Germans from Russia Records at the Family History Library

Microform Records

The Family History Library presently has more than 1,350 microfilms and microfiche containing information about German speaking people from Russia. Most of the library's records have been obtained through an extensive acquisition program. The library has microform copies of records found in government archives, church archives, and private collections. These records include:

•		Birth, marriage, and death records from churches in the St. Petersburg Lutheran Consistory (135 rolls).

•		Lutheran church records of Roschischtsche which had jurisdiction over German settlements in western Volhynia.

•		Hamburg Passenger Lists (486 rolls).

2-		Revision Lists (750 rolls), that is, censuses taken for tax purposes.

The library has acquired German-Russian records from areas in the Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, and western Russia.

However, the library does not have records for every time period or locality in Russia. For example, the library has only a few records from the German settlements on the Volga River (mostly after their relocation to the United States), or from the Caucasus.

Printed Records

The library has dozens of volumes of books and other printed materials helpful for Germans from Russia research. Copies of some of these books are available in microform. These include such books as:

•	Church inventories.

•	Family histories.

•	Gazetteers.

•	Handbooks and manuals.

•	Histories (national and local).

FAMILYSEARCH

FamilySearch is a powerful computer system that helps to simplify family history work. The FamilySearch system includes computer files of family history information. The files are gathered from many different sources, and more files will be added in the future.

Once a person using FamilySearch selects a file and types in a name, the computer will search the selected file to find any names that match. The computer even matches last names that are spelled differently but sound the same. It can guide users from the matches they find to full screens of information, including dates and places of birth, marriage, and death and names of parents, children, and spouses.

FamilySearch is available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City; at hundreds of Family History Centers; and at some public and private libraries in the United States, Canada, and a number of other countries. FamilySearch is also available on the Internet at www.familysearch.com.

The FamilySearch files useful for German-Russian research include:

•	Ancestral File. Ancestral File contains family history information gathered from family group sheets and pedigrees that have been contributed since 1979. The file already contains millions of names. You may contribute your family history information to Ancestral File. For more information, see the library publication, Contributing Information to Ancestral File (34029) available at the Family History Library, through Family History Centers, and on the Internet.

•	Family History Library Catalog. The Family History Library Catalog on FamilySearch is an automated edition of the Family History Library's catalog. The automated edition simplifies use of the catalog. It allows you to quickly find information, including library call numbers, on sources held by the library.

•	International Genealogical Index. The International Genealogical Index provides the names and vital information including birth, christening, or marriage dates of more than 287,000 deceased people who lived in the Russian Empire, including Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, the Ukraine, and parts of Romania. The index includes names submitted by other researchers. In addition, the Ordinance Index lists Latter-day Saint temple ordinance information for names on the International Genealogical Index.

•	Social Security Death Index. The Social Security Death Index lists all the people in the United States who held social security numbers and who died between 1962 and 1988. The index can lead to other social security records which may provide your ancestor's birthplace in Russia.

Other files will be added to FamilySearch as they become available.

THE FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY CATALOG

The key to finding a record in the Family History Library's collection is the Family History Library Catalog. The catalog describes each of the library's records and provides the call numbers. The catalog is available on compact disc as part of FamilySearch and on microfiche. It is at the Family History Library, at each Family History Center, and on the Internet at www.familysearch.com.

The Family History Library Catalog on compact disc has five types of searches:

•	Locality Search. •	Film Number Search. •	Locality Browse. •	Computer Number Search. •	Surname Search.

The Family History Library Catalog on microfiche is divided into four major searches:

•	Locality. •	Surname. •	Subject. •	Author/Title.

To find the call numbers of the records described in this outline, you will most often use the Locality Search on microfiche or the Locality Search on compact disc. The section headings in this outline that describe types of records, such as “Church Records,” are the same as the topic headings found in the Family History Library Catalog Locality Search.

The catalog generally uses the same language that the records are written in to describe the records. The description includes a brief English summary of the content.

The Locality Search lists records according to the area they cover. Records relating to the entire nation are listed under RUSSIA (EMPIRE). Most records are listed under a specific town or city. You may need to look at each geographic level (country, province [guberniia], or town) to find all the records that apply to the locality in which you are interested.

For example, in the Locality Search look for:

•	The place where an ancestor lived, such as:

EUROPE	(continent) RUSSIA (EMPIRE)	(nation) RUSSIA (EMPIRE), TAVRIDA	(nation, province) RUSSIA (EMPIRE), TAVRIDA, FRIEDENTAL	(nation, province, town)

•	Then the record type you want, such as:

EUROPE - NOBILITY RUSSIA (EMPIRE) - GAZETTEERS RUSSIA (EMPIRE), TAVRIDA - MINORITIES RUSSIA (EMPIRE), TAVRIDA, FRIEDENTAL - CHURCH RECORDS

The catalog is based on Russia’s structure as it existed prior to 1917. For additional information, see the “Gazetteers,” “Historical Geography,” “History,” and “Map” sections of this outline.

This outline also provides some of the library's call numbers. These are preceded by FHL, the abbreviation for Family History Library. The Computer Number Search is the fastest way to find a source in the catalog. Use the computer number if you have access to a computer catalog.

If you need more information on using the Family History Library Catalog, a short video program, written instructions, and librarians are available to help you.

German-Russian Records Listed under Other Countries

In addition to entries under RUSSIA (EMPIRE), the Family History Library Catalog also lists records of German-speaking people who were once part of the Russian Empire under Belarus, Estonia, Georgia (Gruziya), Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Ukraine. Examples of localities that now belong to those countries, for example:

•	Belarus and Poland. For example, records from the town of Ostashin appears under three headings:

RUSSIA (EMPIRE), MINSK, OSTASHIN BELARUS, OSTASHIN (MINSK) POLAND, NOWOGRÓDEK, OSTASZYN

•	Bessarabia. Records from Bessarabia also appear under both Moldova and Romania. For example, the city of Kishinev appears under three headings:

RUSSIA (EMPIRE), BESSARABIA, KISHINEV MOLDOVA, KISHINEV (KISHINEV) ROMANIA, LĂPUŞNA, CHIŞINĂU •	Georgia (Gruziya). For example, records from the city of Tiflis appears under two headings:

RUSSIA (EMPIRE), TIFLIS, TIFLIS GEORGIA (GRUZIYA), TBILISI

•	Ukraine. Ukrainian localities are listed by the Soviet oblast. For example, records from the town of Lustdorf appear under two headings:

RUSSIA (EMPIRE), KHERSON, LUSTDORF UKRAINE, ODESA, CHORNOMORKA

•	The portion of East Prussia [Ostpreußen] which is now part of Russia is also listed under Germany. For example, the city of Königsberg is listed under two headings:

RUSSIA (REPUBLIC), KALININGRAD, KALININGRAD GERMANY, PREUßEN, OSTPREUßEN, KÖNIGBERG

“Minorities” Locality Topic

In addition to the regular Locality Search places and topics, you can also find records of Germans from Russia listed in the Locality Search under:

RUSSIA (EMPIRE) - MINORITIES RUSSIA (EMPIRE), [PROVINCE] - MINORITIES

Subject Search Topics

The Subject Search of the Family History Library Catalog is also a good place to search for records of Germans from Russia under topics like:

GERMANS - ARGENTINA GERMANS - NEBRASKA GERMANS - POLAND GERMANS - RUSSIA

GERMANY - COLONIES

RUSSIAN GERMANS