Virtual Shtetl has added more than 200 archival photographs from the collections of the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences to its website. Most of them are of pre-World War II synagogues and their interiors and have never been published before.
They show synagogues from, among other places: Brest-Litovsk, Dubno, Gąbin, Grodno, Gwoździec, Izabelin, Janów, Kleck, Klewań, Kórnik, Krzemieniec, Nowogródek, Kobryń, Końskie, Lutomiersk, Maciejów, Mogielnica, Parzęczew, Przedbórz, Sidra, Targowica, Tarnopol, Zbaraż, Zelwa and Żydaczów.
Most of these buildings were destroyed during World War II. The collection also includes photos of general panoramas of the cities, photographs of cemeteries and local residents.
Virtual Sthtel reports that the photographs were taken by, among others, Adam Bochnak, Jan Bułhak, Henryk Poddębski, Szymon Zajczyk, but the names of many photographers are unknown.
The photographs are available on the Virtual Shtetl website, in sections of particular cities as illustrations to descriptions of synagogues and the articles on history of Jewish communities.