The Story of YIVO's Vilna Collections

YIVO’s extensive archive and library were looted by the Nazis.

Much was destroyed, but soon after World War II some of the materials were recovered in Germany by YIVO (by then relocated to the United States) with the help of the U.S. Army. YIVO also received remnants of the Strashun Library.

But that wasn't the whole story. During the Nazi occupation, the Jews who were forced to sort the materials for ransacking by the Nazis risked their lives to smuggle some of the rare treasures to hiding places in the Vilna Ghetto. After the war, some were recovered but needed to be rescued once again, this time from the Soviets. A courageous Lithuanian librarian, Antanas Ulpis, kept them hidden for over 40 years. Rediscovered in 1988, these materials are now held in the Lithuanian Central State Archives and Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania.

Together, these books and documents are known as the "Vilna Collections." They encompass:

Over 40,000 rare or unique books and periodicals, including over 30,000 rare rabbinical and secular Hebrew books from the Strashun Library.
Approximately 1.5 million documents collected from the Jewish world of Eastern Europe.