Metadata : Tallinn Jewish community
Collection
- Country:
- Estonia
- Holding institution:
- Tallinn City Archives
- Holding institution (official language):
- Tallinna Linnaarchiiv
- Postal address:
- Tallinn, Tolli 6, 10133
- Phone number:
- +372 645 7401
- Web address:
- www.tallinn.ee/eng/arhiivindus/
- Email:
- linnaarhiiv@tallinnlv.ee
- Country:
- Estonia
- Holding institution:
- Tallinn City Archives
- Holding institution (official language):
- Tallinna Linnaarchiiv
- Postal address:
- Tallinn, Tolli 6, 10133
- Phone number:
- +372 645 7401
- Web address:
- www.tallinn.ee/eng/arhiivindus/
- Email:
- linnaarhiiv@tallinnlv.ee
- Reference number:
- TLA.1387
- Title:
- Tallinn Jewish community
- Title (official language):
- Tallinna Juudi Kogukond
- Creator/accumulator:
- Tallinn Jewish community
- Date(s):
- 1859/1940
- Language:
- Russian
- Estonian
- Hebrew
- German
- Extent:
- 334 storage units (approx. 13,360 files)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Photographic images
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection comprises documents gathered from the Tallinn (Reval) Jewish Community.
The earliest documents in the collection are letters, inquiries and certificates collected from the Reval Jewish Prayer Society (Russian: Ревельское еврейское молитвенное общество) dated 1859-1919. There are also documents on the building of the first synagogue in Tallinn (finished in 1883) dated 1872-1882 and extracts from the City government protocols’ concerning the maintenance of the Jewish cemetery in Tallinn (1886-1925).
A few documents are from the pre-1918 period when Tallinn was part of the Russian Empire. These include the Reval Jewish Prayer Society account books (6 books dated from 1899 -1919), and other documents concerning financial transactions performed by the Society.
Most of the materials are post-1918 after Estonia gained independence. Files from 1919 include documents on elections to the first community council and an invitation from the society of Jewish socialists. From 1919-1921 there are materials on the establishment of a Jewish school in Tallinn as well as the minutes of school committee meetings.
The collection includes several sets of minutes from meetings dated from 1919 to 1944 gathered from different sections of the community board, including election records, letters sent or received by the community board and different financial documents (for example, the records on baking and selling matzah from 1919 to 1940). There are also documents on the synagogue’s inventory and design as well as other financial documents. In addition, the collection contains lists of members of the community, copies of certificates and documents issued by the community from 1919 to 1940, and a few court proceedings connected to Jewish community members such as antisemitism cases (Aizenstadt-Olkenizkij case, 1919), misbehaviour in synagogue (Brothers Berkovichs’ case 1921) and others.
The collection contains a number of documents concerning the planning,building and establishment of the Jewish gymnasium in Tallinn as well as correspondence with its benefactors and builders. For example, a letter sent in 1922 by the Maccabi Sport Society emphasizing the necessity for a sports hall. There are also the gymnasium's regulation documents (dated 1922), newspaper clippings on the opening of the gymnasium in 1924, pupils’ handcrafted newspapers from 1925 to 1934 and photographs of students and teachers in the gymnasium (dated from 1931 to 1939).
The collection includes several photographic sets taken in the 1930s of community members, photos from the Jewish synagogue and kindergarten, and other communal events.
The collection also contains reports, minutes, photographs, brochures and other printed material gathered from the Bialik literary and drama society (1918-1938).
There is a large amount of material from the Estonian Jewish journal “Meie Sõna” (German: “Unser Wort”, English: “Our word”), published from 1931 to 1937. These are not only printed volumes but also manuscripts and draft copies with corrections for the volumes from 1 to 11. There are also printed issues of the newspaper “Naie Zait” (Our time”, 1933) and a large number of books where births, deaths, marriages and divorces of Jews in Tallinn are registered (approximately from 1872-1940).
The collection includes a manuscript in Hebrew dated 1932 that is composed by N. Genss and dedicated to the history of the Tallinn Jewish community.
- Archival history:
- No information
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
The precise date of the establishment of the Tallinn Jewish community is unknown. Jewish cantonists (also known as “Nicolas soldiers”) settled in Tallinn from the second quarter of the 19th century, possibly as early as 1856 although Jews were officially granted permission to live in the city only in 1865. Subsequently the number of Jews in Tallinn began to rise significantly. In 1876 Jews were allowed to buy property in Tallinn. In the 1880s after the persecution and expulsion of Jews from Tallinn, the Community apparently decreased from more than 700 families in the 1870s to around 200 a decade later.
After the creation of the Republic of Estonia in 1918 the community flourished, oppression against Jews was stopped and many Jewish societies and clubs were established. The Tallinn Jewish community was also one of the biggest and influential participants in the first Estonian Congress of Jewish congregations (1919) and was active in the attainment of Jewish cultural autonomy in 1926.
The decline of the community as well as the fall of Jewish cultural autonomy in Estonia was caused by the Soviet occupation in 1940. By 1941 most of Estonian Jews had escaped to the Soviet Union. Those who stayed (about 25% of the community) were executed in 1941-1942 and very few survived. The Jewish community in Tallinn was re-established only in 1988.
- Access points: locations:
- Tallinn
- System of arrangement:
- The collection is arranged in chronological order. Vital records are held in the separate section “Meetrikaraamatud”.
- Finding aids:
-
The collection is digitally available at www.ra.ee. The inventory list is also available at ais.ra.ee.
The history of the Tallinn Jewish community was briefly described in: Jokton, Kopl. Juutide ajaloost Eestis. Tartu, 1992 (original manuscript was written in German and dated 1926, entitled “Die Geschichte von die Yiden in Estland”).
- 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
- Reference number:
- TLA.1387
- Title:
- Tallinn Jewish community
- Title (official language):
- Tallinna Juudi Kogukond
- Creator/accumulator:
- Tallinn Jewish community
- Date(s):
- 1859/1940
- Language:
- Russian
- Estonian
- Hebrew
- German
- Extent:
- 334 storage units (approx. 13,360 files)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Photographic images
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection comprises documents gathered from the Tallinn (Reval) Jewish Community.
The earliest documents in the collection are letters, inquiries and certificates collected from the Reval Jewish Prayer Society (Russian: Ревельское еврейское молитвенное общество) dated 1859-1919. There are also documents on the building of the first synagogue in Tallinn (finished in 1883) dated 1872-1882 and extracts from the City government protocols’ concerning the maintenance of the Jewish cemetery in Tallinn (1886-1925).
A few documents are from the pre-1918 period when Tallinn was part of the Russian Empire. These include the Reval Jewish Prayer Society account books (6 books dated from 1899 -1919), and other documents concerning financial transactions performed by the Society.
Most of the materials are post-1918 after Estonia gained independence. Files from 1919 include documents on elections to the first community council and an invitation from the society of Jewish socialists. From 1919-1921 there are materials on the establishment of a Jewish school in Tallinn as well as the minutes of school committee meetings.
The collection includes several sets of minutes from meetings dated from 1919 to 1944 gathered from different sections of the community board, including election records, letters sent or received by the community board and different financial documents (for example, the records on baking and selling matzah from 1919 to 1940). There are also documents on the synagogue’s inventory and design as well as other financial documents. In addition, the collection contains lists of members of the community, copies of certificates and documents issued by the community from 1919 to 1940, and a few court proceedings connected to Jewish community members such as antisemitism cases (Aizenstadt-Olkenizkij case, 1919), misbehaviour in synagogue (Brothers Berkovichs’ case 1921) and others.
The collection contains a number of documents concerning the planning,building and establishment of the Jewish gymnasium in Tallinn as well as correspondence with its benefactors and builders. For example, a letter sent in 1922 by the Maccabi Sport Society emphasizing the necessity for a sports hall. There are also the gymnasium's regulation documents (dated 1922), newspaper clippings on the opening of the gymnasium in 1924, pupils’ handcrafted newspapers from 1925 to 1934 and photographs of students and teachers in the gymnasium (dated from 1931 to 1939).
The collection includes several photographic sets taken in the 1930s of community members, photos from the Jewish synagogue and kindergarten, and other communal events.
The collection also contains reports, minutes, photographs, brochures and other printed material gathered from the Bialik literary and drama society (1918-1938).
There is a large amount of material from the Estonian Jewish journal “Meie Sõna” (German: “Unser Wort”, English: “Our word”), published from 1931 to 1937. These are not only printed volumes but also manuscripts and draft copies with corrections for the volumes from 1 to 11. There are also printed issues of the newspaper “Naie Zait” (Our time”, 1933) and a large number of books where births, deaths, marriages and divorces of Jews in Tallinn are registered (approximately from 1872-1940).
The collection includes a manuscript in Hebrew dated 1932 that is composed by N. Genss and dedicated to the history of the Tallinn Jewish community.
- Archival history:
- No information
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
The precise date of the establishment of the Tallinn Jewish community is unknown. Jewish cantonists (also known as “Nicolas soldiers”) settled in Tallinn from the second quarter of the 19th century, possibly as early as 1856 although Jews were officially granted permission to live in the city only in 1865. Subsequently the number of Jews in Tallinn began to rise significantly. In 1876 Jews were allowed to buy property in Tallinn. In the 1880s after the persecution and expulsion of Jews from Tallinn, the Community apparently decreased from more than 700 families in the 1870s to around 200 a decade later.
After the creation of the Republic of Estonia in 1918 the community flourished, oppression against Jews was stopped and many Jewish societies and clubs were established. The Tallinn Jewish community was also one of the biggest and influential participants in the first Estonian Congress of Jewish congregations (1919) and was active in the attainment of Jewish cultural autonomy in 1926.
The decline of the community as well as the fall of Jewish cultural autonomy in Estonia was caused by the Soviet occupation in 1940. By 1941 most of Estonian Jews had escaped to the Soviet Union. Those who stayed (about 25% of the community) were executed in 1941-1942 and very few survived. The Jewish community in Tallinn was re-established only in 1988.
- Access points: locations:
- Tallinn
- System of arrangement:
- The collection is arranged in chronological order. Vital records are held in the separate section “Meetrikaraamatud”.
- Finding aids:
-
The collection is digitally available at www.ra.ee. The inventory list is also available at ais.ra.ee.
The history of the Tallinn Jewish community was briefly described in: Jokton, Kopl. Juutide ajaloost Eestis. Tartu, 1992 (original manuscript was written in German and dated 1926, entitled “Die Geschichte von die Yiden in Estland”).
- 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
