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Bucovina (See also Bukovina
The Russian Empire got its name only in 1721, when Peter I adopted the title of Emperor and renamed the Tsardom of Muscovy to the Russian Empire Russland). Source: "A History of Ukraine" authored by Paul Robert Magocsi in 1996. Today, Russia has a total population of 146.9 million, making it one of the largest countries in the world. On March 13, 1881, the Tsar was assonated and just about a year later the pogroms began. Someone had to be blamed! Why not the Jews? Beginning in 1883 an exodus of Jews, and other minorities, began. Could you blame them? Thank God they had the courage to leave. Pogroms in Russia of 1881 Berezovka, Ukraine - April 4 Ben Gurion University Library in Israel has a periodical published in Hebrew from around 1917 to around 1925. Called "Reshumot" in contains memoirs, reminiscences, eye witness reports of pogroms, etc. Another, even better, resource, is the periodical "He-avar" (the English language table of contents transliterates it as Heawar). It was published by the Association for the Historical Study of Russian and Ukrainian Jewry. Volume 21 has the index for volumes 1-20. The periodical appeared irregularly until about 1976. Many volumes have abstracts in English. The contents are straight history, book reviews, memoirs, correspondence, biographies, etc. It is a treasure house! Map located at The entire immigration from the Russian Empire (that would include Poland and Finland) in 1880-1910 years counted about 2 million people. It was almost pure Jewish immigration - more than 80% immigrant each year were Jews. Before 1880, this percent was around 10%, after 1910 percent fell to 30 ... then 50% according to a submission to JewishGen by Dr. Roman Tunkel on 2/25/1999 where he asked why? There were more than a dozen emigrant control stations established by Germany along its Russian border. In "Fame, Fortune and Sweet Liberty", an excellent book on the "Great European Emigration" published in Bremen in both English and German, the authors write: "Health inspections stations were set up at points where the Russian and Prussian railroad lines met, and all emigrants were required to use the special trains or cars, which were now often uncomfortable". On June 22, 1941, the German army invaded Soviet territory. They did not enter alone - small units of SS and police, some three thousand men in all, were also dispatched on special assignments. Their task to kill the Jews on the spot - Jews, but not only Jews; communists, Gypsies, political leaders, and the intelligentsia were also killed. Order police battalions, Waffen SS units, the Higher SS, and Police Leaders also carried out the mass executions. Additional commentary can be found at Today, with the latest developments in Russia, the estimated 600,000 to 2 million Jews know little of Jewish life and what is left and it is becoming less stable as it becomes more tied to personal relationships between powerful Jews and the Kremlin. There are 240 Jewish congregations registered with Russia's Justice Ministry. There is a more descriptive detail in Bernard Horwich's "My First Eighty Years" (excerpts available at: Russia's Czar Nicholas I in April 1835, created the 'Pale of Settlement'. At least one third of Russia's Jews were forced to live in the Pale. The pale of Settlement was a demarcated area in Russia beyond which Jewish settlement and permanent residences were forbidden. The only exceptions were merchants of the first guild, doctors, lawyers, members of the free professions and several other Jewish groups of insignificant size. The Pale encompassed fifteen provinces in the Polish Kingdom, Lithuania, Byelorussia, Bessarabia, Kourland and most of Ukraine. See Leonid Smilovitsky, "Revival of the Historiography of Byelorussian Jews 1992 - 1995" Leonid Smilovitsky smilov@netvision.net.il The Pale remained Russian policy until 1917 when the Bolshevik Revolution removed it from law. The Jews within the Pale were 11.6% of the Russian population (4,899,300) Jews. Articles about the circumstances surrounding the pogroms can be found at http://www.friends-partners.org/friends/absent.html http://www.iea.org.il/blueprint/PAGE005.HTM "Beyond The Pale" - an exhibition on the Internet Dictionary of Period Russian Names - List of Cities Directory of 25 Russian Pale Provinces Pale of Settlement - Map and Articles in The Jewish Chronicle (London) describing pogroms in Russia, May 1881 Russia On The Web Russian Administrative Divisions Russian Pale, Past and Present Jurisdictions An excellent site to find information about most European countries is at 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 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.
1903 Russian Business Directory - translated version available at www.jewishgen.org/belarus "A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire" - authored by Alexander Beider Buy from Amazon.com "Atlas of Russian History" - authored by Martin Gilbert and published in 1993 by Oxford University Press in New York ISBN 0-19-521061-1 "A Travel Guide to Jewish Russia & Ukraine" - authored by Ben G. Frank and published by Pelican Books. Useful information for the Jewish traveler. Describes the Jewish communities the author encountered as he traveled in the footsteps of a twelfth century rabbi and includes numerous photographs and an index. "Brothers Ashkenazi" - authored by I. J. Singer and published by Forum Books in 1936 and by World Publishing Company of New York and Cleveland in 1963 "The Cantonists: The Jewish Children's Army of the Tsar" disturbing accounts of the Tsars' boy warriors - authored by Larry Domnitch and published by Devora. Cantons were areas in Russia, where Peter the Great established barracks to house Jewish children and others who were press-ganged into his army. Some children could be exempted -- those studying at yeshiva and those who were married. This caused many under-age marriages. "Carved Memories: Heritage in Stone from the Russian Jewish Pale" - authored by David Noevich Goberman Buy from Amazon.com "Common Places; Mythologies of Everyday Life in Russia" - authored by Svetlana Boym and published in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Harvard University Press in 1994 "Evreiskaya Encyclopedia" - (Russian Jewish Encyclopedia) - printed in the Russian language and produced in St. Petersburg between 1908 and 1916. There are sets at YIVO; the Library of Congress and at Dropsie in Philadelphia.
"Dispelling Myths, Book Shows Jewish Role
In Soviet War Effort" - authored by Lev Krichevsky. It took a
group of veterans and researchers 10 years to collect and verify the names,
vital data and causes of death for Jewish members of the Red Army and Soviet
navy who died during WW II "Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldova: Pages from the Past and Archival Inventories" authored by Miriam Weiner
"The Jews of Moscow, Kiev and Minsk: Identity, Anti-Semitism, Emigration" - authored by Rozalina Ryvkina - The Jews of Moscow, Kiev and Minsk:... "Khaklaim Yehudiim Bearvot Russia" (Jewish agriculturalists on the Russian Steppe), published in Tel Aviv 1965 is a major source of information about Jewish agricultural colonies. "Knopf Guides. St. Petersburg". published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. in 1995 is a fantastically rich and colorful tour guide of the Russian city. "The Penguin Historical Atlas of Russia" - authored by John Channon with Rob Hudson and published by Penguin Books in 1995. (Timeline, maps plus a synopsis of major events in Russia's history with many pictures. "Ruska" - authored by Edward Rutherfurd and published by Ballentine Books Edition in New York in 1991 ISBN 0-8041-0972-9 "Yevreiski Zemlyedeltsi" (Jewish Agriculturalists) - authored by Nikitin and published in St.Petersburg, 1887 General Russian Information
All Russian population didn't have common civil rights and freedoms by constitution. Each of the Russian crown subjects have certain amount of rights that depend on their age, gender, estate (class), religion, place of residence, occupation, marital status, property ownership, etc. But these rights undergone constant changes in Imperial Russia and it is difficult to formulate in short what civil rights had Meshchane (m. singular) or Meshchanka (f. singular). From a posting to BelarusSIG by Vitaly Charny on 4-3-02 Anti-Defamation League - Alexander Axelrod is in the Moscow office. Archives ArcheoBibliobase information system on archival repositories in the Russian Federation, maintained in Moscow under the direction of Patricia Kennedy Grimsted in collaboration with the Federal Archival Service of Russia (Rosarkhiv). This site offers links to addresses and other contact information for : Federal Archives under Rosarkhiv; Archives under Federal Agencies other than Rosarkhiv; Local State Archives in Moscow and St. Petersburg - and is available in English Metrical Records - see my Lithuania page under the title of Archives for further information Archives - State Archive of Ancient Bills - Military Records - The RBVIA serves as the centralized archive for military records of the Russian Empire, consolidating the holdings from various pre-revolutionary Russian military archives and other repositories throughout the former Soviet Union. RGVIA retains documentation produced from the activities of highest, central, and local military administration and military agencies of the Russian Empire from the end of the seventeenth century until March of 1918. Rossiiskii Gosudarstvennyi Voenno-Istoricheskii Arkhiv (RGVIA) For records from 1918 - 1941 ... Rossiyskiy Gosudarstvenniy Voyenniy Arkhiv English translation ... (Russia, 125212 Moscow KGB Archive National Library of Russia National Library of Russia The Russian Archive is your link to ALL archival collections found in Russia's archives, libraries and museums, including those recently declassified and open to all scholars. State Archives BLITZ - they do research in Russia and have special privileges into the archives. The cost is $80 for a preliminary search whether they find anything or not. I haven't explored this particular page in any depth, but it looks pretty interesting. Business Directory (see Vsia Rossia below) Byelorussians in Russian Federation - there are approximately 1,206,000 Byelorussians in Russia as of 1993. There is a large community in the Komi Republic (27,000 currently live in Komi, the republic's fourth largest ethnic community after Russians, Komi and Ukrainians. and approximately 12,000 Byelorussians in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). Cantonist - the Russian Tsar, Peter the Great, devised the Cantonist system. Tsar Nicholas Pavolovich (1827-1855) used this system as a vehicle to force Jewish children to accept baptism. More information available in "Kantonisten" - written in Yiddish by Abraham Lewin. See also "The Cantonists: The Jewish Children's Army of the Tsar" - authored by Larry Domnitch and published by Devora Publishing. "The entire Jewish community was responsible for the fulfillment of draft quotas and would suffer a penalty if the quotas were not met, it fell to the leaders, who were often rabbis, to decide who could stay and who had to go to the army. In the most notorious cases, kidnappers - the Yiddish word is khapers - were hired to do the unpleasant work, sometimes seizing boys as young as eight or nine. "Mostly all cantonists became Christians, they were orderly baptized. Many returned to the big cities such as St. Petersburg to continue their service in Czar's guard regiment. Some of them settled later in Finland (which was a part of Russia as well) and many among them "converted back" to Judaism. Cantonists had to serve for 25 years after reaching the age of 25, so it is not surprising that many forgot their Jewish ancestry and were only vaguely reminded by triggered memories of special events. Alexander II abolished the Cantonist system in 1856. It was established by Peter the Great in 1742. It's main purpose was to try to assimilate Jews into Russian society. During the reign of Nicholas I (1825-1855), some 50,000 Jewish children and 20,000 Jewish adults were snatched from their homes. Kahals, or government-authorized Jewish community councils, were made responsible for ensuring that quotas were reached. "Chappers," who were often Jews, were paid per child to abduct the victims. Some khal members stopped at nothing to enrich themselves. Rich Jews got Kahals to find "volunteer" recruits of similar age to replace their own sons. Census - the 1897 Census of the Russian Empire was recorded on January 28, 1897. Center For Research and Education "Holocaust" - established in Moscow in December, 1991. It is aimed at creating of documented history of the Holocaust in the former USSR. Alla Gerber, a writer and a member of Russian parliament, is president of the Center. Chornaya Kniga (The Black Book) - Soviet era - http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html
Cities of Russia Click on the area of interest on the map above to get a list of hyperlinks to the cities in the area Colonies - Status 1858-1900 Communist Period - remember the 'cold war'? There is a fascinating exhibit, highlighting the Soviet Union's skillful use of propaganda throughout the Stalin years entitled "The Commissar Vanishes" at Cossacks - source of Military uniforms of the Cossacks
Cyrillic Keyboard Here is a page on Cyrillic handwriting - http://www.colby.edu/library/collections/ Databases On-Line A searchable database, titled "Phoenix Project" and created by Professor John Garrard, Professor of Russian Literature at the University of Arizona, is available at The first phase of this project is a list of more than 12,000 persons 14 years and older who were required by the Nazis to obtain photo identification cards in order to live in the Brest ghetto. Dr. Garrard plans to recover Holocaust victims' names and as much information as possible about them and their families. The database includes direct hyperlinks to the original source documents as retrieved from the archives, which are stored in scanned image files. The Brest passport photos are not digitized and are available at Yad Vashem and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. See also Deliveries To Russia and other European Countries - Meest-Boston delivers US dollars, sea and air parcels, food parcels, equipment and electronics, letters and small packages to Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Poland and other countries. More services are available Department of Jewish History and Culture - Institute For National Relations and Politology Of The Ukrainian Academy Of Sciences - Dr. Alexander Zaremba is a chair of the Department East European Genealogical Society East Europe Genealogical Web - volunteer genealogists have set up a network of web sites to help answer the sometimes daunting questions about research in different countries. Most European countries and information about each are available at Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia - executive director is Rabbi Avrohom Berkowitz GenConnect Boards - many links here for Russian information and other countries, as well Genealogical Search Site - In order to receive best results of genealogical search in Russia one has to know exact spelling of surname in Cyrillic letters - there are thousands of Russian surnames and many of them sounds alike. The surnames may change while transliterating to a great extent. Therefore, the best way is to try to find people with similar or sound-alike surnames and talk with them - that way one can find out how his/her ancestors were called in Russia. When you enter this site, click on the English hyperlink if you cannot read Cyrillic Jewish Agricultural Colonies in Russia - set up in the 1920s, partly as a way of turning Jews without trades or professions into productive occupations, partly as a way of harnessing the enthusiasm of young Jews who had been inspired by ideas such as A D Gordon's or Borochov to become pioneers, as an alternative to their emigrating to Eretz Yisrael. Indeed, in the late 1920s, amid setbacks and trouble in mandate Palestine, some chalutzim did return to Russia believing they would be taking part in building a socialist Gan Eden. Unfortunately, some met a grim fate at the hands of Stalin. One settlement attained fame in the song "Zhankoye" in the Crimea ("not far from Simferopol,") The above information was taken from a posting by Charles Pottins in a JewishGen posting of January 14, 2002 Sources for the Jewish Agricultural Colonies, located at various times in Southern Russia, Bessarabia, Podolia and the Crimea, are relatively hard to find in one resource. This site is an attempt to gather as much data about the individual settlements, the points of origin of these settlers and to recount their stories. http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Colonies_of_Ukraine #20 Agricultural Village - located in the Katrinislaw area of Dneteprevoski Jewish Autonomous Republic - in 1934, Stalin designated 13,900 square miles as an official Jewish homeland. Thousands of loyal Jewish Communists worldwide made the difficult trip to establish a thriving Jewish center next to the Chinese border. This bizarre story is told in a documentary by Yale Strom. Open City Communications - 1 212 714 3575; E-mail Opencity@aol.com Jewish Cemeteries of White Russia - Jewish Communities Vaad-Federation of Jewish Organizations and Communities Idud Hasadim Moscow Federation of Jewish Organizations & Communities The Russian Jewish Congress Jewish Family Jewish Genealogical Research in Eastern Europe - Warren Blatt has answered many questions you want answers to at Jewish Heritage Society (Moscow) an excellent site, in English for the most part, for researchers (note the English hyperlink on the left side of page in small print ) and http://www.jewish-heritage.org/starte.htm Sergei Malichin offers his free services to attempt to answer any questions that you might have about the Moscow region. Sergei lives in Moscow. His e-mail address is: skomarov@narod.ru JewishGen ShtetlSeeker - locate your town (shtetl) - http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlseeker/loctown.htm Jewish Problem In the Principality of Moscow Jewish Tavern Scene Kazan - a map of the area surrounding the city of Kazan, including Yudin, Zelenodolsk, Pestretsy and Shali -
Much of the following information was obtained from the April 13, 2001 issue of the KHAZARIA.COM NEWS and is attributed to Kevin Brook Khazaria, a world power in eastern Europe that flourished as an independent state from the 7th to the 11th centuries. In the 9th century, the Khazarian royalty and nobility, as well as a significant portion of the Khazar Turkic population, embraced the Jewish religion. After the fall of the Khazarian Empire in the 10th century, they dispersed throughout what became Russia, Poland and Lithuania. They mixed with Sephardic Jews as offering safe haven and later mixed with arriving Jews from Germanic and European areas, becoming what we think of now as Eastern European Jews. You can learn more about the Khazars at Kevin Alan Brooks web site Khazaria.com is a resource for Turkic and Jewish History in Russia and Ukraine. The site offers a free subscription for their e-mail newsletter The word Kagan comes to our lexicon from the Chussar Nation which was located between the Black and Caspian Seas. The leaders of the Chussars were called Kagans. Some time in the 5th Century, the "Big Kagan" of the Chussars decided to unify the nation by imposing a single religion. After consultation with Clergy of the 3 religions, he decided that the Jewish religion was the one for them (the aristocracy). The Princes (Kagans) became Cohanim. When the Attila the Hun invaded their territory, the Chussars moved West (most to Hungary) some to Russia. The ones that arrived in Russia adapted the Russian way of life but not the religion. (for more on that, read the book "The 13th Tribe). You'll find that a Russian Cohen will most likely be called Kagan or Kaganowicz. From a posting to JewishGen by Arie Wishnia on 1/28/04 The Khazaria-announce list will help you to learn all about the religions, languages, burial practices, arts and crafts, agriculture, horticulture, military affairs and immigrations of the Khazars. And there is much information available in the new Alexander Beider book on the "Origin of Ashkenazic Names" The list mainly consists of occasional mailings of information in the following categories: 1.) reviews and announcements of new books and articles in the subject area; 2.) news about relevant new conferences, television programs, museum exhibitions and discoveries; and 3.) news about significant updates or additions to the Khazaria - the Jewish Kingdom of Khazaria in the twelfth century. On the banks of the Don, recently, were discovered Khazarian dishes bearing the word 'Israel' in Hebrew and a new Khazar fortress, next to the one at Sarkel, has also been announced and excavations are underway on the banks of the big reservoir of Tsimlyansk. The Khazars are generally viewed as a Turkic-speaking people. The Khazar kingdom was an important regional power that controlled the steppe lands and several important rivers -- the Volga and the Don. An active north-south trade existed through the kingdom. Exiles, including persecuted Jews, were welcomed to the Khazar country. It has been argued by one Murad Magomedov (Makhachkala) that the first political centers of Khazaria were located in Dagestan (Balanjar and Samandar) and after that, probably from the second half of the 8th century onwards, in Itil on Volga delta. He did not agree with the interpretations of some colleagues who put forward the idea of some early (from the middle/the second half of the 7th century) center of Khazaria between Don and Dnieper, during that time it was the Bulgars of Kubrat who controlled this area. Some of the burials in this region (Voznesenka, etc.) dated from the end of the 7th century to the first decade of the 8th century, could mark the western frontier of the Khaganate. The kingdom was destroyed in 965 by Prince Svyatoslav of the Rus, but a small Khazar state might have still existed around Itil until the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia. To some, the Caspian Sea remained called the 'Khazar Sea' long after Khazaria disappeared. Itil was the capital of the Khazars and was considered the 'jewel' of the Volga, the white city of Al-Khazar, where all religions cohabited in peace, where each minority was judged according to its own laws. The king (Kagan) possessed a big city that spreads on two banks of the Volga (Itil). They (the Khazars) are all Jewish, wrote the Arab ambassador Ahmed ibn Fadian in 922. A specialist of the Khazars, Constantin Zuckerman who is the director of the Centre of Byzantine Studies at the College of France, thinks that the Khazars were of partially Israelite ancestry and had, over time, lost elements of their observance of Judaism. Zuckerman also thinks that the earliest that the earliest Khazars were partly of Finno-Ugric origin, like the Hungarians and after coming southwest they assimilated the Barsil people and resettled in the Caspian Sea region. The Khazars did not reach the Tran Caucasus before the 7th century. Jewish exiles had an impact upon Khazaria's governmental system, religion and way of life, and Byzantine-Khazar relations deteriorated after the Khazars converted to Judaism, a religion that the Byzantines did not tolerate. Zuckerman feels that the real conversion of the Khazars to Judaism took place in the year 861 rather than earlier. The early Rus look to Khazaria for inspiration and designate their king as a Kagan, just like the Khazars. 'The Russians are then the emulators of the Khazars' summarizes Constantin Zuckerman. A number of reference books are mentioned in this issue and should be of interest to anyone studying the Khazar Nation. A page is currently under construction, thanks to the information supplied by Kevin Brooks, a noted authority and author of several books and articles on the subject. Kevin Brook's site has references to Khazarian Given names commonly found in Jewish families There is a khazaria-announce group at Yahoo which makes it easy to participate in e-mail discussions, coordinate events, share photos and other files and more. To learn more about the khazaria-announce group, please visit Photographs of the Turkic-Jewish bricks from Sarkel fortress containing engravings of Khazarian Turkic Tamgas (tribe symbols) Bibliography of Khazar Studies Informational link - There are Regional Special Interest Groups that have Khazaria information and links. The site includes links to Bohemia-Moravia SIG, Denmark SIG, German-Jewish SIG, Hungary SIG and Stammbaum - German SIG at "Jews of Khazaria: Book Review" This book, along with over 180 other books on countries and subjects of possible interest to you is available by clicking here > Jewish Genealogy Khazarian Historic Maps - maps of the Khazar Kingdom from 300 C.E. to 1000 C.E. Other sites of interest in studying Khazars "The Wind of the Khazars" - authored by Marek Halter and translated from French by Michael Bernard. Published by The Toby Press. This historical novel tells two stories. One in the present, is about a writer named Marc Sofer who is researching the Khazars and the second story is based on a true incident that took place toward the end of the kingdom in the years around 955. WJC: Jews in Russia Homepage of the Institute for Jewish Studies in CIS Jewish Heritage Society, Moscow Association of Jewish Studies Students, Moscow center for University Teaching of Jewish Civilization "Sefer" Russian Jewish Congress ... and so much more Languages - Baltic and Slavic Languages List of Jews reported killed or wounded in the Russo-Japanese war (1905) may be viewed at: Maps Note: a fabulous source for maps of almost any country and region of the Russian Empire and the former Soviet Union can be found at the Maps of Russia and the FSU site below. 1941 Maps of Russia 1942 Maps of Russia showing the "Eastern Front - Map of German gains on" 1944 Map of Balkans, Carpathian Mountains Terrain Map Map of Old Russia - The Growth of Russia in Europe, 1300-1796 (And Partitions of Poland) in color http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/reference/ Maps of Russia - 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 Bukovina 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 Map of Volhynia Guberniya - Old Maps of Russia - source for many maps of not only Russia, but Russian areas in the past Scanned Maps Measurement of Land - Desyatina is 1.09 hectares or 2.07 acres Military (Russian) Cossacks - source of Military uniforms of the Cossacks Jewish Military Conscription - during the late 18th century, a sizeable Jewish population came under Russian authority. From 1794 until 1827, Jews were exempt from conscription. This was a privilege they had to pay for, (as did some other social groups) at the rate of 500 rubles per recruit. But the privilege was extended to Jews for negative reasons: they were considered to be cowards, weaklings, and religious fanatics as well as potential spies. When Nicholas I came to power in 1825, he believed that Russia's problems could be solved through the militarization of civil society. Nicholas published a law that replaced the traditional head tax with 25 years of compulsory military service for young Jews. Jews (among others) would be 'improved' through the strict discipline and subordination in a rigid hierarchy of the military, with miserable results. Standard terms of service, in those days, were 25 years. According to the law, Jews were to enjoy absolute religious freedom while serving in the army. But in fact, conscription was used to force conversion. The forced conversions were demoralizing enough for the Jewish communities, but the story gets worse. Jewish communities had the right to chose who to send as recruits (4 recruits per 1000 males). Like Russian serf communes, they sent off trouble-makers, but they also sent children: approximately 50,000 out of the 70,000 Jews conscripted during Nicholas I's reign were between the ages of 6 and 18. The government had given them a debilitating choice: either send young fathers and heads of households, which would further disrupt the already deeply shattered communities of the Pale, or send their children.
In 1861, Jews were allowed to serve both in the elite Guards units and they were allowed to become non-commissioned officers. In 1874, Alexander introduced universal conscription, which was supposed to apply equally to everyone. Exemptions could be had for some categories of students, others could buy their way out. French Jews enjoyed greater equality in the military, but most Western European Jews served in equivalent circumstances. But the good times wouldn't last. When Alexander II was killed by terrorists in 1881, his reactionary and deeply anti-Semitic son, Alexander III and grandson, Nicholas, used this as an excuse to resume Universal Conscription, however, and Jews served. Perfunctory conversion for career purposes was rare, but not unknown among offices. However, some Jews found ways to buy their way out of the draft or pay for substitute recruits, which, were, of course, interpreted negatively to mean that Jews were 'shirkers'. In fact, although Jews equaled 4.13% of the population of the empire, they made up 5.73% of the military at the turn of the century. The above is based on Michael Stanislawsi, 'Tsar Nicholas I and the Jews' published by The Jewish Publication Society of America in 1983 and 'The Russian Jew Under the Tsars and Soviets' authored by Salo Baron and published in New York by Macmillan in 1964. Joan Neuberger contributed this on August 17, 1995. Russia required all male Russian immigrants in USA and Canada to register at a Russian Consulate during WWI. Not sure if they did the same during the Russo-Japanese War. These can be located through the American Society of Germans from Russia Historical Society Military Records - The RBVIA serves as the centralized archive for military records of the Russian Empire, consolidating the holdings from various pre-revolutionary Russian military archives and other repositories throughout the former Soviet Union. RGVIA retains documentation produced from the activities of highest, central, and local military administration and military agencies of the Russian Empire from the end of the seventeenth century until March of 1918. Mark Conrad Russian Military Site Approximately a half a million Jews served in the Red Army, and many volunteered for service at the front. A total of 161,000 Jews received medals and awards for bravery. One hundred and forty Jews were awarded the highest Soviet decoration - the Golden Star and the honorary title of "Hero of the Soviet Union". An estimated 200,000 Soviet Jews died on the battlefield, in captivity or of wounds received at the front - but information could not be found on many of these casualties. Moscow
History of Moscow Religious Jewish Community http://www.ticketsofrussia.ru/religion/judaism/mcs/Hiseng.html Moscow - there is a new Jewish cultural center that was recently opened (2001). Mikhail Kunin is the center's director. There are nine million people living in Moscow of which there are a minimum of one million Jews. More than 40 percent of Moscow's 250,000 Jewish community make up the professional classes in the city. Marina Roscha synagogue is located in Moscow. Photo of synagogues - Pale of Settlement - that area that the Russians determined where Jews could live. To make sure that the Jews stayed within that arbitrary boundary, Jews were issued papers that clearly stated they were Jews. To this day, a Russian passport still indicates that a person is a Jew. Most emigrating Jews had no identity papers 100 years or more ago. They snuck out of Russia (or other countries) and got to a port. That was it! If they had money for a ticket, no one cared if they were named Itzkowitz or Jones. The US took in any immigrants who were healthy and had just a few dollars. If they had an internal Russian passport, it was not good for much outside Russia.
In tsarist times, throughout the Soviet era, and even now, an "internal" passport (propiska) was issued to virtually every Russian resident. Such passports were needed by Russians and Ukrainians and those of other resident nationalities (Germans, Poles, etc.) to get on a train, to visit another town of city or to establish residence in another town or city, to gain entry into educational institutions, to sign a lease, buy a business or a property, to obtain employment, to get married, etc.. Newsgroup, Russia - news and posts from Russia. About a quarter of the posts are in Russian. alt.current-events.russia Newspaper of Russia Petersburg Jewish University (PJU) was established in November, 1989.and offers many publications dealing with Jewish themes.
Photographs of Russia - http://www.tifft.com/russia.html Pogrom - over 700 pogroms broke out in the Pale of Settlements in 1905-1906. "Megilat Hatevakh" - a book, in Hebrew, which lists some of the pogroms that took place during the Civil War in Russia (C. 1918-1921) - authored by A.D. Rosental, Jerusalem-Tel Aviv, published by "Khavurah" in1927 . The Pogroms of 1903-1906 Rabbis of the Russian Empire - "Common poor people without cataclysms of wars, pogroms, hanger, etc. and with general restrictions on residence and travel (not only for Jews, but for most of Russian Empire population) lived and died in the same towns. Sometime they moved to nearby town (marriage, etc.). Their trades and small business people learned at home and use it in the same place." RAGAS (Russian-American Genealogical Archival Service) FEEFHS U.S. Representative: Patricia Eames, Director RAGAS RAGAS originally was a joint US-Russian activity with a main Moscow office supported in the Washington, D.C. area by volunteers from a U.S. National Archives support group. The volunteers served as a clearinghouse and intermediary early on. Now, according to U.S. Director Pat Eames, "The Russian-American Genealogical Archival Service (RAGAS) is an independent, self-supporting organization for assisting persons with a USSR/Russian Empire background in obtaining information concerning their ancestors from archives in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Estonia. Red Star - During WWII and as well before and after, the Red Star ("Krasnaya Zvezda") was the official daily newspaper of the Soviet Army. Red Star was a central newspaper of Ministry of Defence of the USSR. It was issued from January 1924 and wrote about Red Army news also during WWII. You may look for the old samples of this newspaper in libraries, or write to a museum of WWII, or look for a list of people, that worked in that newspaper. Elina Smirnova in a posting of January 22, 2003 Revision Lists (Russian Reviskie Skazki). There were ten Reviskie Skazki taken in the early 20th century. Taxation and conscription were the ultimate reason. Some Reviskie lists are available in the Ukrainian Archives, but they represent only those areas that were once in the Russian Empire. Routes To Roots - an informative site offers travel advice and a searchable database by town name Rubles - In 1895 to 1905, the average monthly worker could purchase 1 sheep for 4 rubles; 1 bushel of wheat for 1 ruble, 51 kopeks; 1 bushel of Rye for 1 ruble and 18 kopeks or for 64 kopeks, he could buy a bushel of Barley. Rusnaks (aka Rusyns/Carpatho-Rusyns) - "Our People" written by Paul Magocsi Russian Consular Records - from 1898 to 1922 for Russians and East Europeans accessible at Russian Empire Map - 1902 map of Russia's Polish Provinces - http://feefhs.org/maps/ruse/re-polan.html Russian Genealogy Resources on the Internet - and other countries and subjects http://www-personal.umich.edu/~cgaunt/russia.html Russian Genealogical Forum - site is in Russian the JGS of Greater Philadelphia - Russian Interest Group (RIG) http://www.jewishgen.org/jgsp/RIG.htm Russian Jewish Congress - Vladimir Goussinsky was the former President, but has recently resigned and living in Spain. Russian-Jews - Russian Era Indexing of Poland Project http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/ Russian Language Programs - links to many Russian Language informational sites Russian State Historical Archive, St. Petersburg Russian Transliteration System - Teach your computer to read Russian. Forget all the problems of different Russian codings and Russian fonts; all you need is easily downloaded from this site. Samovars - The Lower East Side Restoration Project - a large collection of old and antique Jewish items besides samovars Search telephone numbers, addresses in Russia for free at The main cities of Moscow region, and Kiev region are included and offers a free search of telephone numbers and full addresses, for both business and private listings. Another site for Moscow & St. Petersburg White Pages Russian Search Engine (In Russian) Search Engines for Russia Sher's Russian Index - a huge conglomeration of even more web links to help you research Russia, and includes a Learner WWW Guide Soviet Union - Chornaya Kniga (The Black Book) http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/translations.html Topics in Soviet Civilization - Stalinist Culture in Russia 1928-1997 - a seminar by Professor Gregory Freidin which includes many recommended readings about the subject and Internet links Translating The Bucknell Russian Program - here you will original materials on the history of Russia, the Russian language, and lots of links to information about every other aspect of the Russian life and society. "In Their Words, Volume 2: Russian, the guide to translating Russian language documents - authored by Jonathan Shea and William Fred Hoffman Translation Service - a commercial site offering many language translating programs Translating Services - Click Here Teach your computer to read Russian. It would be of great help if you are able to read and write a bit of the Russian/Cyrillic words, but how do you find an easy way to learn the language? 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. VAAD - a secular Jewish organization of which Roman Spector, is a leader. Vsia Rossia (Russian Business Directory) - can provide loads of information for learning about names, families, occupations, etc. These directories will be of great help in anyone's research. Here is information on the 1895 All Russia Directory Further Reading: For more information about Russian Business Directories, see: The article "Russian Business Directories", by Harry Boonin, in Avotaynu VI:4 (Winter 1990), pages 23-32. The lecture "Russian Business Directories", by Ted Gostin, at the 15th Annual Summer Seminar on Jewish Genealogy, July 14-19, 1996, Boston. Printed lecture notes including a directory inventory are available in the Seminar's syllabus, pages C-44 thru C-49 (available from JGSGB) and an audio tape of the lecture is available (from Vital and Marriage Records From Greek Catholic and Orthodox Parishes in Former Austrian Galicia, Former Malo Rus, Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus (former Byelorussia) available through The Mormon Family History Library (FHL) Jewish births, deaths, marriages, and divorces in the Russian Empire were recorded in synagogue ledgers. Here are some examples of the information that was recorded and how it appears in the records. Russian headings and entries were often accompanied by ones in Hebrew, either on the same page or on an adjacent page. WW II Through Russian Eyes - an exhibit of World War II as seen through Russian Eyes is a fabulous exhibit was on display at Balboa Park in San Diego, California. An on-line tour is available at My wife and I saw this exhibit and kept the exhibit brochure in a display, along with the Russian Army medals given to me by my half brother's wife during our trip to Ukraine in August, 1995. One of the medals was awarded to my brother Moshe for bravery at Stalingrad. Cities and Shtetls
I would suggest to the researcher of the following sites, to also check the other two Baltic Country sites, including Estonia and Lithuania, 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. Since the Soviet Union (USSR, CCCP) is no longer, the republics decided to change the names of some of their cities back to their pre-Soviet titles. ShtetlSeeker - this site gives variant spellings of towns and villages, as well as map co-ordinates Russian Cities on the Web - Traveling to Russia or within Russia? Get information on your destination from the many links shown on the site. Andropov (New name: Rybinsk) Anna - a town in Voronezh Oblast. Actually there are two with this name. For a map You may have to do a cut and paste because of the length of the URL Bedzin - principal town of the area known as Zaglebie (Zaglembye), of ex-Russian Empire. Area is adjacent to ex-Prussian and Austro-Hungarian Imperial borders. Brezhnev (New name: Naberezhnye Chelny) Cetatea Alba, city, Odessa Oblast (province) located in southernmost Ukraine. In Turkish it is known as Akkerman and in Russian as Belgorod-Dnestrovsky. There is a lot of historical information available at Chelyabinsk - Jews first came in large numbers to this city around WW II, when Stalin moved large arms factories here from Nazi occupied parts of the Soviet Union. Today, there are about 10,000 Jews who have long been active in the economic life of the city. The old synagogue was closed during the Communist ear and Jewish religious life was virtually absent until the past five years. Now in 2001, a new synagogue was recently dedicated, and was heralded as being an example of rare cooperation between rival Jewish groups and local politicians. A Jewish Community Center is being planned near the synagogue, which can house 300 worshipers, according to Yakov Oks, a local construction magnate. The Lubavitch Rabbi Meir Kirsch now runs a day school for 50 Jewish children as well as a Yeshiva. Chernenko (New name: Sharypovo) Dabrowa (Dombrowa) - principal town of the area known as Zaglebie (Zaglembye), of ex-Russian Empire. Area is adjacent to ex-Prussian and Austro-Hungarian Imperial borders. Eigengrund - located near the agricultural village #20 Ekaterinoslav - Index to Surnames from Ekaterinoslav and surrounding towns. Georgiu-Dezh (New name: Liski) Gorky (Gorki - New name: Nizhni(y) Novgorod) - during the communist period, the city went back to its original name of Nizhni Novgorod. It was named Gorky in honor of the author between 1935 and 1990. Headkaca - there was a Jewish presence Jonava (Yanovo) - located in the Kovno Uyezd. In JewishGen's ShtetlSeeker, there are Yanovo's/Janowa's in Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Russia. There are also many towns named Janow in Poland, including a Janow Podlaski and a Janow Lubelskie. There is even another Yonavo in Lithuania other than the one in Kovno Uezd - today it is called Jokavai. Ada Green offered a listing of Jonava Societies and Associations associated with the JGSNY Cemetery Project in a message to the JewishGen Digest group on December 10, 2000 - Message No. 4 Kalinin (New name: Tver) Kaliningrad - This strategic part of ex East Prussia, is situated alongside the Baltic shores and is separated from the rest of the Russian mainland by Lithuania and Latvia, or Belarus. There is some talk in Russia about the restoration of the town's original Prussian name, Koenigsberg, as it was done already with renaming Leningrad, Sverdlovsk and several other towns in Russia. Kaluga - the synagogue hopefully will be returned to the Jewish community according to Rabbi Berel Lazar, one of Russia's chief rabbis and who is also the Chairman of the Rabbinical Alliance of the CIS. His e-mail address is rabbinical@fjc.ru Kamenka - located in the Voronezh oblast (=Gubernia). Kamenka means 'stone' and there are probably 50 towns with this name in Russia. Another one - Kamenka in Moldova, on the Dnestr river. Kamenka Voronezhskoj Gubernia is approx 90-100 km South of Voronezh. Kiev - this is the only city in the Russian Empire (now in Ukraine) where the traditions of the medieval ghetto were completely preserved. Telephone numbers; full addresses for both business and private and search capabilities. (See also Ukraine) Kirov (New name: Vyatka) Kislovodsk - Viktoria Lanovaya is the president of the Kislovodsk Jewish Community and the Jewish Agency coordinator for this spa town which has ab |
Books
Click to enlarge Map of Russia in 1914
When Nicholas died in 1855, (there was celebration throughout the Pale), and his son, Alexander II repealed some of the worst laws, including dumping the Jewish conscription laws. In 1856, he exempted Jews from the military and he abolished the recruitment of young children and military service generally was reduced to 15 years.
Moscow Synagogue
