Belarus Jewish Records

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Historical Background

 * Lithuanian Jews inhabited what is present-day Belarus. To learn of their history, read the Wikipedia.org article Lithuanian Jews, by clicking here.
 * Explore this Jewish genealogy site dedicated to the memory of the Jews exterminated and displaced from the Belarusian Shtetls by the Nazis.

Find the Town
In order to research your family in Belarus, it is essential that you have identified the place where they came from. It is not enough to know only 'Belarus;' you must know the town or shtetl that they came from. In addition to research in the records of the country the immigrated to, you may also want to examine the following sources to help you determine possible town locations.

JewishGen Family Finder

 * The Family Finder is a database of both ancestral hometowns and surnames that have been researched by their descendants world wide. The Family Finder allows you to connect with others who are researching similar ancestors and origins and collaborate your research. To add the surnames and locations you are researching, click on Modify (Edit your existing entries) or Enter (Add new entries). Type in the surnames and/or locations of interest and hit Submit. To search the database and see if you can connect to family members and other researchers, choose Search (Search the database) from the Town Finder home page. You can search for a surname and/or a town. Search results will appear in a chart format giving you the surname, town, country, and researcher information (often includes contact information) and the date they last logged into JewishGen.

Miriam Weiner's Surname Database
aUsing the Surname Database on Miriam Weiner's Routes to Roots Foundation website can help narrow down a more specific location for where individuals lived who shared your ancestor's surname.


 * Use the Standard Surname Database if you know your ancestor's given name, surname, or town name. This database is comprised of name lists from local historians and heads of Jewish communities, name lists from books, and name lists from various archives.
 * Use the OCR Surname Database (optical character recognition) to search for your ancestor's surname in either the Latin alphabet or in Cyrillic. This database is comprised of information from business directories, address calendars, telephone books, typed name lists, and name lists from books and from archives.

Maps and Gazetteers
Once you have determined the town your ancestor came from, the next step is locating the town in a map or a gazetteer. This will help you to identify political boundaries, place names, alternate spellings, etc. Gazetteers and historical maps are especially useful for understanding boundary changes or finding communities that no longer exist. In your research, in gazetteers, pay attention to the town's district and province as this will help you locate records such as the 1897 Census and Revision List records.

JewishGen Gazetteer

 * The JewishGen Gazetteer is a useful online gazetteer for locations in Eastern Europe. Note that wild card searches are not supported. To view an entry page, click on the Jewish star to the left of the town name. Entry pages provide jurisdictions for before WWI, the interwar period, after WWII and modern-day. Alternate names and Yiddish and Russian spellings are also included. In the center, you'll find a map and a list of additional Jewish communities located nearby. Finally, under Additional Information and in the green box at the top, you'll find links to references and additional resources that may help you in your research.

Radzima

 * The Radzima Gazetteer is a useful online tool for locations in Belarus, parts of Poland and Lithuania. In addition to searching by place name, you can also browse locations by governorates (gubernia), voivodeships, and modern day regions by clicking here. Radzima also includes historic maps.

Maps of your Ancestor's Town

 * Miriam Weiner's website offers select historical maps of Belarus, as well as a variety of historical images from towns in Belarus that may prove useful in your family history.


 * To view present-day Belarus at Google Maps, click here.
 * For a map showing the percentage of Jews in the Pale of Settlement and Congress Poland, c. 1905, click here.
 * To view an additional historical map showing the historical percentage of Jews in governments, click here.

1897 Census
The 1897 Russian Imperial Census was the first and only census carried out in the Russian Empire. The census enumerated the entire population of the Empire (excluding Finland), but after statistical data was gathered, many of the census returns were destroyed. There are, however; surviving census returns for many locations throughout Ukraine. Use the resources below to help you determine if census records survive for your ancestor's shtetl and how to access them. Use the Reading the 1897 Census "How to" Guide to learn how to read census records.

JewishGen (indexed records)
1897 census records still exist for areas in the Grodno gubernia. These records have been indexed and are available through the JewishGen Belarus Database.

Revision and Family Lists
Revision lists are enumerations of the taxable population (most Jews in the Russian Empire fell into a taxable social class). There were ten revisions taken sporadically from 1772-1858. These records are a foundational source in genealogical research as they provide names, ages, and relationships.

Supplemental Lists, also known as Family Lists, can be found ranging from about 1860 through the end of the nineteenth century. They are similar in format to revision lists and are often grouped with revision list records in an archive.

JewishGen (indexed records)
Many Belarusian revision list records have been indexed and are available through the JewishGen Belarus Database. To read more about the collection, click here.

FamilySearch (digital images)
There may also be records available through the FamilySearch Catalog. Revision list records are catalogued at the uyezd (district level). To see if records are available for your ancestor's district, click here.

Vital Records
Throughout the Russian Empire, birth, marriage, divorce, and death records were required to be kept by the Jewish community beginning in 1835. Jewish records were generally kept in a tabular format with the left-side of the page in Russian and the right-side of the page in Hebrew. Vital records are available online in both indexed and digital image formats.

JewishGen (indexed records)
Many Belarusian vital records have been indexed and are available through the JewishGen Belarus Database. For more information about Births, Marriages/Divorces, and Deaths in the JewishGen Belarus Database click on the hyperlink above.

FamilySearch (digital images)
There may also be records available through the FamilySearch Catalog.


 * a. Click here to access catalog entries for Belarus.
 * b. Click on Places within Belarus and a list of gubernia will appear.
 * c. Click on the gubernia, then select Places within [Name of Gubernia].
 * d. From there, a list of uyezdi will appear.
 * e. Click on Places within [Name of Gubernia, Name of Uyezd]
 * f. Click on the Jewish Record topic (it may be found at either the town or uyezd level). Click on the blue links to view specific record titles.
 * e. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the listing for the record. The magnifying glass indicates that the record is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the records. A camera with a key on top means the record is viewable but with certain restrictions that may mean the record can only be viewed at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, a Family History Center, or FamilySearch Affiliate Library. Take a look at the Family History Center Finder to discover a location near you.

Cemeteries

 * JewishGen Belarus Database - includes entries from the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry.
 * International Jewish Cemetery Project - includes information about Jewish cemeteries in Belarus.
 * Indexing Historic Graves in Belarus - a growing index of historic tombstones located in Belarus. There are several ongoing projects in Jewish cemeteries.
 * Jewish Roots, database of tombstone inscriptions in former Russian Empire countries. The site should be searched in Russian.

Holocaust

 * European Holocaust Research Infrastructure Online Portal offers information on Holocaust archival material held in institutions in Europe and throughout the world.
 * Arolsen Archives, also known as the International Center on Nazi Persecution, is one of the largest archives on the victims of Nazi persecution. Many of their holdings are available to research online.
 * Yad Vashem Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names is a database of victims of the Holocaust.
 * Belarus Holocaust Memorials Project works to place memorials at the locations of Nazi massacres of the Belarusian Jewish community.

Yizkor Books
Yizkor books are memorial books commemorating a Jewish community that was destroyed during the Holocaust. Books are usually published by former residents and records the remembrance of homes, people and ways of life lost during World War II. Most books are written in Yiddish or Hebrew, but in recent years, many have been translated and made available online. You may wish to refer to the Glossary of Yizkor Book Terms list to help you.


 * Take a look at the JewishGen Yizkor Book Project to locate a translation or Yizkor book for your locality of interest.
 * Use Genealogy Indexer to find indexes to over 364 Yizkor books.
 * The New York Public Library has a large collection of Yizkor books, and many have been digitized.
 * The Family History Library has copies of many Yizkor books. Check the FamilySearch Catalog for availability for your town.

Genealogy Indexer
Genealogy Indexer is a free database that provides access to thousands of records including city directories from the Russian Empire, Yizkor books, WWI casualty lists and other military records, as well as school records. Links to the original records are included.

Miriam Weiner Routes to Roots Foundation
Use the Archive Database to locate what records exist for your ancestor's town, and where to find them. Search for the name of your ancestor's locality, and the database will provide results for known surviving records from that location, and where the records are held. (Remember to adjust the search criteria for Soundex options or spelling variations).

This database contains documents such as army/recruit lists, family lists and census records, Jewish vital records (birth, marriage, death, divorce), immigration documents, voter and tax lists, property and notary records, Holocaust documents, police files, and pogrom documents (school records, occupation lists, local government and hospital records).


 * See Routes to Roots Foundation and hover over Belarus for a Genealogical and Family History guide to Jewish and civil records in Eastern Europe

Jewish Roots
The Еврейские Корни (Jewish Roots) site is an excellent resource to help you locate archival documents. The website is in Russian, but if you are using the Google Chrome browser, siimply right click anywhere on the page and select Translate to English. Search using the name of the town (find the Cyrillic spelling of the town on JewishGen Town Finder) to see what archival records might be available for your location. In addition to the database, use the Forum to connect with other researchers and find other potential resources for your location.

Archives of Belarus

 * View the Archives of Belarus home page by clicking here. Includes a "Contacts" link.
 * Discover over 50 web pages of Jewish information available online at the Archives of Belarus by clicking here to search. Follow up by starting a search for the word "Jewish" and clicking the "Search" button.

Historical Photos
The Image Database on Miriam Weiner's website contains photographs and postcard views of many towns and cities throughout Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Lithuania, Poland, and other select countries dating back to the early 1900s. These include pre-WWI and current town views, photos of synagogues, Jewish cemeteries, and Holocaust memorials. Even if you are unable to find a picture of your ancestor's town, it may still be interesting to see what other towns in the area looked like, which will allow you to a get a feel of what life may have been like for your ancestor.

Reading Records
Belarusian Jewish records are most commonly written in Russian or Hebrew. Use the resources in this list to help you learn how to read the records. You may also consider using a free translation service such as the FamilySearch Community (Be sure to post in the Russian Empire Genealogy Research group or tag @RussianEmpireGenealogyResearch in your question) or JewishGen View Mate.

Russian

 * The Russian Alphabet "How to" Guide
 * Deciphering the Handwriting and Understanding the Grammar "How to" Guide
 * Russian Genealogical Word List
 * FamilySearch Learning Center - Russian Handwriting Courses

Hebrew

 * Reading Hebrew Tombstones
 * National Jewish Outreach Program Hebrew Resources
 * Hebrew Naming and How to Read Hebrew Headstones (YouTube Video)

Additional Resources

 * JewishGen Belarus SIG
 * Belarus Jewish Family History Research Guide
 * Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus
 * Jewish Genealogy and More: Belarus
 * JewishGen Kehila Links: Belarus, Georgia & Russia
 * Belarusians in Israel (Russian language)
 * B&F Compendium of Jewish Genealogy - Belarus