Jewish records, including synagogue records, contain information specifically about Jews. These include vital records (births, marriages, divorces, and deaths) prepared by or for Jewish communities, registers of name changes, account books of congregations, circumcision records, and burial records. Synagogue records are listed in the Family History Library Catalog under Jewish Records, but they have a separate section in this outline.

Jews generally did not keep vital records unless required to do so by law. In most countries Jews are recorded in the civil registration or vital records along with people of other religions. For example, when civil registration started in France in 1792 and the Netherlands in 1795, Jews were recorded with the rest of the population.

Some countries required separate Jewish vital records be kept. After 1826–1835, many countries of Europe required separate registers to be kept of Jews. Although these separate registers were a form of civil registration, they are listed in the Family History Library Catalog as Jewish Records.

For information about the relationship between Jewish records, civil registration, and church records, see “Vital Records” in this outline.

Records kept of Jews are not the same from country to country or from time period to time period. Even within the same country Jewish records can vary from region to region. An example from Austria is given at the end of this section.

Many records of Jews kept by local governments or by Jews themselves, especially for cities of Europe that had significant Jewish populations, have been microfilmed. For example, there are Jewish records at the Family History Library for marriage contracts [ketubah], circumcision records [bris], burial and cemetery records, and other Jewish records from Amsterdam that date back to 1580. Excellent records of German and Portuguese Jewish communities during the 18th century are found in cities such as Bordeaux, France. Other Jewish records include:

Matrikel, 1826–1938 (Metrical Books, 1826–1938). Wien: Niederösterreichischen Stadt und Landesarchive, 1980. (On 236 FHL films beginning with 1175370.) Registers of births, marriages, and deaths in the city of Vienna from 1826–1938.

Matrykua, 1826–1866 (Metrical Books, 1826–1866). Warszawa: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1968. (FHL film 0689510–0689556.) Registers of births, marriages, and deaths in the city of Warsaw from 1826–1866.

Juden und Dissidenten–Register, 1812–1874 (Jews and Dissidents’ Register, 1812–1874). Berlin: Staatsarchiv, 1938. (On 44 FHL films beginning with 0477280.) Registers of births, marriages, and deaths in the city of Berlin from 1812–1874.

Examples of some published Jewish Records are:

Attal, Robert. Registres Matrimoniaux de la communauté juive portugaise de Tunis aux XVIIIe et XIXe siècles (Marriage Registers of the Portuguese Jewish Community of Tunis [Tunisia] from the 18th and 19th Centuries). Jérusalem: Institut Ben-Zvi, 1989. (FHL book 961.1 F2a.)

Margolinsky, Jul. Jødiske dødsfald i Danmark 1693–1976 (Jewish Deaths in Denmark 1693–1976). København: Dansk Historisk Håndbogsforlag, 1978. (FHL book 948.9 V22m.)