Belarus Civil Registration

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Belarus

Civil Registration

Find the Records

Online Resources

• 1837-1917 Belarus, Birth Records from Select Cities, 1837-1917 at Ancestry - index ($)
• 1857-1891, 1921 Belarus, Marriage Records from Minsk (1921) and Mogilev (1857-1891) at Ancestry. - index ($)
• 1889 Belarus, Minsk, List of Deaths, 1889 at Ancestry - index ($)
• Belarus, Revision Lists at MyHeritage — index ($)

Offices to Contact

Bureau of Civil Status Acts (ZAGS)

• Archives of Civil Registry Offices ZAGS by region
• Civil registration offices exist at the local and regional levels.
• Copies of local registrations are sent to regional offices.
  

Background

Civil registration in Belarus, began in 1920. The Bureau of Civil Status Acts (ZAGS) creates and maintains civil registration. The bureau is subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and is separate from the national archive system.

Registration of births must be done within two months of birth and deaths within three days.

Registration offices are collocated with "marriage palaces" permitting the registration and performance of weddings to occur at the same place and time.

Coverage and Compliance

From 1920 to about 1930, there was low coverage for registration, but after 1930 it was as high as 85%.

The civil war (about 1921-1922) of the early Soviet period inhibited registration. For two years it was not enforced. The system was established first in urban and later in rural areas. Gaps persisted through 1926.

Civil registration broke down in the occupied areas during World War II and some registers were burned.

Information Recorded in the Records

Birth Records

• Date
• Names of principal and parents
• Occupation and religious preference of parents
• Place of residence for parents
• Name of informant

Marriage Records

• Date
• Names of principal and parents
• Occupation and religious preference of parents
• Place of residence of the groom and bride
• Names of witnesses

Death Records

• Date
• Place of residence of the deceased
• Names of principal and parents
• Age at death
• Cause of death
• Place of burial