Uman Public Library - Public domain geographic map

The city of Uman remains an important location for Jews due largely to its connection to the famed Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav who lived in Uman in the months previous to his death. The Jewish population of Uman was subjected to repeated attacks including several vicious pogroms perpetrated by the White Army in the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution. On April 1, 1919 the Council of People’s Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR issued a decree that transferred control of numerous historical and cultural institutions, including libraries, to the People’s Commissariat of Education. Shortly thereafter the various Ukrainian libraries that had previously been considered “public” libraries (including in Uman) were officially made “state libraries.” That the library stamp for the “Uman Public Library” appears in Yiddish and Ukrainian is testament to the attempt to build a multilingual secular society. Though the city was remembered by many religious Jews as the death place of Rabbi Nahman, the Hasidic movement in the city was repressed due to the antireligious campaigns of 1937. In the lead up to the Second World War there were over 22,000 Jews living in Uman, this population was decimated by the Nazi invasion. Today, Uman is once more an important site for many religious Jews as the city is the site of Rabbi Nahman’s tomb. ..This book stamp is from a book looted by the Nazis and sorted by Colonel Seymour Pomrenze, one of “the Monuments Men,” at the Offenbach Archival Depot. .There are two scrapbooks of archival markings from the books sorted at the Offenbach Depot in the Seymour Pomrenze Collection held by the American Jewish Historical Society (Call number P-933) There is a finding aid for the collection here ( http://findingaids.cjh.org/?pID=1463157 ) The digitized scrapbooks are available here ( http://digital.cjh.org/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1666403 ) and here ( http://digital.cjh.org/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1665570 ) ...For more information on this project check the Center’s blog: 16thstreet.tumblr.com/tagged/Offenbach-Depot ( http://16thstreet.tumblr.com/tagged/Offenbach-Depot ) ..Dr. Mitch Fraas, Acting Director of the Digital Humanities Forum at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries' Special Collections Center is working on a similar project for the German book stamps based on NARA microfilm of the volumes the American Jewish Historical Society currently holds. See viewshare.org/views/mfraas/offenbach-bookplates/ ( http://viewshare.org/views/mfraas/offenbach-bookplates/ ) ..The Center for Jewish History would like to acknowledge the following: The American Jewish Historical Society, who graciously allowed the use of their archival materials and digital content; Mitch Fraas, Acting Director of the Digital Humanities Forum at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries' Special Collections Center, for his data and technical assistance in this project; David Rosenberg, Senior Manager for Communications, and Melanie Meyers, Senior Reference Services Librarian for Special Collections, for managing and creating the digital map; as well as Reference Services Librarian Zachary Loeb and Reference Services Assistant Ilya Slavutskiy for their work on translating and mapping. ..For copyright information, click here ( http://copyrights.cjh.org )