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Explore our digital collection, bringing together artifacts scattered across the globe and research that sheds light on Belarusian Jewish culture and history.

Photo of three women. They are the sisters of Harvey Sohnen’s grandmother. Rezia was a teacher, Nechama a housewife, and Lea owned a grocery. They were all murdered during the Holocaust. They stand near their mother’s grave in the Jewish graveyard of Ashmyany. Rivka Aryewitz, daughter of Dov Tsvi Oriavitsh, died in May 1929. She was likely the great-aunt of Harvey’s grandmother Hannah. The photo was taken between May 1929 and the Second World War. On the back of the photo, a text written in Yiddish says:
Photograph

Photograph of three sisters near their grandmother’s grave

Excerpt of the list of passengers of the ship SS Finland from Antwerp, mentioning Harvey Sohnen’s grandfather Beniamin Strashunski (Benjamin Strauss) (1913). Excerpt of the list of passengers of the ship SS Carmania, mentioning Harvey Sohnen’s grandmother Henja Straschunska and her children Fiszel, Faiwel, Sara and Ettel , as well as her younger brother Efroim Owseizik (1921). (Note: Sara’s name was written as Lora by a clerical error. Also, Efroim was identified as a friend although he was Henja’s brother
Legal document

Strauss family's migration documents

Photograph of Harvey Shonen’s maternal grandparents and of their five children, taken in 1923 according to Harvey. They changed their surname to Strauss in the US. Front row from left: Ethel Strauss, approximately 10 years old (married named Ethel Roifer); Bessie Strauss, a few months old (married name Bessie Bernstein; she is  the only one of the five children born in the US); Benjamin Strauss, 50 years old.
Photograph

Photograph of the Strashunski family

Photo of three women standing in a field, probably not far from the Jewish cemetery of Ashmyany. They are the sisters of Harvey Sohnen’s grandmother. Rezia was a teacher, Nechama a housewife, and Lea owned a grocery. They were all murdered during the Holocaust. The photo was taken between May 1929 and the Second World War. On the back, the handwritten text in Yiddish says says: ‘in memory of the sisters Leya, Nekhome and Reyzele’
Photograph

Photograph of three sisters near the Ashmyany Jewish cemetery

Druja, general view
Postcard

Druya, general view

Ashmyany memorial book
Book

Ashmyany memorial book

Etz Chaim (Tree of Life) [Title page]
Religious text

Etz Chaim (Tree of Life) [Title page]

Old Jewish Cemetery in Slonim
Postcard

Old Jewish Cemetery in Slonim

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Oral history interview

Bíkhev: Bráyne Irlin

Photo of three women. They are the sisters of Harvey Sohnen’s grandmother. Rezia was a teacher, Nechama a housewife, and Lea owned a grocery. They were all murdered during the Holocaust. They stand near their father’s grave in the Jewish graveyard of Oshmyany. The photo was been taken between May 1929 and the Second World War. The inscription in Yiddish on the back of the photograph says: “Remember Father's yortsayt”.
Photograph

Photograph of three sisters near their father’s grave

Passport issued by the Rzeczpospolita Polska to Harvey Sohnen’s grandmather, Henia Straszunska (born 1884) for her to travel with her daughters Sora (9 years old) and Etel (6 years old) to America. It had 22 pages but only the front and back cover and pages that have printing and/or writing on both sides are scanned. It includes a photograph of Henia and Etel. Henia signed in Yiddish (Hene Shtrashunske). The stamps in Henia’s passport shows that during her journey from Oshmyany to New York, she stopped in W
Passport

Polish passport of H. Straszunska

Passport issued by the Russian imperial state to Beniamin David Fishelev Strashunskii (Беніаминъ Довидъ Фишелевъ Страшунскій) on the 15 May 1913. It had originally 18 pages, but only the 6 pages with text are scanned. The passport belonged to Harvey Sohnen’s grandfather, Benjamin Strashunski. It also mentions his wife Henja and son Fishel but they didn’t emigrate to America until 1921.
Passport

International passport of B. D. F. Strashunskii

Photo of three women. They are the sisters of Harvey Sohnen’s grandmother. Rezia was a teacher, Nechama a housewife, and Lea owned a grocery. They were all murdered during the Holocaust. They stand near their mother’s grave in the Jewish graveyard of Ashmyany. Rivka Aryewitz, daughter of Dov Tsvi Oriavitsh, died in May 1929. She was likely the great-aunt of Harvey’s grandmother Hannah. The photo was taken between May 1929 and the Second World War. On the back of the photo, a text written in Yiddish says:
Photograph

Photograph of three sisters near their grandmother’s grave #2

Empty marketplace, shut down by Soviet restrictions against private trade, Shklov, USSR (now in Belarus), 1920s. YIVO.
Photograph

[Empty market place in Shklov]

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Periodical

Slonimer vokh

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Periodical

Slonimer vort

Jerusalem Talmud [Title page]
Religious text

Jerusalem Talmud [Title page]

Menachem Mendel of Liubavits
Postcard

Menachem Mendel of Liubavits

Bykhaw, synagogue, cross-section_3
Drawing

Bykhaw, synagogue, cross-section 1:100

Bykhaw, synagogue, plan
Drawing

Bykhaw, synagogue, plan 1:200

Bykhaw, synagogue, cross-section_2
Drawing

Bykhaw, synagogue, cross-section 1:100

Bykhaw, synagogue (reconstruction), cross-section, 1:100
Drawing

Bykhaw, synagogue (reconstruction), cross-section, 1:100

With open mouths. Stories from the past. [Book cover]
Book cover

With open mouths. Stories from the past. [Book cover]

Novy Bykhaw, synagogue, cross-section
Drawing

Novy Bykhaw, synagogue, cross-section

[View of the synagogue in Shklov]
Photograph

[View of the synagogue in Shklov]

Shklov, synagogue, plan
Drawing

Shklov, synagogue, plan

Old Holocaust Monument at the Killing Site in Lenin
Monument / gravestone

[Old Holocaust Monument at the Killing Site in Lenin]

My Forty-Five Years in Vawkavysk
Memoir / autobiography

My Forty-Five Years in Vawkavysk

Memorial book of Vawkavysk
Book

Memorial Book of Vawkavysk

Black
Testimony

Execution of Jews in Lenin

Lida. Yeshiva
Postcard

Lida. Yeshiva

Shabbes candelsticks. Slonim, Belarus, 19th c.
Ritual object

Shabbes candlesticks. Slonim, Belarus, 19th c.

На фотографии изображены члены семьи Шендерович: в верхнем ряду — Галина Шендерович (1928–1941), Дмитрий (муж Сони), Соня Шендерович (1915–1985), Михаил Шендерович (1923–1941); в нижнем ряду — Дора Шендерович (1925–2016), Ехийль Шендерович (ок. 1885–1890–1941), Владимир Шендерович (1938–1941), Блюма (урожд. Гимбург) Шендерович (ок. 1892–1941) и Андрей Шендерович (1919–1990). Большинство изображенных на фотографии членов семьи были расстреляны нацистами в Бобруйском гетто 7 ноября 1941 года.
Photograph

Photograph of the Shenderovich family

Extract of Bella Liebermann’s notebook. Handwritten notes in Russian on three songs, made during the recording of the Yiddish/Hebrew songs by Basia Bertman (nee Rozina). Accompanied by the typed translation into Russian of nine songs.
Song / music notation

Notebook with texts of Yiddish/Hebrew Songs

Sara-Lea Chisin
Photograph

Photograph of Yerachmiel Getsl Chisin (Chagai) and his wife Sara-Lea Chisin

Gerszon Gisser and his brother Motel in Polish Uniform
Photograph

Gerszon Gisser and his brother Motel in Polish Uniform

A photograph depicting five soldiers of the 1st Polish Corps of the Russian Empire. In the center of the photograph is Shmul Messer, the brother of the contributor's grandfather. There is no title. Most likely, the photograph depicts friends and fellow soldiers who took this photograph so that they would not forget each other during World War I. Shmul served in the 1st Polish Corps, which was created to participate in hostilities on the side of the Russian Empire.
Photograph

Photograph of Shmul Messer with fellow soldiers

Photograph of the Messer brothers: Josek, Aron, Shmul, Abraham, and Itzik. Shmul would later serve in World War I as part of the Polish Corps, that combated on the Belarusian territory. The photo is staged, with Jacob Messer, the father of the three brothers, in the center. The photo was most likely taken in Poland. The photograph was taken specifically to capture all of the Messer brothers. After the photograph was taken by the photographer, the brothers received the photograph.
Photograph

Photograph of the Messer brothers

Материал представляет собой коллекцию из 3 фотографий первой половины XX века. На них изображена семья Кагановых: групповой снимок, портрет Стеси Кагановой, портрет Залмана Каганова. Жили в Могилёве, имели своё дело — шляпную мастерскую. Во время оккупации Могилёва отец Залман Каганов и его жена Басева погибли, их дочь Стеся Каганова бежала в Гомельскую область. Годы жизни Стеси Кагановой: 1909–1967.
Photograph

Photographs of Stesya Kaganova, her family and her father

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Audio recording

Audio recordings of twenty Yiddish/Hebrew Songs

Акварельный портрет, выполненный художником Борисом Кремером (1861–1944), изображающий его жену — Ольгу Аннетту Эмму Этту Кремер (урождённую Гурвич). Работа датируется 1917 годом и является одной из немногих подписанных работ художника из семейной («домашней») коллекции. Предположительно, портрет был создан в Павловске, где семья проживала в тот период.
Artwork

Portrait of Olga Cramer

Небольшая чёрно-белая фотография, напечатанная на фотобумаге в начале 1930-х годов. Автор фотографии неизвестен. Предположительно, снимок был сделан на одном из американских кораблей, направлявшихся в СССР с группой энтузиастов, ехавших работать на заводах и в промышленности в период активной индустриализации. Точная дата создания неизвестна; ориентировочно — начало 1930-х годов.
Photograph

Photograph from the Cramer family archive

Photograph of Samson Solomonovich Gorelik
Photograph

Photograph of Samson Solomonovich Gorelik

Photograph of the Gorelik family, residents of the village of Parychy, Gomel Region; one of two photographs remaining from the contributor’s immediate family members. The photograph was taken, presumably in the village of Parychy, in the Gomel region. The photograph is staged.
Photograph

Photograph of the Gorelik family

The photo shows members of the “He-Halutz” organization in Hlybokaye in 1927. In the back row, the third from the left is Khana Tils, the mother of Deborah Rothman. The photograph comes from the family collection of Yehuda Jungelson and Khana Tils. The digitized materials from this collection were provided by the rights holder, Deborah Rothman, to the Sefer Center during the Center’s field school–expedition in 2015. Deborah Rothman is the daughter of Yehuda Jungelson and Khana Tils. From Deborah’s account
Photograph

HeHalutz Organization in Hlybokaye

Studies in the Slonim yeshiva
Photograph

Studies in the Slonim yeshiva

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Photograph

[Slonim. Market street]

The Shoemakers
Drawing

"The Shoemakers" from the series "Memories of Rahachow"

Document from an archival folder: НИАБ. (National Historical Archives of Belarus) НИАБ. Ф. 3209. Оп. 1. Д. 985. Л. 35d. The full title of the folder "Дело по рапорту Витебского уездного полицейского управления о разрешении исправления еврейской общественной бани в м. Яновичах Витебского уезда". The document includes a facade drawing, cross-sections along the indicated lines, the building plan, a general plan of the town, and a legend containing a verbal description of the project.
Archival Document

Project for the construction of a stone public bathhouse in the town of Yanovichi, Vitebsk District and Governorate

Document from an archival folder: НИАБ. (National Historical Archives of Belarus) НИАБ. Ф. 3209. Оп. 1. Д. 870. Л. 6d. The full title of the folder "Дело по прошению мещанина Мовши Лейбова Иоффе о постройке общественной женской бани в м. Волынцах Дриссенского уезда". The document includes a facade drawing, cross-sections along the indicated lines, the building plan, a general plan of the town, and a legend containing a verbal description of the project.
Archival Document

Construction project of a stone public women’s bathhouse (mikveh) in Valyntsy

Document from an archival folder: НИАБ. (National Historical Archives of Belarus) 3209. Оп. 1. Д. 654. Л. 3d. The full title of the folder "Дела по прошению борисовского мещанина Лейбы Симонова Лившица о постройке деревянной бани в м. Чашниках Лепельского уезда”. The document includes an elevation drawing and a cross-section of the building, its floor plan, and a site plan of the surrounding area.
Archival Document

Construction project of a wooden bathhouse on a stone foundation in Chashniki

Document from an archival folder: НИАБ. (National Historical Archives of Belarus) Ф. 2001. Оп. 1. Д. 1580. Л. 52. The report states that Movsha Smolyanitsky was illegally teaching children in the home of Nokhim-Itske Chernyak in Shumyachi and lists the names of seven heder pupils. It also notes that, by the time the report was submitted, Movsha Smolyanitsky had officially obtained a melamed’s certificate and the right to open a heder.
Archival Document

Report of the Klimovichi District Police Chief on the activities of illegal cheder in the town of Shumyachi

Four postcards in Hebreu sent from Chervyen’ to Mandatory Palestine
Postcard

Four postcards in Hebrew sent from Chervyen’ to Mandatory Palestine

Manuscript of the autobiography of M. G. (Mojżesz Goldsztejn), from Slonim, born 1913. 57 pages. Part of the YIVO project “Autobiographies of Jewish Youth in Poland”.
Memoir / autobiography

A few words for an autobiography

Portrait in a medallion with a lyre, roses, an inkwell and books. Biographical text in Hebrew about Z. Shneour, born in Shklov.
Postcard

Zalman Shneur

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Photograph

Synagogue [of Slonim]