The collection of the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland held at the POLIN Museum is unique. It was created for the permanent exhibition of the POLIN Museum, a narrative exhibition whose important elements include objects related to the social and cultural heritage of Polish Jews. The objects on display are valuable testimonies to everyday life. They allow us to learn more about Jewish life in Poland and trace the birth of a new, secular Jewish visual culture.
The 230 objects from the collections of the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland that will be processed, digitised and made available as part of the joint project include archives (documents, photographs), objects related to religious festivals (e.g. Hanukkah lamps, mezuzot, Shabbat knives), everyday and spiritual life (a matzah-baking machine, kosher stamps, Yiddish typefaces) and cultural artefacts (postcards with portraits of Jewish writers, a plate from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, whose products were popular and sold in shops in interwar Poland) or business activity (soda siphon, tins for sweets and coffee). The collection also includes works of art by eminent painters such as Abraham Neumann and Wilhelm Wachtel and treasured folk art pieces depicting the mutual relations between Christians and Jews.