"Shtetl” (sometimes spelled shetl), a Yiddish word that refers to a small town with a large Jewish population in Eastern Europe, especially before World War II.

Key points about a shtetl:

• Located mostly in areas of Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia.
• Had vibrant Jewish communities with synagogues, schools, markets, and cultural life.
• Typically poor and rural, but culturally rich, with strong traditions in Yiddish language, religion, and folklore.
• Many Jewish families in America and elsewhere have roots in shtetls.

Additional resources to learn more about shtels:

• Life Is with People by Mark Zborowski & Elizabeth Herzog — a classic sociological study of shtetl life.
• There Once Was a World by Yaffa Eliach — a comprehensive history of the shtetl of Eishyshok, Lithuania.
• Shtetl: The Life and Death of a Small Town and the World of Polish Jews by Eva Hoffman — explores the history and memory of Polish shtetls.
• YIVO Institute for Jewish Research — archives, articles, and exhibits on Yiddish culture and shtetls.
• JewishGen — a Jewish genealogy hub with shtetl databases, maps, and family history resources.
• The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum — has information on Jewish communities before WWII, including shtetls.
• POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews (Warsaw, Poland) — has immersive exhibits on shtetl life.
• Yad Vashem (Jerusalem) — includes testimony and material about destroyed shtetls.
• Local Jewish museums in many cities (like the Jewish Museum in New York or the Mizel Museum in Denver) often feature shtetl-related exhibits.