The materials in this collection constitute a semi-random sample of the pre-war archive that was transferred to the Central State Archives of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic following the liquidation of the Vilnius Jewish Museum in 1949. The collection includes records of YIVO work and activities, financial records, correspondence, and publications; documents about pogroms in Ukraine, and Red Army and Soviet activity in Vilna and Bialystok; and a significant amount of records of socialist, communist, and Zionist political parties, as well as associated newspapers and one-time publications.

This collection contains newspapers designated as Pre-1851 (I-531), Post-1850 (I-531A) and Miscellaneous (I-531B) Newspaper Collections. The newspapers are primarily from cities within the United States with some from world locales such as London, Grenada, Barbados, Curacao, Mexico, Montreal and Toronto. A few newspapers are from the Jewish press, though the greater majority of newspapers are not Jewish in origin but contain articles, references, advertisements, or other printed matter regarding Jews. The collection has a downloadable article index that can be used to pinpoint material in the first portion of the collection (Pre-1851) designated as I-531.

This collection contains materials pertaining to the life and career of Boris Smolar, a journalist and editor-in-chief of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and an author of children's books.

This collection contains the correspondence of the Anti-Nazi Boycott Committee of the Jewish War Veterans appealing for support against Nazi activities in the United States, 1933, and to assist Nazi sufferers in Europe, as well as other correspondence and printed material describing the purpose, history, and activities of the national organization and local chapters. Included is a scrapbook (1924-1930) containing newspaper clippings in English and Yiddish relating to protests against the massacres of the Jews in Romania and the riots in Palestine in 1929, as well as appeals for financial and political support on behalf of Palestine Jewry. A large portion of this collection consists of photographs depicting the work of the organization.

The Elias Tcherikower Collection documents the professional and personal life of Elias Tcherikower, a scholar, communal activist, and one of the founders of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, and to a smaller extent personal life of his wife, Riva Tcherikower, née Teplitski. Collected here are Tcherikower’s writings, professional and personal correspondence, photographs, manuscripts by other scholars, research materials, printed materials, financial documents, conference and exhibit materials, minutes of meetings, bibliographic materials and personal materials of Riva Tcherikower, née Teplitski, and Chaim Tcherikower.

This collection of mainly anti-Semitic material was compiled by a Jewish librarian of German descent who infiltrated the pro-Nazi community developing in New York City in the years leading up to World War II. The bulk of the collection consists of publications and printed matter, with the notable exception of narrative reports that describe first-hand experiences and observations of Nazi-affiliated events. Document types include advertisements, event announcements, books, clippings, correspondence, magazines and newspapers, travel guides, political memorabilia, and other print ephemera.

Certificate of incorporation, 1891. Manuscript of union by-laws, 1888. Minutes of regular and executive meetings, 1901-1959. Correspondence with unions, organizations and individuals. Financial records, 1948-1954. Membership register, 1898-1948. Scrapbooks, memorabilia, press clippings about the strike against the Day, 1941.

This collection contains the minutes, correspondence and financial records of the I.L. Peretz Yiddish Writers’ Union from its founding in 1915 until 1973. Among the correspondence is a fair amount concerning the Fund for Jewish Refugee Writers, unions and union grievances, requests for aid from Jewish writers and activists in New York and abroad, and labor disputes and strikes.

Correspondence, manuscripts and typescripts, relating to London's publishing activities. Letters from Daniel Charney, Aaron Glanz-Leieles, Jacob Glatstein, Abraham Golomb, H. Leivick, Leib Olitzky, Melech Ravitch, Zalman Shneur, Abraham Sutzkever. Manuscripts and typescripts by H. Leivick, Reuveni, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Abraham Sutzkever. Typescript of a Yiddish translation of a work by Shmuel Yosef Agnon.

Correspondence with individuals including: A. Almi, Shalom Asch, Nahum Baruch Minkoff, Abraham Cahan, Daniel Charney, Aaron Glanz-Leieles, Jacob Glatstein, Ephim Jeshurin, Zavel Kwartin, Herman (Chaim) Lieberman, Leibush Lehrer, Mani Leib, Kalman Marmor, Kadia Molodowsky, Moshe Nadir, Chaim Pett, Melech Ravitch, Yosele Rosenblatt, Sholom Secunda, Shea Tenenbaum, Baruch Vladeck, Berish Weinstein, M. Winograd, Zalmen Zylbercweig. Correspondence with organizations. Clippings of articles about Adler, including reviews of his memoirs and of the play Yente telebende. Clippings of articles by Adler including stories, jokes, poems. Manuscripts by Adler: plays, humorous sketches, skits, poems, articles, jokes, stories. Photographs of Adler, family and friends.

Correspondence with individuals, circa 1908-circa 1962. Materials about individuals involved in the Russian revolutionary movement. Materials about Russian emigres, the Menshevik party Narodnaya Gazeta, Socialist Party (U.S.), Jewish Socialist Verband, Jewish Daily Forward, Zukunft, the Rand School. Personal materials.

Correspondence with literary figures including Leibush Lehrer, H. Leivick, Jacob Lestschinsky, Mani Leib, Shmuel Niger, Abraham Reisen, Lamed Shapiro, Chaim Zhitlowsky. Manuscripts and holographs by H. Leivick, Mani Leib, Abraham Reisen, Chaim Zhitlowsky.

Records of Meisel's publishing house: ledgers and business correspondence. Letters to Meisel as editor of the New York Tageblatt, 1916-17. Bankruptcy papers of the Jewish Book Agency, 1921-22.

The papers contain materials on the Socialist Revolutionary Party in Russia and include flyers, appeals, clippings from the Russian and Yiddish press about Socialist Revolutionaries.

Mizrakh Yidisher Historisher Arkhiv Collection consists of diverse materials that pertain to pogroms in the period between 1918 and 1921 that took place mostly in Ukraine but also in Belarus, Poland, and Russia. There is a wide variety of topics that are covered in the collection including Ukrainian-Jewish relations during a short lived Ukrainian Republic, Ukrainian-Jewish political, communal, and governmental organizations, Ukrainian government and the role of politicians and military Commanders in pogroms, most notably Symon Petlyura and Ataman Grigoriev, pogroms and its aftermath, military occupation of Ukraine by the German, Polish, Bolshevik and General Denikin’s armies and its relationship to pogroms, Jewish self-defense and relief work. Also included here are materials pertaining to the trial of Sholom Schwarzbard who was tried in France for assassination of Symon Petlyura. The collection consists of of large amount of lists and eyewitness testimonies, correspondence, complaints and petitions, reports and resolutions, statements and proclamations, memoranda and circular letters, conference materials, statues and by-laws, clippings and bulletins, military orders, and photographs.

The collection documents the National Jewish Welfare Board's (JWB) evolution from an organization founded in 1917 to provide support for soldiers in times of war to an agency involved in all aspects of Jewish life both in the United States and abroad. In 1990 JWB recreated itself as the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America.

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Abraham Liessin, including correspondence with many important literary figures, manuscripts of essays and poems by Liessin from Di Tsukunft(The Future) and from his published works, clippings, receipts, invitations, and other materials relating to Liessin’s family. This collection shows how Di Tsukunft became one of the leading Yiddish literary journsl during hte 25 years of Liessin's editorship.

This collection contains manuscripts of novels, short stories, poems, essays, lectures, speeches, translations, and other writings, correspondence, photographs, and personal documents and materials of Yiddish writer Chaim Grade and his wife Inna Hecker Grade. The collection helps to illustrate Grade’s literary development and impact on Yiddish literature over time, from his earliest poetic works written in Vilna and the Soviet Union, to his prolific and accomplished prose work composed mainly in the United States. The collection illuminates Inna Grade's intellectual and academic prowess, as well as the integral role that she played in the editorial and logistical aspects of Grade's literary output.

This collection contains correspondence between Chaim Zhitlowsky and many important political figures and organizations, as well as manuscripts and other writings, some written by Zhitlowsky and some written by others. There are also notes and other materials from speeches and lectures that Zhitlowsky gave, financial documents, articles written about Zhitlowsky, newspaper clippings of articles by Zhitlowsky, materials from celebrations held in Zhitlowsky’s honor, photographs, excerpts from his works, and various other assorted items. These materials serve to illustrate both Zhitlowsky’s importance in the Yiddish and Russian literary field and his deep involvement in the American and Russian-Jewish Socialist, Territorialist and Diaspora Nationalism movements.

The Grigori Gurevitch Papers consist of materials pertaining to his involvement with the revolutionary movement in the Russian Empire and abroad. The bulk of the collection consists of Gurevitch’s manuscripts on politics, history of Kiev, anti-Semitism, Russian political immigrants, and Jewish revolutionaries, notes, and drafts and also includes correspondence, small amount of clippings, receipts, two petitions, and a photograph

Manuscripts by Gordon relating to the bible, kabbalah, semitica, medicine. Manuscripts of literary works such as songs and plays, articles for the Yiddish press. Personal documents: diplomas, membership cards, family correspondence and genealogical tree.

This collection contains the papers of Julian Hirszhaut, a Yiddish journalist and author of several works about the Holocaust in Poland. He collected a great number of historical documents on this topic, including hundreds of eyewitness accounts, which make up an important part of this collection. The materials in this collection relate to Hirszhaut’s important work gathering documents and testimonies of the Holocaust, as well as to his other professional activities as a journalist.

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Yiddish journalist, poet, novelist, and translator Leon Feinberg. These materials include correspondence with Yiddish literary figures and with organizations, newspaper clippings about writers and about Leon Feinberg and his works, subject files, manuscripts of works by Feinberg and by other writers, and some of Feinberg’s personal documents. These materials relate to Feinberg’s long career with various Russian and Yiddish periodicals and literary organizations.

The Marc Ratner Papers consist of materials pertaining to Marc Ratner's political activities as one of the leaders of the SERP (Sotsialisticheskaya Yevreyskaya Rabochaya Partiia, Jewish Socialist Workers' Party, Rus: Социалистическая еврейская рабочая партия) which was a left leaning Zionist revolutionary party. The collection consists of correspondence, circular letters, clippings, minutes of meetings, essays, manuscripts, political resolutions and statements. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence between party members, minutes of meetings and manuscripts.

Maxim Vinawer Papers consist of materials pertaining to Maxim Vinawer’s activities as a political and a communal leader. The collection covers the period between 1915 and 1926. These materials illuminate Vinawer’s participation in Russian politics as one of the leaders of the liberal Constitutional Democratic Party (Kadets), his appointment as a Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Crimean Regional Government in 1919, and his activities as a prominent figure among Zionist and émigré groups in Paris. The collection consists of correspondence, circular letters, memoranda, bulletins, clippings, minutes of meetings, essays, manuscripts, drafts and notes

This collection contains correspondence between Mendel Osherowitch and many important literary and political figures, as well as Yiddish manuscripts by Osherowitch, clippings, photos, and obituaries and letters written to his family after his death. These materials illustrate Osherowitch’s importance in the Yiddish literary field as well as his role in various Jewish organizations.

This collection contains documents of journalist and left-wing political activist Paul Novick, consisting mainly of correspondence, subject files, manuscripts, photographs, and newspaper clippings. These materials relate to Novick’s career as long-time editor of the Morning Freiheit (Morning Freedom), his important role in the worldwide Communist movement, the history of the Freiheit itself, and Jewish and general politics. These materials demonstrate Novick’s important, and changing, role in the history of Communism, as well as his career as a Yiddish journalist and author.

This collection contains the papers of Tashrak, the American Yiddish humorist and journalist. It consists primarily of clippings of Tashrak’s columns and about Tashrak, but also contains correspondence, including his correspondence with Sholem Aleichem, and manuscripts created when he adapted his works for performance.

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of William Edlin, editor of The Day and a prominent Socialist. It includes correspondence with individuals and with organizations, newspaper clippings, manuscripts of works by Edlin and by others as well as translations done by Edlin, and some of Edlin’s personal documents. These materials relate to Edlin’s involvement with The Day, with the Socialist Party, the Workmen’s Circle, various labor and Zionist organizations, literary clubs and activities, and with music, art and drama.