Guide to the Records of the ORT Jewish Vocational School (Technicum) in Vilna, RG 21

Processed by Felicia Figa with the assistance of a grant from the American ORT Federation, 1977. Finding Aid edited, encoded and posted online thanks to a grant from the Gruss Lipper Family Foundation.

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 was converted to EAD version 2002 by Yakov Sklyar in October 2006. EAD finding aid customized in ARCHON in 2012. Description is in English.

Collection Overview

Title: Guide to the Records of the ORT Jewish Vocational School (Technicum) in Vilna, RG 21

ID: RG 21 FA

Extent: 2.5 Linear Feet

Arrangement: The collection is divided into 3 series:

Abstract

ORT Jewish Vocational School (Technicum) in Vilna was founded in 1921 to train young people who were unable to get into government-run schools, in the fields of mechanics and electronics. It was subsidized by ORT, Vilna Kehilla and the Vilna City Administration. The school possesed a technical library and published its own material for use by students. it was liquidated in 1939.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Series I includes by-laws of the school, financial records, 1922-1937; file on legal matters; school statistics, 1921-1930, 1938-1939

Series II includes outgoing and incomimg correspondence. Outgoing: to the Central Committee of ORT (Warsaw), 1925, 1929, 1937-1939; to ORT, Vilna, 1923, 1928-1939; to the Polish Ministry ofEducation in Warsaw, 1922-1923, 1928-1939. Incoming: from ORT Central Committee (Warsaw), 1923-1934; ORT Vilna, 1921, 1928, 1939-1940; Polish Ministry of Education (Warsaw), 1922, 1925-1939; Central Committee of the Yiddish School Organization in Warsaw, 1938-1939.

Series III includes student medical cards, 1929-1938; student questionaires and other documents, lists of students, roll-books, exeminations; teachers' files including teaching outlines for general subjects, technological subjects, electronics, physics, chemistry; files on the school cultural activities including announcements, posters.

Historical Note

The Jewish Vocational School of the ORT in Vilna (also called “Technicum”) was founded in 1921 by a group of communal workers. One of them, Israel Okun, was the school’s director in the first three years of its existence. In 1924 he was replaced by Matisyahu Schreiber, who remained at this post until the liquidation of the school at the outbreack of World War II.

The task of the school was to prepare electricians and technically-trained specialists. The school's goal was to provide the impoverished Jewish youth in the difficult post-World War I years with an opportunity to acquire skills on the level of a trained technician.

A note should be made of the fact that for Jews, access to government run schools was very difficult. Therefore, Jewish youngsters from all parts of the country studied at the Vilna Technicum. Of 200 students, only 50 were from Vilna; the rest coming from Galicia, Volhynia, central Poland and other places.

The Technicum had two divisions: mechanical and electrotechnical. Classes were taught in Yiddish and the training period was 3 years (6 semesters). The school was subsidized by ORT, the Vilna Jewish Community Board, and the Vilna municipality. It was well equipped, had its own vocational library, and printed technical school books in Yiddish, as the needs of the students required.

The Vilna Jewish Vocational School provided a substantial number of qualified assistants for engineers, managers of small industrial enterprises, foremen of divisions in factories, technical draftsmen, etc. of special scholarly and educational interest are the student papers, teachers’ notes and curriculum. They yield evidence on the high level of learning and instruction represented by the Technicum.

The materials from the Vilna Technicum which YIVO received after World War II together with the Vilna Archives, are arranged in such a way as to reflect the structure and activities of the school. The collection consists of 98 folders and is 2’5” in size.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions: Open to researchers by appointment with the Chief Archivist. To request access to the collection, contact: Chief Archivist, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011 email: archives@yivo.cjh.org

Preferred Citation: Published citations should read as follows:Identification of item, date (if known); YIVO Archives; Records of the ORT Jewish Vocational School (Technicum) in Vilna; RG 21; folder number.

Box and Folder Listing

Series I: Administrative Records 1922-1940

Series I includes by-laws of the school, financial records, 1922-1937; file on legal matters; school statistics, 1921-1930, 1938-1939

Folder 1: Lists of members of the administration, executive board and board of overseers of the Technicum undated
Folder 2: Memoranda, reports, articles and leaflets on the history, organization and goals of the Technicum 1925-1930
Folder 3: Drafts of by-laws undated, 1922
Folder 4: Utilities inventory 1928-1939
Folder 5: Budgets 1922, 1924-1940
Folder 6: Teachers’ salaries 1924, 1926
Folder 7: Expense bills 1937-1939
Folder 8: Expense bills 1928-1939
Folder 9: Expense bills 1929-1939
Folder 10: Expense bills 1929
Folder 11: Expense bills 1927-1931
Folder 12: Bills from the Vilna municipality 1924-1927
Folder 13: Income Tax 1922-1927
Folder 14: Income Tax 1922-1927
Folder 15: Medical insurance. Monthly statements and correspondence with the insurance company (Zaklad Ubezpieczen Pracownikow Umyslowych) 1928-1931, 1933
Folder 16 a: General reports and statistics 1926, 1928, 1930, 1932-1933
Folder 16 b: Documents of legal proceedings against the Technicum, mainly for non-payment of debts 1933-1939

Series III: Teachers' and Students' Files, Courses 1921-1939

Series III includes student medical cards, 1929-1938; student questionaires and other documents, lists of students, roll-books, exeminations; files on teachers including various documents;teaching outlines for general subjects, technological subjects, electronics, physics, chemistry; files on the school cultural activities including announcements, posters.

Folder 58: Student registration cards 1921-1924
Folder 59: Student registration cards 1927-1938
Folder 60: Student health records 1929-1933
Folder 61: Student health records 1934-1938
Folder 62: Student health records undated
Folder 63: Student individual questionnaires undated, 1929
Folder 64: Student personal documents undated, 1926
Folder 65: Lists of students undated
Folder 66: A class roll-book undated
Folder 67: Teacher applications 1928-1934
Folder 68: Teacher applications 1935-1939
Folder 69: Teacher personal documents 1928
Folder 70: Teacher registration cards and individual questionnaires undated
Folder 71: Student grading undated
Folder 72: Class schedules undated
Folder 73: Curriculum, general subjects undated
Folder 74: Curriculum, vocational subjects undated
Folder 75: Laboratory tests undated
Folder 76: Teacher assignments undated, 1928
Folder 77: Student papers undated
Folder 78: Student papers undated
Folder 79: Student papers undated
Folder 80: Student papers undated
Folder 81: Student papers undated
Folder 82: Reports of district school inspectors on their visits to the Technicum 1929, 1931, 1936
Folder 83: Exam documents. Includes list of students taking the exams; statistical questionnaires; exam report cards
Folder 84: Minutes of the exam commission 1937
Folder 85: Student credits for courses taken 1921-1923
Folder 86: Graduation diplomas undated
Folder 87: Statistics on the Technicum graduates 1922-1926
Folder 88: Statistics on the Technicum graduates 1927-1938
Folder 89: Miscellaneous “To Whom It May Concern” confirmation letters undated, 1925-1929
Folder 90: Parent’s committee undated, 1927
Folder 91: Miscellaneous extracurricular activities undated
Folder 92: Form letters from the Technicum re exams undated
Folder 93: Posters and leaflets with information about the Technicum undated
Folder 94: Invitations to various events undated
Folder 95: School statistics 1929-1930, 1938-1939
Folder 96: Blank forms undated
Folder 97: Blank forms undated
Folder 98: Miscellaneous undated, 1929

Series II: Correspondence 1922-1940

Series II includes outgoing and incoming correspondence. Outgoing to the Central Committee of ORT (Warsaw), 1925, 1929, 1937-1939; to ORT, Vilna, 1923, 1928-1939; to the Polish Ministry of Education in Warsaw, 1922-1923, 1928-1939. : from ORT Central Committee (Warsaw), 1923-1934; ORT Vilna, 1921, 1928, 1939-1940; Polish Ministry of Education (Warsaw), 1922, 1925-1939; Head Committee of the jewish School Organization in Warsaw, 1938-1939.

Sub-Series 1: Outgoing Correspondence 1922-1939

Folder 17: ORT Central Committee, Warsaw 1925, 1929, 1937-1939
Folder 18: ORT Committee in Vilna 1923, 1928-1931, 1937-1939
Folder 19: Ministry of Education, Warsaw 1922-1923, 1928-1939
Folder 20: Board of Education (Curatorium), Vilna district 1922, 1927-1930, 1932-1933, 1937-1939
Folder 21: Union of Jewish Teachers, Vilna 1923, 1925-1933, 1939
Folder 22: Various institutions, organizations, individuals 1923, 1925-1933, 1935-1939

Sub-Series 2: Incoming Correspondence 1922-1940

Folder 23: ORT Central Committee, Warsaw 1923
Folder 24: ORT Central Committee, Warsaw 1924
Folder 25: ORT Central Committee, Warsaw 1925
Folder 26: ORT Central Committee, Warsaw 1926
Folder 27: ORT Central Committee, Warsaw 1927
Folder 28: ORT Central Committee, Warsaw 1928
Folder 29: ORT Central Committee, Warsaw 1929
Folder 30: ORT Committee in Vilna 1921, 1928, 1939-1940
Folder 31: Education Department of the Temporary Governing Commission for the Central Lithuania (Tymczaasowa Komisja Rzadzaca) 1921-1922
Folder 32: Ministry of Education, Warsaw 1922, 1925-1932
Folder 33: Ministry of Education, Warsaw 1933-1939
Folder 34: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1922
Folder 35: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1923
Folder 36: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1924
Folder 37: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1925
Folder 38: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1926
Folder 39: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1927
Folder 40: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1928
Folder 41: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1929
Folder 42: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1930
Folder 43: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1931
Folder 44: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1932
Folder 45: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1933 January-June
Folder 46: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1933 July-December
Folder 47: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1934 January-June
Folder 48: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1934 July-December
Folder 49: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1935
Folder 50: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1936
Folder 51: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1937
Folder 52: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1938
Folder 53 a: Board of Education (curatorium), Vilna District 1939
Folder 53 b: Board of Education (Curatorium), Vilna district circular letters 1929-1938
Folder 54: Ministry of Education of the Republic of Lithuania 1940
Folder 55: Executive Board of the Yiddish School Organization (YISHO), Warsaw 1938-1939
Folder 56: Various institutions, organizations, individuals 1927-1937
Folder 57: Various institutions, organizations, individuals 1938-1940