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Jewish Studies Research Guide

Yizkor (Memorial) Books -- ספרי יזכור [Hebrew] יזכור בּיכער [Yiddish]

Yizkor (memorial) books or Memorbücher represent one of the oldest genres in Jewish literature. Since the thirteenth century, they have been compiled to commemorate a community by documenting the community members' names and lives. Following the Holocaust, the survivors turned to this genre to record the history of Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust. Their work offers vital information for historians, scholars and researchers working in other disciplines, and genealogists. See the Oxford Bibliography entry on Holocaust Memorial Books

New York Public Library’s Yizkor Book Collection now includes about 730 yizkor books available online.

Yiddish Book Center's Yizkor Book Collection includes 650 digitized books.

Emory Libraries house several Jewish memorial books in Hebrew, Yiddish, and English as well. These include the memorial books of SierpcMolchad (Maytchet), RozwadowLuboml and several bibliographic and historical studies and compendia on memorial books. These include Jewish Memorial (Yizkor) Books in the United Kingdom: Destroyed European Jewish Communities by Cyril Fox and Saul Issroff, Memorial Books of Eastern European Jewry: Essays on the History and Meanings of Yizker Volumes in Rosemary Horowitz's edition, and Zachary Baker's Bibliography of Eastern European Memorial (Yizkor) Books: with Call Numbers for Six Judaica Libraries in New York.

Musar Literature

Musar (ethical) literature includes various genres, from poems to prose, and formats, from letters to instructional texts that prescribe moral and virtuous conduct. See a collection of theses texts on Sefaria.org.