Bulgaria Jewish Records

Most of the archival material of the Sofia Jewish community was burned by the community iself before Jews were deported from the capital during World War II. However, Sofia death registers that cover a period of at least 100 years still exist. In the municipal government administration, vital records exist from 1878, the year Bulgaria became independent.

The Central Archives for the history of the Jewish People in Jerusalem holds microfilmed group passports of the immigrants who arrived in Israel from all Jewish-Bulgarian communities between October 1948 and May 1949. The archive also has lists of immigrant surnames by ship and different Jewish records covering various time periods from Kiustendil, Pazardjik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Ruse, Sofia and Varna.

Administratively, Bulgaria is divided into twenty six districts. Each has an archive where civil registration records are preserved. There are no vital records in the National Historical Archive in Sofia.

Records at the Family History Library

The Family History Library has microfilms of civil registration for the districts of Sofia and Plovdiv. In the Family History Library Catalog, look in the Place Search under BULGARIA, [DISTRICT], [LOCALITY] - CIVIL REGISTRATION.