Commemorating the centennial of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

Commemorating the centennial of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

Whereas the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research was established in 1925 in Vilna, Poland (now Vilnius, Lithuania), as the world’s first comprehensive center devoted to the study, preservation, and dissemination of East European Jewish history, culture, and language;

Whereas YIVO is the only prewar Eastern European Jewish archive and library to survive the Holocaust, relocating to New York City in 1940;

Whereas, over its century-long history, YIVO has amassed over 24 million items, including the largest repository of primary Holocaust materials globally, surpassed only by Yad Vashem in Israel, and its library encompasses 400,000 volumes in multiple European languages and features the world’s largest collection of Yiddish-language books, pamphlets, and newspapers;

Whereas YIVO provides a home for millions of documents and artifacts related to the history of Jews in the United States, and among these are thousands of photographs, newspapers, and magazines, and other ephemera that document the voyages of Jewish immigrants and the lives they made throughout the country;

Whereas YIVO has become a leading institution in the United States for research on Jewish history, Holocaust studies, and Yiddish language and literature, contributing significantly to academic scholarship and cultural preservation;

Whereas YIVO’s digitization initiatives, such as the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections Project, have made accessible millions of documents and artifacts related to Jewish history, including Holocaust materials, through digital platforms that serve educators, scholars, and learners across the globe; and

Whereas the centennial anniversary of YIVO presents an opportunity to recognize its extraordinary contributions to the preservation of Jewish history and culture, and to reaffirm the United States commitment to supporting institutions that promote cultural diversity, historical scholarship, and intercultural dialogue: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) commemorates the centennial of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, honoring its 100 years of dedicated service to preserving and promoting the rich history, culture, and language of East European Jewry during this Jewish American Heritage Month; and

(2) recognizes YIVO’s invaluable historical and ongoing contributions to Jewish scholarship, Holocaust remembrance, and cultural preservation, which have profoundly enriched the intellectual and cultural fabric of the United States and the world.