Guide to the Records of the YIVO Ethnographic Committee RG 1.2

Processed by Eleanor Mlotek in 1980 with the assistance of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Edited by Marek Web in 2006 with the assistance of a grant from the Gruss Lipper Family Foundation. Additionally described and encoded by Sarah Ponichtera in 2012 as part of the CJH Holocaust Resource Initiative, made possible by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany.

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011
Email: archives@yivo.cjh.org
URL: http://www.yivo.org

Electronic finding aid encoded in EAD 2002 by Sarah Ponichtera in 2012. EAD finding aid customized in ARCHON in 2013. Description is in English.

Collection Overview

Title: Guide to the Records of the YIVO Ethnographic Committee RG 1.2

ID: RG 1.2 FA

Extent: 7.7 Linear Feet. More info below.

Arrangement: The series are arranged by provenance, and the subseries by provenance or subject.

Languages: Yiddish, Russian, Polish, German, Hebrew, Lithuanian

Abstract

The Records of the YIVO Ethnographic Committee is a sub-group of the Record Group 1, Records of YIVO - Vilna. The activities of the Ethnographic Committee consisted of collecting folklore materials, preparing and analyzing folklore questionnaires, corresponding with folklore collectors throughout the world, and maintaining a museum. This collection also includes surviving fragments of the collections of the S.Ansky Jewish Historical and Ethnographic Society which was active in Vilna from 1920 until 1940, and of Invayskult, also known as the Jewish Bureau of the Byelorussian Academy of Science in Minsk (founded in 1925 and dissolved in the 1930s). Record Group 1.2 includes both administrative files of the aforementioned institutions and folklore and historical materials, which were gathered in these institutions' archives.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

This collection comprises the records of several organizations in Vilna that engaged in ethnographic study from the turn of the century through WWII. Of particular note are the administrative records of Ansky’s ethnographic expedition of 1912-1914, such as budgets and planning documents, as well as postcards and letters from the public in response to an article about the expedition in Der Moment, the Warsaw daily Yiddish newspaper in Series II. Series II also contains the records of the Society of Friends of Jewish Antiquity, covering the years 1885-1919, as well as its successor the S. Ansky Jewish Historical Ethnographic Society, which covers 1913-1940. Series I contains the YIVO Ethnographic Commission, which started later, but operated simultaneously with the S. Ansky Jewish Historical Ethnographic Society, from 1923-1940. The collection contains both administrative records from these societies and the written contents of their collections, such as folk songs, folk tales, descriptions of customs and ethnographic reports. There are inventories of the museums that several of these organizations operated, giving a sense of what physical objects these societies collected and displayed, as well. Series I also contains a number of folders containing pornographic materials (nos. 34-39), although these have not been catalogued on an item level, and so could not be included in the container list. Series III contains ethnographic materials originating from Invayskult, in Minsk, such as folk songs, stories, and proverbs, but unfortunately lacks the institutional context of administrative records found in the other two Series. Series IV consists of unsorted materials, which largely originate from YIVO, and resemble the materials found in Series I.

The addenda contain additional materials created by the YIVO Ethnographic Commission. Addendum I, which consists of five boxes, includes songs with musical notations as well as the song lyrics, ethnographies, riddles and rhymes typically of the rest of the collection. It also contains correspondence from YIVO and the Ethnographic collection with ethnographers, and articles on ethnographic topics by YIVO scholars. Addendum II contains ethnographic materials likely collected by the S. Ansky Jewish Historical Ethnographic Society, including many types of songs as well as ethnographic descriptions of towns.

Please note that the dates for folklore materials are ambiguous; they may refer to the date the information was recorded, or the date of creation of the song or folktale, according to the zamler's research. Those dates are noted with the term "circa." Unmarked dates definitely represent the date of a document's creation.

Historical Note

Ethnography played a central role in the development of Jewish studies in the early twentieth century, and the resources in this collection reflect the importance of the subject in the eyes of YIVO scholars and the many zamlers, or collectors, who assembled these materials on a voluntary basis. In 1891, Shimon Dubnow called for increased efforts in understanding and preserving the history of Eastern European Jewry, and S. Ansky demonstrated the practice of ethnography in his famous Expedition of 1912-1914 and incorporation of folkloric ideas in his immensely popular play, The Dybbuk. Ethnography had long been a preoccupation in Yiddish culture, playing a major role in maskilic literature, but during this period it became institutionalized and incorporated contemporary scientific practices.

YIVO Ethnographic Committee

YIVO – the Yiddish Scientific Institute – was founded in Vilna in 1925. It was organized in four permanent sections: Philology, History, Economics and Statistics, and Psychology and Education; the Ethnographic Committee was a sub-section of the Philological Section. At its inception in 1925, the Ethnographic Committee was established in cooperation with the S. Ansky Jewish Historical Ethnographic Society, with both organizations sharing in its financial support. The work of the Ethnographic Committee consisted of preparing and analyzing folklore questionnaires, correspondence with a network of hundreds of voluntary collectors throughout Europe, the United States, Canada, South America and other parts of the world, issuing instructions to collectors, acknowledging receipt of materials, organizing special circles of collectors in various towns and cities, arranging contests for the best folklore collections. It was a popular success, attracting hundreds of people to participate in its mission of documenting their communities. The Committee also maintained a museum and presented special exhibits. Members of the Ethnographic Committee included Shloyme Bastomski, folklorist and teacher, Dr. Max Weinreich, philologist, member of the Executive Committee of YIVO, N. Weinig, folklorist, Nekhama Epstein, folklorist, and Zalman Reisen, lexicographer, member of the Executive Committee of YIVO. N. Khayes, folklorist, served as secretary of the Committee. In 1930, the name of the Ethnographic Committee was changed to Folklore Committee. Throughout the history of its existence, the Ethnographic Committee was a flashpoint for tensions between YIVO and the S. Ansky Jewish Historical Ethnographic Society, which competed for influence and increasingly scarce resources for ethnographic work. The two organizations eventually parted ways, with the Ethnographic Society focusing more on material culture and the maintenance of a museum, while YIVO focused on written documents and scholarly materials.

Ansky Jewish Historical Ethnographic Society

The S. Ansky Jewish Historical Ethnographic Society was the successor of the Society of Friends of Jewish Antiquity founded in 1913 by L.V. Frenkel and the Historic Commission, founded by the Hevrah Mefitsei Haskalah to document the effects of the first World War on Jewish communities. It is a separate entity from the Historic-Ethnographic Commission, which was founded by the Hevrah Mefitsei Haskalah in 1892. After 1908 it became known as the Jewish Historic-Ethnographic Society of St. Petersburg. This society published Evreiskaia starina (The Jewish Past) from 1909-1918 and sponsored Ansky’s expeditions in 1912-1914. It was shut down by the Bolshevik government in 1917. In 1919, following World War I, S. Ansky renewed the work of the Society of Friends of Jewish Antiquity, now called the Jewish Historical Ethnographic Society of Lithuania and White Russia. After Ansky’s death, in 1920, the Society and its Museum were named after him, and drew partial support from Ansky’s bequest of one sixth of his estate. The society found itself at odds with YIVO from time to time, but also involved some of the same people, notably Max Weinreich, Zalmen Reyzin, and Tsemakh Shabad. After 1939 the ethnographic materials of the S. Ansky Society were merged with YIVO. The society comprised an Executive Committee and the following sections: Music, Folklore, History, Art and Museum, Ansky, Catalogue, Literary, and Pinkes (Town Chronicles). The Society also maintained a museum, library and archive.

Invayskult

Invayskult was the department of what would now be known as Jewish Studies at the Belorussian Academy of Sciences, located in Minsk. It was founded at the same time as the Academy of Sciences itself, in 1924. Invayskult was also known as the Jewish Division, or Yidopteil. They published the scholarly journal Tsaytshrift, which attracted contributions from notable Yiddish scholars such as Max Weinreich. In the early years, Invayskult frequently corresponded with YIVO, and oriented their research toward Eastern European, and especially Lithuanian Jews, who were considered "Lithuanian-Belorussian." Invayskult was dissolved in the 1930s.

Reference

Cecile E. Kuznitz, “An-sky’s Legacy: The Vilna Historic-Ethnographic Society and the Shaping of Modern Jewish Culture” in The Worlds of S. Ansky (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006), 320-345.

Subject/Index Terms

Administrative Information

Alternate Extent Statement: 7.7" linear feet

Access Restrictions: Permission to use the collection must be obtained from the YIVO Archivist.

Use Restrictions: Permission to publish part or parts of the collection must be obtained from the YIVO Archives. For more information, contact:YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011 email: archives@yivo.cjh.org

Acquisition Method: These records were among the Jewish collection looted by the Einsatzstab Rosenberg in Vilna under the Nazis and brought to Germany in 1942. Placed after the war in the U.S. military Offenbach Archival Depot, these documents were returned to the YIVO in New York in 1947.

Related Materials: This collection constitutes one part of RG 1, the Records of YIVO in Vilna. The other parts contain administrative materials and materials on other sections of YIVO. In addition, folklore materials collected by the Anski Expedition can be found in other institutions, notably the Russian Museum of Ethnography and the Vernadskii National Library of Ukraine, but also archives, libraries, and museums in St. Petersburg, Kiev, Minsk, and Moscow.

Preferred Citation: Published citations should take the following form:Identification of item, date (if known); Records of the YIVO Ethnographic Committee; RG 1.2; box number; folder number; YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

Series 1: Series I: Ethnographic Committee of YIVO, undated, 1909-1940,
Series 2: Series II: S. Ansky Jewish Historical Ethnographic Society, undated, 1885-1940,
Series 3: Series III: Invayskult, undated, 1907-1941,
Series 4: Addendum I, undated, 1926-1933,
Series 5: Addendum II, undated, 1928-1930,
All

Series I: Ethnographic Committee of YIVO undated, 1909-1940

In Yiddish and Polish.

Folklore materials collected by the many individual zamlers (collectors) working for the YIVO Ethnographic Committee constitute the bulk of Series I. These diverse materials include folk plays, lyrics to folk songs (these have been extensively analyzed by Chana Mlotek), tales, jokes, anecdotes, and legends, pornographic stories, sayings, proverbs, nicknames of geographical places, descriptions of local religious customs, children’s rhymes and games, and research notes on ethnographic subjects. Series I also includes administrative materials, such as the Strategic Plan that outlines the goals of the Ethnographic Committee as well as other committees in the Philological section, correspondence with zamlers, and YIVO publications such as reports, questionnaires distributed for use by the zamlers, and analytical articles on ethnography. There are also a few linguistic materials, including notes on pronunciation and grammar, and Yiddish translations of Polish words.

Subseries 1: Administrative Records 1923-1939

Language of Material: In Yiddish

Box 1

Folder 1: Strategic Plan for the Philological Section of YIVO and its four sub-committees: Ethnographic Committee, Terminology Committee, Linguistic Committee and Orthography Committee. 1930
Folder 2: Correspondence with collectors 1923-1927
Folder 3: Correspondence with collectors 1928
Folder 4: Correspondence with collectors 1929
Folder 5: Correspondence with collectors 1930-1939
Folder 6: Questionnaires 1925-1927: Topics of questionnaires include: Jewish legends, Purim, Passover, Lag b'Omer, Shavuot, Exaggerations and Lies, childrens' folklore, High Holidays, Khevre Kadishah, and Upshernish (first haircut). Draft questionnaires on the topics: relations between Jews and non-Jews, Jewish legends, Jewish folktales, Sabbath Shirah, and wedding customs. Printed instructions for collectors of ethnographic material; announcement of contest for the best collection of folklore of WWI; Joint circular letter from the Ethnographic Committee and the Jewish Historical Ethnographic Society of Vilna appealing for ethnographic material.
Folder 7: Miscellaneous papers undated
Folder 8: Letter concerning the study of Jewish folk medicine; report on folklore activities. 1930
Folder 9: Inventory of folklore items and list of collectors 1926
Folder 10: Publications: Etnografishe anketes Heft 1: Yomtoyvim (Ethnographic Questionnaires, No. 1 on Holidays), Vilno, 1928; Vos iz azoyns yidishe etnografye? Hantbikhl far zamler (What is Jewish Ethnography? A Handbook for Collectors), Vilno 1929 1928-1929
Folder 11: Yedies fun yidishn visnshaftlekhn institute (News of YIVO), No. 12, May 21, 1926; No. 13, June 18, 1926 with reports of the Ethnographic Committee 1926

Subseries 2: Folklore Materials undated, 1909-1939

Language of Material: In Yiddish , Polish , Russian , German , and Lithuanian .

Folk Plays

Box 1

Folder 12: Folk plays received from collectors’ circles undated: "Two Goliath Plays collected in Turzysk and Lodz; Jacob and Esau Play from Nowy Sacz; Sale of Joseph Play from Turzysk; Joseph Play from Bereza Kartuska; Purim Play from Turzysk, performed by orphans in private homes; Play of the Turks, from Lodz; Glory of Joseph Play, from Turzysk. "
Folder 13: Copies of folk plays 1909: Photostat of an Ahasuerus Play, printed in Deutsches Museum. Zeitschrift fur Literatur, Kunst und Offentliches Leben, No. 41, October 5, 1854; Sale of Joseph or Joseph Play copied by A. Litvin, 1909.
Folder 14: Folk plays received from collectors’ circles undated: Handwritten fragments of Purim Plays: the German and Hassid Play; description of a Robber Play; unidentified play

Songs

Box 1

Folder 15: Several pages of songs and editorial notes by S.Z. Pipe (YIVO research fellow in folklore) on the songs and Purim plays published in the YIVO volume of folklore, Filologishe shriftn fun yivo (Philological Studies of YIVO), V, 1938 1938
Folder 16: 137 songs circa 1926-1928: A listing of all songs is appended in the Yiddish catalogue
Folder 17: 4 songs undated: A listing of all songs is appended in the Yiddish catalogue
Folder 18: 9 songs undated: A listing of all songs is appended in the Yiddish catalogue
Folder 19: 8 songs circa 1930: A listing of all songs is appended in the Yiddish catalogue
Folder 20: 195 songs undated: A listing of all songs is appended in the Yiddish catalogue

Box 2

Folder 21: 55 songs circa 1925-1928: A listing of all songs is appended in the Yiddish catalogue
Folder 22: 360 songs undated: List of 360 published Yiddish and Hebrew songs (excepting the collections of S. Ginsburg and P. Marek, N. Prylucki, Elyakum Zunser and the Mitteilungen zur judishe Volkskunde), compiled by Dr. Max Grunwald, editor of the Mitteilungen; Yiddish songs in transliteration, compiled by Dr. Max Grunwald, ms., 90 pages: “Shling-shlang;” Lid fun rotseyakh” (Song of the murderer); “Tsvishn undz zol es blaybn” (Let it remain between us); “Di heylike medine” (The holy land); “Dayn hofnung, yidele, gib nit oyf” (Poor little Jews, don’t lose hope); “Ni lozt zikh den zany a khokhem?” Can’t you be a wise man?); “Di ayznban” (The railroad); Khayim Shmerl dem gabeles” (Hayim Shmerl, the son of the synagogue trustee); “kortn shpiler” (Cardplayers); “Di vayber” (Women); “Lid fun khtsos” (Song of midnight); “Azoy geyt dos gelt” (How money disappears) “Lid fun got vunder” (Song of God’s wonders); Song of the Sabbath and holiday dishes; “Gildn-tsetl” (Banknote); “Do velt hot zikh ibergekert” (The world is upside down); “Lid fun shadkhn” (Song of the marriage broker); “Politik” (Politics); “A yerushe fun mayn zeydn” (A legacy from my grand-father); “Voyler yung” (playboy); “Di moderne velt” (The modern world); “Shlimezalnitse” (The unlucky woman); “Der dales” (poverty); “Lokshn” (Noodles); “Shiker-lid” (Song of the drunkard); “Der Khosid mint daytsh” (The Hassid and the German); “Lid fun arestant” (Song of the prisoner); “Lid fun kimpetorin” (Song of the woman in childbirth); Song of a dying girl; “Shiker” (Drunk); “Di brokhe” (The blessing); “Siphon and beer”
Folder 23: Sheet music and songs circa 1918-1925: Published sheet music of “Nokhn yor” (After the year) by Nakhum Sternheim (with photograph of author); songs by Morris Ostrinsky: “Mayn Lebn” (My life); “Mayn mantl” (My coat); printed song of the underworld (“Eyn mol in a zumerdikn ovnt” (Once on a summer evening); two songs by Z. Neiman: “Guter bruder Khayim” (Good brother Haim); “Aydidodl: “Berta Zaslavska, Yiddish translation, with music by Strok, “Di naye beygelekh” (The new song); “Oy vey Lomzhe” (Alas Lomza); parody sung to the melody of “Tula radian maya” by Avrom Naimovitsh (A. Rives), 1930; Lucy and Misha German, “A harts fun a mame” (A mother’s heart); “Lid fun Zlaty Rubin: (Song of Zlaty Rubin); picture of Ben Tsion Vitler, 1934; pages of a notebook with songs: “Di frantsoyzn” (The Frenchmen); Song of the blind man; “Shma yisroel” (Hear, O Israel); “Der aker boyer” (The plower); “Loz im op” (Let go of him); List of Yiddish songs in a notebook.
Folder 24: Concert Program undated

Folktales, Jokes, Anecdotes, Legends

Box 2

Folder 25: 15 jokes; 2 riddles undated
Folder 26: 11 tales circa 1930
Folder 27: 2 folk tales undated
Folder 28: 17 anecdotes and tales circa 1926-1938
Folder 29: 2 incomplete tales undated
Folder 30: 31 anecdotes, tales and legends circa 1939
Folder 31: 25 anecdotes circa 1931
Folder 32: 93 tales and legends concerning rabbis undated
Folder 33: 39 tales and anecdotes undated

Sayings and Proverbs

Box 3

Folder 40: Sayings and proverbs circa 1929-1930

Box 4

Folder 41: Sayings and proverbs undated
Folder 42: Sayings and proverbs undated
Folder 43: Sayings and proverbs circa 1922-1938
Folder 44: Sayings and proverbs undated
Folder 45: Sayings and proverbs circa 1939
Folder 46: Sayings and proverbs circa 1935-1939
Folder 47: Sayings and proverbs circa 1927-1929

Geographic Nicknames of Countries, Cities and Streets

Box 4

Folder 48: Geographic nicknames of countries, cities and streets; legends circa 1932-1935

Customs

Riddles and Tasks

Box 4

Folder 55: Riddles and tasks circa 1927

Children’s Folklore

Box 5

Folder 56: Collection of 53 children’s songs; 38 children’s songs and games; 12 songs about kheyder (Jewish religious school); five children’s tales circa 1937
Folder 57: Collection of 53 children’s songs; 38 children’s songs and games; 12 songs about kheyder (Jewish religious school); five children’s tales undated
Folder 58: Children's games undated
Folder 59: Children's counting rhymes in Polish undated
Folder 60: Children's counting rhymes in Polish undated

Holiday Folklore

Box 6

Folder 61: Memoirs of the Purim rabbi Drilitsh of Turzysk; poem about the Purim rabbi; Purim Kiddush (parody of the benediction pronounced on bread or wine on Sabbaths and holidays) circa 1927
Folder 62: 38 handwritten descriptions on the observance of Purim in Ostrow collected by Z. Tamuz undated: On the observance of Purim in the city of Ostrow and other localities: Ozdziutycze, Lutomiersk, Kalwarija, Woronowo, Makow, Kock, Kolno, Kobryn, Radziewice, Grodno, Cracow, Radom: Purim pastry, Purim dishes; Purim customs; the Purim rabbi
Folder 63: Purim songs; songs about eating; Passover song undated

Miscellaneous Genres

Box 6

Folder 64: Songs, customs, remedies undated
Folder 65: Customs, bibliography of published folklore material; review of play Bay nakht oyfn altn mark (A Night in the Old Marketplace) by I.L. Peretz circa 1932
Folder 66: Fragments of songs and other materials (unidentified) circa 1922
Folder 67: Incomplete article on folklore creativity (3 pp.) undated
Folder 68: Parts of S.Z. Pipe's papers 1930: Concerning the origin of a Galician worker’s song; the transcription and orthography used in his paper on children’s songs; fragment of article on arranged matches by marriage brokers; a note on S. Ansky’s lecture concerning French remnants in the Yiddish children’s songs of Zamosc; tales of lying collected in Sanok
Folder 69: Anecdotes; notes on Germanic words of Oszmiany; comments on words in The YIVO Philological Studies, vol. I; 8 folk tales; notes on questions of Dialects; memoires of Purim players; notes on vampirism; note concerning The rich man, Reb Itsele Zabludovski of Bialystok. circa 1928-1930

Subseries 3: Linguistic Materials undated, 1924-1930

Language of Material: In Yiddish and Polish

Box 6

Folder 70: Notes on Yiddish grammar undated
Folder 71: Notes on Yiddish pronunciation in Chelm; 10 sentences of the Nowy Sacz dialect; Yiddish spoken in Belsk; cards containing idiotikon, words and words and expressions with explanations circa 1926-1928
Folder 72: Cards with notations of Polish words with Yiddish translations circa 1930
Folder 73: Cards with hand printed names (presumably for gravestones). circa 1924
Folder 73a: Miscellaneous undated