Belaya Tserkov Region:
Jewish Records Project

Project Synopsis

The JewishGen Ukraine SIG has obtained 19th century records for Jewish families from the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People (CAHJP). The focus of this project will be on Revision list translation and indexing for the years 1816, 1850 and 1852.

People whose ancestors lived in these towns are the key audience for this project. There are 232 researchers with 436 separate entries in the JewishGen Family Finder (JGFF) researching Belaya Tserkov (Bila Tserkva). There are 69 researchers with 126 separate entries in the JewishGen Family Finder (JGFF) researching Vasilkov. There are 70 researchers with 150 separate entries in the JewishGen Family Finder (JGFF) researching Fastov. There are four researchers with six separate entries in the JewishGen Family Finder (JGFF) researching Rokitna.

Acquiring, translating, and making available documents and dataset relating to Jews from this town will benefit genealogical researchers and will help provide context for the lives of our ancestors. There were 18,720 Jews recorded as living in Belaya Tserkov in 1897, one of the largest in the region. It was the home of Sholom Aleichem in the 1880s and was home to many prominent Rabbis with as many as 20 known synagogues. As an important town for commerce in the 19th century there are likely family connections to many other towns in the Ukraine. Many Jews from Belaya Tserkov immigrated to the United States and other countries and their descendants are worldwide. There was a particularly strong concentration in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1897 the town of Vasilkov had a Jewish population of 5,156, the town of Fastov had 5,595 Jews, and there were 2,037 Jews in Rokitna. These towns were within 30 miles of Belaya Tserkov and there are many family connections between the towns.

We will begin work on the project as soon as sufficient funds have been raised. The project will fund translation of the above-mentioned documents. Once complete, the new datasets will be integrated into the JewishGen Ukraine Database, and appropriate KehilaLinks websites. Any funds still remaining at the completion of this translation project will be used to fund additional Belaya Tserkov projects and to acquire Belaya Tserkov records from archives in Ukraine.As translations are completed, and the spreadsheets are proofread, they will be made available to donors who contribute $100 or more, before the data becomes available on the JewishGen Ukraine Database. At the same time, translations of records might also be posted on relevant KehilaLink webpages.

We estimate that it will cost $4000 to complete this project. Any funds still remaining at the completion of this translation project will be used to fund additional Belaya Tserkov projects.