Jewish Sights: The Ansky Ethnographic Expedition of 1912-1914 in Volhynia (Volyn)

S. Ansky (Jewish author, playwright, and researcher of Jewish folklore) led a series of expeditions in 1912-1914, accompanied by a photographer and musicologist, with a view to recording Jewish life in the Pale of Settlement (territory that is now largely Ukraine). Ansky’s ethnological collections of written, oral, and visual materials, as well as physical objects, were locked away in Soviet vaults for years before being brought to light by researchers in St. Petersburg and elsewhere since the 1990s. These collections are now to be found at the State Ethnographic Museum in St. Petersburg and the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine. Several books have been written, and exhibitions and conferences held on Ansky’s ethnographic collections, in particular by the Petersburg Judaica Center, which has produced a six-part “Catalogue” illustrated publication on the An-sky expedition, with an accompanying video. With permission from Valerii Dymshits, Director of the Petersburg Judaica Center, the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter has adapted this material as a four-part video presentation, featuring: “Common Streets”, “Wooden Synagogues”, “Stone Synagogues”, and “Cemeteries and Tombstones”.

Jewish Sights: Part 1 – Common Streets

Jewish Sights: Part 2 – Wooden Synagogues

Jewish Sights: Part 3 – Stone Synagogues

Jewish Sights: Part 4 – Cemeteries and Tombstones