Research Guides: Guide to Primary Sources: Jewish Studies

News & Periodicals

J. Jewish News of Northern California
Covers the range of what it means to be Jewish today - from politics to the arts, religion and food, as well as local, national and global news through a Jewish lens. Focus on the San Francisco Bay Area community. Founded in 1895.
Compact Memory
Digital archive of 500 Jewish newspapers and journals of the German speaking area of the years 1768–1938 and beyond. Most publications are in German.
National Library of Israel Newspaper Collection
Hundreds of newspapers available to read and search through online: Israeli press, Jewish press, Arabic press of Ottoman and mandatory Palestine, children press and daily press.
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
News, analysis, and features on worldwide issues of Jewish interest and concern. Includes archives back to 1923. Founded in 1917.

Middle East, a Documentary Record: 1916-2001
Government documents, transcripts of speeches by government leaders, and UN resolutions, all organized by year. From Yale.
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Foreign Relations, 1964-1968: Arab-Israeli Crisis and War, 1967
Official volume of the Foreign Relations of the United States that documents U.S. policy immediately before, during, and after the June 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Twentieth Century Religious Thought: Judaism
Collection of primary source materials documenting the development of Jewish thought in the 20th century. Includes writings, speeches, and interviews from influential Jewish theologians, philosophers, and scholars from various denominations and regions.

The Bezalel Narkiss Index of Jewish Art
Digital repository of images from the Center for Jewish Art, a research institute at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem devoted to the documentation and research of Jewish visual culture.
Center for Jewish History
Home for five partner organizations: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
Jewish Sound Archive at Dartmouth
Includes recordings dating back as far as 1904, sound files, graphics of record covers and labels, and details of the recordings and their contents. From Dartmouth College.
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Please note, this is not a free music download site. If you are not a student at Dartmouth College or at Hebrew College, you will need to register and demonstrate a legitimate scholarly or research purpose. User accounts are good for 6 months and can be renewed if needed.
Yerusha
Online Archives of Jewish Europe that unites Jewish archival heritage held in hundreds of archives, libraries and museums across Europe.
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Data is downloadable and available in English.
The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe
History and culture of Jews in Eastern Europe, from the beginnings of their settlement in the region to the present. Accessible, accurate, reliable, scholarly information about East European Jewish life.

American Jewish Archives
Digital collections as well as finding aids to their collections.
American Digital Archive of the Jewish Experience
American Jewish Committee Archives
Includes oral histories, historic films and TV shows, radio programs, and the American Jewish Year Book, 1899-present.
American Jewish Historical Society: Research Collections
Links to repositories & archives related to American Jewish History.
Jews in America: Portal to American Jewish History
Archival and digital collections on American Jewish History.
Mapping Jewish LA
Multimedia and digital technologies allow the discovery of complex histories of the Los Angeles Jewish community, linking culture to urban spaces over time and connecting intersecting histories, ethnicities, and experiences.
NYU Libraries: American Jewish History and Culture
Collection of links to primary sources. Some only available to NYU students.

German Anti-Semitic Propaganda, 1909-1941
Sources on anti-Semitism as an issue in politics, economics, religion, and education. German-language books and pamphlets, principally anti-Semitic and many directly connected with Nazi groups. Most writings date from the 1920s and 1930s. Some writings are on Jehovahs Witnesses, the Jesuits, and the Freemasons.

Holocaust Documents
Documents related to the Holocaust and Nazi Germany, organized by A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust. From the Florida Center for Instructional Technology.
Holocaust Digital Collections
Primary sources collections, including photographs; diaries and letters; documents; testimonies; maps; and images of artifacts and artwork. Part of the larger Yad Vashem website.
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
The Museum’s Collections document the fate of Holocaust victims, survivors, rescuers, liberators, and others through artifacts, documents, photos, films, books, personal stories, and more.
Centropa: Database of Jewish Memory
1,200 Jewish Holocaust survivors living in Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and the Balkans were interviewed between 2000 and 2010 about the entire 20th century as they lived it. The stories, documents, and photographs of these survivors were translated into English and digitized.