WELCOME TO THE ONLINE EDITION OF

The YIVO Encyclopedia of
Jews in Eastern Europe

The only resource of its kind, this encyclopedia provides the most complete picture of the history and culture of Jews in Eastern Europe from the beginnings of their settlement in the region to the present. This website makes accurate, reliable, scholarly information about East European Jewish life accessible to everyone.

“The YIVO Encyclopedia is so compulsively browsable that you can disappear within its pages for hours without a trace, the equivalent of diving into the coolest, deepest of pools.” —Kenneth Turan, L.A. Times

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Economic Life »

Featured Article

The economic opportunities open to Jews of Eastern Europe were limited by non-Jewish society....Economic success was often a result of the ability to maneuver between different, sometimes contradictory, regulations in order to achieve their goals. read more »

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