Do you have photos, documents or postcards that contain traces of the Jewish past? Send them to the Jewish Historical Institute. Emanuel Ringelblum in Warsaw! The "Save as" project is a chance to digitize them in parallel quality - preservation in traditional archives. Originals with digital copies, borne by owners. In this way, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Jewish Historical Institute, we will return to our roots, when the pillar of the Institute's activity was collecting materials documenting the reality of the Jewish community during the German occupation.

 

During the German occupation of Polish lands in 1939-1945, the Jewish community of our country was destroyed. The occupiers not only exterminated the inhabitants themselves but also razed many synagogues and Jewish cemeteries to the ground. After old apartments that are available in small quantities or in memory. Markings worldwide that no longer exist, are for photos of people and places, postcards, and documents.

Boxes and crates full of unsigned photographs are gathering dust in the attics of many houses, an alternative to deciphering letters or postcards whose senders we do not know. Many of them concern the Jewish community. For us, they are priceless knowledge and their digitization - one way to do it is through the memory of people who, due to tragic history, became unjustly nameless.

Submitting your collections for digitization at the Jewish Historical Institute is an opportunity to perpetuate the memory of many extraordinary people. We will save selected materials in the highest quality digital format, expanding our knowledge base and allowing researchers to decipher their origins. Importantly, participation in the "Save as" program will not reduce your home archives: The originals will be sent back to the senders along with the new, digitized versions. Participation in the program also means consent to transfer the rights to use digital copies to the Jewish Historical Institute. Thanks to this, we will be able to disseminate them, tell the stories recovered in this way, and encourage other people to join "Save as…".

 

What materials are we looking for?

Please report collections for which you are sure that you have the copyright or that the copyright has expired. (Copyright rights expire 70 years after the death of the creator, e.g. the photographer, if his identity is known. If a given photograph was taken by, for example, your deceased grandfather, you are entitled to exercise his copyright as the deceased creator). Information regarding the submitted photographs will be extremely valuable to us - so please add them to the protocol.

We accept photos in all formats. Please send photos taken out of frames and albums.

What do we provide?

We will digitize the objects donated to us in a safe manner in the Digitalization Workshop of the Jewish Historical Institute. The license obtained in this way will allow us to use digital copies and publish them, among others: at cbj.jhi.pl and delet.jhi.pl We will return all materials together with high-quality digital copies at the expense of the Jewish Historical Institute.

The digitized materials will be published in digital repositories - the Central Judaic Library (cbj.jhi.pl) and the Delet Portal (delet.jhi.pl). We will present the most interesting ones on social media and include them in the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Jewish Historical Institute.

We also offer participants a voucher for one-time free entry to exhibitions and a tour of the digitization studio.

How to take part in the project?

If you are interested in participating, please read the regulations and the collection transfer protocol and contact us at the following e-mail address: zapiszjako@jhi.pl.

If any of you would like to deliver the materials in person, please visit the JHI headquarters at ul. Tłomackie 3/5 in Warsaw, after arranging a meeting via e-mail (address: zapiszjako@jhi.pl).