Kolel Galicia or "Kolel Hibat Yerusalayim"

General Information

Facility Director:
Archivists:
Address: 120 Mea Shearim St. Jerusalem
Phone: 972-2-628-8016, 972-2-628-5575
Fax:
E-mail:
Website: none
Hours of Operation:
Call to make an appointment. They will do research for you but you MUST come in modest dress. Men too must abide by this. It is not clear if women can come alone.
Closest Public Transportation:
Bus:
Directions:
Access for Disabled:

Description of Resources

There are lists of donations to the Kolel in Hebrew for the years 1915- 1939. Moses Schamroth in Krakow carried on the correspondence with the Kollel during these years. The collections, made by the local gabbaim (clerks of the synagogue) were listed with the name of the donor with the house number. Another source says there is material beginning with 1850 - 1939. Unfortunately, many records were lost either when the Old City of Jerusalem fell in 1948 or in Galicia itself, but the records from 1925 - 1939 survive in the original hand-written form. There are also some computerized records. The Kolel continues to receive donations to this day and distributes money to the needy.

The files are in folders according to the names of towns. Although Tarnopol, Zaarazh and Rohatyn are included in their version of Galicia Skalat and Buczaca are not. Not all towns are listed alone but some went by the territory of each individual gabbai. The typical record will have given and surname, house number and amount of donation. If there is more than one person with the same name then the name of father and mother are given.

The material is in two grey steel cabinets and about 30 files per cabinet, 50 -60 files in total with about 10,000 names. About two-thirds of the files refer to Krakow but there are also some 250 other towns in Poland.

Modest dress is a MUST for both men and women.

Thanks to Israel Pickholz (See Sharsheret Hadorot , Vol.15 No.3, June 2001 for his article on the Kolel) and Julian Schamroth for his comments after a recent visit there.