Russia Jewish Research

Jewish Genealogy Research Wiki Topics
Beginning Research
Introduction Search Strategies Records in the FamilySearch Catalog
Original Records
Businesses Cemeteries Census Civil Registration Concentration Camps Court Records Directories Divorce Records Emigration & Immigration Inquisition Jewish Records Jewish Records in Other Denominations	Military Records Minorities Naturalization Newspapers Notarial Records Obituaries Orphans Population Probate/Wills Schools and Education Records Synagogue Records Taxation Vital Records Voting Records
Compiled Sources
Biography Family History Genealogy Holocaust	Knowles Collection Nobility Societies
Background Information
Encyclopedias and Dictionaries Glossary History Language	Maps Periodicals Population Maps Social Life & Customs
Finding Aids
Archives/Libraries Finding a FamilySearch Center For Further Reading	Gazetteers Naming Customs Occupations Other Records ShtetlSeeker

[[Image:Israel coat of arms.png|110px|Israel coat of arms.pn]

Go to [[Jewish Genealogy Research|Jewish Genealogy Research Main Pag]
Go to [[Russia|Russia Main Pag]

"Russia" Disambiguation

"Russia" may refer to:

• The present-day country Russia and historical Kingdom of Russia, which coincide to a large degree. The country/kingdom of Russia existed within the Soviet Union, the U.S.S.R., and the Russian Empire.
• A short-form reference to the Soviet Union or to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) which existed between 1922 and 1991.
• The Russian Empire which was formed in the 1500s and officially proclaimed as such by Tsar Peter I in 1721.

United States census records and arriving passenger lists often simply list the place of birth or origin as "Russia," usually meaning the Russian Empire and not the country of Russia. Careful research is needed to pinpoint the province and city/town, and from that to determine the present-day country.

To view a map showing the extent of the Russian Empire, click [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Russian_Empire_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg her.

Jewish Research resources on the FamilySearch Wiki are organized primarily by the present-day country, and not by the former designations. If possible, determine the city/town of origin and then search under its present-day country.

Alphabets and Languages

• [http://www.indiana.edu/~libslav/slavcatman/sltrans.html U.S. Library of Congress Transliteration Tables for Cyrillic Alphabet.
• Transliterating Russian to English in One Step, online automatic transliterator by Steve Morse.
• [[Russian Genealogical Word Lis]
  Presently being developed, contributions welcome!.

Maps of Jews in the Russian Empire

• For a map showing the percentage of Jews in the Pale of Settlement and Congress Poland, c. 1905, click [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_showing_percentage_of_Jews_in_the_Pale_of_Settlement_and_Congress_Poland,_c._1905.png her.
• To view an additional historical map showing the historical percentage of Jews in governments, click [http://books.google.com/books?id=sr85AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA531&lpg=PA531&dq=%22percentage+of+jews+in+governments%22+map&source=bl&ots=BK42kcedcz&sig=Eb1EvyRT9xaaOxNAlNit1-q2_yU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PcwMU5-xMcGBogTyqYKABg&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22percentage%20of%20jews%20in%20governments%22%20map&f=false her.
  Definition of "Pale of Settlement" from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_of_Settlement Wikipedia.or:
  The Pale of Settlement (Russian: Черта́ осе́длости, chertá osédlosti, Yiddish: דער תּחום-המושבֿ, der tkhum-ha-moyshəv, Hebrew: תְּחוּם הַמּוֹשָב, tḥùm ha-mosháv‎) was the term given to a region of Imperial Russia in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed and beyond which Jewish permanent residency was generally prohibited. It extended from the eastern pale, or demarcation line, to the western Russian border with the Kingdom of Prussia (later the German Empire) and with Austria-Hungary. The English term "pale" is derived from the Latin word "palus", a stake, extended to mean the area enclosed by a fence or boundary.

Gazetteer of Jewish Communities

• Use the JewishGen Communities Database by clicking [http://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/Search.asp her.

Jewish History in Russia

• Read the Wikipedia.org article History of the Jews in Russia, by clicking her.
• Explore: The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe.

JewishGen.org

• Find others, possibly cousins, searching for your family name in the same countries, cities, and villages. Search by clicking JewishGen Family Finder. Free registration required.

Russian Jewish Records

• In 1835 Russia mandated the keeping of Jewish records. Two copies were made. The official copy was turned into the government usually the city council - gorodskaia duma. Beginning in 1857, a Crown rabbi, paid by the state, kept the registers.

The JewishGen Databases

• JewishGen.org has indexed millions of Jewish records from the Russian Empire. These come from many different sources, e.g., vital records, voter lists, business directories, and ghetto records. The records are organized for searching under the present-day country names. Access requires free registration.
  To search, click [http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/ her.

Jewish Research by Country

Links to Jewish Research pages for countries comprising the former Russian Empire may be found [[:Category:Jewish Research by Country, Region, and City|her].

[[Category:Jewish record] [[Category:Jewish_Research_by_Country,_Region,_and_Cit] [[Category:Russia|Jewis]