Overview of Archival Collections

The YIVO Archives holds manuscripts, letters, and other documents; printed ephemera; sheet music; posters; artworks and artifacts; photographs, film and video; and sound recordings. (Books and periodicals are held by the YIVO Library.)

The estimated 23,000,000 items in the YIVO Archives are written in over 10 languages. The approximately 1,900 collections (record groups) that make up the YIVO Archives occupy over 17,000 linear feet. They cover a wide range of topics relating to Jewish history and culture around the world but concentrate on four main areas: East European Jewish history; history of the Jews in the United States; Yiddish language, literature, and culture (including significant collections on the Yiddish theater and Yiddish press); and the Holocaust.

Among the highlights of the YIVO Archives collections are:

Note: Some collections have been temporarily closed for digitization.
See list of closed collections.

For a detailed listing of collections in the YIVO Archives, consult the online Guide to the YIVO Archives. Information on YIVO’s archival collections are also searchable in the Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) of the Center for Jewish History. Selected digital images from the YIVO Archives can be found on YIVO’s special presentation websites, as well as in the OPAC.