Jewish Family Lists of Rēzekne

Rēzekne [Rezhitse, Rossitten] · Latgale · Vitebsk gubernia

This list was created in January 1898 and is a family list of the Jews belonging to the Jewish community of Rēzekne [in Russian, Rezhitse; in German, Rossitten]. The original is handwritten in Russian Cyrillic script and forms part of the holdings of the Latvian State Historical Archives in Riga, in Fond 5426 — the category number assigned to the document in the Riga archives, which can help you locate the documents relevant to your family. The original list contains children as well as adults.

Family Lists were begun in 1874, when new rules for military service were introduced. The recruits system was abolished, and persons to be called up for military service were chosen according to the family lists. Lists were supplemented at different intervals, and serial numbers and the family number according to the last revision (1858) were included.

This list contains comprehensive and detailed information on each family. Lists were divided into two parts — the left for males, the right for females — with ten columns of information on all the family members. The database consists mainly of adult members of the community, both male and female, and makes it possible to identify the Jewish families living in the area in or about 1898.

The age was given as at the 1st of January of the year in which the list was set up. Occasionally the Age-in column gives a date of birth instead, although this is rare. This is consistent with the Russian practice of recording the patronymic as part of the official name or family identity.

The files are damaged and of large size, so it is not possible to make copies or scans of these documents. These lists help to build up a picture of the Jewish families of Latgale. In order to obtain further information relating to your family you will need to write to:

The archives have a policy of charging a preliminary search fee of $100 before embarking on research, plus additional fees for work undertaken. When sending a cheque, a $20 amount must be added for exchange; this does not apply if money is sent as a money order. They provide a highly professional service and will bill you on completion of the work. Although fees have increased over the past years, they do not usually exceed $250–$350. Their expertise in identifying and tracing the Jewish families of Latvia is outstanding. Experiences of other researchers are often posted in the JewishGen Discussion groups and you may read these messages by going to the JewishGen Discussion Group message archives and carrying out a search for “archive” and “Latvia” or “Latvian”.

Rēzekne is in Latgale, which at one time was part of the Vitebsk gubernia, a province of the Russian Empire. Latgale is in the eastern part of Latvia, and was from 1561 to 1772 part of the Lithuanian-Polish Kingdom. From 1772 it was part of the Polotsk gubernia of the Russian Empire, and from 1802 was assigned to Vitebsk gubernia. Latgale was divided into four uyezds (districts): Ludza, Vilaka, Rēzekne and Daugavpils.

Jews arrived either at the end of the 16th century or during the 17th century, following pogroms in Poland. The Jewish population was small: at the end of the 18th century it numbered about 3,698 out of a total population of 168,000. Vitebsk gubernia, including Latgale, was part of the Pale of Settlement, where Jews were allowed to live; the rest of Latvian territory was not. The population of Russia was divided into estates — nobility, merchants, petite bourgeoisie (including artisans and small traders), peasantry and others — and most Jews lived in towns and villages and worked in industry. Rēzekne began to grow after 1836, when the St. Petersburg – Warsaw highway was built through it. In 1897 there were 6,478 Jews in Rēzekne; in 1935 there were 3,342.

This database can be searched via the JewishGen Latvia Database or the JewishGen Unified Search.