Six million Jews perished in the Holocaust. In their efforts to destroy the Jewish people and obliterate its memory the Nazis attempted to destroy the material culture created by the Jews in the Diaspora in the course of generations (synagogues, cemeteries, public buildings) as well as to destroy or plunder every work of art. Doomed to extinction were the nation's spiritual legacy, libraries, private collections. This culture was born of an inner need after the destruction of the spiritual and religious center of Jewish life—the Jerusalem Temple—and the exile of the Jewish people for a period of two thousand years. To preserve their Jewish identity, primarily religious, the Jews created new social and political frameworks in conformity with the time and place. One such framework contributing to the existence of the Jewish people in the Diaspora was the Jewish community.

Thus the Jewish community became a mainstay of Jewish life for generations. The exile which cost the Jewish people their political independence and dispersed the nation in various countries in Asia and Europe and subsequently throughout the whole world did not result in assimilation or full integration. The Jews remained apart from the societies that surrounded them—in their own special quarters and with their own public and religious institutions—and thus became a kind of separate and recognized class or group within the political and social orders of the various host countries. The community became the expression of the group existence of the Jews, or in the words of Leo Baeck, "the Jewish vehicle of settlement and adaptation."

As a special religious, social, and economic group the Jews were granted charters of rights by local rulers. The charters specified in detail or in general terms the organizational frameworks and fields of activity of the Jews. They expressed the desire of the rulers of kingdoms, of municipal councils, and of proprietors of towns to create frameworks setting forth the rights and obligations of the Jews as a tolerated class among the other classes in the state. The strength of the community and the extent of its rights depended on the good will of its benefactors. Sometimes they were generous and sometimes (for a variety of reasons) they set limits, to the extent even of abrogating these rights altogether and expelling the Jews from their borders.

Community organization among the Jews began to crystallize in the Second Temple period, not least of all under the influence of the Greek cities, which enjoyed autonomy also in the Land of Israel. Having gained autonomy the Jewish municipalities administered public property, supplied water, took care of town fortifications, maintained the synagogue, which served both for prayer and public meetings, and the public baths, kept records, etc.

During the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods full-fledged community organizations already existed. A general assembly would choose a governing body, consisting of three to seven parnasim (aldermen). The community would be responsible for collecting taxes on behalf of the rulers. Its other responsibilities included maintenance of public buildings (synagogues, ritual baths), health, education, and care of the poor. Officers elected or chosen from among the wealthy members of the community or its scholars oversaw the work, which was done by officials like the market inspector, cantor, scribe, preacher, judge.

Communal autonomy reached broad proportions in Babylonia. Jewish courts serving coreligionists in every facet of life had already existed under the Parthians and later the Persians. In the course of time the institution of the Exilarch (resh galuta) came into being, supposedly based on Davidic ancestry. The authorities recognized the Exilarch as ruling over the Jews of Babylonia on their behalf. Alongside the Exilarch there operated halakhic authorities—geonim heading the great yeshivas at Sura, Nahardea, Pumbedita, etc. Their expertise in interpreting the Bible, Mishna, and Talmud enabled them to carry on their activities after the Talmud received its final form around 500 c.e.< their decisions being accepted in the entire Jewish world.

Jewish autonomy in Babylonia had a community structure. The community was headed by seven "best men." Its activities had two aspects, internal and general. Internally, it maintained public property, supervised weights and measures, and took care of the needy (education, food, etc.). Vis-a-vis the municipality, the community did its share in maintaining fortifications, purchasing and maintaining weapons, hiring watchmen, digging wells. These expenses were covered by levying taxes on all members of the community, including scholars and even orphans.

Under the tolerant rule of the Fatimids in the 11th–13th centuries Jewish autonomy was strengthened in Egypt, the Land of Israel, and Syria. Under Mameluk rule in the Late Middle Ages Jewish authority in these communities was circumscribed.

Jewish communities in these countries were sometimes divided according to place of origin. Authority was broad and extended over dietary law (kashrut) for meat and cheese, the morals of ritual slaughterers, and welfare and education for the needy, among other things. The community also concerned itself with the care of Jewish convicts and the ransoming of Jewish prisoners. Its income was derived from renting buildings and lots left to the community in the absence of heirs. A council of seven to ten members headed the community under a chairman. The aldermen dealt with financial matters on behalf of the community. In Egypt, from the 10th to the 16th centuries, the head of the entire Jewish population was the nagid. In the last 200 years the negidim also held sway over the Jews of Syria and the Land of Israel through deputies.

In both Muslim and Christian Spain the Jews enjoyed broad autonomy until the end of the 15th century, when they were expelled from the country. In the Muslim kingdoms a number of Jewish community heads became quite prominent, like Hisdai ibn Shaprut (known as ha-Nasi, the Prince) in the Kingdom of Cordoba in the 10th century or R. Shemuel ha-Nagid in the Kingdom of Granada in the first half of the 11th century. In the Christian kingdoms there were no nationwide communal organizations. There was a principal community to which Jews from the towns and villages were attached. This was headed by seven "best men." The heads of the community published halakhic directives (takkanot) governing the responsibilities of the individual toward the community and relations between individuals. The community's courts tried criminal cases under government authorization. The community also ran aid services like Bikkur Holim.

Jewish autonomy in Christian Europe became possible because of the corporate-feudal nature of society there. Jews could not belong to any of the classes and were therefore recognized by the rulers as a separate and tolerated class. They were thus permitted to organize themselves as a class, i.e. within the framework of communities.

In the 10th–14th centuries Jewish settlement expanded in Western Europe—in France and Germany. Community organization developed commensurately. The community embraced all Jews living within its bounds and exercised authority in every area of public and private life—in religious matters, in protecting the individual and his property, and in mutual aid. To perform its services it organized a broad range of facilities: synagogues and ritual baths, cemeteries, charity funds, judicial and educational institutions, and agencies for the enforcement of enactments in the public interest. The members of the community saw in these activities an essential condition for preserving the distinct character of the Jewish nation. Throughout the responsa of the 11th-15th centuries there are numerous discussions of relations between the community and the individual or the authorities.

The many directives published with regard to community activities were produced by well-known scholars of the time: R. Gershom ben Yehuda Me'or ha-Golah, R. Yosef Tov Elem, R. Shelomo ben Yitzhak (Rashi), R. Yaakov Tam, R. Meir of Rothenburg.

A second thread running through these directives concerned resistance to the attempts of large communities to swallow up the smaller ones in their neighborhoods. From the 12th century there was a tendency to establish a centralized, national leadership for the communities. This can be seen in the Troyes synod under R. Tam and the Rashbam (R. Shemuel ben Meir) and the "Shum" synod (the Hebrew acronym of Speyer, Worms, and Mainz) as well as in the takkanot of R. Meir of Rothenburg.

Beginning in the 14th century the situation of the Jews in Germany and France deteriorated. The Crusades and the Black Death, blood libels, and expulsions led to the decline of the communities. Local rulers intervened in community affairs and the selection of community heads, judicial authority was limited, and rabbis were appointed by the authorities. Many of these rabbis worked to strengthen the hand of community leaders in those difficult times, such as R. Yisrael Isserlein, R. Natan of Igra, and the Maharal.

The expulsion of the Jews from France and Germany brought about mass migration to Austria, Bohemia and Moravia, and the Kingdom of Poland. Wherever they went the Jews brought with them the forms of their communal organization. Prominent leaders even tried to establish centralized leadership.

It was in the Kingdom of Poland–Lithuania that Jewish autonomy reached its peak. The Jews of Poland, who had emigrated from the West to the East from the beginning of the Middle Ages, from Germany and Bohemia–Moravia, took with them examples of charters of rights and these were granted by the Polish and Lithuanian rulers. The Jews elaborated the organization of the community on the basis of these charters and their experience in the West. At the head of the communities stood the elected aldermen (parnasim), under a rotation scheme ("elder of the month"). The aldermen dealt with day-to-day affairs, represented the community before the authorities, prepared the annual budget, collected taxes, and preserved public order. They appointed community workers and supervised their activities. Two elected advisory bodies served alongside them: selectmen and "best men" (meliores). An important function was that of community rabbi. He confirmed the directives issued by the parnasim and the tax register prepared by the community's tax assessors. The rabbi headed the community's election committee and accorded honorary titles in the community (haver and morenu). Community income was derived from direct and indirect taxes, the latter on commodities like meat, salt, and wax. Payments were also required for the right to live and work in the community. Since most communities operated at a deficit, they had to borrow large sums, mainly from priests and from monasteries .

The 16th century saw the development of community roof organizations in the form of provincial councils. Here the principal communities were represented by their parnasim and rabbis. When they convened, one of them was chosen as "provincial parnas."

In the second half of the 16th century the rulers of Poland–Lithuania became convinced that it would be more effective if the Jews themselves collected state taxes, principally the head tax. To this end the government authorized the existence of countrywide representation. As a consequence, there emerged from within the provincial councils the Council of the Four Lands in the Kingdom of Poland and the Council of the Land of Lithuania in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the latter quickly detaching itself from the former and becoming independent. The councils were comprised only of principal communities. The Council of the Four Lands included the principal communities of Great Poland, Lesser Poland, Galicia, and Volhynia while the Lithuanian Council included at first only Brest-Litovsk, Grodno, and Pinsk and later also Vilna and Slutsk. The Council of the Four Lands generally convened during the big fairs at Lublin and Yaroslav. The principal communities were each represented by two or more of their parnasim and rabbis. Scribes, tax collectors and bailiffs, and government lobbyists (shtadlanim) also participated. The records of council meetings indicate that no area of Jewish life went untouched. If required, directives were issued. In the economic sphere the councils dealt with taxes, residence and work rights, trade restrictions (to eliminate foreign competition), promissory notes, bankruptcies, etc. An important subject was education, especially for needy children. The councils obliged the larger communities to underwrite education for the poor and to maintain yeshivas. They took a strong stand against luxurious living, issuing directives to tone down family celebrations and women's dress. Another significant item on their agenda was the division of the financial burden created by blood and Host desecration libels and by the activities of proselytes. As the libeled community was incapable of meeting the resulting costs, the councils divided them among the communities of the particular land. The Councils of the Lands continued to exist officially until they were dissolved by the Sejm (Parliament) and the king in 1764. Unofficially the provincial councils and even the Councils of the Lands continued to meet until the First Partition of Poland in 1772.

The civic equality that resulted from the French Revolution did away with the Jewish community as an autonomous entity, restricting its activities to religious affairs alone. The assimilation that resulted from the Haskala (Jewish Enlightenment) weakened the link with the community even more. All this held true in Western Europe. In the East the community was abolished in Poland in 1822 and in Russia in 1844, but most of its functions remained in the hands of the existing bodies. In addition to religion they dealt with health, welfare, and education and in the time of Czar Nicholas I even with military conscription (the cantonists).

Following the February 1917 Revolution a democratically elected federation of communities was created in Russia for the first time. It was abolished after the October 1917 Revolution. The Bolsheviks waged incessant war against the Jewish religion and Jewish national life. As alternatives they set up in the 1920s a Jewish ministry in the Soviet government and the Yevsektsiya (Jewish Section) in the Communist Party whose function was to inculcate Communism among the Jews. These too were abolished at the end of the Twenties. Jewish life remained circumscribed within Jewish state institutions for culture and education, which toed the Soviet line. However, it should also be noted that improvised prayer houses and charitable organizations continued to exist into the early 1930s.

In Poland, between the two world wars, the Jewish community was recognized as a legal corporate body and even authorized to collect taxes from its members. Its activities centered mainly around religious and welfare services while other organizations dealt with health, education, and economic affairs. At the local level these organizations were supported financially by the communities. The awakening of Jewish political life and the consequent proliferation of Jewish political parties led to hard-fought elections for community leadership positions. Economic organizations and trade unions also ran in these elections. Some communities were dominated by Zionist or ultra-Orthodox parties, some by the Bund. In countries like Rumania and Hungary (with a chain of Orthodox and Reform communities) the situation was similar. In Germany the community assumed greater importance after the Nazis came to power. The elimination of Jews from every area of economic and cultural life forced the community to take up these functions and expand its activities, even establishing nationwide organizations. This was the situation until 1938, when the communities were abolished as entities and state-appointed representatives took their place, acting on government instructions.

As mentioned, the Nazi Occupation in World War II put an end to community organizations. Together with the millions of Jews, the Nazis destroyed numerous synagogues, some of them magnificent and of great architectural value, and Jewish institutions like schools, hospitals, orphanages, and old age homes, libraries and theaters. Tombstones in Jewish cemeteries, some of them quite ancient, were used by the Nazis to pave streets and roads. The aim was to remove all traces of Jewish life going back numerous generations.

Jewish communities were reestablished in Poland after World War II, though restricted to religious affairs. Jewish committees operated alongside them and after their liquidation in 1950 a Communist-controlled Cultural-Social Association was established which published a newspaper, ran schools, and founded social clubs, all in a Yiddish-language milieu. Sometimes it also did charity work, among widows and orphans, and set up children's camps.

In 1953 the Israeli Parliament passed the Yad Vashem Remembrance Authority Law to perpetuate the memory among others of "the communities, synagogues, movements and organization, public, cultural, educational, religious, and welfare institutions destroyed and obliterated for the evil purpose of eradicating the name of Israel and its culture from the face of the earth." To perpetuate the memory of the lost communities Yad Vashem created a Vale of Communities where the names of the thousands of communities destroyed in the Holocaust are carved on huge stone walls. From the outset Yad Vashem also wished to commemorate these communities through written records, embarking on a project of publishing Pinkasei Kehillot, a multivolume encyclopedia of Jewish communities with entries on each and every one of them. Each article follows the history of the community from its beginnings until its destruction by the Nazis. Emphasis is placed on the two final periods: the years between the world wars and the years of the Nazi Occupation. Each country has its own volume, or in the case where a large Jewish population inhabited numerous settlements, a few volumes, with each embracing a geographic-administrative area.

The three volumes presented here in the English language embrace about 6,500 communities, appearing in alphabetical order. Most of the entries are condensations containing a tenth of the material in the 22 Hebrew volumes either already published or in print. The rest, for the remaining nine volumes of the series, were written directly in condensed form. Limits of space forced us to choose which parts of the articles would be condensed more and which less. After much thought it was decided to abridge more thoroughly material on the period up to World War I, leaving in the main events, and include more about the interwar period and most of all about the Holocaust period. The main reason for this was that the description of community life in the last two periods contains much new material. For reasons of space, we were obliged to eliminate statistical tables and source references.

Names of communities have been transcribed as in the language of the country in question. However, because of printing limitations, we did not reproduce diacritical marks (as in the Polish, French, Czech, and other languages). For the names of Russian settlements in the Cyrillic script we used the accepted system of English transliteration. The Index of Communities at the end of the third volume includes, in addition to main entries, communities mentioned in the text but without a main entry and variant spellings and additional names of communities with a main entry. A second index is of persons mentioned in the text. Also included for the convenience of the reader is a glossary of terms and a selected bibliography.

In preparing the Hebrew edition we debated how to specify the countries to which the various communities were attached, since borders and political alignments underwent changes over time, particularly in Eastern Europe. It was decided to give the country to which the community belonged on the eve of World War II, that is to say in September 1939 for most and around that date for a few others (Czechoslovakia, Rumania). Thus Vilna was shown as belonging to Poland whereas today it is in fact the capital of Lithuania, while Lwow, also part of Poland then, is today in the Ukraine. Likewise, Slovakia is today an independent country and Carpatho-Russia is a district in the Ukraine, whereas in 1938 they were part of Czechoslovakia. For the English edition we decided to add the current national status of the settlement as well. Thus, for the former Czechoslovakian Slovakia we have added "today Republic of Slovakia" and for the relevant parts of Poland, "today Belarus" or "today Ukraine" as the case may be. However, we thought it redundant to characterize Belorussia or the Ukraine, when they are given as such historically, as "today Republic of Belarus" or "today Republic of Ukraine." In the case of areas of Germany annexed by Poland after the war, the current Polish name of the settlement is given in parentheses. The same principle is followed in the case of the Koenigsberg region of East Prussia, where we have added the Russian name (Kaliningrad for the city of Koenigsberg and so on). We have also denoted the former parts of Yugoslavia as today the separate republics of Crotia, Bosnia, or Slovenia, and the Soviet Autonomous Republic of Moldavia, which merged in 1940 with the Bessarabian part of Rumania, as “today the Republic of Moldova.”

In transcribing Hebrew given names we have departed somewhat from the convention of anglicization (Isaac for Yitzhak, etc.), using instead the Hebrew form when it seemed appropriate by virtue of the cultural and social milieu in which the individual was active (for example, Eliyahu ben Shelomo rather then Elijah ben Solomon for the Vilna Gaon).

In illustrating the text of the Encyclopedia we have endeavored to depict what was both ordinary and vital in the life of the Jews and their communities, for the history of these communities, as mentioned, was much more than their tragic end. However, that end did come, and to remember it we have thought it fitting to append a pictorial supplement to the final volume of the Encyclopedia that will bring home the meaning of the Holocaust in all its unimaginalbe reality.

Many people participated in this project, writing and abridging the articles for both the Hebrew and English editions. Their names are given in the list of contributors.

Shmuel Spector
Editor in Chief