Catalog of the Jewish Holdings
of the
Kaunas Regional Archives

Vitalija Gircyte
Head Archivist

Introduction by David B. Hoffman and Davida Noyek Handler

Copyright 1998 by LitvakSIG & Kaunas Regional Archives

• How to Use this Catalog

• Use by Individual Members

• Use by LitvakSIG Research Groups

• The Catalog Index (by Town)

• Description of Documents in the Catalog

How to Use this Catalog

    This is a catalog of a large variety of documents and records that are in the Kaunas Regional Archives which are very useful to Jewish Genealogists. It may be downloaded and single copies printed for noncommercial use by individuals, genealogical societies, libraries and educational institutions as long as any reproduction includes the name of the author and the copyright notice. Since new records are being found and cataloged all the time, they will be added continuously.

    It is important to note that the fact that a particular type of record or year for a record is not listed does not mean that it will not be found at a later time, so it would be advisable to check back regularly.

Use by Individual Members

    Individual researchers will find these listings, which are organized by town and type of document, very useful when they are placing orders with the Kaunas Regional Archives for personal family history research. The Catalog will guide you in knowing what is likely to be available -- or unavailable -- to be searched in your ancestral towns. Unfortunately the Archives staff is very small, and the processing of these orders may take many months. The staff, at the moment, just Vitalija Gircyte, must search through many lengthy files and documents for your family surnames, then translate and type up the results to send to you. However, Vitalija Gircyte is very thorough and will provide excellent search results when you place them. She checks all possible records.

    Please see the FAQ's on information about placing individual orders.

 Use by LitvakSIG Research Groups

    The LitvakSIG has made arrangements to purchase copies of the documents and lists in this Catalog in their entirety for its (dues paying) members. These orders will be processed much more quickly than individual research orders, and at a lower overall cost, because research and translation time will be very limited. Copies of documents will be made and sent to the LitvakSIG without being translated.

    LitvakSIG research groups, either organized for towns or districts, will request a list or set of lists from the SIG Research Coordinators. They will contact the Archives to determine the length, cost, and the specific information which is included in the documents. Our experience has shown that the specific content of documents can vary greatly in quality and amount of information. Specific records may have been mislabeled and documents have been grouped into general categories but are sometimes quite different in form and content. This is why it is necessary to obtain more information before ordering.

    Some documents have deteriorated too much to be photocopied. But many provide a treasure trove of information. After reporting back to the research group, a decision will be made about placing the order. The SIG will place the order and pay the Archives with the shtetl or uyezd research group's contributions to the SIG which have been set aside for these purchases.

    When the documents arrive, the SIG and the research group will determine together how the documents will best be translated quickly and efficiently. We anticipate the need for recruiting a number of new translators.

    The coordinator of the research group will receive the documents and the translation, which he or she can distribute to the contributors. The data will simultaneously be processed by SIG volunteers to be placed in the "All Lithuania" Database. All records acquired through this process will be the property of the LitvakSIG, and no partial lists will be purchased.

    We have found that many of the most useful lists, the family lists, are sometimes more than a thousand pages long -- so lengthy that it is not practical for most shtetl groups to purchase them in their original form. The LitvakSIG is currently experimenting with a plan to have these lists translated at the Archives on equipment that we provide. This experiment is only beginning and it will be several months before we know if it works well enough to be done on an ongoing basis. If so we will hire translators and provide additional equipment to the Kaunas Regional Archives.

    Some of the advantages for the LitvakSIG members to cooperate in this new document acquisition plan are:

1) The cost of purchasing records will be shared with other genealogists; this means that you may get much more for your money. You will also see other possible relatives that might not appear on an individual surname request. Since our ancestors moved around you have a better chance of finding them on in if the net is cast over a larger amount of records;

2) The contributions made to the LitvakSIG to purchase the records and in some cases for translating them will be tax deductible donations;

3) The same records will not be purchased by different individuals and groups;

4) The data will become available to everyone on a searchable database;

5) The LitvakSIG will be providing you with a great deal of volunteer advice and assistance, getting information about lists before orders are placed, and keeping track of and expediting the processing of each order;

6) The original documents will be preserved. The Archives is building in the cost of making duplicate copies so that they will not have to repeatedly disturb these aging, and in some cases, already crumbling pages.

    We began implementing this purchasing programing program in early 1999. Please review the Catalog and contact your Research Group Coordinators so that you can be part of the planning process. As of January 2000, more than 200 lists of many types have been acquired and more are on order.

    If there isn't already a coordinator for a district or a town you are interested in the Kaunas guberniya and you are willing to volunteer, please contact Dorothy Leivers.

    If you need help in determining what research groups you should join, please consult the shtetl/uyezd table before checking the Active Research Group listings.

    Send all inquiries regarding the Catalog to Dorothy Leivers, Research Groups Coordinator.