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Art & Artifacts Collection

The Art and Artifacts Collection (RG 101) includes paintings, drawings, rare prints, and traditional and ceremonial art. There are about 3,000 original cataloged art objects. The collection is particularly strong in items related to the Yiddish theater—among its holdings are 300 costumes, props, and set designs. A number of works in the collection were produced by Jewish artists incarcerated in ghettos and concentration camps during the Holocaust. There is also art produced by children in displaced persons (DP) camps.

Solomon Yudovin. Untitled print. (RG 101 Art & Artifacts Collection)

Artists include:

  • Yosl Cutler
  • Yonia Fain
  • Todros Geller
  • William Gropper
  • Chaim Gross
  • Moses (Moyshe) Leib Halpern
  • Mane-Katz
  • Abraham Manievitch
  • Zuni Maud
  • Abbo Ostrowsky
  • Abel Pann
  • Saul Raskin
  • Hermann Struck
  • Yehuda Jennings Tofel
  • Abraham Walkowitz
  • Shloyme Yudovin
Mendl Elkin. Set design. (RG 101 Art & Artifacts Collection)

Artists of the Holocaust period include:

  • Alfred Kantor (Auschwitz-Birkenau)
  • Louis Heller (Lodz Ghetto)
  • Kate Munzer (Paris)
  • V.E. Bloch (Shanghai Ghetto)
  • Berich Fritta Aussenberg (aka Fritz Taussig), Leo Haas (Terezin)
  • Arnold Dagani (Transnistria)

To inquire about the Art and Artifact Collections or to request an appointment, contact reference@yivo.org. Appointments must be requested at least 1 week in advance. Due to a high volume of inquiries it may take up to a week to receive a response.