"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.

Preserve Jewish Heritage — Join and Support Our Mission

As technology advances, so does our ability to trace Jewish ancestry across generations and continents. Our nonprofit Jewish genealogy organization in Colorado is dedicated to helping individuals explore, document, and preserve their family stories — stories that might otherwise be lost.

Your membership and donations make this work possible. Together, we can connect families, honor our ancestors, and strengthen our shared heritage.

Join us today or make a tax-deductible contribution to help continue this vital mission of Jewish genealogical discovery.