JERUSALEM (JTA) — The personal collection of Holocaust documentation of survivor and historian Prof. Yaffa Eliach was dedicated at the Yad Vashem memorial and museum in Jerusalem.

Eliach dedicated her life to documenting the events and victims of the Holocaust, particularly the pre-World War II life in her birthplace, the Lithuanian town of Eishishok. Eliach died in November 2016 at the age of 79.

Her personal collection, The Yaffa Eliach Shtetl Collection, was dedicated on Monday.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The collection was shipped to Yad Vashem in more than 500 archival containers weighing over a ton and is being cataloged as an independent archival division, available to both researchers and the greater public, according to Yad Vashem.

The collection  is carefully organized and spans a half-century of recorded testimonies, transcripts, diaries, authentic memoirs and original documents in English, Hebrew, Polish, German, Russian and Yiddish; individual photographs and photo albums; and articles she composed regarding the history of Eastern European Jews in general and in Eishishok .

Eliach published several books about the Holocaust, but is most famous for her work “The Tower of Faces,” an exhibit featured at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum that features 1,500 photographs of the approximately 3,500 Jews murdered in her hometown.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount