Metadata: Narva Cultural Council at the National Committee of Jewish communities in the Republic of Estonia
Collection
- Country:
- Estonia
- Holding institution:
- National Archives of Estonia
- Holding institution (official language):
- Eesti Rahvusarhiiv
- Postal address:
- Madara 24, 15019 Tallinn
- Phone number:
- (+372) 693 8666
- Web address:
- www.ra.ee
- Email:
- tallinn@ra.ee
- Reference number:
- 2278
- Title:
- Narva Cultural Council at the National Committee of Jewish communities in the Republic of Estonia
- Title (official language):
- Eesti Vabariigi Juudi Vähemusrahvuse Kultuuromavalitsuse Narva Kultuurhoolekogu
- Creator/accumulator:
- Narva Cultural Council at the National Committee of Jewish communities in the Republic of Estonia
- Date(s):
- 1926/1940
- Language:
- Yiddish
- Estonian
- Russian
- Hebrew
- Extent:
- 22 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains materials of the Narva Cultural Council at the National Committee of Jewish communities in Estonia, including minutes of the board of the Narva Cultural Council, its correspondence, records on elections in Narva to the all-Estonian Jewish Cultural Council (the Kultur-Rat), financial records of the Narva Cultural Council, applications of the Narva Jews to become members of the Jewish autonomy, their personal data and documents. The collection also contains materials of the Kultur-Rat such as circulars and minutes (in Yiddish) of its meeting on 13 October 1926. A representative of the Narva community at this session was Samuel Kriegmann. The issues discussed there were, for example, the budget of the Jewish autonomy, Jewish education and the opening of new schools (inventory 1, file 2). Materials on elections to the Kultur-Rat from 1926-1940 include correspondence with the Central Election Commission in Tallinn regarding organisational issues, voters’ lists and candidates’ lists. For example, in the elections of 1929 in Narva seven lists were included. Some represented the so-called “National Block”, and others represented the “Democratic faction”.
Minutes of the Narva Council shed light on its social welfare, cultural and educational activities. For instance, on the agenda of the Narva Council meeting on 14 November 1926, various issues related to education were discussed: opening of the Jewish elementary school, opening of a kindergarten and organisation of Jewish studies for children not studying in Jewish schools (inventory 1, file 6). The minutes also contain detailed budgets of the Narva community enabling the study of the community's economic state and the nature of its income and expenses. Among financial papers, the collection includes the financial report for 1930-1931, cashbooks for 1933-1940, account book for 1935, and a ledger of community tax payments for 1937-1940. Genealogy scholars will find this ledger interesting because it includes names of Narva Jews.
Personal documents include copies of identity cards of some Narva Jews. An extensive correspondence of the Narva Council deals with various issues concerning Jewish education, culture, financial and organisational matters. For example, in one of the letters (in Hebrew) sent to the council in July 1926, Kalman Levin from Daugavpils (Latvia) offered his candidacy as a teacher for general and Jewish studies in the Jewish school in Narva. In his letter, Levin presented his education and teaching experience. Until the Bolshevik Revolution, he had worked in two schools in Kharkov as a teacher of maths and Hebrew. Levin stated that he was not authorised to teach because he was a Russian citizen (inventory 1, file 9). The Narva Council's correspondents include different groups, bodies and organisations such as the National Committee of Jewish Communities in Estonia, the board in Tallinn and the Zionist Organisation in Narva. An example of one such letter is a request in 1927 from a group of Jews to establish a Jewish Literary Association in the city to disseminate among Narva Jews a knowledge of Jewish literature and culture (inventory 1, file 9).
- Archival history:
- During the Soviet period, the collection was held at the Central Archives of the October Revolution and Socialist Reconstruction in Tallinn (predecessor of the current National Archives of Estonia in Tallinn). Its number was 185c.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- In May 1919, the Congress of the Jewish Communities of Estonia was held in Tallinn, at which the National Committee of Jewish Communities of Estonia was elected. The committee included the following members: Makovski (Chairman), Blumberg, Kljatchko, J Gens, Zelmanovitch, Levinovitch, Pajenson and Kolovski. The main goals of the organisation were to protect the rights of Jews in Estonia, to fight until all Estonian Jews who so wished could acquire Estonian citizenship and to develop links with international Jewish organisations. The 1920 Estonian Constitution referred to religious and national equality of ethnic minorities in the country, without fully incorporating the international requirement that religious differences were not prejudicial to civil and political rights. Moreover, the constitution listed only three ethnicities that historically were connected to Estonia: Germans, Russians and Swedes. Thanks to assistance from the Baltic German parliamentary faction, Jews received ethnic minority status in Estonia in accordance with the regulations proclaimed by the Estonian government in 1925. German, Jewish, Russian and Swedish minorities were granted cultural-national autonomy and the Jewish Cultural Council (the Kultur-Rat) was elected to supervise Jewish autonomy. Hirsch (Grigori) Eisenstadt headed the Council and by 1939 its 27 members were divided into 17 General Zionists, 3 Socialist Zionists, 4 Yiddishists, 2 representing the Economic Party, and 1 representative of the Progressive Party. Elections for the local Jewish Cultural Councils were held across the country including in Narva. However, in 1926 only Jewish-Estonian citizens, i.e. 67% of all Estonian Jews, had the right to vote. According to the census of 1934, 188 Jews lived in Narva. Following the Soviet occupation in June 1940, the Narva Jewish Cultural Council and the Jewish cultural autonomy in Estonia in general were dissolved.
- Access points: locations:
- Narva
- Finding aids:
- The files of the collection and detailed inventories are available on the online database of the National Archives of Estonia and Tallinn City Archives.
- Links to finding aids:
- http://www.ra.ee/dgs/explorer.php
- Yerusha Network member:
- Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
- Author of the description:
- Ilya Vovshin, Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, 2020