YIVO Mourns the Passing of Marek Web

We at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research mourn the passing of our dear colleague, Marek Web.

Born in Poland in 1938, Web had a career as a teacher and a journalist for the Yiddish newspaper, Folks-shtime. Driven out of Poland during the anti-Jewish purges of 1967-68, he immigrated to New York, where he found work at the YIVO as a historian and as a specialist in Polish Jewish culture. Web played a central role in modernizing YIVO’s archives and eventually was appointed Chief Archivist, a post he held for many years. Together with Fruma Mohrer, he edited the magisterial Guide to the YIVO Archives. He also published Poyln, a collection of Alter Kacyzne’s photographs from the YIVO Archives.

During his nearly 50 year tenure at YIVO, Marek Web worked with numerous scholars, helping them locate the documents and artifacts they required to augment their scholarship. The field of Polish Jewish history is richer because of his many contributions.

Koved zayn ondenk. May his memory be a blessing.