How do I search for archival/historic photos of synagogue choirs of Eastern Europe?

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 22 Jun 2004 10:49 PDT

Only very few historic photos of Eastern European synagogue choirs
seem to be available online. My research led to only two such
photographic documents:

- The synagogue choir in Biala (now Bielsko-Biala, Poland) 1920s

- The synagogue choir in Grodno (Poland, now Byelorussia), 1935

It's not easy to provide general instructions for searching such
materials. But if I knew how many photos you need, I myself could try
to locate more. Of course, I can't promise that I will really find
more, but it's worth trying.

Please let me know what you desire.

Regards,
Scriptor

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Clarification of Question by kalib-ga on 22 Jun 2004 13:46 PDT

I only need a few, so if you found those two, I would like to receive
those two.  It may be all I need.
Ruthie Kalib Eisenberg

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Clarification of Question by kalib-ga on 22 Jun 2004 13:48 PDT

If those two aren't good for my purposes, then I would like to be able
to reserve the right to ask for the search process to continue to try
to find others.

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 22 Jun 2004 14:13 PDT

To avoid possible problems, I do not post this as an answer yet. If
you like the photos, just let me know and I will finalize the answer.
If you don't, let me know and I (and, of course, my colleagues) will
try to locate material that meets your needs better.

Here are direct links to the photos:

The synagogue choir of Grodno, 1935
http://www.grodnoonline.com/lost_worlds/images/image_17.jpg
Source:
Lost Jewish Worlds - Grodno, between the World Wars
http://www.grodnoonline.com/lost_worlds/section_2c_test.html

The synagogue choir of Biala, 1920s
http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/exhibits/faces/images/full/246.jpg
Source:
And I still see their Faces - Images of Polish Jews
http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/exhibits/faces/246.html

Regards,
Scriptor

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Clarification of Question by kalib-ga on 22 Jun 2004 16:54 PDT

Those 2 photos are very helpful!  If it is possible to find more
photos without running into extra expenses, I would still like to.
2) What is the best way to get the best quality copies of the photos
you sent?  When I print them out directly from the site, they don't
look as good as they do on my computer screen.  Any way to improve
that situation?

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 22 Jun 2004 18:48 PDT

The only way to obtain high-quality scans or reproductions of those
photographs, good enough for printing, would be to contact the website
owners who certainly have access to the originals or the books they
were published in.

For the Grodno choir image, please write an E-mail to:
Dr. Felix Zandman
info1@grodnoonline.com

For the Biala choir image, please write an E-mail (via a form) to:
The Simon Wiesenthal Center Multimedia Learning Center
http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/pages/mailform.html

Especially the Simon Wiesenthal Center has extensive collections of
historic materials on Jewish life, so asking them for unpublished
images of Eastern European Synagogue choires might be worth trying.

In case you prefer other means of contact than writing E-mails, I will
provide you postal addresses of the above website owners.

I will try to locate some additional photos, but I do not know whether
I will find something useful. If my search remains unsuccessful, I
will let you know so you can decide how you want me to proceed.

Regards,
Scriptor

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Clarification of Question by kalib-ga on 23 Jun 2004 07:05 PDT

Ok.  That sounds fine.  I would like to have the postal addresses in
addition to email addresses as an added method of access.  Also, I'll
wait to hear from you on any addditional photos.  You have been very
very helpful.
Thank you,
Ruthie Eisenberg

Dear Ruthie,

I did one and a half days of additional research, both online and in
the library. Unfortunately, it proved impossible to find more historic
photos of Easter European synagogue choirs.

But at least, I can upgrade the information I already provided by
giving you full contact information for the maintainers of the
websites with the two photos I found.

The website featuring the photo of the Grodno Synagogue choir is owned
and maintained by:

Dr. Felix Zandman
Vishay Intertechnology, Inc.
63 Lincoln Highway 
Malvern, PA 19355-2120
USA
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Phone: (610) 644-1300
Fax: (610) 889-9349
Fax 2: (610) 889-0935
E-Mail: info1@grodnoonline.com
E-Mail 2: boardofdirectors@vishay.com
E-Mail 3: zandman@vishay.com


The website featuring the photo of the Biala synagogue choir is owned
and maintained by:

Simon Wiesenthal Center, Museum of Tolerance
9760 West Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90035
USA
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Phone: (310) 553-8403
E-Mail: information@wiesenthal.net
E-Mail 2: archives@wiesenthal.net


I hope that this will help you to get good reproductions of the two
images and maybe even other photos of synagogue choirs.

Very best regards,
Scriptor

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Request for Answer Clarification by kalib-ga on 24 Jun 2004 12:58 PDT

Thank you so much!  Great job on what I needed. Much appreciated.
Ruthie Eisenberg

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Clarification of Answer by scriptor-ga on 24 Jun 2004 13:43 PDT

It was my pleasure, dear Ruthie.

Greetings,
Scriptor

The research done was just what I needed.  I was very satisfied.