Leonard Blavatnik
Explore over 120,000 items in the Archive’s collections of modern Jewish History & Culture, World Wars I & II, and Soviet Russia.
The Blavatnik Archive is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to preserving and disseminating materials that contribute to the study of 20th-century Jewish and world history, with a special emphasis on World War I, World War II, and Soviet Russia. The Archive was founded in 2005 by Len Blavatnik to reflect his commitment to cultural heritage and expand his support for primary source–based scholarship and education.
The Archive’s collections focus on medium types and subject areas that are not often found at other institutions. The Archive offers materials that present comprehensive frameworks for engaging with historical moments or topics. Examples include:
• Veteran Testimonies & Ephemera Collection, exploring the role and experience of Russian soldiers in the Second World War
• Leningrad Siege Postcards, revealing the incredible postcards that were produced during the worst conditions of the blockade
• Moscow State Yiddish Theater Collection, offering an important resource on Soviet Yiddish culture
• WWI Postcard Collection, depicting the participants of the Great War through rich illustration and photography at the height of the postcard production period
To ensure that the Archive’s materials can reach a wide audience, we have prioritized free digital access, high-resolution reproductions, and seamless, user-oriented delivery. We invite you to explore our collections, discover the treasures within, and enjoy fascinating insights and interpretations.
“Blavatnik Archive is a unique institution, an archive of the future that exists today. It’s the place where the ages-old art of archiving—collecting, preserving, and cataloging—is taken to a new, creative level of transcribing, translating, and storytelling. Hence the archive creates meaning by turning the past into history.” —Professor Vassili Schedrin, Alfred and Isabel Bader Post-Doctoral Fellow in Jewish History and coordinator of the Russian and East European Studies Network, Queen’s University
