Records of the Vilna Jewish Community Council 1800-1940.

From the 16th century onward the Jewish community of Vilna was governed by an autonomous administrative body, called the Kehillah (or Kahal). Under the Russian domination (from 1794) the Kehillah steadily declined in power until the institution of Kahal was altogether abolished in 1844 by an imperial edict throughout the Russian empire. The Tsedakah Gedolah which replaced the former Kehillah in Vilna was limited to charitable and religious functions. In 1919, as Vilna became part of Poland, the Tsedakah Gedolah was replaced by an elected New Kehillah (Yid. Naye kehile). This institution was eventually dissolved in 1940 by the Soviet authorities. These are incomplete records of the Kehillah covering mainly the period of the Tzedakah Gedolah, 1844-1918, and the New Kehillah, 1919-1940. Some pre-1844 records are included. Originally part of the YIVO Archives in Vilna, only a third of the collection was recovered after World War II. Additional records of the Vilna Kehillah are in the custody of the Central Historical Archives in Vilnius, Lithuania. The collection relates to all three administrations, although records of the first "kahal" period cover only the years 1800-1844 and these are very sparse. The collection also includes numerous documents of the Jewish Refugee Relief Committee, established at the beginning of World War II under the auspices of the Kehillah. That committee functioned from 1939-1940. This institution was eventually dissolved in 1940 by the Soviet authorities.Inventory: Yiddish, 8 pp., typedPart of the pre-World War II collections of YIVO in Vilnius, Lithuania. Part of the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Collections Project