Records of the Jewish State Schools in the Vilna School District
Scope and Content Note
The collection documents the organization and operation of the Jewish State schools in the Vilna Guberniya (Vilna Province) as well as some non-Jewish State schools and consists of reports, petitions and appeals, resolutions, correspondence, financial documents, lists of students and teachers, certificates, minutes, and circulars.
There are materials dealing with the Vilna State Jewish Real Gymnasium, Vilna State Jewish School, and a number of other local state Jewish schools. These materials consists of correspondence, lists, petitions, resolutions, and a large number of reports, mostly sent to the office of the Commission of Jewish Schools of the Vilna Guberniya regarding budget, general administration, teachers and students.
Additionally, there are materials pertaining to non-Jewish schools in the Vilna School district. These materials include correspondence, reports, circulars, certificates, and minutes of the Pedagogical Council Meetings.
Furthermore, there is an abundance of materials dealing with the Commission on Jewish Schools of the Vilna Guberniya that includes a large number of reports addressed to the office of the Commission of Jewish Schools of the Vilna Guberniya. These reports shed light on the operations of the local State Jewish Schools and consist of annual and financial reports, correspondence, and lists of students and teachers.
Dates
- 1845-1910
Creator
- Directorate of the Vilna School District (Organization)
Language of Materials
The collection is in Russian.
Access Restrictions
The collection has been digitized and is available online without restrictions. The physical collection is closed.
Use Restrictions
The images, documents, film footage, audio materials, and texts displayed in any portion of this web site may be copyrighted. Permission to use this web site is given on condition that the user agrees to follow U.S. copyright laws. The user agrees that she or he assumes liability for any copyright violations resulting from unauthorized use of items appearing on this web site and to hold YIVO harmless from any action involving copyright infringement. It is the responsibility of the user to carry out a due diligence search under U.S. copyright laws to determine the copyright status of items displayed on this web site.
Historical Note
In 1844, as part of a plan to undermine the kheder system of education, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia passed a decree establishing state schools for Jewish children. Two types of schools were organized: a class I schools with a two-year program and a class II schools with a three and four-year program.
A percentage of the Jewish candle and meat tax was used for the financial upkeep of the schools. Students of the State Jewish schools enjoyed certain benefits, such as exemption from military service and from some taxes.
Vilna State Jewish School was established in 1847 as a result of the reorganization of the Vilna Private Jewish School.
Vilna State Jewish Real-Commerce Gymnasium was established in 1853 as a result of the reorganization of the Vilna State Jewish School. The school was closed in 1863.
Extent
2.1 Linear Feet
Abstract
The collection documents the organization and operation of the Jewish State schools in the Vilna Guberniya as well as some non-Jewish State schools and consists of reports, petitions and appeals, resolutions, correspondence, financial documents, lists of students and teachers, certificates, minutes, and circulars. There are materials pertaining to the Vilna State Jewish Real Gymnasium, Vilna State Jewish School, and other local State Jewish schools. Also included here are materials pertaining to some non-Jewish State schools and to the Commission on Jewish Schools of the Vilna Guberniya
Arrangement
The collection consists of five series:
Custodial History
During the Nazi occupation of Vilna, in 1942, the records were looted by the Einsatzstab Rosenberg and sent to the NSDAP Institute Zur Erforschung der Judenfrage in Frankfurt-am-Main. In 1945 they were recovered by the U.S. army and returned to the YIVO in New York, via the U.S. army archival depot in Offenbach. The records arrived in New York in 1947.
Separated Materials
Materials dealing with the private Jewish schools were removed.
Materials pertaining to the Vilna Chief of Police were moved to the Vilna Chief of Police Records, RG 56
Processing Information
The collection was refolded using acid-free folders and the volumes which had been bound were cut open in order to prepare materials for digitization.
Library of Congress Romanization system was used for transliteration of Russian names.
- Circular letters
- Commission on Jewish Schools for the Vilna Guberniya
- Correspondence
- Education -- Russia
- Jewish students
- Jewish teachers
- Jews -- Russia
- Minutes (administrative records)
- Office of the Overseer of the Schools of the Vilna Guberniya
- Official documents
- Official reports
- Petitions
- Resolutions (administrative records)
- Russia
- Vilna State Jewish Real Gymnasium
- Vilna State Jewish School
- Vilnius (Lithuania)
- Title
- Guide to the Records of the Jewish State Schools in the Vilna School District 1845-1910 RG 52
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Materials processed, described and finding aid encoded by Yakov Il'ich Sklar in 2015.
- Date
- ©2015
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Sponsor
- Processed, conserved and digitized as part of the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections project (2015-2022). Additional work funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Repository Details
Part of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research Repository
