Main Judaic Library

It was created as The Great Synagogue of Warsaw’s library between the years 1879 to 1880 at the behest of Ludwik Natanson, who had come up with the idea in 1860.

The funds for setting up the library were raised through public collections and its existence was further assured by contributions from private founders along with a committee of the synagogue.

The Historical Commission was functioning within the Library for many years, up until 1914, with its main purpose to gather collections, including documents from qahals’ archives and a variety of manuscripts.

The new facility of the Main Judaic Library, erected between 1928-1936 at Tłomackie Street 3/5, was designed by Edward Eber.

It hosted the headquarters of the Jewish Social Self-Help, a staging point for Jews forcibly resettled from Germany and a storage unit for furniture stolen in the ghetto.