tallinn, Madara 24
- Phone number:
- +372 693 8668
- Web address:
- www.ra.ee
- Email:
- tallinn@ra.ee
- Country:
- Estonia
- Holding institution:
- National Archives of Estonia
- Holding institution (official language):
- Eesti Rahvusarhiiv
- Postal address:
- Tallinn, Madara 24
- Phone number:
- +372 693 8668
- Web address:
- www.ra.ee
- Email:
- tallinn@ra.ee
- Reference number:
- ERA.2285
- Title:
- Tartu Jewish Charitable Society
- Title (official language):
- Tartu Juudi Hoolekande Selts
- Creator/accumulator:
- National Archives in Tallinn
- Date(s):
- 1896/1940
- Language:
- Estonian
- German
- Hebrew
- Yiddish
- Russian
- Extent:
- 26 storage units
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains documents from several Jewish charitable organisations which were active from 1896 to 1940.
One part of the collection describes the activities of Jewish schools and a Jewish charitable society before 1917, when Tartu (then known as Yuryev) was a part of the Russian Empire (in the Governorate of Livonia); the documents are mostly written in Russian. The earliest items dated between 1898 and 1901 describe the activities of the Jewish two-years private elementary school in Tartu (Russian: «двухклассное начальное еврейское училище») run by Emilia Shtamm (Эмилия Штамм). (ERA.2285.1.17). The school continued operating after 1901 (see: ERA.2283.1.60 and ERA.2283.1.73).
In 1907 the management of the school was transferred to the newly established Yuryev Jewish Charitable Society (rus. Юрьевское еврейское благотворительное общество); materials gathered from this organisation constitute a large part of the collection. The folders ERA.2285.1.2 (1907-1912) and ERA.2285.1.3 (1907-1917) contain minutes of meetings and lists of attendants discussing the goals and future activities of the society. The society's charter is contained in folder ERA.2283.1.81 (Устав еврейского благотворительного общества, 1917, typewritten text). Folder ERA.2285 also contains the charter of another charitable organisation. In 1908 physician Nosson Gens volunteered to become the secretary of the Yuryev society (ERA.2285.1.2. P.116; see also Nosson Gens’ personal collection: ERA.2282); there is also a letter to Gens dated 1917 in the collection (ERA.2285.1.13. P. 127).
The main activities of the Yuryev Jewish Charitable Society were the management of the Jewish elementary school and the support of Jewish orphans and children from poor families funded through monthly membership dues and the organisations of balls, cultural evenings, concerts, etc. For example, on 12 January 1917 the violinist Jascha Heifetz performed at the Vanemuine theatre (Tartu); on 2 January 1918 the society held a concert with Russian opera singer Pavel Kurzner.
Besides Jewish school affairs, in 1916 the Society established a Jewish children’s library in Tartu in honor of Jakov Eiges (Russian: Яков Александрович Эйгес, died 31 August 1916) who was a Jewish doctor and also a society board member. The library was created in cooperation with other Tartu Jewish organisations (Tartu Jewish Student Fund, Tartu Jewish Youth Organisation for the Study of History and literature and others (see: ERA.2285.1.4)).
Simultaneously, the Charitable Society reorganised the Tartu Jewish school renaming it "Haschachar" ("Dawn"). Schachne Polotzkoi from Riga was hired as the school manager and also taught. The collection contains correspondence between the Riga educational authority and the Yuryev society concerning the Jewish school in Yuryev (dated 1910-1917), school curricula and timetables, lists of teachers and pupils. The reorganisation of the school coincided with the Estonian War of Independence when a new law on schools was issued (1918); in 1917-1918 the language of society’s internal documents changed to German and Yiddish, documents regarding school reorganisation were mostly written in German (see: ERA.2285.1.13-15, 18). According to the documents gathered in the folder ERA.2285.1.12, in 1918 it was decided to teach in “the Jewish language” only religious subjects and Jewish history and language while other subjects were to be taught in German (“Jewish” language in the Estonian context refers to Yiddish in the beginning of the 20th century, but in the 1930s Hebrew was also used). The present collection includes timetables, curricula and other school documents dated 1918-1919 (mostly in German). There are also financial records and documents issued by the society between 1906 and 1918.
The collection does not include materials dated between 1920 and 1931. It is likely that these documents have not yet been sorted by the archive (the AIS system noted that 6.1 kg of material was still unsorted: “Fondi korrastamise käigus eraldati hävitamiseks 6,1 kg lahtist materjali”). However, part of the collection describes the activities of the Tartu Jewish Charitable Society “Zdoko-Gdoilo” after 1932 (during the first period of Estonian independence).
The society was officially registered in 1934 (see: ERA.14.9.948). The materials gathered from the society include minutes of meetings (in Russian and in Yiddish, handwritten) and lists of the members dated 1932-1940. There are also minutes from the women’s committee of the society (1936-1940) and a charter of the Dorpat Jewish Women’s Charitable Society “Zdoko Gdoilo” dated 1933 (ger. “Dorpater Jüdischer Frauen Hilfsverein (Zdoko gdoilo)”). This charter of the women’s society was not accepted by Estonian government and the society was not registered in 1933 (see: ERA.14.9.673). The members of the Tartu Jewish Charitable Society (registered one) are listed with their addresses in the folder ERA.2285.1.9. The society was dissolved in 1940 due to the beginning of the Soviet occupation of Estonia.
- Archival history:
- The society was abolished in 1940. Its materials entered the Estonian State Archives in Tallinn in 1953 (during the Soviet occupation, the Estonian archives were governed by Moscow). The collection is currently kept in the National Archives of Estonia in Tallinn (Rahvusarhiiv Tallinnas). The inventory of the collection was included in the Estonian Archival Information System (AIS) in 2000. Part of the materials in the collection are not yet sorted.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Yuryev Jewish Charitable Society (Russian: Юрьевское еврейское благотворительное общество) was registered in the Governorate of Livonia on 3 September 1907. The society aimed to develop Jewish education and support Jews in need. The society organised non-profit concerts, balls, cultural evenings etc. The members of the society also paid a monthly contribution (the amount of money could be decided by the member but should not be less than 10 kopecks). The Board of the Society consisted of: 1) general meeting of the members, 2) society’s main board, 3) audit commission (for more details see: ERA.2283.1.81). The society was formally dissolved in 1918 when Estonia gained its independence. There are no documents about the society’s work in the1920s in the present collection. In 1933 the Dorpat Jewish Women’s Charitable Society unsuccessfully requested to register (see: ERA.14.9.673). The Tartu Jewish Charitable Society (“Zdoko-Gdoilo”) was officially registered on 27 March 1934 (reg. number: 4276, see: ERA.14.9.948). It had similar structure and goals as the Yuryev Society described above. The Tartu Jewish Charitable Society “Zdoko-Gdoilo” was dissolved in 1940 due to the Soviet occupation of Estonia.
- Access points: persons/families:
- Gens, Nosson
- Heifetz, Jascha
- System of arrangement:
- The collection is arranged into thematical groups of documents.
- Finding aids:
- The inventory is accessible online in the Archival Information System: ais.ra.ee; the collection is digitised and available on the Digital archival sources portal Saaga: www.ra.ee/dgs/. The collection is also referenced as “Tartu Jewish Welfare Agency” (see: Weiss-Wendt, Anton. On the Margins: About the History of Jews in Estonia. CEU Press, 2017. P. 278)
- Links to finding aids:
- http://ais.ra.ee
- Yerusha Network member:
- Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
- Author of the description:
- Antonina Martynenko, 2019
- Reference number:
- ERA.2285
- Title:
- Tartu Jewish Charitable Society
- Title (official language):
- Tartu Juudi Hoolekande Selts
- Creator/accumulator:
- National Archives in Tallinn
- Date(s):
- 1896/1940
- Language:
- Estonian
- German
- Hebrew
- Yiddish
- Russian
- Extent:
- 26 storage units
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains documents from several Jewish charitable organisations which were active from 1896 to 1940.
One part of the collection describes the activities of Jewish schools and a Jewish charitable society before 1917, when Tartu (then known as Yuryev) was a part of the Russian Empire (in the Governorate of Livonia); the documents are mostly written in Russian. The earliest items dated between 1898 and 1901 describe the activities of the Jewish two-years private elementary school in Tartu (Russian: «двухклассное начальное еврейское училище») run by Emilia Shtamm (Эмилия Штамм). (ERA.2285.1.17). The school continued operating after 1901 (see: ERA.2283.1.60 and ERA.2283.1.73).
In 1907 the management of the school was transferred to the newly established Yuryev Jewish Charitable Society (rus. Юрьевское еврейское благотворительное общество); materials gathered from this organisation constitute a large part of the collection. The folders ERA.2285.1.2 (1907-1912) and ERA.2285.1.3 (1907-1917) contain minutes of meetings and lists of attendants discussing the goals and future activities of the society. The society's charter is contained in folder ERA.2283.1.81 (Устав еврейского благотворительного общества, 1917, typewritten text). Folder ERA.2285 also contains the charter of another charitable organisation. In 1908 physician Nosson Gens volunteered to become the secretary of the Yuryev society (ERA.2285.1.2. P.116; see also Nosson Gens’ personal collection: ERA.2282); there is also a letter to Gens dated 1917 in the collection (ERA.2285.1.13. P. 127).
The main activities of the Yuryev Jewish Charitable Society were the management of the Jewish elementary school and the support of Jewish orphans and children from poor families funded through monthly membership dues and the organisations of balls, cultural evenings, concerts, etc. For example, on 12 January 1917 the violinist Jascha Heifetz performed at the Vanemuine theatre (Tartu); on 2 January 1918 the society held a concert with Russian opera singer Pavel Kurzner.
Besides Jewish school affairs, in 1916 the Society established a Jewish children’s library in Tartu in honor of Jakov Eiges (Russian: Яков Александрович Эйгес, died 31 August 1916) who was a Jewish doctor and also a society board member. The library was created in cooperation with other Tartu Jewish organisations (Tartu Jewish Student Fund, Tartu Jewish Youth Organisation for the Study of History and literature and others (see: ERA.2285.1.4)).
Simultaneously, the Charitable Society reorganised the Tartu Jewish school renaming it "Haschachar" ("Dawn"). Schachne Polotzkoi from Riga was hired as the school manager and also taught. The collection contains correspondence between the Riga educational authority and the Yuryev society concerning the Jewish school in Yuryev (dated 1910-1917), school curricula and timetables, lists of teachers and pupils. The reorganisation of the school coincided with the Estonian War of Independence when a new law on schools was issued (1918); in 1917-1918 the language of society’s internal documents changed to German and Yiddish, documents regarding school reorganisation were mostly written in German (see: ERA.2285.1.13-15, 18). According to the documents gathered in the folder ERA.2285.1.12, in 1918 it was decided to teach in “the Jewish language” only religious subjects and Jewish history and language while other subjects were to be taught in German (“Jewish” language in the Estonian context refers to Yiddish in the beginning of the 20th century, but in the 1930s Hebrew was also used). The present collection includes timetables, curricula and other school documents dated 1918-1919 (mostly in German). There are also financial records and documents issued by the society between 1906 and 1918.
The collection does not include materials dated between 1920 and 1931. It is likely that these documents have not yet been sorted by the archive (the AIS system noted that 6.1 kg of material was still unsorted: “Fondi korrastamise käigus eraldati hävitamiseks 6,1 kg lahtist materjali”). However, part of the collection describes the activities of the Tartu Jewish Charitable Society “Zdoko-Gdoilo” after 1932 (during the first period of Estonian independence).
The society was officially registered in 1934 (see: ERA.14.9.948). The materials gathered from the society include minutes of meetings (in Russian and in Yiddish, handwritten) and lists of the members dated 1932-1940. There are also minutes from the women’s committee of the society (1936-1940) and a charter of the Dorpat Jewish Women’s Charitable Society “Zdoko Gdoilo” dated 1933 (ger. “Dorpater Jüdischer Frauen Hilfsverein (Zdoko gdoilo)”). This charter of the women’s society was not accepted by Estonian government and the society was not registered in 1933 (see: ERA.14.9.673). The members of the Tartu Jewish Charitable Society (registered one) are listed with their addresses in the folder ERA.2285.1.9. The society was dissolved in 1940 due to the beginning of the Soviet occupation of Estonia.
- Archival history:
- The society was abolished in 1940. Its materials entered the Estonian State Archives in Tallinn in 1953 (during the Soviet occupation, the Estonian archives were governed by Moscow). The collection is currently kept in the National Archives of Estonia in Tallinn (Rahvusarhiiv Tallinnas). The inventory of the collection was included in the Estonian Archival Information System (AIS) in 2000. Part of the materials in the collection are not yet sorted.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Yuryev Jewish Charitable Society (Russian: Юрьевское еврейское благотворительное общество) was registered in the Governorate of Livonia on 3 September 1907. The society aimed to develop Jewish education and support Jews in need. The society organised non-profit concerts, balls, cultural evenings etc. The members of the society also paid a monthly contribution (the amount of money could be decided by the member but should not be less than 10 kopecks). The Board of the Society consisted of: 1) general meeting of the members, 2) society’s main board, 3) audit commission (for more details see: ERA.2283.1.81). The society was formally dissolved in 1918 when Estonia gained its independence. There are no documents about the society’s work in the1920s in the present collection. In 1933 the Dorpat Jewish Women’s Charitable Society unsuccessfully requested to register (see: ERA.14.9.673). The Tartu Jewish Charitable Society (“Zdoko-Gdoilo”) was officially registered on 27 March 1934 (reg. number: 4276, see: ERA.14.9.948). It had similar structure and goals as the Yuryev Society described above. The Tartu Jewish Charitable Society “Zdoko-Gdoilo” was dissolved in 1940 due to the Soviet occupation of Estonia.
- Access points: persons/families:
- Gens, Nosson
- Heifetz, Jascha
- System of arrangement:
- The collection is arranged into thematical groups of documents.
- Finding aids:
- The inventory is accessible online in the Archival Information System: ais.ra.ee; the collection is digitised and available on the Digital archival sources portal Saaga: www.ra.ee/dgs/. The collection is also referenced as “Tartu Jewish Welfare Agency” (see: Weiss-Wendt, Anton. On the Margins: About the History of Jews in Estonia. CEU Press, 2017. P. 278)
- Links to finding aids:
- http://ais.ra.ee
- Yerusha Network member:
- Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
- Author of the description:
- Antonina Martynenko, 2019
