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Projets de valorisation de fonds d’archives en yiddish à l’ère du

numérique

Document réalisé par Virginie Soffer sous la direction de Dominic Forest en février 2012 dans le cadre du projet

Archiver à l’ère du numérique.

Ce document a pour visée de dresser un état de l’art des différents choix réalisés par des

institutions culturelles qui ont souhaité valoriser leurs fonds d’archives en yiddish. Seuls les projets

utilisant des technologies numériques ont été pris en compte. Les publications papier, les

expositions autres que virtuelles ont ainsi été exclues. Les contours de cet état de l’art ont été

circonscrits à la langue yiddish. Aucune exclusion géographique n’a été faite. Les projets présentés

comprennent des fonds conservés principalement en Amérique du Nord ainsi qu’en Europe. De

même, aucune exclusion quant à la nature des documents n’a été faite. Les fonds peuvent ainsi

contenir des journaux, des manuscrits, des pièces de théâtre, des archives sonores ou visuelles.

Nous sommes partis des projets de valorisation mettant en œuvre les moyens techniques,

financiers et humains les plus basiques en allant jusqu’aux plus complexes.

1- Inventaires d’archives en ligne ...................................................................................................... 2

1.1 Catalogue en ligne ne comprenant pas de substituts numériques ............................................... 2

1.1.1 The Language and Culture Archive of Ashkenazic Jewry ca.1950-1998 ............................ 2

1.1.2 Dorot Jewish division - New York Public Library .............................................................. 3

1.1.3 Samuel Leibowitz Papers, 1933-1943 ................................................................................. 5

1.1.4 Findbuch zum nachlass von Israil Bercovici (1921-1988) .................................................. 5

1.1.5 Yiddish Collection - International Institute of Social History ............................................. 6

1. 2 Catalogues en ligne comprenant des substituts numériques ...................................................... 8

1.2. 1 Documents in Yiddish: Leaflets and Internal Documents - McMaster University ............. 8

1.2.2 Bibliothèque du Congrès ........................................................................................................ 10

1. 2. 3. Second Avenue Online ........................................................................................................ 11

1.2.4 Yiddish sheet music, Brown University library center for digital initiative .......................... 12

2. Autres projets de numérisation en yiddish ...................................................................................... 15

2.1. Kazerne Dossin: Memorial, Museum and Documentation Centre on Holocaust and Human

rights................................................................................................................................................ 15

2.2. Vilnius yiddish institute ........................................................................................................... 15

2.3. Numérisation de certaines collections de la bibliothèque du Medem ...................................... 15

2. 4 Wikimedia New York City/ CYCO Yiddish Encyclopedia..................................................... 16

Annexes ............................................................................................................................................... 17

Annexe 1 : À propos de yiddish playscript ..................................................................................... 17

Annexe 2 : The Second Avenue Online project .............................................................................. 20

Annexe 3 : The Yiddish language sheet music ............................................................................... 21

Annexe 4 : Kazerne Dossin ............................................................................................................. 21

Annexe 5 : CYCO Yiddish Encyclopedia ....................................................................................... 23

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Inventaires d’archives en ligne

Le plus simple moyen de valoriser son fonds d’archives est de signaler son existence grâce à

une notice descriptive en ligne.

1.1 Catalogue en ligne ne comprenant pas de substituts numériques

1.1.1 The Language and Culture Archive of Ashkenazic Jewry ca.1950-1998

Les bibliothèques de l’Université de Colombie Britannique ont un fonds de 282 pieds

linéaires (plus de 110 000 documents) sur la langue et la culture de la communauté juive ashkénaze.

Ce fonds reflète la culture des populations parlant yiddish dans l’Europe centrale et l’Europe de

l’Est durant le début de la deuxième guerre mondiale.

Les bibliothèques de l’Université de Colombie britannique ont fait le choix de faire une

notice descriptive en ligne consultable à l’adresse http://clio.cul.columbia.edu/cgi-

bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBRecID=4079907&v2=1 :

Le fonds est également recensé dans le catalogue de bibliothèque WorldCat.

Il est consultable sur place.

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1.1.2 Dorot Jewish division - New York Public Library

1.1.2.1 World Jewish Newspapers & Periodicals on Microfilm

La division Dorot de la New York Public Library a été pionnière dans le domaine du

microfilmage de ses collections. Ce fut la première section de la bibliothèque à microfilmer ses

collections et une des premières parmi les bibliothèques juives. Par exemple, elle microfilma dès

1937 le Jewish Daily Forward, un journal yiddish new yorkais.

L’inventaire des collections microfilmées a été mis en ligne sous forme d’un document pdf

de 4 pages. La description est très sommaire, elle comprend simplement un index des titres trié par

ordre alphabétique suivi de leur lieu et de leur date d’édition :

Sources :

http://legacy.www.nypl.org/research/chss/jws/newspapers.html

http://legacy.www.nypl.org/research/chss/jws/preservation.html

1.1.2.2 Yiddish Theater

La division Dorot de la New York Public Library comprend également parmi ses fonds les

archives d’importantes personnalités du théâtre yiddish de Boris Thomashefsky à Bertha Kalich en

passant par Morris Morrisson. New York fut en effet un des lieux phares du renouveau du théâtre

yiddish en Amérique, et la bibliothèque joua un rôle particulier en tant que lieu de promotion.

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La division Dorot de la New York Public Library valorise ce fonds par l’entremise de son

site internet. Elle commence par le contextualiser en présentant une première page à l’histoire du

théâtre yiddish en s’adressant à un vaste public :

Une seconde est consacrée à l’histoire de la collection.

Enfin une autre section comporte un outil de recherche qui permet de repérer les différents

manuscrits de pièces qui ont été écrites :

Le site comporte des outils complémentaires pour le public désireux de se renseigner de

façon beaucoup plus approfondie sur le théâtre yiddish.

Ainsi un index du lexique du théâtre yiddish de Zalman Zylbercweig a été établi. Ce

Leksikon fun Yidishn Teater fut le fruit du travail de dizaines de bénévoles durant une quarantaine

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d’années. Les notices furent rédigées par ordre alphabétique jusqu’au milieu de l’alphabet. Puis

l’éditeur découvrit tant d’omissions qu’il les rajouta dans les volumes suivants sans suivre

nécessairement l’ordre alphabétique. Cet ouvrage est d’une grande utilité pour les chercheurs, mais à

cause de la multiplicité de ses index il n’est pas aisé de s’y retrouver. Nous comprenons alors

l’utilité pour les chercheurs de l’index qui a été compilé en 2002 par Faith Jones à la Dorot Jewish

Division. Hormis des chercheurs spécialisés, le public est en effet fort restreint. L’index se présente

sous forme d’un ensemble de documents pdf pour chaque lettre rédigés uniquement en yiddish.

Le site comporte pour finir une section qui devrait comporter si l’on en croit le titre de la

page plusieurs liens utiles vers des ressources sur le théâtre yiddish. Mais elle ne comporte en fait

qu’un seul lien vers les archives des partitions de musique de la Brown University Library.

Sources :

http://legacy.www.nypl.org/research/chss/jws/yiddishintro.html

http://legacy.www.nypl.org/research/chss/jws/yiddishhist.html

http://legacy.www.nypl.org/research/chss/jws/yiddishplays.cfm

http://legacy.www.nypl.org/research/chss/jws/leksikonindex.html

http://legacy.www.nypl.org/research/chss/jws/yiddishlinks.html

1.1.3 Samuel Leibowitz Papers, 1933-1943

Samuel Leibowitz est un écrivain

lithuanien, qui émigra en Afrique du Sud. À

partir de 1931, il publia dans des journaux

yiddish et dans des journaux d’Afrique du

Sud. La plupart de son œuvre n’a pas été

publiée. La bibliothèque de l’Université

d’Austin détient un fonds des écrits de cet

écrivain durant dix années (de 1933 à 1943).

Ce fonds est de taille très restreinte; il mesure moins d’un mètre linéaire.

La bibliothèque a valorisé ce fonds en mettant en ligne l’inventaire de ce fonds sur une page

web. Notice biographique, contenu et portée et droits d’accès sont ainsi visibles de tous.

Source : http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utlac/00184/lac-00184.html

1.1.4 Findbuch zum nachlass von Israil Bercovici (1921-1988)

La bibliothèque de l’Université de Postdam a également mis en ligne l’inventaire des

archives de l’écrivain et historien Israel Bercovici. Le catalogue est également accessible

directement depuis le site web sans avoir à télécharger de pdf.

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Source : http://www.ub.uni-potsdam.de/nachlass/index.html

1.1.5 Yiddish Collection - International Institute of Social History

L’inventaire du fonds des archives du Bund est en ligne :

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La dimension du fonds faisant 3,6 mètres linéaires, la granularité de la description du fonds

n’a pas été très fine. Chaque pièce n’a pas été décrite.

Par contre une exposition virtuelle présente le Bund, le mouvement des ouvriers yiddish

réunis. Et quelques documents ont été numérisés et présentés avec une courte notice explicative :

Source : http://yiddish-sources.com/yiddish-collection-international-institute-social-history

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1. 2 Catalogues en ligne comprenant des substituts numériques

1.2. 1 Documents in Yiddish: Leaflets and Internal Documents - McMaster University

Les documents en yiddish de la bibliothèque de McMaster University Library sont peu

nombreux. Au total, il y a moins d’une centaine de feuillets.

L’ensemble des feuillets a été numérisé en haute qualité. S’il zoome grâce au script implanté

depuis la librairie jquery, le lecteur peut très facilement lire ces feuillets. L’ensemble de ces feuillets

est décrit.

Chaque ensemble de feuillets est décrit en respectant les règles de catalogage nord-

américaine. Les notices descriptives comprennent ainsi les champs suivants :

À propos

- Titre

- Date

- Description

- Matériel

- Description physique

- Lieu

- Langue

- Provenance

Séries et sujets

- Relation

- Sujet

- Contributeur

Techniques

- Identifiant

- Boîte

- Type

- Fichier

- Format

- Droit

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La possibilité de partager les notices sur des réseaux sociaux tels facebook ou twitter ou sur

des outils de partage comme Delicious est proposée au visiteur.

Le lecteur peut également se créer un compte et sauvegarder ses documents favoris.

Le lecteur peut également commenter les documents. Cette possibilité peut-être très

enrichissante : le lecteur peut apporter sa propre expertise sur les documents (identification de

documents, proposition d’ajout de documents à la collection). Toutefois, la présence d’un

modérateur pour valider les commentaires est vivement recommandée.

À noter que Drupal a été le CMS qui a été utilisé.

Source : http://digitalcollections.mcmaster.ca/documents-yiddish-leaflets-and-internal-documents

1.2.2 Bibliothèque du Congrès

77 manuscrits de théâtre qui n’ont pas été publiés ont été sélectionnés parmi plus de 1290

pièces de la collection Marwick ont été numérisés par la bibliothèque du Congrès.1

Il faut tourner les pages une par une et attendre un long temps de chargement pour feuilleter

l’ensemble du livre. Les images ont été numérisées en TIFF dans une faible résolution, ce qui rend

la lecture des textes difficile. Il est possible d’avoir une meilleure qualité d’image en ouvrant un

nouveau fichier qui a été numérisée en plus haute qualité (9,0 Ko). Mais même agrandie, la lecture

des caractères est rendue difficile. Et il n’est pas possible de charger en une seule fois l’ensemble du

recueil en haute qualité. Il faut faire défiler les pages une par une et cliquer sur chacune de celle que

l’on souhaite agrandir.

1 Se référer à l’annexe 1 pour plus d’informations sur ces pièces de théâtre.

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Source : http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/vshtml/vsyid.html

1. 2. 3. Second Avenue Online

Les archives du théâtre de Second Avenue qu’il s’agisse de photographies, de documents

audios ou de multimédia sont présentées par la New York Digital library 2.

2 Se référer à l’annexe 2 pour plus d’informations sur ce projet.

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L’interface est peu conviviale.

Par exemple, le moteur de recherche par titre est non fonctionnel :

http://2ndave.nyu.edu/manakin/handle/123456789/13326

1.2.4 Yiddish sheet music, Brown University library center for digital initiative

La Bibliothèque de la Brown University a numérisé des partitions musicales 3 .

Le site comprend tout d’abord une page de présentation des collections.

La possibilité de faire des recherches simple ou avancée est donnée au lecteur ::

3 Se référer à l’annexe 2 pour plus d’informations sur ce projet.

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Le site comprend tout d’abord une page de présentation des collections.

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Les références et les ressources sont nombreuses :

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Seule la page d’aide qui n’apparait pas pourrait être à revoir.

Les images sont numérisés en jpg en excellente résolution.

Le Scanner Epson 1640XL a été utilisé.

Le nommage des fichiers peut-être à revoir, ce qui éviterai d’avoir des fichiers au noms trop

complexes comme « 1131131512406264.jpg ».

Source : http://dl.lib.brown.edu/sheetmusic/yiddish/ .

2. Autres projets de numérisation en yiddish

2.1. Kazerne Dossin: Memorial, Museum and Documentation Centre on Holocaust and

Human rights

En Belgique, la collection de journaux de M. Syster est numérisée et peut-être consultée sur

place.4

http://www.kazernedossin.be/en/content/digitalisation-projects

2.2. Vilnius yiddish institute

À Vilnius, des classiques littéraires sont numérisés.

http://judaicvilnius.com/en/main/yiddishonline/classic

2.3. Numérisation de certaines collections de la bibliothèque du Medem

À Paris, la Maison de la culture yiddish-Bibliothèque Medem souhaite « procéder à la

numérisation des collections des journaux parisiens Undzer vort (Notre parole), Naye presse

(Presse nouvelle), Undzer veg (Notre chemin) et Arbeter-vort (la Parole ouvrière).

Les volumes numérisés en mode image seront rendus accessibles de façon libre et gratuite sur le site

www.rachelnet.org et également, à terme, dans la bibliothèque numérique de la Bibliothèque

nationale de France (http://gallica.bnf.fr) et sur le site du projet Judaica Europeana (www.judaica-

europeana.eu)

Il est en conséquence demandé aux auteurs ayant collaboré à ce titre ou à leurs ayants droit, de bien

vouloir se manifester s'ils souhaitent exprimer une opposition à ce que leurs articles ou illustrations

soient mis en ligne.

4 Se référer à l’annexe 4 pour plus d’informations sur ce projet.

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À l'issue d'un délai de 6 mois, prenant effet à compter de la date de publication du présent encart, et

sauf avis contraire des auteurs ou de leurs ayants-droits, la Maison de la culture yiddish-

Bibliothèque Medem procèdera à la mise en ligne des volumes numérisés.

Il est cependant précisé qu'après cette mise en ligne, la Maison de la culture yiddish-Bibliothèque

Medem s'engage à retirer tout article ou illustration en cas de réclamation de son auteur ou des

ayants-droits de ce dernier. »

Source : http://yiddish.canalblog.com/archives/2011/02/15/20226129.html

2. 4 Wikimedia New York City/ CYCO Yiddish Encyclopedia

Wikimedia envisage de numériser la Yiddish Encyclopedia, l’équivalent de l’Encyclopédie

Britannica pour le yiddish. Il s’agit d’une encyclopédie en 12 volumes.5

Sources : http://2ndave.nyu.edu/handle/123456789/513

5 Se référer à l’annexe 5 pour plus d’informations sur ce projet.

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Annexes

Annexe 1 : À propos de yiddish playscript

« The seventy-seven Yiddish plays in this collection range from ten page vignettes to four-act

extravaganzas. They were written by celebrated writers such as Sholem Aleichem and Jacob Gordin

(the first important "serious" Yiddish playwright), and popular wordsmiths such as Abraham

Shaikewitz Schomer and Joseph Lateiner, whose reputations have been eclipsed by time. Some of

the writers represented in this collection are unknown to us; among them are many amateurs whose

works may never have been produced, but which nevertheless provide an important glimpse into

grass roots involvement with Yiddish theater.

Given its modern form by Abraham Goldfadn in 1876, the professional Yiddish theater transcended

its traditional roots within twenty years. It developed out of archaic styles of drama resembling the

medieval mystery and mummers' plays into modern theatrical forms exemplified by the plays of

Ibsen, a major source and influence for Gordin. Goldfadn is acknowledged as the father of both

"serious" and "popular" strands of Yiddish theater. He specialized in operetta and the creative

reworking of plots and melodies from pre-existing sources.

Popular Yiddish theater has remained true to these beginnings. Plot elements have been drawn

directly or indirectly from European sources such as Plautus, Gilbert and Sullivan, and Viennese

operetta--one of the plays is even called "The Merry Widower." Others are obvious adaptations of

classic American melodramas such as "East Lynne," "Ten Nights in a Barroom," or the "You Dare

Call Yourself Mother" outbursts of popular English dramatist Arthur Wing Pinero.

Jacob Gordin is among the better-known writers represented in this collection. Influenced by

mainstream European theatrical traditions, he scored notable successes with his Yiddish adaptations

of Goethe's "Faust" ("Got, Mensh un Tayvel") and Shakespeare's "King Lear" ("Mirele Efros,"

subtitled the Jewish King Lear; it is frequently revived today). Most of the plays in this collection

are contemporaneous with "Der Dybbuk" (the 1910s-1920s) or Y.L. Peretz's symbolist dramas, "Bay

Nakht afn Altn Mark" and "Di Goldene Keyt." They beg comparison with such examples of high

literature, however, because they were designed to be both popular in intent and vernacular in

expression.

These plays are distinctively North American creations which use the folkways of Jewish Eastern

Europe as a means of evoking nostalgia and generating instant humor. Old-world folkways were

transplanted onto American soil and refreshed with each new boatload of immigrants. Beset with the

influences of America's pervasive popular culture, Jews used the Yiddish language to hold onto the

familiar while adjusting to a new environment. Yiddish helped them develop and sustain networks

of information, community help, and creative expression.

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In a world of upheaval and cultural transition, the folkways embedded in Yiddish theater were a

source of stability, and predictably evoked responses from audiences. Yet Yiddish theater plots also

reveal a wild, incongruous sense of the fantastic. Sometimes they draw upon the standard, but often

startling, situations common to most European folk literature--stock devices like the rediscovery of

"long-lost" or "dead" parents, spouses, and siblings. Other conventional elements include the

withholding of vital information from the audience in order to heighten tension, or the signaling of

comic relief through the introduction of characters with speech defects and physical infirmities.

From time to time, elements are introduced that are less familiar to modern audiences steeped in

English-language narrative conventions. For instance, characters are made to repeat a single

unchanging and inevitable catch-phrase again and again, regardless of circumstances. Elements like

these have precedents in Yiddish folklore.

Most of the plays in this collection employ techniques, jokes, plots, and characters that transcend

any particular American ethnic tradition. Indeed, Yiddish theater reflects and absorbs a host of

mutli-cultural influences. Only half-a-dozen plays, if one judges them by script alone, are so

quintessentially Jewish (and Eastern-European Jewish at that) that they could not have been written

about any other immigrant or ethnic group. Performance style and the inclusion of theater music

underscored the recognizably "Jewish" nature of the written material.

Yiddish theater style and music, like the language itself, are syncretic and draw upon many ethnic

traditions, working them into a memorable product defined less by uniqueness of content than by a

pervasive "attitude." In this collection, only Sholem Aleichem's "Tevye," set in Russia, can be said

to have originated any of the conventions it employs.

Yiddish plays were usually commercial ventures and were designed to bring in the greatest number

of spectators by giving each member of the audience-- "Moyshe," as the typical patron was called by

Yiddish theater people--what Moyshe already knew he liked. Sometimes the plays conveyed visions

of intense suffering and glory. More frequently, however, Moyshe demanded, and was given,

relatively accurate versions of his own problems and aspirations, often with a comic twist.

Few of the plays in this collection deal more than superficially with Jewish concerns per se; a full

seventy-five percent contain virtually no mention of religious custom, ceremony, or practice. Still,

they are written in Yiddish. This means they are full of Yiddish-speaking characters (often highly

assimilated professionals) who continue to speak Yiddish as a matter of course. This is particularly

significant in an immigrant community surrounded by the English-speaking mainstream, where

most people chose to be addressed as John or Anne instead of Yankl or Khane.

The Yiddish of virtually every play with an American setting--about seventy-five percent of the

collection--is suffused with English words and expressions. Sometimes English is even used for

extended dialogue, especially among members of the "younger generation." Malapropisms and

misunderstandings are standard humorous devices in the plays. The playwright's skill in utilizing

correct or idiomatic English is usually balanced by his or her fluency in slang or comic English.

Indeed, much of the American Yiddish theater's style lies in its ability to manipulate many

permutations of Yiddish, English, and "Yinglish" in dramatically appropriate places. The audience

was expected to understand all the English dialogue and to share the author's opinions about what

constituted good and bad English.

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Immigration, adaptation to a new land, assimilation, and the contrast between

European and American ways are standard topics for the plays set in North

America. In Berkowitz's one-act play, "The Townsmen," for instance, a

recently immigrated Russian is assured by his Jewish former-townsman that,

in America, "we Jews run the show." Conflicts emerge over marriage

arrangements (Gastwirth, "The Green Teacher") and over different

generational mores (Small, "From Happiness to the Gallows") .

These plays reveal ambivalence about both old ways and new. Jewish life in Europe, warmly

remembered as it was, is intertwined with the memories of poverty, pogroms, war, and

powerlessness. The new ways in America are portrayed as incomprehensible and often immoral.

Plays set in America are laced with themes or motifs dealing with crime, speculation, seduction,

gambling, marital breakdowns, and the repudiation of parents by wayward children. In these dramas,

young American Jews also display a proclivity for romances with gentile partners--a serious, even

scandalous, breach of the typical religious and cultural mores of the time. If Jewish young people

manage to become American without descending into criminal life, they still run the risk of

neglecting the very traditions their parents emigrated to preserve. This is a central and recurring

dilemma throughout the plays in this collection.

Yet America is America, and Russia--the birthplace of most of the Yiddish theater audience in the

early twentieth century--is hell. One play, written before America's entry into World War I, is

overtly pro-German. The logic seems to be that anyone shooting at the Czar's Russians can't be all

bad. Conversely, Schnitzer's "The Mother's Sin," set in eighteenth-century Germany, and Schorr's

"What Men Are," a musical comedy set in New York, each features panoramas of America's

greatness. Schorr's work includes figures his audience would have found heroic, such as Christopher

Columbus and Teddy Roosevelt.

Except for seven one-act plays, none of the plays in this collection could have been presented within

the fuller context of a vaudeville or variety show. The Yiddish theater was centralized in New York,

although its influence radiated throughout American urban centers. It had its own theaters and a

highly-stratified star system. This institutional independence encouraged the presentation of single,

evening-length entertainments. The plays were structured to be inclusive, and are conceived of as a

coherent whole. The script is always the central experience even if, as in the case of Schomer's

"Green Millionaire" (a popular vehicle for famous actor Boris Thomashefsky), the play contains an

entire afternoon prayer service. If the audience was paying to see Tomashefsky or Jacob Adler--

among the most celebrated actors of their time--why would they want to have to sit through an act of

trained dogs, or other vaudeville novelties, before getting to see the star performers?

Vaudeville had its stars, too, of course, but the nature of vaudeville was episodic. Vaudeville

performers were primarily comedians or song-and-dance people who, however celebrated, shared

the bill with animals, acrobats, jugglers, adagio dancers, trick fiddlers, and the like. The vaudeville

stage could be appreciated by many immigrants without a sophisticated command of the English

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language. Jews were no exception; Yiddish speakers could go to the nearest vaudeville house and

absorb as much of it as they wanted. And go they did, as both patrons and performers. Yiddish

theater was not vaudeville. It occupied a different niche in the world of entertainment. It provided

Yiddish-speaking immigrants with a culturally specific mirror of themselves, their history, and their

problems. It was a familiar tool with which to view not only America, but the outside world with

which they had had a limited relationship for centuries.

The flowering of Yiddish theater in America was swift and sudden. Its decline was just as swift.

Yiddish playwrights, such as those represented in this online collection, voiced the needs, anxieties,

and aspirations of their people in a language which even they, perhaps, realized their grandchildren

might never speak. Yet, while the Yiddish-speaking population has declined dramatically in recent

decades, there are still some active Yiddish theater troupesin New York City, Montreal, Israel,

Romania, and Poland, for example--that continue to entertain enthusiastic audiences. »

Source http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/vshtml/vsyide.html

Annexe 2 : The Second Avenue Online project

« Yiddish theater in New York and across the United States had a vital impact on the American

entertainment industry and the evolution of 20th-century American culture. 2nd Avenue, once lined

with Yiddish theaters and rivaling Broadway as a center of theatrical production, had a formative

and ongoing impact well beyond the confines of New York's Lower East Side. Yiddish theater's

influence can be traced in the comic tradition of the Catskills, in early television, Broadway shows

like Fiddler on the Roof, and the work of well-known performers as diverse as Molly Picon, Paul

Muni and Leonard Nimoy. Teachers like Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg, who would reshape acting

in the 20th century, had their first taste of theater along 2nd Avenue.

The Second Avenue Online project employs digital technology to preserve this invaluable historic

resource and to make it available to the widest possible audience. Through oral history, video and

audio recordings, photographs and a wide range of information about the institutions and the people

that made Yiddish theater a living tradition, Second Avenue Online seeks to capture the memory

and to convey the feel of 2nd Avenue as a living part of the history and culture of New York and

America.

Second Avenue Online is a project of New York University Libraries. »

http://2ndave.nyu.edu/manakin/

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Annexe 3 : The Yiddish language sheet music

The Yiddish language sheet music in this digital collection is part of the large Sheet Music

Collection at the John Hay Library. The digital collection is composed of public domain (pre-1923)

titles; when the project is completed it is expected that it will be comprised of approximately 700

titles.

Most of the Yiddish sheet music in the collection came from the collection of Menache Vaxer, a

Yiddish writer and Hebraist of Russia, and was acquired by the Library in 1968, which included

over 850 pieces of piano-vocal or instrumental music, dating from the 1890s through the 1940s. This

core collection has been added to by purchase and gift since that time, and the entire Yiddish sheet

music collection now totals approximately 2000 items.

The Collection's focus is on the Yiddish-language musical stage, and includes many photographs of

performers (often in costume) and composers, and, not infrequently, scenes from theatrical

productions. Also included in the collection are art songs, Hebrew and Yiddish language folk songs,

and religious music, notably from the cantorial repertoire. Notable performers and theatrical

personalities represented are Molly Picon, Bores Thomashefsky, David Kessler, Jacob Adler, Aaron

Lebedeff, Abraham Goldfaden, Mrs. Regina Praeger, and Cantor Gershon Sirota, among many

others.

The originals, and the post-1923 titles in the collection, are available for consultation at the John

Hay Library during its usual business hours. A related collection of Yiddish language literature is

part of the Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays, and includes the book portion of the

Menache Vaxer Collection.

Annexe 4 : Kazerne Dossin

The documentation and digitalisation service aims to make the archives and collections entrusted to

the museum accessible through digitalisation. The staff began the scanning of archives and

collections owned by other Belgian museums and archives in 1997. The files mentioned below were

digitalised over the years. These digital files can be consulted by appointment in the reading room of

Kazerne Dossin on the conditions stipulated in the reading room regulations.

Dossiers Department of Alien Affairs: In 2005, the digitalisation service started digitalising

the photographs of these dossiers as part of the “Give them a face” project. Digitalisation

began when the Department of Alien Affairs handed over the file to the National and

Provincial State Archives in 2008.

The Register of Jews in Belgium: This register is owned by the Joodse Sociale Dienst

(Jewish Social Services) in Brussels. The JMDR was responsible for the restoration, making

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an inventory and digitalising the file. The originals were then given in safe custody to the

Joods Museum van België (Jewish Museum of Belgium). The digital version can be

accessed by third parties.

The register of Jews from Antwerp: This register is owned by the Het Centraal Beheer voor

Joodse Weldadigheid en Maatschappelijk Hulpbetoon v.z.w.’ commonly known as the

‘Centrale’ (‘The Center’). The JMDR digitalised this file between 1999 and 2003. Although

the original was returned to the rightful owner, the archive had a digital version.

The filing cards of “Drancy-Auschwitz”: In 1999, the Dienst Oorlogsslachtoffers (DOS)

(Department of War Victims) asked JMDR to restore, make an inventory of and digitalise

this file.

The archive of the Jodenvereeniging van België (JVB) (Association of Jews in Belgium):

this file consists of three sub-collections that have each followed a different digitalisation

path:

o The membership list of the JVB: These filing cards belong to the SOMA (the Centre

for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society). The

originals were returned to the owner after digitalisation.

o The “JVB file (Martin Buber)”: In 2001, the former owner, the Centre National des

Hautes Etudes Juives (CNHEJ), gave this file to the JMDR. All documents have been

restored and digitalised. The inventory is still being drawn up.

o The “JVB file (Independence Front)”: In 2003, the Nationaal Verzetsmuseum

(National Resistance Movement Museum) gave these archives in the custody of

JMDR. The digitalisation service was responsible for the restoration, making an

inventory and digitalising the documents.

The relics: This collection is the property of the Dienst Oorlogsslachtoffers (DOS)

(Department of War Victims) that gave it on deposit to the JMDR. Each document and

envelope was subsequently digitalised and packaged separately.

The dossiers of the NMBS: The NMBS-SNCB (Belgian Railways) loaned out its files

concerning the Second World War to Kazerne Dossin in 2009. This concerned reports of air

raids on railway lines, sabotage actions of the resistance, etc. The JMDR digitalised the

collection before returning it to the NMBS-SNCB.

The dossiers of post-war tribunals: these criminal files are kept by the Auditors-General. On

the basis of a cooperation agreement with this institute, a member of staff of Kazerne Dossin

is working full-time on the digitalisation of these documents. Neither the original, nor the

digital version is currently accessible to third parties.

The collection of the JMDR: The JMDR has an extensive collection of its own photos,

documents and newspapers related to the persecutions during the Second World War. The

donated originals as well as those lent out have been digitalised. The digital versions can be

consulted at the documentation service.

The Szyster collection: This collection of Yiddish newspapers was entrusted to the museum

by its owner, Mr Szyster. The digitalisation service provided the necessary scans, which can

be consulted at the documentation service.

The library: Valuable and/or damaged publications in the library were also digitalised. They

can also be consulted on the spot.

The Raümung index cards: after the arrest of a Jewish family, their home was emptied by the

occupier. With regard to Antwerp, details of these Raümungen or Möbelaktionen were kept.

Each index card included the name of a family, their address, the date when the action took

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place and the number of the plundering act. JMDR digitalised the approx. 3,000 Raümung

index cards in the summer of 1999. The originals belong to the Department of War Victims.

The index can be consulted at Kazerne Dossin’s documentation centre.

The digitalisation service takes great care of the scanning method and the quality of the images.

These people are permanently responsible for carrying out this task. The documents are scanned in

the best quality resolution. The digitalisation service is able to process tens of thousands of

documents a year.

Annexe 5 : CYCO Yiddish Encyclopedia

« The digitization of the CYCO Yiddish Encyclopedia is one project that may be pursued by

Wikimedia New York City. It is the only full-scale encyclopedia ever published in the Yiddish

language, a language whose speakers are today largely concentrated in the New York metropolitan

area.

It would be a project primarily to benefit the Yiddish Wikipedia (see article in English Wikipedia),

so that the CYCO Encyclopedia articles may serve as a basis for modernized and updated Yiddish

Wikipedia articles.

The Encyclopedia

The 12-volume (5 volumes general topics, 7 volumes Jewish topics) Algmeine Encyclopedie in

Yiddish (the 'CYCO Encyclopedia', for our purposes) was a work of unprecedented scope published

in the 1930s and 1940s, and could be considered the Yiddish equivalent of the 1911 Encyclopaedia

Britannica, on which many of the articles in English Wikipedia have been initially based on.

CYCO

The Congress For Jewish Culture (also known as the Central Yiddish Cultural Organization, or

CYCO), is a Yiddishist organization with an office at 25 East 21st Street in Manhattan, and was the

original publisher of the CYCO Encylopedia. It is broadly similar to the better-known YIVO in

purpose, but is a much smaller organization with its own views on Yiddish culture.

User:Pharos initially approached CYCO in mid-2005. After some discussion, they expressed

enthusiasm for the release of the CYCO Encyclopedia under a free-content license to benefit the

Yiddish Wikipedia provided (1) that the original CYCO Encyclopedia be preserved and available

intact on Yiddish Wikisource and (2) that they receive technical assistance with the digitization of

the books. It was also noted that CYCO still posssesed many bound copies of the CYCO

Encyclopedia from its original printing in its offices, and the tragedy that the extensive scholarship

that went into these volumes was not being made available to a wider audience.

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Unfortunately, this was not a practical project for Pharos to pursue at the time, lacking personal

experience in both Yiddish and OCR. But with the establishment of a local chapter, and an available

group of like-minded people of different talents, the project becomes more feasible.

User:יודל (User:Yidisheryid on English Wikipedia), who is a native Yiddish speaker, became

interested in the possible project in October 2007, and will soon arrange another meeting with

CYCO. It is hoped that with the establishment of a Wikimedia New York City chapter, more local

Yiddish speakers can participate.

CYCO has also expressed interest in having other of its publications available online, on

Wikisource.

How to do it

Phase 0: CYCO authorization

o Executive director actively working with us.

o Has agreed to put under free content licenses once it is digitized.

Phase 1: ISBN registration

o Necessary prerequisite for scanning by Google.

o Will require some payments to be made.

o Discussions are ongoing.

Phase 2: Book scanning

o The books can be scanned by the Open Content Alliance for 10 cents a page; this is

~$500 total.

If you are interested in a donation for a part of this sum (you can sponsor

one volume for ~$40), please send an e-mail to wikinewyork (at) gmail.com.

o Discussions are ongoing.

Phase 3: OCR

o Volunteers on the Understanding Yiddish Information Processing mailing list have

generously agreed to help with this.

o Trial-run scan of 4 or 5 pages is being planned.

Phase 4: Wikisource proofreading

o Model: s:The New Student's Reference Work

o People who know the alphabet but don't know Yiddish can still help here.

Phase 5: Wikipedia adaptation

o Model: w:Wikipedia:1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica »

http://2ndave.nyu.edu/handle/123456789/513