Prof. Yaffa Eliach Shtetl Collection

The personal collection of Holocaust survivor historian Prof. Yaffa Eliach was transferred in its entirety to Yad Vashem, where it was filed as its own archival division (P.65), currently available to researchers and the greater public in the Yad Vashem Archives. Prof. Yaffa Eliach contributed significantly to the establishment of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC and was one of the pioneers in Holocaust research and education in the United States, as well as a forerunner in collating and researching the oral testimonies of Holocaust survivors. Her carefully organized collection spans a half century of recorded testimonies, transcripts, diaries, authentic memoirs and original documents; individual photographs and photo albums; and articles she composed regarding the history of Eastern European Jews in general, and Eishishok (now Eišiškės in Lithuania), her native town, in particular.

The arrival of the comprehensive collection fulfills Prof. Eliach's desire for her lifetime's work to be preserved in a safe haven at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, and her archives will take an honored place among Yad Vashem’s other archival collections conserved for future generations.