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Jewish homes for the aged (moshav zkenim) began to be established in Eastern Europe in the 1840s. In the interwar period, probably over sixty Jewish institutions of this kind operated in Poland, providing care for several thousand people. We know relatively much about the figures of their founders, benefactors, social activists, and senior employees. However, gaining information about residents themselves requires much more intensive queries. The article is based primarily on articles, reports, and announcements appearing in Jewish press, supplemented by accounts published in memorial books and other sources, to recreate a general portrait of people who lived under the care of such institutions in Warsaw, Lemberg (Lviv), Vilnius, and other places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]