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BLITZ
Russian-Baltic
Information Center
Jewish Genealogy Research
In Russia
© copyright
1996-2004 by BLITZ ; all rights reserved
St. Petersburg,
Russia and California, USA
A
large portion of present day Jewish families lived in Tsarist Russia.
The study of their history and genealogy has long been hindered by
an almost complete lack of access to Russian archives. With the fall
of the Soviet Union, there is now a window of opportunity to search
for Jewish roots in Russia. Such searches are very tedious and often
not very effective because of a dearth of information about the location
of Jewish materials and lack of finding aids to archive holdings.
Most materials concerning Jewish history in Russia are kept in various
central and regional State archives and their branches. Unfortunately,
many Jewish archival materials were destroyed during the two World
Wars and also during the terrible pogroms which took place in Ukraine
and White Russia in 1917-1921.
After the 1930's, during the period of the official anti-semitism
in the Soviet Union, the collecting and cataloging of Jewish archival
materials practically ceased. The process of opening documents of
Jewish origin for use by researchers has only recently begun. This
work is going slowly and it is not known exactly what kinds of documents
still exist and which archives have such documents.
It is necessary to take into consideration circumstances of Jewish
life particularly in respect to the laws of that time regarding Jews.
For example, in towns with a Tsar's residence, the police records
can be searched because Jews who had permission to live in such towns
were required to register with the police each year.
A recent catalog of the location of Jewish materials reports that
Jewish documents are kept in ten archives in Moscow and nine archives
in St. Petersburg. Elsewhere in Russia, there are at least 12 different
archives with Jewish materials and 37 in Ukraine and 14 in Belarus.
Jewish documents are also kept in Georgian, Moldovian, Lithuanian,
Estonian and Uzbek archives.
The largest historical archive in Russia is located in St. Petersburg,
the capital city of Tsarist Russia. The Russian State Historic Archive
(Rossiiskii Gosudarstvennyi Istoricheskii Arkhiv - RGIA) has some
7 million items covering the prerevolutionary period, i.e. the period
from the beginning of the 18th century to 1917. Among the RGIA holdings
are materials about Jewish settlements and agricultural colonies including
town maps and plans. In some cases, town maps are accompanied by a
numbered index to the families living in each house.
In the RGIA, there are also documents of different commissions and
institutions such as the rabbi's commissions for 1857 - 1914; the
commission on the organizing of Jewish everyday life for 1862- 1882;
other interesting materials concern the construction of synagogues
and prayer houses, the opening of Jewish ecclesiastical institutions,
schools, some parish registers; records about pogroms and many other
items. The RGIA also keeps documents regarding an individual's application
to change religion or citizenship as well as records granting permission
to emigrate from the Russian Empire.
Other archives in St. Petersburg with Jewish materials include the
Central State Historic Archive which has registers of births and deaths
of the St. Petersburg Choral synagogue for 1865-1920 and the Kronshtadt
synagogue for 1900-1913. There are also documents regarding the Jewish
literature-art society, the Jewish historical-ethnography society,
and other societies and institutions, as well as some collections
of private documents.
Some Ukrainian and Belarussian archives have registers of births and
deaths, documents about pogroms, institutions, organizations and many
other kinds of Jewish materials.
Since many Jews were scientists, writers and musicians, personal files
can sometimes be found in the archives of such institutions as the
Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg) and Russian Central Archives
of Literature and Art (Moscow). Information on Jewish revolutionaries
is kept in the State Archives of Russian Federation (former Central
Archives of the October Revolution) in Moscow.
For people who were in State service, a service record can sometimes
be located. A "service record" is usually a treasure trove of information
about the person and the person's family and often includes most pertinent
dates.
Military service records also exist in the military archives. However,
in order to successfully locate a Military record, it is usually necessary
to know the dates of service and the regiment. A photograph of the
person in his uniform or even a picture of a service medal can give
good clues.
Unfortunately, in Tsarist times military service for Jews was considered
tantamount to a death sentence and young men left the country if they
could, rather than enter the military.
In some cases, information can be found regarding the owners of stores,
companies and others who had owned legal private businesses. However,
Jews would often register their businesses under the name of a Russian
partner in order to avoid persecution. The National Library in St.
Petersburg has monographs and newspapers which sometimes contain articles
on Jewish subjects as well as advertisements of Jewish businesses
and shopkeepers.
Good initial information is essential in order to start any genealogy
research. Unfortunately much of this information is lost or the memories
were so painful that the older generation simply avoided the subject
of their past.
The Information Center BLITZ provides genealogy searches and as well
as other research in different Russian archives and libraries. We
have been successful in providing results concerning some Jewish families
and Jewish settlements.
Genealogy Search Order Form
W. Edward Nute, Coordinator
Russian-Baltic Information Center - BLITZ
907 Mission Ave, San Rafael, California, 94901
Telephone: 415-453-3579
FAX: 415-453-0343
eMail address: enute@igc.apc.org
[BLITZ
HOMEPAGE] [Jewish CROSS-INDEX]
[ Map Room Index -- Russian Empire
]
[Ethnic, Religious, National Index
[FEEFHS FrontPage]
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