THE publication of this consolidated index for the first twelve volumes of Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry marks an important stage in the coming of age of our yearbook. When the Jewish Publication Society, founded in Philadelphia in 1888, undertook to publish its first major work, an American edition of the five-volume History of the Jews which Heinrich Graetz, the Nestor of Jewish historiography, had prepared for the London Jewish Chronicle, Henrietta Szold, the principal editor and spiritus movens of the society, decided to add an additional volume to the original five to make it ‘readily available for pedagogical purposes’. This index volume, in the words of the historian of the society Jonathan Sarna, provided ‘a fitting capstone to [the society's] first great publishing achievement, [inviting] relentless pursuit of elusive facts through all five volumes of Graetz's narrative’. We very much hope that this index will provide similar assistance to those searching for information on the history of the Jews of Poland–Lithuania through the first twelve volumes of Polin.

It was only when the Littman Library of Jewish Civilization began to publish Polin, with volume 8 in 1994, that an index came to be a standard element of each volume. The present index therefore covers volumes 1 to 7 for the first time; later volumes have been freshly indexed to provide comprehensive coverage of the subjects, organizations, places, and individuals discussed in the series so far.

In addition to full indexes of subjects and persons, we have included six other sections to enable students of Polish Jewish issues make the most flexible use of the yearbook: two tables of contents, arranged first by volume and then by historical period; an index of books reviewed, also giving the name of the reviewer; an index of contributors, itemizing all their contributions from articles to obituaries and indicating where their own books have been reviewed in the pages of Polin; and a section of background notes giving information on contributors’ affiliation and areas of interest. Finally, two appendices supply a table of Polish history from the fourth century, and maps showing the changing shape of Poland from the tenth century to the present. All this will, we are sure, enable scholars and students in the field of Polish Jewish studies to make maximum use of the wealth of material contained in the first twelve volumes of Polin.