Slovakia Jewish Records: Difference between revisions

Jewish Records refer to records about Jews (non-vital) and records of Jewish births, marriages, and deaths (vital). Non-vital Jewish records were created as Jewish communities kept account books, bought property, or had dealings with rulers and local governments. Records pertaining to Jews and Jewish congregation exist from the 1500s. Jews in Hungary generally did not keep vital records unless required to do so by law. Beginning in 1788 Jews were required to keep records of births, marriages and deaths in German under Catholic supervision. Because these records were required for conscription and taxation purposes, Jews often evaded registration. The law was reemphasized several times during the early 1800s. Most Jewish communities did not actually start keeping records until the practice was again codified into law in 1840. In 1885 the Hungarian Royal Ministry of Cults required that Jewish vital births, marriages, and deaths be recorded in vital registers which included several congregations in a sub-district ''obvod'' rather than in registers of each individual congregation ''obec''. Exceptions were allowed when individual congregations paid to have their own registrar. With the beginning of civil registration in 1895 Jewish registers ceased to be official state documents.  

Jordan Auslander has compiled an index to Jewish vital records in Slovakia which is arranged by town name. It indicates what years exist for births, marriages, and deaths. It also gives the archive where these records are held:<br>Auslander, Jordan. ''Index to Jewish vital statistic records of Slovakia''. Teaneck, New Jersey: Avotaynu, 1993. (FHL fiche 6414537).  

The [http://www.slovak-jewish-heritage.org Slovak Jewish Heritage Center] has an Internet site that is devoted to providing information about major Jewish sites in the Slovak Republic. The material covers a range of topics including synagogues, former educational and other communal buildings, cemetery chapels, and selected cemeteries.