"Making researching your Jewish roots --- e a s i e r "

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Find Your Ancestors In History

UKRAINE and the Crimea

  

  Ukraine  |  Crimea


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Click Here > Guberniyas
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Talnoye Photos
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Ukrainian Shtetls


    
Young Jewish Boys photographed in the Kharkov Synagogue. 
Photo taken  by Ted Margulis, August, 1994

 

 

 


Imagine walking the very same streets that your parents, grandparents or your great grandparents walked somewhere in Eastern Europe --- or one of the other countries where they had once lived.  Imagine the sights ... the sounds  ... and the smells that must have been there .... before you became a part of this world.  Well, I did imagine and it finally happened for me in 1995 when my wife and I traveled to Talnoye, Ukraine.

Yes, there was a "time" when Jewish life compared more like the Sholom Aleichem stories we've all read.  A time when making a living and studying Torah were the only important goals a Jew could hope to (and pray to) achieve.  Yes, imagine all this ... and if you can't actually travel to the "old country" ... then the next best thing is to research your family and their history. The many sites listed in my web site will help you feel a sense of those days past.

From how to send money --- to the names of various departments of government, you will find it on this web site.  If I have missed something, let me know.  My goal is to make this site one of the most valuable and comprehensive web sites you will ever discover in your constant search for more information about your family and their lifestyle!  

Ukraine borders the Black Sea and is between Poland and Russia. Comparably speaking, it is slightly smaller than Texas.   My personal impression of Ukraine, after traveling through the country and visiting Kiev, Berdichev, Kharkov and Talnoye, is that it is huge and crude!  Ukraine, known as the Breadbasket of Europe, with a population of 50.1 million people today, had much Jewish genius, tradition, cuisine, music, philosophy, literature, leadership and achievements that had previously emerged from this land.  

It is a fact that prior to being called Ukrainians, Ukrainians were called Rusyns according to a statement in the book "Ukraine, A History" by Orest Subtelny on page 69 and 307.  
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/up.html 

Also, for more information
on 'General Facts About Ukraine' http://www.uazone.net/Ukraine_General.html 

Ukraine is the biggest country in Europe with the exception of Russia.  It is larger than France by territory and has the second biggest population - 50.5 million - after Russia with an estimated Jewish population of around 500,000.  Check out this web site for more information -
http://www.un.kiev.ua:8080/dis_ukr/ 

The name "Ukrainiec" (Ukrainian) first became known in the beginning of the 20th century.  Information about the history can be found at
http://www.kresy.co.uk/russin.html 

Jews were in Ukraine before the Spanish Inquisition.  They traveled directly from Palestine, through Syria, Kurdistan, Dagestan, Kuban to Crimea.  In their travels, they even converted the Khazars to Judaism.  Their descendants still live in Ukraine today and are known today as Karaimes. Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews were a loose group until the pogroms of Bogdan Chmielnik and his Cossacks between the years1648 and 1656.

The Cossacks, who lived in the Ukraine, overran Poland, and for whatever unjustifiable reason, vented their wrath on the Polish Kingdom, aided by their Tartar compatriots from the Crimea.  The first major pogroms occurred after March, 1881 in Chernigov, Katerynoslav, Kherson, Kiev, Odessa, Poltava and Tavriya Guberniyas... and then spread throughout the Pale of Settlement and the Kingdom of Poland. Cossack is the English spelling of the people - in Russian it is spelled Kazak, and in Ukrainian it is Kozak.  It is a Turkish word meaning free person

Unfortunately for the Jews, after the Cossacks conquered Poland, they started to look for the King of Poland, but there was no King at that particular time, so the Cossacks had to show their ire and frustration on someone.  They picked the Jews, some of whom had been money factors and tax farmers for the Polish nobility in Ukraine.  They slaughtered the Jews in huge numbers and with great cruelty.  Jews preferred to surrender to the Tartars who then sold them into slavery, rather than be tortured and murdered by the Cossacks.

The Cossacks did their terrible deeds, not only in Poland, but as well in Lithuania.   When it was all over, the Jews who survived had been reduce to a destitute state.   All of their homes, schools, Talmud Torahs, books and torah scrolls were reduced to ashes.  An interesting article on Cossacks is in the National Geographic, Vol. 194, No. 5 dated November, 1998.

Much of the above information was gleaned from an article written by Len Yodaiken, Kibbutz Kfar Hanasai, in Israel shoshly@canaan.co.il and edited it for this web site.   There is more to this interesting story and hopefully I will be able to bring the full story to these pages in the future.

During the 1930s, keep in mind in your research, that all of western Ukraine was either located in Poland and/or Czechoslovakia.

Stalin, in 1932 raised Ukraine's grain procurement quotas by 44 percent.  The results left the people in a starving situation.  Information about this period, with a graphic description can be found at
http://home.talkcity.com/LibertySt/spacegirly/intro.htm
 

In 1939 the Jewish population of Ukraine was 1.5 million (1,532,776) or 3% of the total population of Ukraine. One half to two thirds of the total Jewish population of Ukraine were evacuated, killed or exiled to Siberia (Reitlinger, page 251).  Ukraine lost more population per capita than any other country in the world in WW II. 

The Jewish Community of Ukraine is the fourth largest in the world, after the US, Israel and Russia, and currently numbers approximately 550,000.  Since 1989, 200,000 Ukrainian Jews have emigrated to Israel.

There are authentic documentation that mentions a flourishing Jewish Community in Kiev in the tenth century.

There are perhaps 9,000 or more inhabited places in Ukraine.  The location of each is made more difficult by the fact that many alternate names are, and have been used, including Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, German and Magyar names.  One of the best links to find the location of your family shtetl is using either the Map blast site
http://mapblast.com/mblast/index.mb
  
or JewishGen's ShtetLinks site at
http://www.JewishGen.org
 

Ukraine SIG is another newly developed site dealing with all things Jewish Ukraine
http://www.jewishgen.org/Ukraine/  
The prime objective is to facilitate access to records of former Russian Empire Guberniyas now in Ukraine; Podolia, Volhynia, Kiev, Poltava, Chernigov, Kharkov, Kherson, Taurida and Yekaterinoslav. 

There is a sub-group entitled UKR-Odessa Gen Research Group which has its own web site at  
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ukrodess/index.html
  

UKR-ODESSA-GEN.html 

"Galina does searches in the Odessa State Archives for our members at a group rate.  Vital (B, M, D)  records (most?) survived all the wars and cover Jews for the years 1875-1922.  Generally, the first surname (no limit on given names) searched costs about $68 (if any are found) and about $23 if nothing found.  Additional surname searches are a few dollars less for each.  Her success rate is about 65% in finding something.  These searches are only  "partial" or "limited" searches for 25 year periods at these low fees.  Members may sign up for new searches but may wait another year as  the "list" is long.  Higher rates apply for a 47 year search."  The previous information was obtained from a post to
UKR-ODESSA-GEN-L@rootsweb.com posting on November 24, 2001 by Arthur Blutstein. 

Further general information is available at
http://www.world66.com/
 
where you will find all kinds of information about Ukraine and other countries and subjects.

Yad Vashem has a large library on the Ukrainian Jewry during the Holocaust.  Yad Vashem has a branch in Givataiim, "Volhynia House," located at

10 Korazin Street
PO Box 804
Givataiim 53108 Israel

Galicia in Times of Fear and Sorrow
http://www.personal.ceu.hu/students/97/
Roman_Zakharii/jewish.htm


  Books

Most books, CDs, etc. can be ordered through my link to Amazon.com by clicking here > Jewish Genealogy 

"100 Evreiskikh Mestechek Ukrainy" (100 Jewish Shtetls of the Ukraine) The first volume which has been published concerns only the towns of Podolia and can be purchased from a bookseller in the US.


"A History of Ukraine" - authored by Paul Robert Magocsi and published in 1996


"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.


"Archival Sources for Ukrainian-Jewish Genealogy" - authored  by Dr. Sallyanne Sack and published by Avotaynu
http://www.avotaynu.com


"The Bones of Berdichev" authored by John and Carol Garrard, is the story of the life and fate of Vasily Grossman, a Russian Jewish agnostic, whose life is changed after reporting the horrors of the war and the Holocaust.  Published by The Free Press, New York ISBN 0-684-82295-4


"Brave Old World" - a story about a onetime great Hassidic center in Ukraine


"The Complete Works of Isaac Babel" - authored by Isaac Babel who was born in Odessa in 1894.  His first years were spent in Nikolayev.  To get a good read for those who want to get the feel of a Jew's life and outlook during those times, Anita Citron anitac1@erols.com recommends reading this book in a posting to the UKR-ODESSA-Gen-L@rootsweb.com on 11-21-2001. The book was reviewed in the NY Sunday Times Book Review pages.
http://www.stanford.edu/
Type in 'Babel' in the search box


"Encyclopedia of Ukraine" - this information book may well be available either at your local library or through inter-library loan.  The Encyclopedia is available for purchase at
http://www.yevshan.com 


"Essays of History of Jews in Ukraine - authored by J. Chonigsman and A. Naiman and published in 1992 in Kiev.  This book traces events of Jewish life from the days of Khazars up to the end of WW II.
ISBN No. 5-77-07-31-15-X


"Exile in the Foothills of the Carpathians.  The Jews of Carpatho-Rus and Mukachevo, 1848-1948" - authored by Professor Yeshyahu A. Jelinek and published by the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora research Center, Tel-Aviv University in 2003 in Hebrew.  The Hebrew title: "Hagola Leragley Hakarpatim - Yehudey Karpato-rus' Vemukachevo, 1848-1948"  ISBN 965-338-057-5

You can order from Tovia Klein tok26@netvision.net.il


"From a Ruined Garden" - authored by Kugelman and Boyarin


"The History of Lemkovyna" - authored by I. F. Lemkin


"Into Auschwitz, For Ukraine" authored by Stefan Petelycky deals with the many Ukrainians who have had their lives subjected to the tyrannies of Soviet Communism and German Nazism.  For more information visit
http://www.infoukes.com/uccla


"Jewish Heritage Report" - an article written by E. Sololova reports his personal experiences in "Search of Jewish Cemeteries in the Ukraine" is in the Winter 1997/98 issue


"Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldova" - authored by Miriam Weiner and published in 1999, offers town-by-town listings of archives, from BirthMarriage, Divorce and Death records to voter and tax rolls, draft registrations and property listings going back, in some cases, to the 1700s.  

Jewish Roots Department Attached to Jewish Religious Community in Kiev - information on Tourism, Genealogy, Entombment search, Chassidic places, Communities, Holocaust, etc. an interesting commercial site 
http://www.jewroots.com/contactus_eng.htm Buy from Amazon.com


"Jewish Tombstones In Ukraine and Moldova" - in both Russian and English.  Published in 1993 by Image Publishing House in Moscow. 
ISBN # 5-86044-019-7 


"Jewish-Ukrainian Bibliography" - a selected annotated bibliography of resources in English by Andrew Gregorovich - 2nd Edition. Toronto: Forum, 1999 116 pages
http://www.infoukes.com/forum/bibliography.html


"Jews in Ukraine" (A Historical Investigation) authored by Matvy Shestopal who was a respected faculty member at the Taras Shevchko University of Kiev.  He was purged from the University in the period of ideological wars in the 1960's and died in the 1970s.  His manuscript was hidden by loyal students and published in Kiev in 1999.  a middle section from the three pages shown in Ukrainian is provided in English translation at http://www.ukar.org/shest01.shtml

http://www.bl.uk/collections/easteuropean/jewsukr.html


"The Jews of Moscow, Kiev and Minsk: Identity, Antisemitism, Emigration" - authored by Rozalina Ryvkina - The Jews of Moscow, Kiev and Minsk:...


"Lists of WW2 deaths by Oblast"  Knyha Pamiati Ukrainy translated to "Commemorative Book of Ukraine".  You will need someone who can read Ukrainian to help research the names in this  list.


"Manya's Story" - a story about the Polevoy Family experiences living in and around Talnoye in the early 1900s - authored by Mrs. Gray and according to Borders Book stores, there are about 2,000 copies at the publisher's warehouse $20.00 - also available at Amazon.com 


"Memory of Fallen Soldiers from WWII" (Knyha Pamiati Ukrainy - Commemorative Book of Ukraine) lists names by town of people killed.  The book can be purchased from a Ukrainian Bookstore or you can search the Library of Congress catalogue (on-line) and do a search for Knyha Pamiati Ukrainy.  There are 300 volumes, each containing about 15,000 names for a total list of 4,500,000 soldiers.  Not all oblasts have started, or finished, this tribute.  Each volume has about 1,500 family names of fallen, or missing, soldiers, arranged by village, Raion, and Oblast.

These figures indicate that more soldiers died per capita, than any other nation lost in WW II and if you add another 8 million civilians lost, you have more people who died from the Ukraine, than any other country.


"Origins  and Meaning of Ukrainian Surnames" compiled by Gregory Gressa from texts by Jeff Picknicki, University of Manitoba, and additionally, works of John-Paul Himka & Frances A. Swyripa, University of Alberta as well as other contributors.


"Personal History: Buried Homeland" authored by Aharon Appelfeld and published by The New Yorker on 11/23/1998.  An excerpt is available on-line http://magazines.enews.com/magazines/new_yorker/
current/981123-001.html


"The Road from Letichev - the history and culture of a forgotten Jewish community in Eastern Europe".  Authored by David A. Chapin and Ben Weinstock ISBN for volume i: 0-595-00666-3; Volume 2: 0-595-00667-1.  k and published by Universe.com, Inc. in Lincoln NE.
http://www.iUniverse.com 

This book covers the following towns: Derazhnia, Letichev, Medzhibozh, Mikhalpol (Mikhampol, Mikhalovka), Staro Zakrevsky Meidan, Volkovintsy, Zinkov, Butsni (Butsnevtsy) and these towns are discussed: Proskurov (Khmelnytsky), Kamenets-Podolski, Bar, Ushitsa, Dunaevtsy, Yarmolinitsy, Zhmerinka, Vinnitsa, Kiev, Staro Konstantinov, Okupy, Felshtin (Gvardeyskoye), Litin, Gaysin


"Roll Call Lest We Forget" - a list of names of Ukrainian causalities from WW I as compiled by Lubomyr Luciuk, Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association and published by The Kashtan Press, Kingston, Ontario, Canada 
ISBN 1-896354-19-X 


"Secrets of Berdichev" - the book focuses on the community as a whole, rather than on individuals. Some names to appear.  Alan Shuchat, a landsman whose family came from Talnoye where my father came from as well, has identified some of the chapter and translated them into English in a JewishGen Digest dated 12/11/00 Message 16.


"Some Archival Sources for Ukrainian Jewish Genealogy" - authored by Aleksander Kronik -  This book can be purchased through my link with Amazon.com at the left side bar.


"The Shtetl: Image and Reality: Papers of the Second Mendel Friedman International Conference in Yiddish," edited by Gennady Estraikh and Mikhail Krutkov and published by Legenda, University of Oxford in 2000.  ISBN 1-900755-41-6   There are references to Berdichev entitled "Berdechev in Russian Literary Imagination:"  From Israel Aksenfeld to Friedrich Gorenstein


"Treasures of Jewish Culture in Ukraine".  The 145 page book
is an album of pictures of traditional Jewish artwork.  There is
accompanying text in Ukrainian, English, and Hebrew.  



"World of Our Fathers" - authored by Irving Howe. I found the book difficult to read, but very informative


"World War II in Ukraine" - the Ukrainian experience in World War II with a brief survey of Ukraine's population loss of 10 million by Andrew Gregorovich. http://www.infoukes.com/history/ww2/ 

One of the links will take you to "Jewish Holocaust in Ukraine," another to a report on the crimes in Katyn and Vinnytsia`


  Books Resources

Most books, CDs, etc. can be ordered through my link to Amazon.com by clicking here > Jewish Genealogy 

Mosty - a web page where you will find descriptions of books dealing with various Ukrainian topics
http://mosty.homepage.com/


Ukrainian Book Store, 10215 97th St. Box 1640, Edmonton, Alberta Canada T5J 2N9  Phone: 780 422 4255  Fax: 780 425 1439  e-mail: ukrbkst@planet.eon.net  Site: www.ukrainianbookstore.com 


Zora Books - Research material, books and software.  Located in Britain http://www.btinternet.com/~zorabooks/index.html 


General
Ukrainian Information

(Click on either of these links to go to  my  Ukranian Maps    
Ukrainian Guberniyas  pages on my web site) Ukraine Maps

An excellent site to find information about most European countries is at 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.

Remember that the western portion of Ukraine was under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1722 to 1918, and under Polish rule within that empire, and later, for a good portion of that time.  Immigrants arrived with documents and papers in German, Polish, Rumanian or Russian, because the language used on the documents was the official language of whatever government was ruling Ukraine at the time.


Genealogy Primer - "Where do I start"
http://www.infoukes.com/genealogy/

http://lemkos.org 

Focused mainly on US research.  Another excellent place to use as a search engine is
http://www.stpt.com/ 

Use this source to find maps of cities and towns in the Ukraine as well as other countries.

During Soviet days, Ukrainian cities carried Russian names, and since the Russian language doesn't have an "H" in the alphabet, a "G" was used in its place.

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/ 


Help in finding information about a specific village or city can be found at the Getty Vocabulary Program - just type in the name of the town or city.  If nothing shows up, try typing in another name of a town nearby that may be larger.
http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/tgn/ 
 

There are over 900,000 records for places arranged in hierarchies representing all nations of the modern world and including vernacular and historical names, coordinates, place types and other relevant information.  This is one powerful web site for researchers.


2001 Census of Ukraine - the first census link is in Cyrillic, but it looks very interesting
http://www.riga.lv/mine1res/count/ukraine/FUEN_Ukraine.htm 

however, the following site is in English and it looks like it has possibilities. 
http://www.delfi.lt//directory/index.php?qs=english

The second site is in English and it states that on 22 February the Ukrainian government resolved to hold a national census between 5 and 14 December 2001. The last census was held in 1989 when Ukraine was still a part of the former Soviet Union. At that time the population of Ukraine was 51.45 million.

However, during the last seven years, Ukraine's population has been continuously decreasing, and the birth rate is lower than the mortality rate. Statistical data for the first half of 2000 showed that there were 49.5 million people in Ukraine. According to the State Statistics Committee, by 1 January 2001 the Ukrainian population shrank to 49,291,200 - check this and a lot more information out at 
http://www.ce-review.org/01/8/ukrainenews8.html  

All Ukrainian Jewish Congress - is the largest Jewish organization in Ukraine and their web site offers a lot of background information 
http://www.jewish.kiev.ua/index.htm 

Phone Codes - Ex USSR Phone Codes for Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia, 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

Anti-Semitism in Ukraine - and information about the Jewish Communities
http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/asw99-2000/ukraine.htm


Archive Addresses

The Archives in Ukraine do not have a master name index where they can determine surnames for you.  This is the reason why it is essential to know the birthplace of your ancestor as historical records are archived by locality ... and then by religion.

The birthplace of your ancestor can be determined from one of several documents including immigration records, alien registration applications, naturalization papers, civil and church records, social security card applications, military records, etc.

The country of Ukraine is made up of Oblasts (equivalent to our States or Provinces) and Raion (equivalent to our Counties or regions).  There are presently 25 Oblasts and a number of Raions in each Oblast.  In most cases there are at least 12 Raions in an Oblast and sometimes as many as 26. Addresses and phone number for the 25 Oblasts can be found at
http://lemko.org/genealogy/oblasts.html 

Note: If you write to the Oblast (province/state) Archives address, if they would not have the information, they would probably send it on to the appropriate Raion (country/region) Archives on your behalf, but you might need to name the Raion when you are writing to the Oblast Archives requesting information on an appropriate village or town; in other words, you would write to the Oblast Archives that you need information on (          ) village in (             ) Raion in (               ) Oblast in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Consulate has forms to use in requesting documentation.  There is a fee charged of $40.00 for research by the consulate which applies only to information on consulate employees, or for all documentation.  Their address is 3a Soborna area, 29008, Ukraine.  They also have a web site.

Writing to the Archives
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Kremenets/General
_information_on_Kremenets/rusandpol.htm

Go to Chapter 14

Main Ukrainian Archives' Addresses -
www.lemko.org/genealogy/oblasts.html 

http://www.rtrfoundation.org/webart/UK-arch-c.pdf

To communicate by letter with anyone in Ukraine, or to request information on an ancestor from an Archives in Ukraine, one should know the appropriate modern Raion and Oblast of the ancestral village or town and the Russian Guberniya or Austrian Crown Colony.

There are a number of ways to find the proper address of your ancestral home.  One is to look in the 'Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World,' which lists the longitude and latitude of the location and should also list the Raion and Oblast.  You might also find the village on maps links on my pages or in Atlases in your local library.  More information can be found at
http://lemko.org/genealogy/oblasts.html 

The Ukrainian Archival system for family research is made up of:

  • the Main Archives in Kiev

  • the Central State Historical Archives in Kiev (TsDIA-K) for eastern Ukraine

  • the Central State Historical Archives in L'viv (TsDIA-L) for western Ukraine

  • the Oblast Archives in the 25 Oblasts

  • the registry of Vital Statistics Archives (Reyestratsiya akriv Hromadianskoho Stanu (RAHS) usually the same number in an Oblast as the Raions and usually based in the capital city of the Raion.  These are Archives for civil records from the past 75 to 100 years.

Addresses of Ukrainian Archives (in English), but far from complete
http://www.mtu-net.ru/rrr/ukraine.htm 

Another link source for Addresses For Archives in Western Ukraine and South-Eastern Poland
http://www.lemko.org/genealogy/addresses.html

Main Ukraine Archives

UKRAINA
252601 Kyiv
24 Solomyanska Street
Main Archival Administration
Attention: Dr. Ruslan Y. Pirig, Director
Telephone: 380/44/277-4522
Fax: 380/44/277-3655

Central State Historical Archives in Kiev and L'viv

UKRAINA
252601 Kyiv
24 Solomyanska Street
Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Kyiv
Attention: Olga Maruchak, Director

UKRAINA
290006 L'viv
3a Plaza Soborna
Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in L'viv
Attention: Orest Iaroslavoych Matsiuk, Director

The LDS Family History Library has no Jewish records for Chernivtsi.

Archives Addresses for Western Ukraine and SE Poland
http://lemkos/        
then click on  Genealogy and then click on Archives or
http://www.lemko.org/roots.html 
Rates for research vary, but this guide may help: billing research time: $15.00 to $100 per hour/assignment; Photocopying: $10.00 per page for 1 to 2 pages, more than 2 pages it is $5.00 per page.

Archive Addresses in Ukraine
http://www.lemko.org/roots.html 


http://www.infoukes.com/lists
then click on genealogy. 

Archives in Russia
http://www.maxpages.com/poland/Russian_Research 

Archives of the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast -
Derzhavnyi arkhiv Ivano-Frankivskoi Oblasti
vul. Hriunval'ds'ka, 3
284 019 Ivano Frankiv'sk
Ukraine
http://lemkos/  
 
then select Genealogy and then  Archives.

Central State Historical Archives in Kiev
UKRAINA
252601 Kiev - 110
vul. Solomianska, 24
Tsentralnyiderzhavny istorichyni arkhiv Ukraony, Kiev
(TsDIA-K)
Tel: 440-63-50

Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine -  L'viv Branch
UKRAINA
290008, L'viv - 8
pl. Soborna, 3-a
Tsentralnyi derzhavnyi istorychnyi arkhiv Ukraony, L'viv
(TsDIA-L)
Director: Orest Iaroslavoych Matsiuk
Deputy Director: Diana Peltc
E-mail archives@cl.lv.ukrtel.net
Tel/Fax: 011-380-322-72-35-08 (Ph. 72-30-63)

Ivan Svarnyk, Archivist & Historian states that they welcome inquiries in either Ukrainian or English.  The archives staff prefer to be contacted directly so they do not lose out on work.

A short article quoted individuals who state that the L'viv State Archive will be closed for an indefinite period beginning May 30, 2005 and was caused by a problem with the theft of documents from the Archive. A press release in English can be found at
http://www.archives.gov.ua/Eng/Archives/Lviv.php

 

Chernivtsi - has an Oblast Archives

Director of the Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine    
110 Solomianska Street
24252601 Kyiv  UKRAINE

(Note:  you can find the Ukrainian Cyrillic spelling of the above address at http://www.lemko.org/genealogy/galiciapl.html

Chernivtsi Oblast State Archives - State Archives of Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine, Derzhavnyi Arkhiv Chernivetskoi oblasti, 274001 Chernivtsi, vul. Shevchenka 2, UKRAINA.   Director is Ludmyla Anokhina, Phone (03722) 33214  Reading Room (03722) 24059 Fax: (03722) 32031 Hours: Monday through Thursday 9 to 6 pm, Friday from 9 to 5 pm  Closed Saturday and Sunday.

Dniepropetrovsk Region State Archives:  Send an e-mail to Dmitiri Meshkov, Vice-Director: dmitry@dsi.unity.net  who apparently will do genealogical research from documents in their possession, or from other archives on a fee-for-service basis.

Ivano-Frankivsk State Archives - is located in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.  Mail to Derzhavnyi Arkhiv Ivano-Frankivsk oblasti, 284000, Ivano-Frankivsk, vul. Sahaidachnoho 42A, Ukraina  Phone (38-03422) 63403
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ukrwgw/ivano/index.html 

Khmel'nyts'kiy State Oblast Archives
Kamenets' Podil'sk Filial
vul. Frantsyskans'ka 6
281 900 Kamenets-Podil'sk
Ukraine

L'viv Oblast Archives - inventory includes property records for many towns with the current borders of Western Ukraine and Eastern Poland according to a posting by Miriam Weiner on 6/28/04 to Gesher Galicia SIG forum

National Archives of the Ternopol Oblast
282001, Ternopol, Vulitsia Street of Zahaidachny 14

Director is Orest Laroslavoych Matsiuk; Deputy Director (Directress) is Diana Peltc archives@cl.lv.ukrtel.net  who, it has been noted, forwards personal researcher requests to a "freelancer"  who then increases the price, but the cost is still relatively reasonable  archives@cl.lv.ukrtel.net  Hours are Monday through Friday 9 to 3 pm.
http://lemkos/ 
 
 
then select Genealogy and then  Archives.                 

If possible, it is recommended that any correspondence be written in Ukrainian. 

According to Patricia Kennedy Grimsted in "Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the USSR", Princeton University 1988, the L'viv Archives holds Land Census Registers taken under Joseph II (1785-1788) and Francis I (1819-1820).  L'viv also has record books of land courts (zems'kyi sud, tabula of land "kraiova tabulia) and registration of property "knyhy zapysu mainovykh documentiv" although no dates are give for these.

State Committee on Archives
http://www.scarch.kiev.ua/ 

State Archives of Ternopil' Oblast (Galicia)
UKRAINA 282000
Ternopil'
vul. Sahaidachnoho, 14 Derzhavnyi arkhiv Ternopil' skoi oblasti
Director: Bohadan Khavarivsky
Telephone: (0352) 224495
Fax: (0352) 228618

Ukraine Main Archives
UKRAINA
252601, Kiev-110, MSP
vul. Solomyanska, 24
Holovne Arkhivne Upravlinnia Ukrainy
Attention: Georgiy Papakin, International Department

You can also contact the Consulate General of Ukraine in New York or the 
Embassy of Ukraine in Washington, D.C. to request documents from the Ukraine. In Canada, contact the Consulate General of Ukraine in Toronto.

TipWhen doing your own research in Ukraine, ask to speak to the director first, as this shows respect as a foreigner visiting their business.


Babyn Yar (Babi Yar)  - (The name means 'Old Woman's Ravine').  Within a few days of capturing Ukrainian cities like Lutsk, Zhitomir and Berdechev in the summer of 1941, over 33,000 Jews were killed in this natural ravine formed during the Ice Age and near an old Jewish cemetery. 

The German Einsatzgruppen C and D were assigned the responsibility of killing Jews and Political people.  The group was commanded by SS Standartfuehrer Paul Biobel.  Biobel's unit killed 33,771 Jews in less than two days - never equaled in any other death camp. After the war, Biobel was tried at Nuremberg and hanged on June 8, 1951.  

At the start of the war, Babi Yar was a ravine and outside of Kiev, but since shortly after the war, the area became incorporated into the city.  There is a "Book of Remembrance" edited by Joseph Vinokurov (& Kipnis & Levin) was published in 1983 by Publishing House Peace, Inc. PO Box 6162, Philadelphia, PA 19115. 

This book lists names and ages of victims and includes photographs and short essays.  Today it looks almost like a lovely park with massive stone works and is now in he middle of a residential area.

Postings for the Babi Yar photos at the Simon  Wiesenthal Center is http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/pages/t004/t00412.html 


Bank Transfer Costs - The cost of transfers by TT (Bank Wire) has two parts.  One where you pay to send money from your end.  This cost is around $10.  The second part is the cost from the corresponding bank (the destination country bank)  These charges are high. Bankers Trust Company of New York offers a transfer service, among others.


BRAMA - an interesting and informative commercial site that offers free access to Maps, photos, history, Embassy addresses, Armed Forces Information, Consulates and more
http://brama.com/


Cadastral Surveys - is a survey of land plots, who owns them and their value.


Carpatho-Rusyn Knowledge Base - provides information pertaining to Carpatho-Rusyn Culture, History, Genealogy, etc., as well as links to other web sites of interest
http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/ 
 


Carpathian Location Photos and Data - plus links to other sites of interest including a general location guide; sightseeing trips; L'viv photos, history and more 
http://www.ooyava.com/karpaty.html 


Carpathian Root seekers Guide To The Homeland - a list of Carpatho-Rusyn villages based on the 1910 Hungarian census for the Presov Region and Sub Carpathian Rus'; today located parts of Slovakia, Ukraine and Romania.
http://carpatho-rusyn.org/villages.htm 


Carpatho-Rusyn Society Genealogy Committee Home Page 
http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/gencom/index.html  
or e-mail ggressa@carpatho-rusyn.org   


Carpati - a documentary film about the remnant Jewish community in the Carpathian Mountains today.  Meet Zev, the Jewish ice cream man of a remote village in Ukraine's Carpathian Mountains, and journey with Zev as he goes home to his birthplace, carrying a Torah to the shul in which he grew up -- located only 50 miles away -- a place he has not been back to in 50 years.  This is a documentary feature shot and edited by David Notowitz and direct and written by Yale Strom.  Narrated by Leonard Nimoy 
www.remember.org/carpati 


Cave Survivors of WW II - The story of 38 Jews who survived the Holocaust in a Ukrainian cave - most of whom were members of the Stermer Family
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0406/q_n_a.html


Chief Rabbi of Ukraine - Ya'akov Bleich.  He has urged the pope to open Vatican archives so that children who were born Jewish, but were saved and raised by Catholics during WW II, could learn about their origins.


Colonies - Status 1858-1900
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Colonies_of
_Ukraine/from_the_hebrew_press_1958.htm


Consulate General of Ukraine, 240 East 49th Street, New York, New York 10017 - There is a $20 charge for ordering civil documents for each Birth, Marriage, Divorce, Death and Education document you request.  This site is also linked to many, many other sites for other countries and other types of information.
http://www.maxpages.com/poland/Ukrainian_Research 

Consulate of Ukraine in Toronto Canada - does not have the resources to handle genealogy enquiries.  They suggest that the Anketas should be submitted for research in the RAHS offices in Ukraine (i.e. for information from the past 75 years).  The Anketas, which provides RAHS with sufficient information to answer your questions,  can be downloaded on the internet from the Ukrainian Embassy in the U.S. site.


Cyndi's List - a must visit Category Index  site.   
http://www.cyndislist.com/nofrills.htm 

Cyndi's List Queries & Message Boards -
http://www.cyndislist.com/queries.htm 


Cyrillic

Note: additional information available at my 'Language' Page 

There are a number of major differences between the Russian and Ukrainian alphabetsThe Library of Congress rule for transliteration from Cyrillic to English uses "y" (pronounced like "y" in Plymouth) to render the Cyrillic 'backward "N" ' into English.  Refer to my Language web page on my site for more informative details and links

Cyrillic Fonts and Software is available at
www.cyrillic.com                                                     

Cyrillization - instructions on how to  enable your PC to communicate in Cyrillic (Russian/Ukraine) using newsreaders that run under MS Windows
http://www.lemko.org/lih/howtocyr.html

Cyrillic keyboard print out that is useful if you wish to translate Russian to English
http://rit.minsk.by/cgi-bin/mphones.pl  


East European Genealogical Society includes "Popular EEGS Ethnic groups" link to Jewish information at
http://www.GateWest.net

One of the best genealogy search engines for maps and more are at http://www.feefhs.org/ 


Electronic Library of Ukrainian Literature matches Ukrainian subjects with Internet technology. 
http://www.utoronto.ca/elul/


Embassy of Ukraine, 3350 M Street, NW, Washington, DC.  20007 Phone: 202 333 7507 or 7508 or 7509. Alternate Phone 202 333 0606  Fax: 202 333 7510  Ukrainian Consulate to obtain documents from Ukraine information: 
http://www.ukremb.com/

Embassy of Ukraine and more at
www.brama.com

Directory of Embassies Worldwide:
http://www2.tagish.co.uk/Links/CIS/Ukraine/Embof.htm


Envelope Addressing -  it is o.k. to address your mail in Latin alphabet, similar to the way you would in the US, in most large Ukrainian cities.  In smaller towns and villages, you are best off to address in Cyrillic letters and follow this format:

Country and Zip Code on first line, followed on the next line with the Oblast and Raion, followed on the next line the name of the village with the street house number/apartment number.  And the last line has the surname of the person with the first name last.    Example:

Ukraina 247001
obl.L'vivska, r-n Sambirskyis.
Khyshevychivul.Shevchenka 23/4
Zalizniaku Maksymovi 


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

Yellow Pages - in English
http://www.ukraine.org/www.ukrainet.lviv.ua/yellow/pages.htm


Famous Ukrainians List - a list of over three hundred people with links discussing their contributions.  The people listed were either born in what are today's boundaries of Ukraine, or were/are of Ukrainian ancestry 
http://www2.uwindsor.ca/~hlynka/ukfam.html 


FEEFHS Ukraine Research List -
http://www.mtu-net.ru/rrr/ukraine.htm


France - Ukraine - although the site is written in French and Cyrillic, you'll be able to determine that there is some interesting links including addresses and names
www.russie.net 


Gene Surname Registry -
http://www.genexchange.com/ 


Genealogy in Ukraine - Printed and cursive lettering  http://www.colby.edu/library/collections/technical_
services/wp/Cyrillic.html
   

Ukrainian Software Center - a web source for Ukrainian Software, Spell-checkers, Talking Translator/Dictionary, and   http://www.allvirtualware.com/ukrsoft/ 


GeneaNet - Genealogical Database Network - offers a surname search feature in English, Spanish, French, German, Holland and Swedish
http://www.geneanet.org/ 


Genealogy Exchange
http://www.mtu-net.ru/rrr/ukraine.htm


Genealogy Primer a very informative site, especially for beginners researching in Ukraine
http://www.infoukes.com/genealogy


GenWeb (World) - Ukraine - a source to help in researching Ukraine.  Many towns have disappeared or changed their names, some several times over the years.  This site will help guide you step by step to find information in your quest 
http://www.mtu-net.ru/rrr/ukraine.htm

http://www.rootsweb.com/~ukrwgw/ukrainetown.html 


General Facts About Ukraine - if you want to know about the country, then this site has a lot to offer and is about Ukraine today if you are interested in traveling there in the future.  

This site includes tips, money, credit cards, currency exchanges, barbers and beauty shops, tracing Genealogy Roots, photos of many cities and so much more
http://www.uazone.net/Ukraine_General.html 

and also a page dealing with a Guide to Kiev including photos http://www.uazone.net/Caption.html 

http://www.uazone.net/Ukraine_toc.html 


Government Institutions - includes those listed below.  Just click on the name

National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine
Supreme Rada of Ukraine
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
National Bank of Ukraine
Ministry of Agro industrial Complex of Ukraine
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine (Section of the Dnipro problems)
Ministry of Economy and European Integration of Ukraine
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
Ministry of Defence of Ukraine
Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine
Ministry of Health of Ukraine
Ministry of Fuel and Power of Ukraine
Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of Ukraine
Ministry of Ukraine of Emergencies and Affairs of Population Protection from the Consequences of Chernobyl Catastrophe
Ministry of Finances of Ukraine
Ministry of Justice of Ukraine
Rating agency of industry
State Committee of Standardization, Metrology, and Certification of Ukraine
State Committee of Energy Conservation of Ukraine
State Committee of Ukraine on Regulatory Policy and Enterprise Problems
State Committee on Nationalities and Migration of Ukraine
State Taxation Administration of Ukraine
Security Service of Ukraine
Counting Chamber of Ukraine
Central Election Commission
Higher Arbitration Court of Ukraine
The Official Site of Kyiv' s Government
Chernobyl Information Center
National Radio Company of Ukraine

http://www.ukremb.com/about/links_aboutukraine.html


Guberniyas in Ukraine List - Click here


Historical Vital Statistics - books of Roman Catholic parishes that were formerly located in western Ukraine are now in three potential archives: 1.) Polish State Archives of Ancient Documents in Warsaw (the Zabuzanski Collection) 2.) Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine in L'viv or 3.) Local registries (RAHS).  Also the FHL (Mormon Family History Library) may have already microfilmed these records.

Kahlile Mehr is the Ukraine expert working for the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.


Holocaust - a compilation of Holocaust victims has been translated into English and is available at
http://www.jewishgen.org//yizkor/ 


Holocaust & Genocide Studies:
www.webster.edu/~woolflm/holocaust.html


Immigration records from Ukraine have never proved to be of value, but birth, marriage and death records are available through Ukrainian Archives.


Infoukes --- a commercial Ukrainian Web Site
http://infoukes.com/

with lots of links to various subject along with an active discussion group about many Ukrainian-based subjects.   Check out the "archives" for more information, once you are at their home page: 
http://infoukes.com/

http://www.rootsweb.com/~ukrwgw/whatsnew.html

Infoukes Mailing List and Archives

http://www.infoukes.com/lists
Click on genealogy or use this site
http://www.infoukes.com/lists/genealogy/ 
Infoukes, Inc. Suite 185,
3044 Bloor Street West,
Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada M8X 2Y8
Phone (416) 236 4865 Fax (416) 766 5704

Infoukes Archives:
http://www.infoukes.com/lists/genealogy/


Jewish Communities Directory - a  current list of current of leaders names and address in the Jewish communities of Ukraine 
http://www.jewish.kiev.ua/Directory1.htm 

Also view this site 
http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/text/x32/xm3274.html 

Association of Jewish Organizations & Communities of Ukraine
Kiev 252049, Ukraine

Jewish Confederation of Ukraine
Kiev 42 - 01042, Ukraine

Jewish Council of Ukraine
Kiev 252103, Ukraine

Jewish Foundation of UkraineKiev 34 - 01034, Ukraine - includes photos and information on Kiev, Berdichev, Zhitomir, Vinnitsa, Chernivtsi, Uman, Nikolayev and Odessa
http://www.jfu.kiev.ua/jew.htm 


JewishGen ShtetlSeeker - locate your town (shtetl) - http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlseeker/loctown.htm


Jewish Heritage Report - an article written by E. Sololova reports his personal experiences in "Search of Jewish Cemeteries in the Ukraine" is in the Winter 1997/98 issue at 
http://www.isjm.org/jhr/IInos1-2/ukraine.htm?Brodsky

but start with
http://www.isjm.org 


Jewish Life in Ukraine at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century
http://www.jcpa.org/jl/jl451.htm

http://www.fsumonitor.com/

Jewish Community Federation of Louisville offers a story by Shiela Steinman Wallace of a trip she made to Ukraine entitled: "From Babi Yar to Hillel: Jewish Life in Ukraine"
http://www.jewishlouisville.org/overseas/jewishlifeukraine.shtml

http://www.risu.org.ua/

Under Jewish Communities (on left of page), you will find a link to Jewish Life


Jewish National and University Library, Jerusalem - The Vernadsky Library at the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences has microfilmed records
http://jnul.huji.ac.il/


Jewish-Ukrainian Bibliography - a selected annotated bibliography of resources in English by Andrew Gregorovich - 116 pages.
http://www.infoukes.com/forum/bibliography.html 


Languages spoken links
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9479/tables.html 

Check out this site which posts a different article or activity that may teach you something about the Ukrainian culture including the language http://www.nazdorovya.com/learn.htm 

The Ethnologue is a catalogue of more than 6,700 languages spoken in 228 countries.  The Ethnologue Name Index lists over 39,000 language names, dialect names and alternate names and organizes languages according to language families
http://www.sil.org/ethnologue

The Rusyn language is classified as an Indo-European, East Slavic language Rusyn is described as a dialect of Ukrainian http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/families/Indo-European.html  

The Ukrainian Language Alphabet - here you will find a clear copy of the Cyrillic characters making up the Ukrainian language.  There are other links, as well, dealing with Ukraine.
http://www.sandiegoinsider.com/community/groups/ukraine/
The_Ukrainian_Langua.html


Lemko (a group of Ukrainians from a mountainous area of Ukraine - also known as Ruthians) offers much information about the country, history, religion, etc.  http://www.lemko.org/index.html

I would also highly recommend contacting Walter Maksimovich - and Lavrentiy Krupnak, President of East Europe Connection at lkrupnak@erols.com  Both of these gentlemen are experts on the subject of Ukraine. http://www.lemko.org/genealogy/galiciapl.html

Lemko (Ukrainian) plenty of interesting and useful links
http://lemko.org/index.html 
Click on Genealogical Research on the Home Page or any other button including Uni-Mapper's Map Server.  There is a Ukrainian Transliteration Table, photo sites and much more of value to the Jewish researcher.

Lemko (Ukrainian) Music:
http://listen.to/lemkomusic


Library of Congress -
http://www.loc.gov/catalog/ 

For a contact regarding Ukrainian information, try Jurij Dobczansky, M.L.S. Senior Slavic Librarian & Recommending officer for Ukraine, Social Sciences Cataloging Division, Library of Congress 101 Independence Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20540-4362  Phone: (202) 707 3080  Fax: (202) 707 6421  E-mail: jdob@loc.gov


Microfilmed Records - Ukrainian -
http://www.mtu-net.ru/rrr/ukraine.htm


Click here > Maps of Ukraine also see Ukrainian Shtetls

                             Administration Districts of Ukraine


Military

Jewish boys from age 12 to 18 , if they were found,  were uprooted from their families for at least 25 years, to serve in the Army.  They were called Canonists and either died of starvation, or were forced to convert to Christianity.  Many never returned to their home.  This system lasted 29 years and involved over 40,000 Jewish boys during that period of time. 
http://www.jewish-history.com/cantons.htm 

"Powstanski Mohyly: Memorial Book Fallen on the Field of Glory"  Names and biographies of 507 UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or Ukrainian Partisan Army ) soldiers who gave their lives from 1947-1956 in the defense of their native land and people, but until now had remained anonymous.  Published in Ukrainian.
http://www.infoukes.com/upa/related/mohyly.html

and 'Introduction to the series' in English
http://www.infoukes.com/upa/

Soldiers from the village of Iezupil, Tysmenytskyi Raion, Ivano-Frankivska Oblast that are in the above book who may be Jewish: Biletskyi, Kushnir, Sokolyk, 

Cossack Information - at this site you can find information about the infamous Cossacks, including uniform designs and history of the Cossacks 
www.cossackweb.com 
Click on English


Ukrainian Money  

Paper currency "Hryvnia" currently used in Ukraine
http://www.uazone.net/Hryvnia/hryvnia.html

Ukraine is a cash economy.  Use of credit cards is limited to the better hotels, western style restaurants, international airlines and select stores  The money is known as Hryvnia.  One hundred Russian kopeks to the Hryvnia.  The Hryvnia, also spelled Hryvna or Grivna (UHR) was introduced on September 2, 1996.  It replaced the old 'Coupon' aka 'Karbovanets' which was a temporary currency used in Ukraine during the period of separation from the ruble zone
http://www.uazone.net/Hryvnia/ 

Daily Currency Exchange Rates
www.brama.com

and if you wish, you can have the UFM Weekly Digest, a free publication, which give current quotes.  Send a message to nserv@litech.lviv.ua with the command FEED ukrainet.ufm.digest  in the body. 

Hryvna - The Official Currency of Ukraine. This site includes a Hryvna Currency converter.
http://www.uazone.net/Hryvnia/ 

Other sites relating to Hryvnia includes        

http://www.uazone.net/Hryvnia/index.html 

http://www.uazone.net/Hryvnia/kopiyka.html 

http://www.bank.gov.ua/ENGL/Bank_coin/histor_grn.htm

http://koiwww.relc.com/kiev/money/emoney.htm 

http://www.museum.com.ua/en/fondu/history.html   

 www.brama.com 

www.bobbutler.com/ 


Mormon (Family History Centers) Ukrainian resources are available at www.familysearch.org

where the Mormons have microfilmed the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Records back to the 17th century. You will need to visit a FHC to order the films but you can determine which films are available from the FHC on-line catalog.  An alternate site is
http://www.infoukes.com/culture/lemkos

and then drill down for information.


Naming customs in Poland and Ukraine: http://www.rootsweb.com/~polwgw/naming.html 

Many surnames came from the names of predecessors or areas of the country or a connection to a trade or even a person's character, physical or personal. 


Nasze Slowo, Ukrainian Newspaper that offers classified ads to help find your families -  
http://free.ngo.pl/nslowo  

Approximate cost: $25.00 to advertise for those who are looking for anyone who had Ukrainian family in southeast Poland which was dispossessed by the Poles in 1946-7 and sent to either western Ukraine or Northeast Poland   e-mail nslowo@free.ngo.pl Address: Redakcja, Nasze Slowo, ul, Nowogrodzka 15,00-511 Warszawa Telephone:621 37 55 Fax: 621 37 50
http://www.optimus.waw.pl/com/nslowo/  

Ukrainian Weekly Archive
http://www.ukrweekly.com/


OzeUkes is the electronic voice of the Ukrainian community in Australia - containing news and events in all Australian States. It is an information service of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations. WestozzieUkes can be contacted via e-mail: kozak@p085.aone.net.au 
http://www.home.aone.net.au/mandycza  


Photographs of Ukraine -
UKRAINE- Womb of Mother Russia

Photographs - the Brody (Ukraine) Yizkor Book website hosted by JewishGen