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For over 25 years, Yad Vashem has been working on the publication of the Pinkasei Hakehillot - a historical-geographical encyclopedia of the Jewish communities in Europe which were destroyed or damaged during the Nazi regime. The encyclopedia is written and published in Hebrew, and comprises historical introductions, followed by entries on towns and communities, the aim being to commemorate every Jewish town, big or small. The majority of the towns included in the Pinkasei Hakehillot are those which had a Jewish infrastructure, with public institutions and a cultural life. Additionally, there are entries about small towns with far fewer Jews, and no independent Jewish community.
Each entry chronicles the history of the Jewish community from its inception until its annihilation by the Nazis during World War II. The entries are divided into three parts: the Jewish community until World War I, between the two world wars, and during the Holocaust period. The entries on larger communities are also subdivided by subject, such as economy, education and culture, political parties and communal life.
To date, eighteen volumes of Pinkasei Hakehillot have been published: Germany (3 volumes), Poland (5 volumes), Romania (2 volumes), Holland, Latvia and Estonia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Lithuania, Libya-Tunisia, and Greece-Albania.
In the course of this year four more volumes will be published: Poland - Lublin-Kielce regions, the Poznan-Pomerania regions, and an introductory volume about Poland. Volumes in the advanced stages of preparation: Lithuanian Poland, Germany (Rhineland-Westphalia), Germany-Niedersachsen, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Ukraine. Volumes on Byelorussia, Russia and Western Europe (Italy, France, Belgium and Scandinavia) are in progress.
The completed encyclopedia will comprise 32 volumes, each containing between 120 and 150 entries.
For further information about communities, please contact:
holocaust.resources@yadvashem.org.il
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