Yerusha is an initiative of the
Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe
to virtually unite Jewish documentary heritage
from across Europe.

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WHO WE ARE

WHO WE ARE

Find out more about the people and archives that are building the Yerusha network

Documents of the Pest Jewish Community (19th century) - Grego, Hungarian Jewish Archives

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APPLY NOW

APPLY NOW

Everything you need to know about applying for grants
and becoming a member of the Yerusha network 

Document from the Vienna Jewish Community archives - Michal Fattal

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CASE STUDIES

CASE STUDIES

Explore case studies that show how Yerusha will impact historical research

The International Tracing Service Archives in Germany - Richard Ehrlich, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

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Literally translated as inheritance, Yerusha aims to become the premier online hub of information regarding Jewish and Jewish-related archival materials in Europe. The project is built upon archival collection descriptions, which will be brought together into a single, searchable online platform hosted by the National Library of Israel.

Academic and archival institutions are eligible to apply for grants to become part of the Yerusha network and enrich the database. Read a brief Project Summary and Professor David Fishman’s study on the historical background of Yerusha.

Case studies
  • US soldiers guarding the train loaded with assets robbed by the Nazis from Hungarian Jews (USHMM)

    The Gold Train Saga

    The story In 1944-1945 the Hungarian government deported most Hungarian Jews to German concentration camps where hundreds of thousands were murdered. The victims were completely plundered before deportation – the state confiscated everything from factories to their last tablespoons. As the Soviet army was moving...

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Featured article

  • Treasures in the Attic

    “Is it open?” I asked my colleague as she tried the handle of the old wooden door. “No,” she answered, but as she gave it one last hefty shove, the door swung open to reveal the spacious, open, attic balcony of the Neologue synagogue in…

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Featured project

  • Leo Baeck Institute

    The Leo Baeck Institute, founded in 1955, promotes the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jews and has extensive library, archival, and art collections. The project aims to comprehensively survey archival holdings related to the history of German-speaking Jewish communities in southern Bukovina…

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The Yerusha network

Available funding

The Yerusha database is built by projects funded by the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe. Grants are available to support the identification, location and surveying of Jewish and Jewish-related documents within a defined geographical region. These projects may focus on municipal, regional, state, community, ecclesiastical or private archives. Preference will be given to projects that aim to survey a wide swathe of archives on a less-detailed level rather than those projects that are focused too narrowly. The purpose of Yerusha is to achieve an overview and broad understanding of the scope of the material, hence projects should reflect this aim. Grants of up to £30,000 per annum for up to 3-5 years are available for Yerusha surveys. In exceptional circumstances, larger grants may be available.

All grants will be conditional on grantees adopting the format and content requirements of Yerusha. This will ensure consistency and ease their eventual incorporation into the Yerusha database.

Apply now!

Yerusha Data Set

Please find the guidelines to the Yerusha Data Set 2.0

You can download a blank Yerusha spreadsheet

You can download four sample descriptions.

Each one represents a type of collection the survey projects frequently encounter.

  1. The documents of the Mayor’s Office of the City of Debrecen held by the Hajdú-Bihar County Archives in Hungary. This description represents the most frequently surveyed type: a non-Jewish collection in a state or municipal archives holding a significant number of Jewish-related documents. (Provided by the Hungarian Jewish Museum and Archives.)
  2. The material of the Lutsk Jewish Community held by the State Archive of the Volhynia Region in Ukraine exemplifying a Jewish community collection held by a state archive. (Provided by  the Jewish Theological Seminary of America).
  3. The collection of the Academic Society for the Study of Jewish History and Literature at the University of Tartu held by the National Archives of Estonia. This is a Jewish collection, but not that of a community. (Provided by the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People.)
  4. The documents of the Tachemoni School of Antwerp, which is an example of a Jewish organizational archives not held by an archival institution.  (Provided by the State Archives of Belgium).