Click on the 'Lithuanian Shtetls' Link above to see information and links to the many Shtetls located in Lithuania.
They do remember every day! A Lithuanian woman walking past the Jewish Memorial to the Jews Murdered in the Holocaust. This statue is located in the "Jewish Ghetto Park" in Svencionys.
Photo taken by Ted Margulis, August,1994 in
Svencionys
Situated along the Baltic Sea. The main seaport is Memel (under German rule) and today it is known as
Klaipeda.
Lithuania is an independent country that was formerly occupied by Russia. Jews from central Europe first settled in the country during the second half of the 14th century. Jews, in this country, enjoyed tremendous political and cultural influence that reverberated throughout the entire Diaspora.
Most of Lithuania was annexed by
Russia in 1795. Independent Lithuania was re-established in
1918, formed from Kovno, eastern Vilna and northern Suwalki
Guberniyas (and a small piece of East Prussia). Vilna
was annexed by Poland, 1919-1939, Capital: Kaunas (Kovno).
Independent 1990, Capital: Vilna.
What's a Litvak? The borders of modern Lithuania have nothing to do with being a Litvak. In fact, in Yiddish a Lithuanian (non-Jew) is called a "Litviner," not a Litvak. I'm not exactly sure, but the term Litvak means anyone who lived under Lithuanian rule in the 16th to 17th century, which includes a vast area to the east, south, and west of Lithuania today. This would include Bialystok in Poland, Minsk in Belarus and beyond. Moreover, in the 19th century, Litvaks moved all over, into what is Poland today - to Lodz where they set up the textile industry. It is also estimate that about 1/3 of Warsaw's Jewry in the late 19th century was Litvak, even though Warsaw was not part of the traditional Litvak homeland. Warsaw, like Lodz, was a town of immigration, and Litvak streamed there to find work and set up businesses. From a posting by Harold Rhode on
LitvakSIG
Litvak comes from the word 'Lite' which is Lithuania in Yiddish. It applies to Jews in the ill-defined borders of the Dukedom of Lithuania in the 17 and 18th centuries, which included parts of Belorussian and Poland, but not most of Latvia (Courland). It also refers to Yiddish speakers with a Litvak accent, a version of Yiddish that extended through the Lomza-Suwalki and VitebskGuberniyas, a least. From a posting by Zvi Griliches
Censuses from as early as 1670 have been located in the Lithuanian State Archives proving that Jews have lived in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Further proof can be found in my
Lithuanian Shtetls page under Vilnius. The Duchy constituted the entire northern half of what became the Pale of Settlement including the Guberniyas of Grodno, Kovno, Minsk, Mogilev, Vilna and Vitebsk. Census Lists from 1765, 1784 and 1795 - three censuses of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Only the 1795 census supplies ages for family members. All earlier dates must be estimated. In Lithuania about 1775, there were about 75,000 Jews.
Portions of the 1897 census are stored in the Grodno archive.
A 1923 census of the Jewish population of Lithuania shows about 130,000 individuals; on the eve of WW I, the figure was approximately 160,000. The second half of the 19th century saw an explosion in the Jewish population, but research suggests that the 18th century Jewish population was only about 48,000. Some of this information was obtained from an article entitled "Methodology for Researching 18th-Century Lithuania" authored by Len Yodaiken and published in Avotaynu volume XX, Number 3 Fall 2004.
Brest-Litovsk and Grodno, today both are located in Belarus, were originally part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Duke Vitold gave the Jews from Poland charters to establish themselves in these two communities, similar to those granted by Bolislav the Pious to the Jews of Great Poland. Some of those Jews originally came from Oriental countries, including a few of them from Khazar stock.
The border between Lithuania and
Courland was always a subject of disputes and disagreements. Documents for 1473, 1505, 1535, 1541, to 1545 are published by K. Gadebush. "Livlaendische Bibliothek nach Alphabetischer Ordnung". Riga, 1777. Th. 1. Ab. 2 ## 71, 101, 128, 134, 138.
Documents for 1566 and 1585 are published in the same place Th. 2. Ab. 1. ## 51, 179.
"Statue of Great Dukedom of Lithuania 1588" This is about the rights and responsibilities of the Jews and there is a photocopy of an original text and an adapted text (original text written with modern letters created on Dmitriy Levit). Note that there is both Lithuanian and English text on the page. http://litvaki.cjb.net
These borders repeatedly changed. The Russian Imperial Government changed borders between Kovno province and
Courland province. Borders changed also after the First world war. Submitted by Anatolij Chayesh. St. Petersburg. Russia.
Of the 220,000 Jews who lived in Lithuania under the Nazi occupation, 212,000 were murdered during the Holocaust, many, if not most, by local Nazi collaborators. That's about 95% of the prewar Jewish population! This is one of the highest rates of killings in Nazi-occupied Europe - the largest percentage of all European countries.
Scroll down to bottom and click on the link to the Yahrzeit Page
Not one known collaborator has ever been prosecuted for their crime in Lithuania to date. In 1939, after some territorial adjustments, the population of Lithuania was just under 3,000,000 of which about 9% (270,000) were Jews. Only 6,000 survived the Holocaust. There is still a Jewish community in Lithuania numbering 5,000 and most living in Vilnius. Most are pensioners.
Many Jewish records from four formerly (Southern) Lithuanian districts are known to be in the State Historical Archives of Belarus in Grodno; other Jewish records for the same towns are in Vilnius.
Vilnius (Vilna) once had a population that was 55 percent Jewish and at the turn of the century was called the 'Jerusalem of Lithuania'. That ended with a genocide beginning in the summer of 1941 that was finished, for most part, by November of the same year.
Shirley and I traveled the roads from Vilnius (Vilna in Yiddish) to Memel (Klaipedatoday), with a short detour to Plunge where we had the opportunity to meet the only Jew left in that small town --- Yossel Bunka. You may (or perhaps will) hear of Yossel if you ever travel Lithuania, for he is a world renown wood sculpture. Most of what he hand carves deals with either a Jewish or Holocaust theme. I have several of his wood carvings on my desk top to remind me of our meeting. This will be a story that I must tell you, while I've got your attention. It's worth sharing.
We used an interpreter while traveling Lithuania and he was explaining something to Yossel, who would then reply in Lithuanian when both of us detected a Yiddish word coming from Yossel. My wife speaks Yiddish, so she asked Yossel if he too spoke Yiddish and he answered with a rather surprised yes. Then Shirley apologized for her rather crude use of Yiddish and stated that she hadn't really had the opportunity to speak Yiddish for more than 50 years. Yossel looked at both of us, and we could see a tear roll down his cheek, as he said to us in Yiddish "neither have I!" That moment will always be treasured by the three of us as we had found a common ground.
My maternal grandmother's family had lived in both Plunge and Telsai, which is only a few miles further down the road, which explains why we were there visiting the area. Other known relatives also were known to have lived in, or around the area and include the Blochs and the Gordons. Our travels also took us to Klaipeda where my great grandparents (Cohen) had lived until their deaths in the late 1800s. We spent a night in Klaipeda. We also did a day trip to Svencionys, a small shtetl near the border of Belarus where family had also lived.
We received from Galina Baranova, the Chief Archivist of the State Historical Archives in
Vilnius, a number of documents that she had found relating to my ancestors including Revision Lists. By the way, Galina was born in Russia and has lived in Lithuania for many years.
Typical Lithuanian Street in 1994. Note the Soviet Style Apartment Building in background. Photo taken by Ted Margulis in 1994
Books
Most books, CDs, etc. can be ordered through my link to Amazon.com by clicking here > Jewish Genealogy
Books published by the Jewish State Museum of Lithuania can be purchased by writing to: Rachel Kostanian Jewish State Museum of Lithuania Pamenkalnio 12 2001 Vilnius, Lithuania
"A Vanished World" - authored by Roman Vishniak. There are some photographs taken in Vilna in 1937 including a street scene taken in 1937, Old men of Vilna and a basement storefront with women standing at the basement window behind her vegetables.
"Accessible Vital Records For Jews, Germans, Ukrainians and Poles in Galicia, Volhynia, Lithuania and Latvia- A Second Zabuzanski Collection" available at the downtown branch of the Vancouver Public Library. Other Libraries may also have a copy. Brian Lenius is Chairperson and Editor of East European Genealogist. E-mail eegsociety.com www.eegsociety.org
"A Genealogical Trip to Lithuania: The Host's Perspective" - authored by Yakov Shadvich and published in Avotaynu VII: 1 (Spring 1991, pp, 3 -5 http://www.avotaynu.com/subindex/indexl.htm
"A Jewish Life Under The Tsars: The autobiography of Chaim Asonson, 1825-1888" - authored by Ira Leibowitz. To read the review of the gook, which gives some insight into life in that period in Serednik, Russia (now Seredzius, Lithuania) as well as in Shadova (Seduva), Kurtovian (Kurtuvenai), Mitau (Jelgava, Latvia) and Telz (Telsai) http://www.jewishgen.org/Litvak/jewishlife_tsars.htm
Published in Totowa, N.J. by Allanheld, Osmun & Co., 1983. Translated from the Hebrew by Norman Marsden. 287 pages, ISBN: 0865980667
"A Look at the Censuses of Poland" - authored by Gayle Schlissel Riley and published in the Nov/Dec. 2000 issue of Heritage Quest
"Annihilation of Lithuanian Jewry" - author Rabbi Ephraim Oshry and published by The Judaica Press in Brooklyn, NY in 1995. 47 towns are listed.
Available from Judaica Press, Inc. 1 800 972 6201 (In NYC: 718 972 6200
E-mail: JudaicaPr@aol.com
"Baltic Jews Under The Soviets" - authored by Dov Levin, Centre for Research & Documentation of Eastern European Jewry, Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1994. The book is in English
"Barak - Soldier Number One" authored by Ben Caspi and Ilan Kfir and published by Alfa Communication in Tel-Aviv, May 1998. This is Ehud Barak's biography and includes information about a small Jewish community in Lithuania where a grandfather is killed by Goyim.
"Can Jewish Genealogists Successfully Research 18th Century Poland?" - authored by Sallyann Amdur Sack and published in Avotaynu Vol. XVI, No. 3 Fall 2000
"The Case of Zheimelis" (The Expulsion of the Jews from Lithuania in the Spring of 1915") - authored by Anatolij Chayes and published in St Petersburg. Translated by Gordon McDaniel. There are a lot of excellent articles at this site http://www.jewishgen.org/Litvak/expulsion.htm
"TheChildren of the Vilna Gaon" - authored by Chaim Freedman. One of the important books published by Avotaynu was "Eliyahu's Branches: The Descendants of the Vilna Gaon and His Family." It documents more than 20,000 descendants of this great Jewish scholar. Equally important, its author, Freedman, theorized on the genealogy of the immediate descendants of the Gaon -- his children and grandchildren--from the scant documentation available when the book was published. Freedman recently stated that one of his theories, that the Goan's son Avraham Vilner was born in 1765, has been confirmed. A 1795 Vilna census/tax list includes Abraham and records his age as 30. Information about the book can be found at http://www.avotaynu.com/books/gaon.htm
"Crime and Punishment" - compiled by Advocate Joseph Melamed. It is a very comprehensive history of the Holocaust in Lithuania. The history of the Holocaust in most of the larger cities and towns is given in detail. Several thousand of the known perpetrators of the mass murder in Lithuania are listed by name. There is an Association known as "Association of Lithuanian Jews in Israel". They publish a newsletter, Gachelet, in Hebrew, Yiddish and English. Their address is 1 David Hamelech Blvd., Tel Aviv 64953, Israel. http://www.lithuanianjews.org.il/HTMLs/article_list4.aspx?C2014=14314&BSP=14307&BSS59=14430
"Demographic and social-Professional Structure of the Jewish Community in Vilnius" - based on the Census of 1784. "The Gaon of Vilnius and the Annals of Jewish Culture"; Materials of the International Scientific Conference, - compiled by Dr. Lempertas and Edited by Larisa Lempertiene. Published by University Publishing House in Vilnius in 1998. The link is to a pdf file. www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/9781847183552-sample.pdf
"Eliyahu's Branches: The Descendants of the Vilna Gaon and his Family" - authored by Chaim Freedman and published by Avotaynu in 1997. It includes 20,000 names and a host of biographical and historic details. http://www.avotaynu.com/gaonbook.html
"Experiences with Jewish Genealogical Requests and a review of the records stored in the Lithuanian State Historical Archives": authored by Galina Baranova, Chief Archivist of the State Historical Archives in Vilnius -
LitvakSIG online Journal http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak/journal.htm
"The Expulsion of the Jews from Lithuania in the Spring of 1915" - a description of political events preceding and accompanying the expulsion of Jews from the western part of Kovno Guberniya, based on the periodical press of 1914-1915, the stenographic minutes of the State Duma, and publications primarily from the interwar period - authored by Anatolij Chayes and published in the February, 2000 issue of
LitvakSIG Journal http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak/expulsion.htm
You can also find week-to-week reports in English-language Jewish newspapers of the era, such as the Jewish Chronicle of London.
"Fighting Back" - the story of Jewish soldiers in the Lithuanian Division of the Red Army during the years 1941-1945. The second, revised edition, was published in 1997 by Holmes & Meier Publishers, Inc. 160 Broadway, East Building 9th Floor, New York City. Phone: 1 (212) 374 0100. Professor Dov Levin was the author and he indicated that he has hundreds of files of interviews he conducted to create this book. dovlevin@cc.huji.ac.il http://www.holmesandmeier.com/titles/levin.html
"From Yerushalayim d' Lita" - authored by Debbie Berliner and published in the July, 2000 issue of
LitvakSIG Journal in a pdf file www.yivo.org/downloads/yivo_80.pdf
"Ghetto in Flames: The Struggle and Destruction of the Jews in Vilna in the Holocaust" - authored by Yitzchak Arad. Published by Yad Vashem and ADL Bnai Brith in Jerusalem 1980
"The Good Old Days: The Holocaust as Seen By Its Perpetrators and Bystanders"- authored by Klee, Dressen, Riess, and Trevor-Roper and published by Konecky & Konecky.
HaMagid - the first weekly Hebrew newspaper appearing from 1856 to 1903. Jeff Marx Rabjamarx@aol.com has information on this subject. Jeff has created a full index to shtetl names which appear in the donor lists of HaMagid for all issues between 1856 and 1900. Though each issue is entirely in Hebrew, the year, volume, month and day are printed in English letters on the front page of each weekly issue. Pages are also numbered. City and town names appear in slightly larger fonts and are often in bold face. Usually they appear under the Hebrew word "nedavot" (donations), and are, more often than not, found in the supplement section to the weekly issue.
Jeffrey Maynard mentioned that there are 70 lists from 57 locations - almost 5,500 names.
For the most part, all that is available in HaMagid, according to Jeff Marx, is a name on a list. These lists may enable one to ascertain that a specific family member was actually living at a given date and was residing in a particular city or shtetl as of that date (give or take a few months' lag between the time the donation was made and the donor's name was published in HaMagid) Now and then, the donor may be identified as coming from a smaller town outside the city where the collection took place. Now and then, in HaMagid, the donor is listed with other family members and their relationship is spelled out ("son-in-law of so and so" or "son of so and so")
Finally, when donors are listed in descending order of contributions, it provides a slight clue as to the family member's economic status in the community. While, for the most part, the donor lists in HaMagid do not yield any other significant pieces of information, other than the name, they are worthwhile checking for those rarer times when a 'gem' may be found.
The HaMagid Persian Famine Donation Lists - Donors from Lithuania - 1871 and 1872 provide a resource of the names of over 40,000 Jews from the Pale of Settlement, including over 5,000 Lithuanian Jewish heads of families.
Microfilms of HaMagid are found at the following repositories: Brown University; Columbia University; Cornell University; Harvard University; Hebrew College, Boston; Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati and Los Angeles; Jewish National and University Library, Jerusalem; Jewish Theological Seminary, New Your; Library of Congress; New York Public Library; Northwestern university, Chicago; Stanford University; University of Ann Arbor; University of California, Berkeley; Washington University, St Louis; Yale University
"Heroism and Bravery in Lithuania, 1941-1945" - authored by Alex Faitelson in 1996 a Lithuanian Jew who lived in Kaunas, and who entered the Jewish Resistance when he was about 18. He was imprisoned in the Ninth Fort of Kaunas, from where he organized a daring escape with 63 other people.
Eve Line Blum-Cherchevsky translated the book into French and it is
available in various French bookshops. The title in French is: Courage
Dans La Tourmente En Lituanie (Souvenirs du ghetto de Kovno - 1941-1945) by
Alex Faitelson
"Hidden History of the Kovno Ghetto" published by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1997 and can be viewed on the Museum's web site.
"Holocaust in Lithuania 1941-1945, The: A book of Remembrance." A four volume set records and documents over 50,000 Lithuanian Jewish Holocaust victims and edited and compiled by Rose Lerer Cohen and Saul Issroff. ISBN: 9652292991
"In Jewish Autonomy in Poland and Lithuania until 1648 (5408)" authored by Professor Shmuel Cygielman and published in Jerusalem, 1997.
"Jewish Cities, Towns and Villages in Lithuania Until 1918" - authored by Berl Kagan. A copy is at the YIVO Library in New York. The original printer was Simcha Graphic Associates, 4311 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11219 Telephone: 718 854 4830. The book is out of print.
"Jewish Craftsmen in Kaunas Guberniya" - an article by Anatolij Chayes in which the author surveys the typical documents preserved in the Russian State historical Archives and much more http://www.jewishgen.org/Litvak/craftsmen.htm
TheJewish Family History Foundation -dedicated to the preservation, acquisition and dissemination of Jewish records from archives and other repositories in Eastern Europe http://www.jewishfamilyhistory.org
"Jewish Kahals in 18th Century Lithuania" - The Gaon of Vilnius and the Annuals of Jewish Culture. Materials of the International Scientific Conference, (Vilnius, September 10-12, 1997). Compiled by Dr. Lempertas, Edited by Larisa Lempertiene and published in Vilnius by University Publishing House in 1998
"The Jewish State Museum of Lithuania" - authored by Rachel Kostani - available at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. It provides a condensed history (with photographs) of the Jewish State Museum and of Lithuanian Jewry and includes a summary of ongoing publication projects.
"Jewish Vital Records, Revision Lists and Other Holdings in the Lithuanian Archives" (English) authored by Harold Rhode and Sallyanne Sack and published by Avotaynu, Inc. in Teaneck, NJ in 1996
"Jewish vital Statistic Records in Lithuanian Archives" - authored by Alex Friedlander and published in Avotaynu VI; 4 (Winter 1990), pp; 4-12, (The complete story with inventories)
"The Jews of Lithuania"- authored by Masha Greenbaum is a history of a remarkable community from 1316 to 1945 and published in Jerusalem in 1955/5755 by Gefen Publishing House Ltd. There are at least four volumes in this series and include "The Association of Lithuanian Jews in Israel"; "The Holocaust: 1941-1945"; "Lita" published in Yiddish; "Heroism and Bravery in Lithuania 1941-1945"
"Jews of Lithuania to 1918" - edited by N. Goren and L. Garfunkel and published by Am Hasafer in Tel Aviv in 1959
"The Kovno Ghetto: A Buried History" - a video produced by A&E TV Channel is
available on-line The catalogue number is 40276 - Phone: 1 800-652-9000 http://store.AandE.com
"Kovna (Kaunas): Surviving the Holocaust, The Kovno Ghetto Diary": - edited by Avraham Tory and published by Harvard University Press in 1990 and Pimlico Press in 1991
"Landscape and Memory" - authored by Simon Schama - has a large section devoted to Lithuania
"The Last Days of Jerusalem of Lithuania: Chronicles from the Vilna Ghetto and the Camps, 1939-1944" in English, is a translation of Yiddish diaries of Herman Kruk, a Bundist activist from Warsaw, who fled to Vilna at the beginning of WW II. The book is published jointly by YIVO and Yale University Press with assistance from the Nusach Vilna Society and was edited by Professor Benjamin Harshav, Blaustein Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at Yale, and translated by Barbara Harshav. Available from JewishGen Mall at http://www.jewishgen.org/jewishgenmall
"Light One Candle" - authored by Solly Ganor in 1995 deals with the Kovno, Lithuania Ghetto.
Contact Max Heffler max@texsys.com if you have a particular town/name you wish translated, and he can determine the amount it will cost to have it translated A translator should run about $25 per page. The Yizkor Book web pages contains translated tables of contents and lists names appearing in each 1000+ page book.
"Lithuanian Archives in the Past and at Present" - authored by Laima Tautvaisaite, Director of the State Historical Archives -
LitvakSIG Online Journal http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak/journal.htm
"Lithuanian Jewish Communities" - authored by Nancy and Stuart Schoenberg is an excellent descriptive book of the many shtetls of Lithuania. A good resource.
"Lituanie Juive 1918-1940" a book review by Joost van Beek and published in the March, 2000 issue of
LitvakSIG
"The Litvaks" - authored by Dov Levin, a professor at Hebrew University and the author of a number of books on the Jews of Lithuania, including "Pinkas Hakehillot - Lita" (Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities: Lithuania) and "Fighting Back: Lithuanian Jewry's Armed Resistance to the Nazis".
"The Litvaks" provides an English language history of Lithuanian Jewry since the 13th century and includes a lexicon of Lithuanian towns showing their Yiddish and modern spellings, statistical tables, sample documents and photographs of Jewish life in Lithuania. The Table of Contents is available at http://www.avotaynu.com/books/litvaks.htm
"Litvaks and the Founding of Brandeis University" - authored by Steven Weiss and published in the July, 2000 issue of
LitvakSIG Journal http://www.jewishgen.org/Litvak/journal.htm
"Litvaks and Their Calendars or How to Navigate Between the torah Portion and the Hebrew, Gregorian, and Julian Calendars" - authored by Jacob Bleadon and published in the April, 2000 issue of the
LitvakSIG Journal http://www.jewishgen.org/Litvak/journal.htm
"The Lords' Jews, Magnate - Jewish Relations in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the 18th Century" - authored by M. J. Rosman. It an informative work of research on the "Arrendator" or lessee system. Published in Cambridge, MA by Harvard University Press in 1990
"The Lost Wooden Synagogues of Eastern Europe" - features a journey by filmmaker Albert Barry to Lithuania to try to find the few remaining wooden synagogue buildings still standing. Information about the film and how to order a copy is available at http://www.woodensynagogues.com
"The Militias of Magnate's Towns in
Byelorussia and Lithuania in the 16th to 18th Centuries" - authored by Anatol Hrtckiewicz. In Kwartalnik Historyczny, 77, no. 1 published in Minsk in 1970
"Native Realm - authored by Czeslaw Milosz and also the author of "The Issa Valley"
"New Sources of Genealogical Information in the Kaunas Regional Archives" - authored by Vitalija Gircyte, Chief Archivist of the Kaunas Regional Archives
LitvakSIG Online Journal http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak/journal.htm
"On Foreign Soil" - an autobiographical novel authored by Falk Zolf and written in English. It is a rich story first-hand, in the author's own words. More about it at http://www.onforeignsoil.com/
"On the Front Line in Lithuania, 1915" - stories of Jewish Eyewitnesses, by Anatolii Chayesh, translated by Gordon McDaniel and appearing in the August, 2001 issue of the
LitvakSIG Journal http://www.jewishgen.org/Litvak/journal.htm
"ThePolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th Century 1697-1935" (Liberty's Folly) - authored by Jerry Tadeusz Lukowski and published by the Cambridge University Press in 1951
"Privilege to Jews Granted by Vytautas the Great" - authored by Stanislovas Lazutka and Edwardas Gudavichius in English and Russian and published in Moscow by the Jewish University of Moscow in 1993
"Research and Travel in Suwalki Guberniya Towns - authored by Bruce Kahn and published in Landsmen IV 4 (Spring 1991), pp. 3-5 http://www.jewishgen.org/SuwalkLomza/
"Revisiting Roots in Lithuania" - authored by Hedy Pagremanski Page and published in the October, 2000 issue of
LitvakSIG Journal http://www.jewishgen.org/Litvak/journal.htm
"The Rosen Legacy" - authored by Claire L. Datnow. The Rosen Legacy waves a complex tapestry that ranges across time and space, chronicling the fate of nine generations of Rosens and the Torah they inherit. Through the lives of its custodians the Torah becomes entangled in astonishing and brutal events shaping the fate of a family, a people, and a nation. At the heart of the novel is an intriguing question: how does a family's sacred legacy shape the identify of those who inherit it? Excerpts from this book are available at http://www.jewishgen.org/Litvak/excerpts_ from_the_rosen_legacy.htm
"Scrolls of Testimony" - authored by Abba Kovner in 2001 relates to the Kovno Ghetto.
"TheShtetl and I" - authored by Dvora Rogovin Helberg ""On Sunday, Elul 17th , 5702, (8/30/1942), the Vishnive ghetto was annihilated. The church bells began ringing early in the morning, announcing to the gentiles of the surrounding villages about the slaughter. By the thousands, they poured into town, filled its streets and gathered near the synagogue. They watched the victims burning, some still alive." (from the Vishnive Memorial Book, Published in Israel, 1972). Read the book at e_index.html
"Some Problems in Researching Eastern European Records" - authored by Boris Feldblyum and Yakov Shadevich and published in Avotaynu IX: 3 (Fall 1994), pp. 3-7 http://www.avotaynu.com/subindex/indexl.htm
"The Tale of a Litvak" - authored by Morris S. Schulzinger and published in 1985 by Philosophical Library, New York. Contains references of Balbarishok, Grodno, Halinke, Kovno, Lazde, Mariyampole, Serei, Vilna and Yagustov.
The book mentions these families: Dunsky, Frankel, Golden, Goldin, Gootman, Gurvitz, Horwitz, Krutzel, Leemon, Lucas, Marmet, Prebell (Pribulsky) Ravad, Rutshtein, Schulzinger, Sereisky and Slavaticki. The author was born in Serei in 1900 and later lived in Cincinnati until his death.
"There Once Was A World" authored by Masha Greenbaum and Professor D. Yaffa Eliach at Brooklyn College. Story is about Jews of Lithuania. and she also states that in relation to the early Jewish settlement of Eishykok, "whether the original Jewish settlers were Karaites or Rabbinates, no one really knows." "Some remnants of distinctly Karaites practices survived into the twentieth century in several families, but they hardly constitute proof of any kind."
"Unbelievable Truth" - authored by Jeanne Ran Tcharnyi who was born in Russia in 1920 and now living in Israel. She wrote about her growing up in Jonava, life in the Vilnius ghetto, working for Nazi headquarters in Minsk posing as a non-Jew, spying for the partisans, and ending up in the Russian Gulag. Originally published in Russian and Lithuanian it is also now in English. Contact Howard Margol homargol@aol.comto purchase.
"Using Litvak Naming Patterns to Derive Names of Unknown Ancestors" - is an article written by Harold Rhode and published in Avotaynu Vol. XI, No. 3 Fall 1995 issue of Avotaynu http://www.avotaynu.com
Videos by Alexanders Feigmanis, the well-known genealogist is available.
http://www.jewishgen.org//
(then go to the "mall")
"What Does a Litvak Look Like?" - an article by Judith Shulamith Langer-Surnamer Caplan asking "How many of you have ever wondered what a Litvak looks like '?" and published in the July, 1999 issue of
LitvakSIG http://www.jewishgen.org/Litvak/journal.htm
"What Rite or Ritual for Prayer Was in General Use Among the Jews in Lithuania?" - authored by Shalom Bronstein and published in the June, 2000 issue of LitvakSIG Journal http://www.jewishgen.org/Litvak/journal.htm
"Yahadut Lite" - Historical Introduction in Hebrew, authored by Israel Klausner -vol. I, published in Tel-Aviv in 1968
"Yidishe Shtet, Shtethlekh un Dorfishe Yishuvim in Lite: biz 1918: Historish- Biografishe Skitses" (Jewish Cities, Towns and Villages in Lithuania until 1918) - authored by Berl Kagan. (Out of print) http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html
Very few Lithuanian towns have individual Yizkor books, but there are other similar sources including Yehudit Lita; Lithuanian Jewish Communities; Lita: Yiddishe Shtetl; Pinkas ha
I would suggest to the researcher of the following sites, to also check the other two Baltic Country sites, including Estonia and Latvia, as well as Poland and Belarus and Russia as there may very well be some cross references as the country borders changed many times between wars.
Sites of Pre-war Jewish Residences in Lithuania - a map is located on the
LitvakSIG Welcome Page http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak/
An excellent site to find information about most European countries is
http://searcheurope.com
and type in the name of the country you wish to research in the search field. This site is a great source to find information for almost every European country. Another valuable site to help find a person, maps, etc. is http://www.webhelp.com/home
and type in the name of any country you wish to research. This service is free.
Global Gazetteer is a great web site. It is a directory of 2,880,532 of the world's cities and towns, sorted by country and linked to a map for each town. A tab separated list is available for each country www.calle.com/world/
Agricultural Colonies in
South-Eastern Ukraine
This was a
fascinating and unique episode in modern Jewish history. Commencing in
the early 19th century, Jews were encouraged to leave the densely populated
urban communities in Lithuania and Byelorussia and travel far
to the south to establish Jewish agricultural colonies. The
incentives were exemption from military service (for varying periods)
and government aid to set up the new communities. Two Guberniyas
hosted groups of colonies: Kherson and Yekaterinoslav.
There were colonies in other regions but they did not constitute significant
numbers as did the 30 or so colonies in the above regions.
The Kherson
colonies were established in the first decade of the 19th century while
the Yekaterinoslav group was colonized initially from 1846. The
17 Yekaterinoslav colonies reached their peak in population in the
1890s with about 19,000 people. The colonists were prone to pogroms in
the 1880's and suffered particularly during the Civil War 1917-1922
when several were completely destroyed by marauding bandits such as Machno.
During the Soviet period most of the Yekaterinoslav colonies
were incorporated in a Jewish Autonomous region which, in its turn, was
decimated by the Holocaust.
There are very
few sources in English for the history of this colonization. I have
researched the subject for about 35 years, initially based on oral family
stories, then supplemented by written sources. I have been joined in
my research by Prof. Melvin Comisarow who has discovered rare maps and
aerial photographs as well as interviewing the last of the family elders who
recall life on the colonies. I published my research in two books of
family history (now out of print) which included the historical and
statistical details, and family details appear in "Eliyahu's Branches".
The main sources
were several old Russian texts, in particular "Yevreiski Zemlyedeltsi"
(Jewish Agriculturalists) by Nikitin (St. Petersburg, 1887).
This book includes very detailed descriptions of the development of the
project with much statistical material. A good summary of this
Russian source is included in a Hebrew work "Khaklaim Yehudiim
Bearvot Russia" (Jewish Agriculturalists on the Russian Steppe, Tel
Aviv 1965). In addition I discovered about fifty letters and articles in
the Hebrew newspapers published in Russia, "Hamelitz", "Hamaggid",
"Hatsefirah". Personal details of individual colonist families is had
to come by, but there are a number of Prenumeranten lists from the colonies.
This year saw a
major development in our research with the discovery in an Ukrainian
archive of the 1858 Revision Lists. Initially we commissioned
only specific families and 500 people were identified in six of the
seventeen colonies. We are now commissioning the entire lists for all
the colonies, which may include about 8-10,000 people. Our initial
experience demonstrated that this approach is necessary as errors were found
in the translations and certain families were overlooked (even though
they appeared on the photocopies sent to us).
What is of
particular interest is the fact that the place of origin in the north is
recorded for each family group in the 1858 lists. Oral family
tradition held that my ancestors of the Komisaruk family came from Kovno.
I discovered a reference to the birth of my gg-grandfather in Rassein,
which led me to suspect that "Kovno" may have meant "Kovno
Guberniya" with Rassein being the specific town. Indeed the
family group of my ggg-grandfather includes the notation that they were part
of the Rassein group of settlers.
We are now
eagerly awaiting the material to be commissioned by the Rassein
sub-group of LitvakSIG to widen our knowledge of the families' pre-1846
origins. The original 1846 settlers in the Yekaterinoslav
colonies responded to the invitation of the Russian authorities and
324 families were selected from amongst the applicants. This
group was made up of candidates from the following Guberniyas:
Mogilev 83
Vitebsk 175
Courland 11
Kovno 41
Kiev 14
(Individual Towns were not recorded)
The group was
further reduced to 285 families as follows by town of origin:
Mogilev and Orsha 83
Lutzin (in Latgala, now Latvia) 160
Polotsk 1
Rassein 11
Salant 30
Convoys set off
from Mogilev and traveled southwards to establish the first seven colonies.
Further settlers arrived and established the remaining ten colonies until
about 1860. These came from additional northern cities: Vilna, Kovno,
Miyadzol, Svientzian, Shavli, Kobilnik, Svir, Sokolka and others. The
families retained their communal unity based on these towns of origin.
In fact come of the colonies were referred to by the Jews by nicknames
indicating their origin: Nadezhanaya was called "Der Vilner",
Zelionoepole was called "Myadler", and Sladkovodnaya was known as "Kobilnya".
A study of
surnames amongst the colonists compared with surname lists for the towns of
origin showed a remarkable similarity. Thus colony Zelionoepole
(Myadler) included families Svidler, Gordon and Khodosh - the same
names that appeared concurrently in Miyadzol and Kobilnik. Novozlatopol had
many families from Lutzin; Zmood, Lev, Weisman, Ezeritz, Amiton, names which
also appear in records of Lutzin until the Holocaust.
Beider's lists of
towns for particular surnames gives another indication of the parallel
development of certain families. As Lithuanian, Latvian and
Byelorussian archival records are extracted, it should be possible to
correlate branches of families which remained in their ancestral towns with
lateral branches which sought their new homes in the southern colonies.
That exercise will add a new dimension to the research of these families as
well as enriching our knowledge of an important episode in Jewish history.
The above information was posted by Chaim Freedman Petah Tikvah, Israel;
E-mail:chaimjan@zahav.net.il
http://www.avotaynu.com/gaonbook.html
All Lithuanian Database (ALD)
A great searchable database created by the efforts of the
LitvakSIG membership.
To find which records have been entered, which are in process, and which are
yet to be processed http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak/all.htm
Archives
Vilna Archives - records go back to the 1600s. They also retain some Byelorussia records. The Russian Empire's archival system is different from the U.S. Archival System in that they use "fond" (a record group), "opus" (an inventory number) and "delo" (item number) to file everything. If you have the fond, opus and delo numbers, any archivist can find the original document in the archives. You can verify by looking on the copy of the log sheet itself, where the page number is tamped in the upper right hand corner and the line is numbered on the left side of each half of the log sheet.
"The early documents of the first quarter of the 1800s were not written mostly in Polish and Hebrew. Russian was the official language, not Polish. Many, many vital records were written in Yiddish, not Hebrew. It varied according to the Rabbi who recorded the event.
There are Jewish records in Lithuanian or German. Between 1919-1940, Lithuania was an independent country and the records were written in Lithuanian. The Historical Archive has thousands of Jewish vital records written in Lithuanian. Also, during World War I, parts of Lithuania were occupied by the Germans and some Jewish vital records were recorded in German. A large part of the original records from the Memel (Klaipeda) Archive are stored in the Central Archive in Vilnius. Many of these records cover the period 1790 - 1940 and all of the records are written in German.
I have an ongoing project to translate all of the Jewish internal passport application files, 1919-1940. The applications are written in Lithuanian. Some of the documents in each individual file are written in Russian, German, or Polish depending on the type of document. I have also seen in the Central Archive a file containing extensive information, as well as photographs, pertaining to 1,000 individuals in the Lithuanian prison in 1936. Many were Jewish inmates - mostly for being SUSPECTED of being a Communist. All of these files are written in Lithuanian." From a posting on JewishGen by Howard Margol homargol@aol.com
Archives
Remember when writing to these sources to
be polite, patient and include pertinent information such as names, dates,
places - whatever else that can aid the researchers in locating your family.
Include an IRC (International Reply Coupon) which is used in place of the
SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) when mailing outside the US. If
a fee is requested for research, obtain a Personal Money Order from your
bank, copy it, and mail the money order - registering it, and attaching a
Return Receipt for International Mail.
"Never Judge an Archival collection by Its Description or, Never Judge a Book by Its Cover" - the contents of YIVO' s Lithuanian Communities of the Interwar Period Collection and authored by Deena A. Berton as published in the April, 1998 issue of
LitvakSIG Journal
Centrinis
Valstybinis Civilinis Metrikacijos Archyvas (holds vital records for
1895-1940)
Kalinausko St.
Vilnius, Lithuania
Central State Archive of Lithuania (Siauliai) Vilniaus Gatve 160 23 Siauliai, Lithuania
Central State Archive of Lithuania (Vilnius) Generolo Obuchovo Gatve 232016 Vilnius, Lithuania
Family History Library has nearly finished their filming of Jewish vital records in the State Archives ofLithuania. Kahlile Mehr is the collections acquisitions specialist for the territory of the former Soviet Union. The library has received and catalogued all of the Jewish vital records from opis 1* of Fond 728* stored in the Historical Archive in Vilnius. To determine if records of interest to you are available, check the on-line catalog at http://www.familysearch.org
* Fond and opis are archival designations of the record storage system that enable an archivist to retrieve records.A "Fond" is a record group, and an "opis" is an inventory of a subset of records within a specific fond. Fond 728 consists of four opis and includes vital records from many partsofLithuania. It also includes records for some sites that are now in the northeastern part of
Belarus
Internal Passport - The Lithuanian Archives contain hundreds of thousands of police and court records. However, they are not indexed and are filed only by date. In order for the archivist to find a police or court record, you must know the location, the event and the exact date. With the information from this Internal Passport record, the police report can probably be found. For a full explanation of Internal Passports, and to view the various types of documents contained in the files http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Lithuania/InternalPassports.htm
"Jewish Genealogical Resources at the Kaunas regional Archives" - a presentation made at the 18th Annual Seminar on Jewish Genealogy on July 13th, 1998 by Vitalija Gircyte and published in the December, 1998 issue of
LitvakSIG Journal. If requesting information from the available records,
it could take as much as a year to receive a response. http://www.jewishgen.org/Litvak/journal.htm
Jewish State
Museum of Lithuania (Holds Shavli and Vilnius Ghetto Prisoner Lists) Palmenkalnio 12
Vilnius 2001
Lithuania
Att: Rachel Kostanian, Director
For information on obtaining genealogical records from the various Lithuanian archives, consult the
LitvakSIG FAQ's at http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak You can search for records which have already been entered into the All Lithuania Database by name and by town from that same website.
Kaunas Regional Archives Kauno Apskrities Archyvas Ms. Vitalija Gircyte Chief Archivist Maironio 28A LT-3000 KAUNAS LITHUANIA
Email: archyvas@kaunas.aiva.lt
Ms. Vitalija Gircyte is theHead Archivist of the
Kaunas Regional Archives. The archive requires a $100 research fee. There is a "Catalog of the Jewish Holdings of the Kaunas Archive" which summarizes the great variety of types of documents and records in the archives, for each town and every year.
Lithuanian Archives Department Mindaugo 8
Vilnius 2009, Lithuania
Lithuanian Central Civil Register Archives (Lietuvos Centrinis Metriku Archyvas) - located
at Kalinausko 21, Vilnius 2600 in Vilnius, contains Metrical Books, which is totally different and is not a list. Metrical books are registry books where births, marriages, deaths and divorces were recorded. All of the vital records obtained from the Lithuanian archives are recorded in metrical books and are called metrical records. Usually there are multiple metrical records on one page, as opposed to a single birth, death or marriage record like those in the United States.
This Archive contains Birth, Marriage, Divorce and Death Records from 1915
to present. There is no research fee.
Lithuanian Central State Archives O. Milasiaus 21 Vilnius 2016 Lithuania
Email:lcva@takas-lt
Lietuvos Valstybinis Istorijos Archyvas
(Lithuanian State Historical Archives) (Holds records of the
Jewish Community until 1915)
Gerosios Vilties 10
Vilnius 2015
Lithuania
Laima Tautvaisaiteis the Director of the Vilnius Lithuanian State
Historical Archives.
Lithuanian State Archives - Galina Baranova is the Head Archivist of the Lithuanian State Archives. It is located at Gerosios Vilties 10 Vilnius 2015 Phone: 237 482 or 370-5-213-7484. Fax 237 612 The archive requires a $100 research fee.
Email:
lstorijos.archyvas@centras.lt
Lithuanian
Vital Statistics Records Archives (Holds records from 1916 - Birth,
Marriage, Death) K. Kalinausko 21
Vilnius 2600
Lithuania
Locality Index to Lithuanian Jewish Vital Records Currently Available at the Family History Library - these microfilmed records for birth, marriage, death and even some divorce records are in both Hebrew and Cyrillic http://www.avotaynu.com/lithuanialist.htm
Main Archival Administration Mindaogo 8 232600 Vilnius, Lithuania
National Historical Archives of Belarus in
Grodno 2 Tizendauza Square
Grodno 230023, Republic of Belarus http://archives.gov.by/eng/
Panevizio
Apskrities Archyvas M. Valancianus 3
Panevezys LT-5319, Lithuania Email:
archyvas@post.omnitel.net
State Historical Archive of Lithuania
(Holds vital Records before 1895) Lietuvos Valstybinis Istoriyos Archyvas Gerosios Vilties
Gatve 10 LT-2015 Vilnius, Lithuania
publishes the GACHELET, a Newsletter of the association. They list their address and telephone number as: Tel-Aviv 64953, 1 David Hamelech Blvd., Tel. 6964812, FAX 6954821
Bal Shem Tov (Master of the Good Name; Besht)
opposing the perceive over - intellectual and under-emotional Talmud Judaism of the early 16th century, Hasidism ('pietism') stressed simple faith and a joyous expression of piety. The movement's founder, Bal Shem Tov, taught that even Jews unable to read the prayer book could pray meaningfully to HaShem.
As Hasidism spread rapidly through Eastern Europe, many of its practices engaged rabbinical authorities. "They associate among themselves and their ways are different," complained the rabbis." ...they belittle the study of Torah, and repeatedly claim that one should not study much, nor deeply regret one's transgressions ..." In April 1772, the Jewish communities of Vilna and Brody tried to halt the spread of Hasidism by casting its adherents out of the faith. Led by renowned rabbinical scholar Elijah ben Shlomo of Vilna, the edict ruled that "All leaders of our people must wear the mantel of zealotry ... to destroy and expunge, and to sound to them the voice of excommunication and banishment.
However, this ban and similar ones that followed failed. Today, Hasidism continues to attract thousands of Jews in Europe, America and Israel and its Chabad movement is active on many college campuses. The Vilna Baal Shem Tov information was obtained from an article written in "This Month in Jewish history" by Alexis Rubin - a Jewish history teacher, writer, researcher and syndicated columnist.
Basketball was first played by women at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts on March 22, 1893, where it was introduced by Senda Berenson Abbot, a native of Lithuania ... and one of three women enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame. She was considered the 'Mother of Women's Basketball'. She was born in Vilnius in 1868 and came to the U.S. in 1875. She also wrote the first women's guide to basketball in 1901.
Box Tax and Houses -
There were many different kinds of taxes which the Jews might have been expected to pay including Box, Candle and real Estate and Property. These files (ALD) include real estate records, lists of apartment dwellers, farmers and estate holders, charitable donations, and lists of financial assistance to the poor, as well as inheritance and other court records. they also include Petition for Mikvah Maintenance; Kosher meat; Care of Need members of community, etc.; and the 1890 Siauliai District Merchants.
"In researching Box taxes throughout the Pale of Settlement for a paper presented at the International Seminar in London in Summer 2001, Vitalija Gircyte and I concluded that during most of the 19th century, most of the small towns, such as Rumsiskes, consisted entirely of wooden houses. But some, like Kedainiai, could boast of having quite a few stone houses already by the 1840s. There must have been a considerable difference in financial status of the owner of a wooden house and a stone one."
"It may not seem to make sense to repeat 'wooden' if there were no stone houses in the town but the clerk was following a form that required him to state what it was that was being taxed. Many tax lists also included 'inns,' 'taverns,' 'mills' and son on (and of course, many of the mills were built of stone.) The amount of the tax indicates the value of the property which was 'owned' but it does not necessarily mean that your ancestor lived in that house, or in that town. Put another way, the owners (not renters) paid the tax and it is possible that the owners did not live in the house, although usually they did or they had in the past."
"Some mid-19th century tax lists were specifically called property owners' lists. A valuable thing about hem is that they often gave the number of the property. If you are fortunate enough to find a matching map for the town, you will be able to see the exact house that your ancestors lived in. We have an 1869 plat (map) showing every numbered house and all of the Jewish community buildings for Ariogala and the corresponding property owners' list, and many members of our research group have been able to find their ancestors' homes. While after several fires and wars repeatedly destroyed the town, none of the same buildings exist today, when you walk the streets of the shtetl you get the feeling that homes were rebuild on the same foundations over the years." This information was posted to
LitvakSIG by David Hoffman DBH12345@aol.com on 12-02-02
The Box Tax Payers Lists do contain clerical errors; lots of people listed twice or even three times in the Kelme tax payers lists, though usually there were several people with the same surname and given name in each community. Box tax payers lists were made in advance for the next 4 years for the estimates of possible income and expenditures. Each person is supposed to be listed there only once.
The ALD (All Lithuania Database) contains full or partial Revision Lists, Family Lists, Census Lists and town residents Lists for 1816, 1834, 1851, 1858 and 1874 for most of the districts in Vilna and Kovno Guberniyas, and for many towns within Disna, Kaunas, Lida, Oshmiany, Panevezys, Raseiniai, Siauliai, Telsiai, Trakai, Vilkomer and Vilnius districts.
Bruce Kahn has a searchable photographic database of this and many other cemeteries - Follow the links and you will find around 2,000 photos of Jewish cemeteries in Lithuania and Belarus. http://jgsr.hq.net/
The Lithuanian
government requires that all architectural relics to be preserved and
looked after. This applies also to Jewish cemeteries and Synagogues
and other buildings. Most cemeteries have been identified and often
cleared and the stones put upright, and cleaned.
http://www.jewishgen.org/Cemetery/e-europe/lithuania.html
Consolidated Jewish Surname Index
Includes the Jewish Records Indexing - Poland; All-Lithuania Database; All-Belarus Database; All-Latvia Database and JewishGen Family Finder is available at http://www.avotaynu.com/csi/csi-home.html
Documentation of the Mass Murder of Lithuanian Jewry
A copy of a secret Reich letter by the SS Einsatzgruppen dated 1 December 1941 in Kaunas (Kovno, Kauen). This site lists the date of extermination, the town location and the totals of males and females and Communists killed http://www.angelfire.com/ut/Luthuanian/doc1.html
Dvinsk Rail Line
The rail line ran
between Dvinsk and Riga, both of which were in Latvia.Rakishok was the second stop, in Lithuania, after Abel.
After Rakishok, the train stopped in Panemunke (Panemunilis),
a farming community, to pick up flax but not passengers; then Kupishok
and Ponevezh. After Ponevezh, the rail line swung north
to Siauliai, Telsiai and ended in Riga.
Europages
Business 2 business company directory and business in Europe, yellow pages access, international and European business directory (professional services, addresses and business classifieds http://www.europages.net
Explanation of Abbreviations
Abbreviations used in the Catalog of Jewish Holdings of the Kaunas Regional Archives and the link to the Kaunas Archives and "Description of Documents in the Catalog". http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak/
"One of the first
things one finds out about the Jews of North-east Lithuania is that they are
described as being mostly "Chabad Hasidim". Naturally this is surprising
since the first thing Litvak researchers learn is of the historical Litvak
division between the Mitnagdim and the Hasidim. Nevertheless, all of
the reference books describe the towns of Rakishok, Abel, Ponimunok
and surrounding communities as having a majority of Hasidim. From a
posting by Steven Weiss
Lithuania was the
only major place in Eastern Europe where Hasidism did not predominate
(largely because of the opposition of the Vilna Gaon), but groups such as
Lubavitch, Slonimer, and Stoliner Hasidim too hold and grew. The
Hasidim of Lithuania definitely were shaped by the milieu of the Litvaks in
general. They had a stronger emphasis on learning Torah than other
Hasidim as a result of the strong influence yeshivos and Torah learning
among the Lithuanian Jews.
"Lithuanian
Hasidism" - authored by W Z Rabinowitz and published by Vallentine
Mitchell in 1970. It deals almost exclusively with Karlin Hasidism.
Holocaust
A database is currently being created which will eventually list some 200,000 to 240,000 Jews who were murdered as victims of the holocaust in Lithuania. The database is being created by Saul Issroff and Rose Lerer Cohen. Help in creating this database is being solicited and to supply names, contact Dr. Saul Issroff, 29c Elsworthy Rd., London, England NW3 3BT; e-mail saul@swico.demon.co.uk or Rose Lerer Cohen, P.O. Box 11456, Jerusalem, Israel 91114; e-mail roseron@shani.net
"In a statistical studies of Jewish demographics in the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth during the 18th century, it shows that early teen marriages were the norm among one-quarter of the Jewish population, ostensibly the more affluent class, i.e. it was in those families best able to support grandchildren while they still had children to support that the mother's age at first birth tended to be lowest."
The traditional ages for Jewish marriages were 18-20 for boys, 16-18 for girls. The couple was billeted in their parental home, usually the bride's, at least until the husband was old enough to support his family on his own." From a posting on JewishGen by Norman H. Carp-Gordon on 2/14/01
Jewish Family History Foundation
It's current major project: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania/Kingdom of Poland 18th century censuses and 19th century "bridge record" revision list project. www.jewishfamilyhistory.com
The Grand Duchy Research Project identifies documents relating to the lives of Jewish families who lived in Poland-Lithuania during the 17th and 18th centuries, and translates and publishes them on the Jewish Family History Foundation Website. Poll-Tax/census lists made in 1784 and 1765 are the primary documents included in this phase of the project.
A searchable "Heads of Household" Index of 1816 revision lists for the following 28 towns:
You can use the search engine to determine if your ancestor is in the database before making a tax deductible contribution to help complete the translations for our online database.
LitvakSIG volunteers are working on an indexing project which will include thousands of records within fond 728. To learn how to become part of this group contact Jeff Miller singingtm@aol.com
To get copies of records write to Galina Baranova at the Archives in Vilnius to initiate a search for the particular surname you are interested in. (When I used Galena's services in 1994, she charged $50, but I understand that the services are more like $70 per name search and about $20 for a copy of a record found with an English translation)
Lithuanian Archives: Lietuvos Valstybinis Istorijos Archyvas Gerosios Vilties 10 Vilnius 2015 Lithuania (Lietuva)
Standard Fees for Non-Lithuanian Nations: $70.00 for initial research 5.00 per Photocopy 13.00 per page:
Lithuania
Plenty of links at this site. Though not geared to Jewish information, if you want to learn more about the country - it's culture; heritage, surname information; ancient Lithuanian map; immigration to US from 1776-1940 and much more including more links to basic Lithuanian Phrases and pronunciations and the Vilnius Telephone Book http://www.webmart.net/~zemaitis/zemaitis.htm
Pinkas Hakehillot; Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities from their foundation till after the Holocaust: Lithuania - The complete bibliography of the Works of Professor Dov Levin, 1945-2000 - Yidishe Shtetl, Shtetlach un Dorfishe Yishuvim in Lite: biz 1918; Historish-Biografishe Skitses (Jewish Cities, Towns and Villages in Lithuania until 1918) http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html
Lithuanian e-zine - LABAS
THE LITHUANIAN E-ZINE an internet magazine primarily for those of Lithuanian heritage or anyone interested in Lithuania. A good site for every person interested in Lithuania, its history and culture." Contains articles about Lithuania, folklore, mythology, genealogy, not-for profit organization activities in Lithuania, Lithuanian businesses, Lithuanian publications. The site also has an archive of previous discussions http://groups.yahoo.com/group/labas/
Looking at the Jewish Communities of the World is also an interesting site that offers an insight into the Lithuanian Jewish community, its culture and history http://www.virtual.co.il/communities/wjcbook/lithuan/
Lithuanian Jewish Community
Address is Pylimo Street 4, 2600 Vilnius. Phone 370 2 613 003 Fax 370 2 227 915
This building also houses the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum of Lithuania Pamenkalnio 12 2001 Vilnius, Lithuania Attention: Jevgenija Sedova E-mail: jmuseum@pub.osf.lt www.litjews.org
Words and meanings. Up until 1840, the court records in Lithuania were written in Polish. After that date, Russian became the official language for court records. Some clerks, used to writing in Polish, did not use Russian exclusively for the first several yeas after 1840. Consequently, many court records during the 1841-43 period contained some Polish words along with the Russian.
Podszkolnik - an assistant director of a synagogue
Szkolnik - the title of an official with the synagogue or Kahal - a position we would call today 'an Executive Director'.
The term 'shkolnik' is sometimes used in the records pertaining to synagogues, prayer houses or schools. For some years and some Uyezds there are lists of 'houses of worship' with the board of each house of prayer, consisting of three men, enumerated. Thus, there are such lists of approximately 1868-1869 for all the Uyezds of Kaunas Guberniya, but each Uyezd mad e the list in a different form.
In Raseiniai Uyezd, most of the boards of each prayer house consisted of a Rabbi, Gabi and Shkolnik; the prayer house of the small town of Batakai in this list, is said to be administered by shkolnik who substitutes for a rabbi, a chairman and a treasurer; in Erzvilkas, for some reason, there was shkolnik - the board consisted of a rabbi, a chairman 'otherwise-Gabbai' and a treasurer.
For Panevezys Uyezd, it is said that the boards of all the prayer houses consisted of 'elected by the community Gabi, Neyman and Scholar or the assistant of the Uyezd Rabbi''. Thus it seems that 'Neyman' in Panevezys Uyezd corresponds to shkolnik in Raseiniai.
In 'There OnceWas A world' by Yaffa Eliach, there is noted 'Neeman - Ha-Kahal' - Trustee, head of the Jewish community. Information obtained from a posting on JewishGen Discussion page of 3/11/02
Just in case you didn't think of it, contact a nearby university or college's foreign language department. They may offer to write letters and translate letters into English. A nominal fee is usually charged.
The Chief Archivist of the Kaunas Archives is Vitalija Gircyte. Vitalija is a female name.
Lithuanian Names, City Directories and Census, Military Records, Death Records
and a host of other Lithuanian information using the Zemaitis Genealogy and Family History web site - Type in a surname in the search box. If you type in the name Zemaitis, you'll find a lot of interesting information. www.distantcousin.com/
The full text of this project, compiling the names of possible victims of the Lithuanian Holocaust (1941-1945), and publishing a Memorial book; preserving the memory of the names of the martyrs for generations to come, is available at: http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak/lithnames.htm
Lithuanian News Agency
News and features generated within and about Lithuania that might be of interest to
LitvakSIG members. http://www.elta.lt
A goldmine of Lithuanian information, including '25,000 surname listings, Meaning of Lithuanian First Names, Obituaries from Draugas and Naujienos, List of Town Name Changes in Lithuania in Lithuanian, Russian and Polish, Contacting The Vilnius Archives, Other Links; http://www.angelfire.com/ut/Luthuanian/vilnius.html
"As far as a research strategy, before placing an individual research order wit the State Historical Archives in Vilnius, it would be far more efficient, and much less expensive to become a $100 donor to the
LitvakSIG. In addition to many thousands of records, the SIG offers town maps and real estate owner's lists, historic photographs and memoirs. With this data, you have an excellent cross section of the Jewish population for an entire century at the very least. http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak/all.htm
Getting
more data out of the REIPP Database ... a tip from Gary Maher
"While fiddling around one day, I forced a search of the D-M soundex
"000000" for Lomza by searching for the surname "Ai" (any
vowels-only name should suffice). What I received was about 7
pages of Lomza deaths from 1828 through 1866 for individuals with
the surname "?", presumably from records lacking surnames. In
many cases, the patronymics are included, so it may be possible to
identify ancestors this way. If you attempt a similar search,
I suggest you include a geographical limitation, as there may be
many Ks worth of records without surnames in the entire database.
Try it
with all Guberniyas/ provinces and 1/2/3/ characters, any
combination. Fascinating.
An exhibit and a booklet has color photographs of the remaining wooden synagogues in Lithuania is available for purchase by contacting the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum, Pamenkalnio 12, 2001, Vilnius, Lithuania or by e-mail at jmuseum@puni.osf.lt http://www.lituanus.org/1981_3/81_3_06.htm
Where possible, towns below have been listed according to their current spelling, with Yiddish and Russian variants given in parentheses. Once the
Uyezd has been determined, the Guberniya can be determined by using the chart above
Zagare
(Zhagare, Zhagory, Staryye Zhagory, see also Novozagare)
Shavli Uyezd
Zanorochye
Sventsion (previously Zavileiski)
Uyezd
Zapyskis
(Sepizishok)
Vladislavov Uyezd
Zarasai (Novo-Aleksandrovsk)
Novo-Aleksandrovsk (Zarasai) Uyezd
Zarenai (Zhorany)
Telsiai Uyezd
Zaskeviche (Zaskevichi)
Oshmiany Uyezd
Zasliai (Zhusli)
Troki Uyezd
Zeimelis (Zheimel, Zheimeli)
Ponevezh Uyezd
Zeimiai (Zheimy)
Kovno Uyezd
Zemaiciu Kalvaria (Kavarija Zhamot)
Telsiai Uyezd
Zemaiciu
Naumiestis(Aleksandrovo,Novoje Mesto)
Rossieny Uyezd
Zemalenai (Zhemeliany)
Telsiai Uyezd
Zholudok
Lida Uyezd
Zhuprany
Oshmiany Uyezd
Zidikai (Zhidiki)
Telsiai Uyezd
Ziezmariai (Zhezhmer, Zezmir)
Troki Uyezd
The above list was obtained from a
posting on LitvakSIG Digest Volume #412 by Eric Goldstein on 7/15/1998 and is not
guaranteed to be fully accurate. Please send any corrections
(or additions to
Jwebindex@gmail.com
The towns that are currently being filmed and will eventually be added to the Locality Index include:
Kaunas District Towns
Cekiske Grinkiskis Jonava Kaunas Krakes Rumsiskes Seredzius Veliuona Vilijampole Vilkija
The 1892-94 Family Lists in the All Lithuanian Database for the towns in the Kaunas district (also for the Ukmerge district). As opposed to the 1874, 1887 and other Kaunas Uyezd family lists (notably 1898 Vilijampole), the documents specifically referred to as the 1892-94 family lists are NOT a listing of all the Jewish families in the town at that time. As explained by KRA Chief Archivist Vitalija Gircyte, these are lists of town dwellers living in the towns of the Kaunas and Ukmerge districts who did not belong to the communities they lived in. After these lists were made, they had to be legally transferred to these communities. In other words, the 1892-94 family lists would more aptly be described as 'newcomers lists.'
The town field in the ALD contains the name of the town in which the family was living at the time the list was compiled in 1892-94. The comments field gives the town where they came from and how long they were living in the new town. This information was gleaned from a posting by Ada Green in the
LitvakSIG
"The
Genocide Of The Jews In The Trakai Region of Lithuania" authored
by Neringa Latvyte-Gustaitiene and translated by Svetlana Satalova.
This article focuses on the shtetl of Vievis and is an excerpt from a
graduation thesis on the Holocaust in Trakai during WWII.
The article mentions Kaishiadorys, Kiemeliai, Zasliai, Vievis,
Ziezmariai, Semeliskes, Mijaugonys and Trakai and is based on
original research in various Lithuanian archives, KGB and police
records, as well as personal interviews.
http://www.jewishgen.org/Litvak/HTML/OnlineJournals/
genocide_of_the_jews.htm
The primary internet source connecting researchers of Lithuanian-Jewish genealogy worldwide. Our purpose is to discover, present, and preserve information about our ancestors' lives in Lithuania, and to better understand the lives they led, before the destruction of 95% of Lithuanian Jews in the Shoah. To read, view and enjoy the plethora of articles available to you on the web via the
LitvakSIG Online Journal, consult the Table of Contents. Judi Langer-Surnamer Caplan is the EditorJudith27@aol.com
http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak/
LitvakSIGGiven Names Project - a database of given names for Jews born in Eastern Europe - covering the period of 1795 - 1925 for
Lithuania and Latvia and available at the
LitvakSIG web site http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak/srchlith.htm For further details contact Prof. G. L. Esterson, Ra'anana, Israel jerry@vms.huji.ac.il
"Apparently, the country had an intensely feudal character for hundreds of years, the effects of which have not completely worn off. Polish landed gentry (often absentee landlords) from the joint Poland/Lithuania Commonwealth, which ruled the area for hundreds of years (1550-1795ish), actually *owned* whole towns, cities, and manorial estates; had private armies; and often offered protective charters for Jews whom they contracted with to run distilleries, inns, collect taxes from the Belarusian peasants, provide services like shoemaking, etc., and basically act as middlemen between the Poles and the natives.
The landed gentry were called "magnates" and were often princes and counts and other kinds of lesser nobility. After the Czar took over this region (1795-ish), many Jews performed the same services for the Russian nobility who had simply exchanged places with their Polish peers. Interestingly, there was an unusual urban-rural split in Belarus: towns and cities were populated almost entirely by the landed gentry and Jews (the only groups allowed to travel in the region), while the countryside was populated almost exclusively by the native Belarussians who spoke their own language (Belarusian, rather than Polish or Russian) and had a different religion (Greek Orthodox, rather than Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox, or Jewish), and were mostly involved in agricultural activities."
"According to a Google search, the term "Korchma" is currently a kind of restaurant. Perhaps your relative ran an inn or a distillery for the prince for whom he may have worked. I hope this helps. If I'm wrong about any of the info above, I hope that someone will correct me." From a posting by Laura Moss Gottlieb Wisconsin, USA on 4/8/2004
Metrical Books
Metrical books are registry books where births, marriages, deaths and divorces were recorded. All of the vital records obtained from the Lithuanian archives are recorded in metrical books and are called metrical records. Usually there are multiple metrical records on one page, as opposed to a single birth, death or marriage record like those in the United States.
A Revision List is a census. A Metrical Book (Metricheskie Knigi in Russian) contains vital records. The record itself does not link directly to other records. The information contained in a record may enable one to find other records. The age of a person as listed on a revision list may give you the year in which the individual was born. While one record will not automatically link to another record, the information contained therein may enable you to do so. The records were kept in log books. A stamp on the outside of a copy of one record has lines for Fonds, Aprasas, Metai, Byla, and Lapas. This corresponds to the Russian Empire's archival system which is different from that used in the United States. The Russian system used fond (a record group), opus (an inventory number) and delo (item number) to file everything. If you have the fond, opus and delo numbers, any archivist can find the original document in the archives.
Metrical Books was levied on Jewish communities beginning in 1826. The primary purposes of their use was for taxation and conscription/recruitment, reasons for which some were tempted to evade the requirment. Stiff penalties were levied for violations, including fines, imprisonment, and conscription. Reasons to comply included proving social origins, marital status, and establish legitimacy of right to inherit from estates. Proof of registration was required to obtain diplomas, execute wills and obtain state-provided widow/widower pensions.
The recorder in the Jewish community was the rabbi of the crown (rabbiner, in Yiddish). Although addresses as rabbis, these individuals were usually Mohels and administrative clerks rather than men of religious training. The rabbi was required to deposit a copy of the record books once a year with the provincial board. Harsh penalties were imposed on rabbis who did not comply.
Birth records included sex of child, mohel name, date and place of birth, and social status of parents and infant.
Marital records included ages and names of the bride and groom, name of rabbi who performed the ceremony, date of the marriage, obligations of marital contract (usually the Ketubbah) and signatures of two witnesses.
Entries for divorce included names and ages of spouses, name of rabbi who supervised the divorce or halitsah (levirate divorce), "reason" for dissolution, and date of final divorce.
For deaths, name and age of deceased were given, burial site (town and sometimes cemetery), date, and presumed cause of death.
Sometimes in the records stereotypical "reasons" were listed such as, for divorce, "mutual hatred" or "mutual agreement." For death, sometimes "illness" was given as the cause of death.
The rules for marriage in 1830 were that girls had to be a minimum of 16, boys a minimum of 18, so sometimes dates of birth/ages were falsified to avoid penalties for underage marriage. The cost of registration was viewed as heavy: 1-5 rubles.
Each log sheet has two portions; a portion on the left on which Russian entries are made, and a portion on the right for the Rabbi to enter the information in Hebrew. Entries are in script in both instances, and common entry is the equivalent of the word or mark signifying ditto for recurring name, place, or date information.
At the heads of the first entry for the two columns requiring date information are entered the names of the Julian and Hebrew calendar months, with the day underneath in each column. For a boy child, there is a fraction entered for the two days; day of birth in the numerator and day of bris in the denominator. Later in the column, if the month changes, the name of the new month is entered in similar fashion on the appropriate line.
Entries are made line by line in sequential order of event. Hence, entries on a particular log sheet may cover, in sequence, the births occurring on a given day or series of days. For female children, a sequential number is entered in the first column (women), whereas for male children, a sequential number is entered in the second column (men). The two sequences are independent, and thereby, kept a running count of the number of female and male children born.
Similar entries are made in the logs for marriages and deaths. In the log for deaths, an additional column entry is made that records the age at death. In marriage records, each line entry starts with three columns; the line number, the age of the bride and the age of the groom.
Registration for females was sometimes unreliable, sometimes after the fact, and sometimes in a town that was not the town where the event had actually occurred." From a posting by Jeff Miller singingtm@aol.com
Lithuanian
and Latvian Jewish donations printed in "Ha Melitz" and authored by
Jeffrey Maynard. This is an index to lists of names and annoucement
that were printed in the Hebrew newspaper Ha Melitz during the years 1893 to
1903. With a few exceptions, only names listed as being from towns in
Lithuania or Latvia were included.
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Lithuania/HaMelitz.htm
Ha Melitz,
which was initially published weekly, was founded in 1860 in Odessa
with the object of mediating "between Jews and the Government and between
faith and enlightenment". It was published in St. Petersburg
beginning in 1871. By 1893 it was regularly filling its back page or
pages with lists of donors. Ha Melitz was published until 1904, and is
available on microfilm at several libraries throughout the world.
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Lithuania/HaMelitz.htm
In the second
half of the nineteenth century, there were, during various periods, four
Hebrew daily newspapers. These were Ha-Magid (The Narrator
or Preacher), Ha Melitz (The Advocate or Morning Star),
Ha Tzefira (The Dawn) and Ha Yom (The Day). Other
publications in Hebrew included: Tsiyon (Zion), and Ha-Shahar
(The Dawn). There were no Yiddish daily newspapers. The
Yiddish weekly Kol Mevaser (Voice of the Messenger) existed
from 1872 and the weekly Judisches Folksblat existed for nine years.
The Russian language publications included Razvet and
Voskhod.
The Hebrew press
in the second half of the nineteenth century circulated widely in
Lithuania and Latvia, and includes much material for the study of
the Jewish communities in Lithuanian and Latvian towns and
cities. More significantly, for genealogical and biographical
purposes, lists were published of contributors to funds for the building up
of the Land of Israel, and for relief funds to assist victims of
famine, fires and other tragedies.
Located about ten miles from Vilnius. About 70,000 Jews were killed and thrown into eleven pits after digging their own graves. The pits were actually dug by the Russians before WW II for storing oil. The Nazis simply used these for their Holocaust. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponary_massacre
Phone Codes - Ex USSR Phone Codes for Russia, Ukraine, Byelorussia, Byelorussia, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Uzbekistan - you not only will see the phone code for each town (loads slowly) but also the proper spelling of the town name http://phonecodes.narod.ru/N/N.htm
Copies of photographs in the Archives of the Lithuanian Archive of Image and Sound are available for about $30. For information about ordering a picture http://www.mindspring.com/~peggyf/Lithuania/ais.htm
Pogroms
There were vicious pogroms in the 1870s and 1889s, not only in Lithuania, but throughout the Pale of Settlement.
Post WW I Residence
"There is really no knowing whether people returned to the same place after they had been expelled in WW I. If their homes had been destroyed, they might have felt compelled morally not to return to the same place that expelled them." From a posting by Martha Lev-Zion
To which Howard Margol replied: "Martha's argument is sound, but there are definite exceptions: in order to obtain Lithuanian citizenship and any related passports and official documents, people would have to provide either certified copies of their birth records, or affidavits asserting that they were who they claimed to be, sometimes signed by numerous people. They would have to locate former neighbors in order to do this."
I am not so sure that the requirements and documentation were so strict at the time. Before the records were sent to Vilnius, the Metrical archive in Panevezys contained Jewish vital records for Panevezys and the PanevezysDistrict, dating back to 1880. This particular archive is only supposed to have records for the post WW I period. When I was at the archive in 1997, and asked why those pre-WW I records were stored there, this was the explanation I was given"
"After many Jews returned to the area in 1919, 1920, etc. they found that a number of vital records had been destroyed. Any Jew could come to the archive and give the information for births, marriages, divorces, and deaths that had occurred prior to WW I. The only requirement necessary was they had to bring one witness to verify the information".
This would indicate that not only were the resulting records not 100% accurate, but also there was no strict regulations in place as to who was giving what information. If voter registration records for the early 1920's can be found for a particular town or area, that may give a good indication of who returned after WW I. Additionally, they may have lived in a small shtetl prior to WW I and, if they did return, they may have decided to live in a larger city like Panevezys rather than return to the shtetl."
A list of books in which the names were extracted from include "Ateret Shaul" - Subscription List from 1841; 'Pardes HaBina" Subscription List from 1842; "Emeq Halakha" subscription List from 1845; "Ne'um David" Subscription List from 1875; "Orach LeChayim" Subscription List from 1878; "Ohel Moshe" Subscription List from 1880; "Beit Yitzhak" Subscription List from 1911.
Property Ownership
Thousands of property records exist proving that Jews in Lithuania did, indeed, own property. In some cases, a Polish Duke gave a Jew land in appreciation for his services. In the Russian Empire, Jews were, or were not, allowed to own land depending on the whim of the Tsar in power at the time. http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/lithuania2/lit2_00345.html
Our ancestors moved for purposes of marriage, education, employment, avoiding conscription, etc. When daughters married they became members of their husband's households, and were subsequently listed on revision lists. This information, and other information are included in a Revision Lists.
http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak/HTML/revision.htm
Jews in tiny
hamlets were also recorded on a revision list. However, they normally
would have been included in the revision list of the nearest larger town and
not in a separate revision list for that tiny hamlet alone. From a
posting by Howard Margol
"Revision List records" for the PRUZ(H)AN family from Vilnius which all have the same LVIA number i.e. LVIA/515/26/180. Does this mean they are from the same address?"
"LVIA stands for the Historical Archive in Vilnius, the Fond # is 515, the Apyrus is 26, and the Byla is 180. This is the archival numbering system used in Lithuania. A revision list for the city of Vilnius could contain thousands of names but they would not all live at the same address. Those living together would have the same Family number, which should also appear on the revision list, even if the surnames were different."
"One of the records shows two surnames for the male head of household and his family with the comment "double name". Any ideas please on what this might indicate?"
"We may never know the real reason for having two surnames. One surname could be the one he was born with and the other surname could be one he changed to at a later date. Why the change? He could have been the 2nd of two sons and his surname changed to avoid conscription into the Russian army. He could have adopted the surname of his wealthy father-in-law if his father-in-law had only daughters and no sons. He could have lost both parents at an early age and, later on, added the surname of his adoptive parents. I am sure others can come up with other explanations as well." From a posting on JewishGen on 2/16/04 by Howard Margol homargol@aol.com
A comprehensive guide to Internet resources on Russia and Central/Eastern Europe http://www.slavophilia.com/
Sugihara Database
Sugihara was the
Japanese diplomat in Lithuania who saved many Jews by issuing them with visa
documents for Japan.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/15618
You will find the names and visa dates of 2,139 Lithuania, Polish, German and Russian Jews whom were saved by passports from the Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara in 1940. http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak
Suwalk-Lomza Interest Group
"Landsmen" is the quarterly publication
of the Suwalk-Lomza Interest Group for Jewish genealogists and
publishes much information about the Jewish communities within their
specific area, including extensive extracts of Jewish Births, Marriages and
Deaths.
http://www.jewishgen.org/suwalklomza/Membership.html
Synagogues of Lithuania
The noted Lithuanian Photo Journalist
and Ethnographer, Balys Buracas (1897-1972) received a Gold Medal at
the 1937 International Exposition of Art and Technology in Paris. His
work was also exhibited at the 1939 World Exposition in New York, and his
photos of Lithuanian sacral arts and cultural traditions appeared in
L'Encyclopedie Larousse and the illustrated London News.
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/
Yurburg/buracas.html
Translation Service
See my 'Language' page for links to translation pages and commercial sites offering many language translating programs http://www.worldlanguage.com
With this LingvoSoft smart dictionary software on your computer, you can easily switch between English and Yiddish, for prompt translations of 400,000 words both ways! Download Free Trial now
Uyezd Citation Tables for All
Lithuania Database (ALD)
The Vilna Gaon as well as 333 geonim who knew the entire Torah by heart lived here.
List of ascendants of Charles-Salomon Riveline - a descendant of the Vilna Gaon, of the Rivlin and Jaffe families - authored by Micheline Guttmann, with the help of Chaim Freedmann and Yehuda Klausner in "Abstract of GenAmi number 22" www.genealoj.org
Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum - located at Pamenkalnio 12, 2001, Vilnius, Lithuania or by e-mail jmuseum@puni.osf.lt
The Museum displays ritual items salvaged from the Great Synagogue that was destroyed by the Soviets. These include parts of the original ark and the reader's desk.
"The Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum 10th Anniversary" - a thank you letter from Deputy Director, Rachel Kostanian and published in the December, 1999 issue of the
LitvakSIG Journal http://www.jewishgen.org/Litvak/journal.htm
These records come from lists of electors of rabbis, municipal electors, and those listed as eligible to vote for the Russian Parliament (duma voter lists).
There have been several recent questions about the Voter Lists that were recently added to the ALD (All Lithuanian Database). These lists were obtained from the state archives in Vilnius but there was initially no explanation as to exactly what type of voter lists they were. We subsequently found that they are municipal electors' lists (see excerpt following). Unfortunately, we neglected to change the Type of Record from Voters to Municipal Electors when they were added to the ALD. Following is a partial translation of the introductory paragraphs to one of these "Voter Lists"
The Voter List of the Shtetl of Radviliskis for February 29, 1884
The Swear List I, named below, promise and swear with The name of Our God (Adonai in Jewish text), The God of Israel, from the bottom of my heart but not because of some other hidden sense, after those, who result me in the oath, that I want to and must, during the present elections of the established Civil officials, who will serve as executives, judges and other officers, according to my faultless conscience and honour, with no predilection and own profit, ignoring any enmity or blood and friendly relations, elect those of my co-brothers, whom I consider the most talented and worthy according to their mental abilities and conscience, and who, I expect, to be able to fulfill their obligations with a zeal in favor of His Imperial Majesty and also with great care to the public prosperity. If I do it in another way, so, as ignoring of the public favor, which is my own favor also, I should be blamed by my co-brothers and in my future life I shall respond to the God and to His Last Judgment. Amen. This oath has been given by: [names].
The Voter List was certified with official seal and signatures of the foreman of the Radviliskis town hall and the member of the community board. The lists are all written in Cyrillic. I hope this helps explain the illiterate" comments. From a posting by Carol Coplin Baker District Research Groups Coordinator carolcbaker@comcast.net
YIVO is located at the Center for Jewish History, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011. Phone 212 246 6080 Fax: 212 292 1892. The street entrance to the Center for Jewish History and YIVO is 20 West 17th St. (between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
Anyone looking for information about a town in Lithuania or a surname, should first do a search in the All Lithuania Database (ALD) at http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak/searchald.htm
Guberniya District Maps - showing each Uyezd boundary for Grodno, Kiev, Minsk, Vitebsk and Volhynia Guberniyas are available at the bottom of http://www.angelfire.com/or/yizkor/gubmaps.html
From the
LitvakSIG homepage, click on maps for a variety of choices. Also in the Online Journal article by Vitalija Gircyte, look at the more detailed maps of both Guberniya, mid-19th Century. http://jewishgen.org/litvak
This site displays all of the known villages in Lithuania but unfortunately it is shown only with the Lithuanian forms of place names. It is a free and interactive map site.
Maps of Russia and the FSU (Former Soviet Union) Republics - be prepared to stay online for quite some time, if you want to see one of the largest collections of different types of maps. This site is fabulous and offers a huge variety of maps that include such titles as Bucovina Maps; Ukraine Maps and Distances; Ex-USSR map; Maps of Europe in different eras; Russian Far East Maps; Belarus Maps; Ukraine Maps; Kazakhstan Maps: Georgia Maps; Tajikistan Maps; Crimea Maps; Uzbekistan Maps; Azerbaijan Maps; Kyrgyzstan Maps; Moldova Maps; Turkmenistan Maps; Armenia Maps; Caucuses Region Maps; Baltic States Maps including Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia; and more at http://users.aimnet.com/~ksyrah/ekskurs/maps.html
On-Line Map of Lithuania - site is in Lithuanian, but you are smart enough to figure it out http://www.maps.lt
Dr. Aleksandrs Feigmanis - Grestes 2-12, Riga, LV 1021, Tel. (371) 7246-893 Latvia e-mail aleksgen@mailcity.com He is a Jewish genealogical researcher and is also available to do archival research, tours and to translate Russian, Latvian, German and Yiddish into English. Also he will photograph towns and cemeteries.
If you plan on traveling to Lithuania, or any other countries, you can do your travel book research at my link to Amazon.com by clicking here > Jewish Genealogy
Chaim Bargman is a Jewish guide and can be contacted as: Chaim Bargman P. Luksio Str. 37 - 22, 3042 Kaunas Lietuva (Lithuania) Local Phone number in Lithuania is 779948 From the US, 011-370-7-779948
Green Castle Agency - consultations are free of charge. The company offers their services, which include genealogical researches in various archives, photographs and or videos and CDs of the village of interest as well as providing excursions. They have excellent contacts with genealogists in Belarus, Russian and Ukraine. greencastle@genealogy.f2s.com Genealogical Agency Green Castle, P.O. Box 3434, Vilnius apskities centrinis pastas, LT - 2000 Lithuania.
Lithuanian Travels - an article was published in "The Chicago Jewish News" http://chijewishnews.com/
On the left, click on Archives and you will find, among many stories, an article by N. Sue Weiler describing her trip to Lithuania in 2000. Descriptions of Luknik/Luoke, Plunge, Kovno, Vilnius, Ivye (Belarus) and Riga are mentioned.
In Your Pocket Guide - a wonderful, detailed commercial travel site that offers much information about the history and current traveling conditions in the country, along with city map information http://www.inyourpocket.com
Regina Kopelevich is a 31 year old Jewish guide with many years of experience in helping Litvaks find the shtetls of their ancestors. According to one of her clients, she knows her Lithuania, and she knows the Jewish community in every town. She knows
Lithuanian, English, Hebrew and Yiddish. Contact Regina at miregina@delfi.lt
Lithuanian Travel GuideInformation (I make no guarantees of any kind, nor is there any recommendation offered, other than by the JewishGenner who submitted the following:
Litinterp, Attn: Arunas Rokas. Their address is Bernardiny 7-2, LT 2001, Vilnius. Their fax number is (370-2) 22 29 82. Their phone numbers are (370-2) 22 38 50 and (370-2) 22 32 91. Mr. Rokas arranged for a driver-interpreter and car for Frank E. Schochet FESCHOCHET@aol.com when he visited Lithuania in October, 1993.
The driver's name was Arturas Vysniauskas. His address was Zaliu Zu Ezeru 1-72, 2021 Vilnius Lithuania. His phone number was 73 00 37
Yulik Gurvitch - offers his experience as a guide for touring Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus and neighboring countries. Yulik speaks fluent Hebrew, Yiddish and English. Contact Yulik at yulik@delfi.lt
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Polish-Lithuanian State at Europe 18th Century Map -
