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This database contains Jewish birth, marriage, divorce and death records from Lithuania.
This includes records which were microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah (see Locality Index), as well as non-microfilmed records indexed in Lithuania.
The records during the Czarist period (i.e. those before 1918) were written in both Russian (Cyrillic alphabet) and Hebrew script, although some records are in Russian language only. The records during the period of Lithuanian independence (i.e. those created between 1919 and 1940) were written in the Lithuanian language, with some Hebrew and Yiddish.
This database currently contains 20,801 birth records, 4,464 marriage and divorce records, and 9,195 death records — for the towns of Ariogala, Biržai, Joniškėlis, Kėdainiai, Kupiškis, Linkuva, Molėtai, Naujamiestis, Panevėžys, Pasvalys, Plungė, Pumpėnai, Pušalotas, Raseiniai, Rokiškis, Saločiai, Šilalė, Širvintos, Vabalninkas, Vilkija, Vilna uyezd, and Žeimelis.
According to the Regulations of 1835 in the Russian Empire, one of the duties of an official state rabbi (a "crown rabbi") was to carry out, solely by his offices, all the rites of circumcision and naming of infants, weddings, dissolution of marriages, and burials "(in populous cities a rabbi could have assistants to carry out those rites)"; to keep metrical books in all its sections and to submit copies of them annually to gubernia authorities, in Hebrew and Russian language.
References:
- Evreiskaya Encikolpedia (Jewish Encyclopedia).
Saint Petersburg, 1908-1913. Vol 13.
- Levanda Index - KRA, Fond I-49, inventory 1,
files 4103, 30048.
The birth records typically contain the following information:
Here are some illustrations of sample pages of birth registers. Click on each image for a larger view.
The column headings in the original czarist (pre-1918) birth registers are, from left-to-right:
The column headings in the original Lithuanian (1919-1940) birth registers are, from left-to-right:
The columns in the marriage and divorce records database are as follows:
Here are some illustrations of sample pages of a marriage register. Click on each image for a larger view.
1895 Marriages, Pušalotas:
1900 Marriages, Pušalotas:
Translation of the above two records:
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The column headings in the original czarist marriage registers are, from left-to-right:
The death records typically contain the following information:
The column headings in the original czarist death registers are, from left-to-right:
The following table contains the inventory of records currently included in this database. The modern Lithuanian name of each town is followed by the town's Yiddish name, shown in italics and Hebrew characters; and then the town's pre-WWI Russian name, in Cyrillic.
| Town | Record Type |
Year(s) | FHL microfilm number(s) |
# of Records | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | M | D | ||||
| Ariogala Ragole אײראַגאָלע Эйрагола |
Births | 1858 | #2,288,943 / 1 | 18 | ||
| Biržai Birzh בירזש Биржи |
Births | 1852, 1861-63 | #2,157,888 / 3; #2,187,651 / 1 | 123 | ||
| 1865-1878 | #2,205,126 / 3&4; #2,270,865 / 4 | 846 | ||||
| 1879-1887, 1893 | #2,205,137 / 2; #2,270,865 / 4 | 906 | ||||
| 1891 | #2,199,343 / 1 | 145 | ||||
| 1894-1895 | #2,268,931 / 1 | 209 | ||||
| 1896-1914 | #2,290,696 / 4 | 1,291 | Marriages | 1862-1864 | #2,187,652 / 2; #2,187,654 / 3 | 23 |
| 1865-1874 | #2,205,126 / 3&4 | 132 | ||||
| 1875-1880 | #2,205,137 / 2 | 73 | ||||
| 1881-1893 | #2,290,696 / 5 | 194 | ||||
| 1894-1895 | #2,290,697 / 1 | 35 | Divorces | 1890-1892 | Not microfilmed | 8 |
| Joniškėlis Yanishkel יאַנישקעל Иоганишкели |
Births | 1899 | #2,331,186 / 2 | 10 | ||
| Marriages | 1887-1893 | #2,331,378 / 6 | 12 | 1899 | #2,331,186 / 3 | 2 |
| Kėdainiai Keidan קיידאַן Кейданы |
Births | 1822, 1848, 1851-52, 1854, 1856-60 | #2,289,446 / 5 | 506 | ||
| 1862-63, 1865-67 | #2,289,446 / 6 | 297 | ||||
| 1868-71, 1873-88, 1892 | #2,289,447 / 1-3 | 2,419 | ||||
| 1895, 97, 99, 1901-03, 06-10, 12-14 | #2,332,782 / 1-3 | 1,040 | ||||
| Kupiškis Kupishok קופּישאָ Купишки |
Births | 1900, 05-07 | #2,331,378 / 5 | 280 | ||
| 1908-1914 | #2,331,378 / 8&10 | 274 | ||||
| 1920-1940 | Not microfilmed | 414 | ||||
| Marriages | 1870-71, 74-75 | #2,288,941 / 9 | 40 | |||
| 1877-1899 | #2,288,942 / 1&2 | 451 | ||||
| 1900-1914 | #2,331,378 / 6&9 | 243 | ||||
| 1922-1940 | Not microfilmed | 247 | ||||
| Divorces 1898-1901 | #2,331,378 / 6 | 4 | ||||
| Deaths | 1871-1875 | #2,288,941 / 9 | 96 | |||
| 1876-81, 1883-84 | #2,288,942 / 1 | 308 | ||||
| 1886 | #2,270,647 / 3 | 66 | ||||
| 1887, 89-90, 92, 94, 97-98 | #2,288,942 / 2 | 338 | ||||
| 1891, 95, 99, 1900, 1906-14 | #2,331,378 / 3, 7, 11 | 483 | ||||
| 1920-1940 | Not microfilmed | 257 | ||||
| Linkuva Linkeve לינקעװע Линково |
Births | 1865-1878 | #2,205,127 / 4&5; #2,205,137 / 4 | 649 | ||
| 1914, 22, 24, 25 | Not microfilmed | 120 | ||||
| Marriages | 1865-66, 1869-80 | #2,205,127 / 4&5; #2,205,137 / 4 | 160 | |||
| 1922-1926 | Not microfilmed | 34 | ||||
| Divorces | 1890 | Not microfilmed | 2 | |||
| Deaths | 1914, 1923-26 | Not microfilmed | 69 | |||
| Molėtai Maliat מאַליאַט Маляты |
Births | 1853-1872 | #2,157,888 / 3 | 400 | Deaths | 1853-57, 1859-72 | #2,157,999 / 2; others | 456 |
| 1898, 1900-02, 1904-15 | #2,205,091 / 3 | 596 | ||||
| Naujamiestis נײַשטאָט־פּאָנעװעזש Novoe Mesto |
Marriages | 1872, 1874 | #2,205,129 / 2&3 | 8 | ||
| Panevėžys Ponevezh פּאָנעװעזש Поневеж |
Births | 1844-1850,54,57-58 | #2,205,128 / 5 | 751 | ||
| 1859-60,1867 | #2,205,129 / 1 | 598 | ||||
| 1875 | #2,205,129 / 3 | 152 | ||||
| 1878 | #2,270,245 / 3 | 175 | ||||
| 1925-1940 | Not microfilmed | 2,216 | ||||
| Marriages | 1872-1875 | #2,205,129 / 2&3 | 170 | |||
| 1878 | #2,270,245 / 5 | 52 | ||||
| 1880 | #2,270,245 / 5 | 54 | ||||
| 1886-1887 | #2,287,921 / 1 | 121 | ||||
| 1888-1897 | #2,288,942 / 3 | 599 | ||||
| 1925-1940 | Not microfilmed | 826 | ||||
| Deaths | 1872-1874 | #2,205,129 / 2&3 | 234 | |||
| 1876-1879 | #2,270,245 / 5 | 436 | ||||
| 1925-1940 | Not microfilmed | 1,588 | ||||
| Pasvalys Posvel פּאָסװאָל Посволь |
Births | 1854, 1855 | #2,157,888 / 4; #2,157,999 / 3 | 53 | ||
| 1866-1874 | #2,205,129 / 4&5 | 484 | ||||
| Plungė Plugian פּלונגיאַן Плунгяны |
Births | 1901-1905 | #2,287,039 / 2 | 426 | ||
| Pumpėnai Pompian פּומפּיאַן Помпяны |
Births | 1855, 58, 60-61, 63-64 | various | 140 | ||
| 1865-87 | #2,205,128 / 3&4; #2,328,284 / 2 | 1,326 | ||||
| Marriages | 1855 | #2,157,999 / 4 | 7 | |||
| 1860 | #2,192,860 / 2 | 3 | ||||
| 1861 | #2,187,651 / 2 | 8 | ||||
| 1863 | #2,187,653 / 3 | 9 | ||||
| 1865-1879 | #2,205,128 / 3&4 | 184 | ||||
| 1880 | #2,270,245 / 2 | 6 | ||||
| Deaths | 1854-56, 1859-61 | #2,157,999 / 1; others | 82 | |||
| 1865-1880 | #2,205,128 / 3&4; #2,270,245 / 2 | 516 | ||||
| 1902-03, 05-07 | #2,199,343 / 1&3; #2,199,344 / 1 | 125 | ||||
| Pušalotas Pushelot פּושאַלאַט Пушелаты |
Births | 1885-1912 | #2,328,520 / 4 | 475 | ||
| 1922-1939 | Not microfilmed | 97 | ||||
| Marriages | 1883-1912 | #2,328,521 / 1 | 127 | |||
| 1904-1939 | Not microfilmed | 27 | ||||
| Deaths | 1883-1912 | #2,238,521 / 2 | 245 | |||
| 1924-1939 | Not microfilmed | 27 | ||||
| Raseiniai Rasayn ראַסיין Россиены |
Births | 1845 | #2,157,888 / 2 | 251 | ||
| Deaths | 1845 | #2,157,888 / 2 | 224 | |||
| Rokiškis Rakishok ראַקישאָק Рокишкис |
Births | 1874-1896 | Not microfilmed | 1,282 | ||
| Marriages | 1874-1896 | Not microfilmed | 193 | |||
| Deaths | 1874-1896, 1922-1939 | Not microfilmed | 1,680 | |||
| Saločiai Salat סאַלאַט |
Births | 1874-1875 | #2,205,129 / 3 | 45 | ||
| Šilalė Shilel שילעל Шилели |
Births | 1914-1939 | Not microfilmed | 319 | ||
| Marriages | 1922-1939 | Not microfilmed | 138 | |||
| Deaths | 1922-1939 | Not microfilmed | 269 | |||
| Simnas Simna סימנע Симнас |
Marriages | 1922-1925 | Not microfilmed | Coming Soon | ||
| Širvintos Shirvint שירווינט Ширвинты |
Births | 1854-61, 1863-72 | various | 388 | ||
| Deaths | 1854-72 | various | 147 | |||
| Vabalninkas Vabolnik וואַבאָלניק Вобольники |
Marriages | 1872-1875 | #2,205,127 / 1 | 23 | ||
| 1876-1880 | #2,205,137 / 3 | 42 | ||||
| Divorces | 1876-1880 | #2,205,137 / 3 | 6 | |||
| Vilkija Vilki ווילקי Вильки |
Births | 1880-87, 1889-93 | #2,291,270 / 1&2; #2,270,647 / 4&6 |
782 | ||
| Deaths | 1881-92 | #2,291,673 / 2 | 295 | |||
|
Vilna uyezd 3rd okrug [*] ווילנע Вильна уезд |
Births | 1892-1895 | #2,205,056 / 2&3; #2,205,057 / 1 | 345 | ||
| Žeimelis Zhemel זײמל Жеймели |
Births | 1860 | #2,192,860 / 1 | 13 | ||
| 1861 | #2,187,651 / 1 | 20 | ||||
| 1862 | #2,187,652 / 1 | 11 | ||||
| 1864 | #2,187,654 / 2 | 22 | ||||
| 1865-70, 73-75 | #2,205,127 / 2&3 | 223 | ||||
| 1876-1880 | #2,270,469 / 6 | 207 | ||||
| Marriages | 1858, 60, 62-80 | #2,205,127 / 2&3; #2,270,470 / 1 | 109 | |||
| 1882-1914 | #2,292,686 / 4 | 180 | ||||
| Deaths | 1859, 60, 62 | #2,192,859 / 3 | 32 | |||
| 1864 | #2,187,654 / 4 | 17 | ||||
| 1865-71,73-75 | #2,205,127 / 2&3 | 202 | ||||
| 1876-1880 | #2,270,470 / 1 | 99 | ||||
| 1882-1898 | Not microfilmed | 265 | ||||
| 1913,14,25,26 | Not microfilmed | 33 | ||||
| TOTAL | 20,801 | 4,464 | 9,195 | |||
* Vilna uyezd (district), 3rd okrug (sub-district) includes these towns:
Giedraičiai
55°05' 25°17' 28 miles N of Vilna Гедройцы (Gedroĭtsy). Inturkė
55°10' 25°33' 35 miles NNE of Vilna Интурки (Inturki). Molėtai
55°14' 25°25' 38 miles N of Vilna Маляты (Maliaty). Nemenčinė
54°51' 25°29' 13 miles NNE of Vilna Неменчин (Nemenchin); (inter-war Niemenczyn, Wilno-Troki, Wilno, Poland). Paberžė
54°56' 25°14' 18 miles N of Vilna Подберезье (Podberez'e); (inter-war Podbrzezie, Wilno-Troki, Wilno, Poland).
Is your town missing?
See below under Project Description and Needs
to see how your town's records can appear!
The Lithuanian language adds specific endings to a surname, which indicate whether an individual is single, married, male, female, etc. This information can be very helpful when interpreting documents written in Lithuanian.
Lithuanian endings are added to the root of the surname. Several examples are below:
For a male, the suffix can appear as “-as”,
“-(i)us”, or “-is”.
KAGAN becomes KAGANAS (“-as” is the usual Lithuanian
ending for male surnames).
However, after a soft letter, such as “ch”,
the ending would be “-ius”, e.g.
KAGANOVITCH becomes KAGANOVITCHIUS.
For married women, without exception,
the surnames have the ending “-iene”.
The “-iene” suffix is added to the male surname root, e.g.
KAGAN becomes KAGANIENE, KAGANOVITCH becomes KAGANOVITCHIENE.
For unmarried women, (e.g. a single daughter), her surname depends on her father's surname ending.
The "Christian" date used in the Czarist registers refers to the Julian calendar, used by the Russian Czarist government and the Russian Orthodox Church. The Julian calendar was used in Russia until the Russian Revolution of 1917. The Gregorian calendar has been in use by the rest of Europe since the mid-1700s, and is used worldwide today.
During the 1700s, the difference between the two calendars was 11 days. Beginning on March 1, 1800, there was a 12-day gap between the two dates. On March 1, 1900, the difference became 13 days. The date difference will become 14 days on March 1, 2100.
For example, 2 July 1856 on the Julian calendar is 14 July 1856 on the Gregorian calendar. 24 June 1882 on the Julian calendar is 6 July 1882 on the Gregorian calendar.
During the period of Lithuanian independence (i.e. 1919-1940), the Gregorian date was used.
The English translation of the microfilmed vital records for Biržai, Kupiškis, Panevėžys, Pasvalys, Pušalotas, Rokiškis, and Saločiai was done from the original records in the Lithuanian State Historical Archive in Vilnius. The translation work was paid for by Aaron Roetenberg, Howard Margol, Rokiškis SIG, the Mamolen family and/or the Kupiškis SIG. The Meister family contributed for Plungė. Barry Mann donated all the translations for Žeimelis.
The English translation of the Pušalotas vital records that were not microfilmed were translated by Howard Margol from the original records with the help of a Lithuanian translator. The Kupiškis vital records that were not microfilmed were translated by Ann Rabinowitz.
Records for the towns of Kėdainiai, Molėtai, Pumpėnai, Raseiniai, Širvintos, Vilkija, and Vilna uyezd 3rd okrug were donated by the LitvakSIG.
This introduction was written by Warren Blatt. Illustrations provided by Aaron Roetenberg and Howard Margol.
Search the records using the Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex as well as the exact name, due to variations in spelling, and because some records were transliterated from Russian only and not Hebrew.
Search these records even if you know your relatives came from a different town. Our relatives moved around quite a lot, so the records that you are searching for could be in any database.
This project can be very extensive and of great importance due to the extreme value of vital records. In most cases, the birth record includes the name of the father and the mother, which enables a researcher to go back one more generation. The marriage record includes the name of the parents and, on many records, the maiden name of the bride. All vital records provide definite dates which help to develop a timeline on a family tree.
The English translation of the vital records is being done by qualified translators, in Lithuania, working with the original records. This enables the translations to be extremely accurate.
Because of Lithuania's 100 year privacy law, private researchers are not allowed to view the post-1905 birth and marriage records (a 50-year privacy law applies to death records). Thru special arrangements with the Lithuanian archives, the post-1905 vital records are being translated and will become a part of the database.
The extent of the database depends entirely on your help and generosity. For a minimum donation of $100 USD, all of the translations of vital records for one town will be sent to you. The ability to view all of the records, in addition to a surname search of the database, can oftentimes turn up unexpected and valuable results.
If you are interested in financing the translation for a town of your choice, please contact the co-coordinators of the project – Aaron Roetenberg <aaronr@suscom.net> or Howard Margol <homargol@aol.com>.
To contribute to this project, please go to: http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen-erosity.
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Last Update: 18 Apr 2007 WSB
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Web Author: Michael Tobias
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