Czechia Jewish Registers

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Records of the former Jewish communities of the entire Czech Republic are located at the National Archives in Prague. This priceless collection contains more than 3,000 volumes of Jewish birth, marriage, and death registers that cover Bohemia, Moravia, and the Czech part of Silesia for the period 1784-1949.

• Many records of the former Jewish communities of the entire Czech Republic are online at the National Archives in Prague. To learn more, click here. For a tutorial on how to navigate the website, watch this video.

Digitized books online:

• Matriky židovských náboženských obcí v českých krajích (fond 167) = birth, marriage, and death registries of Jewish religious communities in Czechia
• Židovská komise Praha (fond 190) = Jewish Commission of Prague
  • includes handwritten index to marriage permissions
  • original permission books are held at the National Archives but are not yet digitized
• Židovské kontrolní matriky (fond 144) = Jewish registers kept by Roman Catholic parishes in Bohemia (those from Moravia have not survived)
• Knihy židovských familitanů (fond 29) = Jewish familiant books

Not yet digitized:

• Soupisy židů Praha (fond 191) = census lists of Jews in Prague in 1724, 1783, 1793, 1799, and 1811.
• Rada židovských náboženských obci (fond 161) = Council of Jewish religious communities
• Registratura zemského židovstva (fond 164) = Registry of Provincial Jews
• Ředitelstvi židovských berní (fond 143) = Jewish Tax Directorate

Step-by-step Instructions:

• Go to vademecum.nacr.cz
  • Change the language to English in the top corner.
  • Select the red button labeled "Pomůcky v elektronické podobě."
  • Under the tab labeled "Výběr" on the right, toggle "specific selection of finding aids" (in Czech, "Specifický výběr pomůcek") to green.
  • Start typing the name of the fond you want in "Name of Fond" (in Czech, "Název fondu") or put the fond number in the field labeled "NAD sheet No." (in Czech, "Číslo listu NAD").
    • For the fond name: In the "Name of Fond" (in Czech, "Název fondu") field, start typing in one of the fond name options under the "Digitized books online" heading above; for example, Matriky židovských náboženských obci will bring up registers of Jewish communities in Czechia.
    • Or, for the fond number: In the "NAD sheet No." (in Czech, "Číslo listu NAD") field, start typing in one of the fond number options under the same heading above; for example, 167 will bring up the same registers of Jewish communities in Czechia.
  • Select the fond name or number from the dropdown menu and click the magnifying glass at the bottom to search.
  • Click on the magnifying glass on the top right to search.
  • Click on the name of the fond in the search results. (If it displays 0 results, then there are no digitized books available yet).
  • Click on the icon labeled "Listování v pomůcce" to view the towns included in the collection.
    • If you do not see the attachment symbol by the book titles, click the list icon (hovering over this icon shows the label "zobrazit seznam").
    • This should open up all the books available with digital images.
  • Click on the relevant synagogue/community location in the list on the right. If you do not know which synagogue/Jewish community you need to look for records from, refer to the "Determining the Jewish Community/Synagogue of Your Town" section of the Czechia Jewish Records page, which will also walk you through how to potentially locate an index linked directly to the record online.
  • Click on the title of a book in the central part of the page. This will take you to a page with the image of the first page and certain details, such as which villages are included in the book.
    • If an index is listed on a separate line immediately below your synagogue/community of interest, click on the index book to browse.
  • Click on the image to open the book.
  • Alternatively, to skip the details page and open the book directly, click on the paper clip icon to the right of a book title, then click on the mountain icon (labeled "zobrazit v plné kvalitě 95 skenů") that appears next to the paper clip.

In the meantime the archive will respond to a written request from an individual. Click here for contact information.

The collection inventory organized by town name is available on the website of the National Archive. Locality index is helpful in determining which register to order.