Shas Pollak

Shas Pollak were Jewish mnemonists who, according to the 1917 report of George Stratton in the Psychological Review, memorized the exact layout of words in more than 5,000 pages of the 12 books of the standard edition of the Babylonian Talmud.

Two of the eyewitnesses stated that the memorizing was related to the Talmud part, printed in the centers of the pages, and not the surrounding commentary.

Stratton writes that all eyewitnesses noticed that none of the Shas Pollak known to them have attained any prominence in the scholarly world.

A 1993 novelette Ginger (Рыжик) by Mikhail Veller about the fate of a Jewish boy who became a member of spetsnaz, has the following passage: "Torah was supposed to be known as follows.

You were supposed to recite the text starting with the word pinned on the opposite page of the sheet."