Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People CAHJP National Library of Israel

Overview

The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People (CAHJP; Hebrew: הארכיון המרכזי לתולדות העם היהודי) is the most comprehensive repository of Jewish historical records in the world. Established in 1939 and currently operating under the auspices of the National Library of Israel, it is housed at the Edmond J. Safra Campus (Givat Ram) of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Its collections document the history of Jewish communities across Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, Africa, and Asia, spanning from the Middle Ages to the present day.

History and Founding

The CAHJP was founded in 1939, initially known as the Jewish Historical General Archives (JHGA), under the direction of Josef Meisl. Its earliest holdings comprised the personal research files of German-Jewish historian Moritz Stern, whose papers were sent to Palestine in 1938. In 1944 the archive was incorporated into the Palestine Historical and Ethnographic Society (later the Historical Society of Israel), and it opened to researchers on Mount Scopus in 1947. Following the 1947–49 war, it relocated several times before eventually settling at the Hebrew University's Givat Ram campus. In 1969 the institution formally adopted the name Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, reflecting its expanded mission as a global repository for Jewish historical material. On 30 January 2013, the CAHJP signed an agreement to merge with the National Library of Israel, under whose governance it now operates.

Collections and Holdings

The CAHJP holds what is widely recognized as the most extensive collection of documents related to Jewish history. Its holdings include approximately 6,000 linear meters of documents (equivalent to around 60 million pages), 1,600 archives of communities, organizations, and individuals, 18 million frames of microfilmed documents, 1,200,000 newspaper clippings, 15,000 photographs of Jewish personalities and sites, 8,000 printed statutes and handbills, and 15,000 books and publications on Jewish history. The collections cover Jewish communities in Western, Central, and Eastern Europe; the Islamic world; North and South America; South Africa; and Eastern Asia. Languages represented include Arabic, English, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Ladino, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Turkish, and Yiddish.

Notable Materials for Research

Among the most significant holdings are the archives of Jewish communities from Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, and South America, as well as the records of major international Jewish organizations. The CAHJP also holds the archives of the Jewish community of Vienna (transferred in the 1950s–60s), private collections of prominent Jewish leaders and historians, and extensive genealogical resources. The archive has conducted surveys of Jewish-related materials in non-Jewish archives worldwide, producing inventories and microfilm copies of otherwise inaccessible documents. Some collections represent the only surviving copies of records lost to war or disaster.

Access and Usage

The CAHJP collections are available for viewing in the Special Collections Reading Room (floor -3) of the National Library of Israel, open Sunday through Thursday, 9:00 am – 6:00 pm. Online finding aids in English, German, and Hebrew are available at cahjp.nli.org.il. Genealogical inquiries may be submitted to the archive. Researchers with institutional affiliations are welcome to access the reading room directly.