YIVO Encyclopedia Now Online
Posted by: Rebecca Vnuk
The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe (YIVO stands for Yidisher Visnshaftlekher Institut, or Yiddish Scientific Institute), published in 2008, is a major work of scholarship. Now, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research has launched a free online version. The online edition includes the contents of the 2008 edition, plus interactive maps, more color photographs, rare letters and documents, and newly added video and audio clips.
This is a very rich site with multiple access points. Articles can be searched or browsed A-Z and there are separate searches for maps, multimedia, and documents. Another way in is to explore a topic: arts, daily life, places, and more. A page for educators provides lesson plans for middle- and high-school classrooms. And it’s all free. The YIVO Institute is to be commended for making this resource available to the public.
September 4th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
I am curious about your endeavors. My father was born in Lodz, Poland. Are there any archives of families living in Lodz at the beginning of the Nazi era? My family name before I anglicized it is Wolkowitz. Thank you.
September 7th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
You should contact the United States Holocuast Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C,, Yivo at the Center for Jewish History in New York, the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, and Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. They all have extensive archives and they all have websites. They also have librarians who can assist you with your search.