Bessarabia Vital Records

Vital Records · Bessarabia · Moldova · Ukraine

This database contains Jewish birth, marriage, divorce, and death records from the former Russian Gubernia of Bessarabia. The original records are held at the National Archives of the Republic of Moldova (NARM) in Chişinău. They were microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah and provided to JewishGen on CD-ROMs. These microfilms are also available through the LDS Family History Library and all LDS Family History Centers.

Records were originally created by the Jewish congregations of each town. The text is in both Russian (Cyrillic alphabet) and Hebrew script, though some records are in Russian only.

The vast majority of records are for the city of Kishinev (now Chişinău, Moldova), with additional records from Kaushany (Causeni), Beltsy (Balti), Bendery (Bender), Gancheshty (Hîncesti), Soroki (Soroca), Izmail (Izmayil, Ukraine), Novoselitsa (Novoselytsia, Ukraine), and smaller numbers from Chimishliya, Komrat, Manzyr, Petrovka, and Romanovka.

Each record type captures a different combination of fields. Fields marked with an asterisk (*) also appear in the abbreviated Alphabetical Books for that record type.

Birth Records

1829 Register of Births. Cyrillic on the left, Hebrew on the right. The third column lists the three people who performed at the Bris.

1891 Register of Births. The first record includes two Romanian notations: a marriage from October 1930 and a death notice from December 1939.

* FHL microfilm number

* Item number on microfilm

* Image or page number on microfilm

* Place and year of registration

* Registration number (preceded by M or F)

* Surname

* Given name

* Father’s name

Paternal grandfather

Mother’s name

Maternal grandfather

Mother’s maiden surname

* Day, month, year of birth (Julian calendar)

Day and month (Jewish calendar)

* Place of birth

* Archive reference (fond, list, item)

Comments — may include father’s status and, for boys, who performed the circumcision (mohel, porea, motzetz)

Marriage & Divorce Records

1891 Register of Marriages. The last entry is for Moshe FRENK and Raizel MESHMAN; she was a widow by divorce, with a dowry of 24 rubles.

1897 Register of Divorces. The first entry records the divorce of Moshe FRENK and Raizel MESHMAN on January 17, 1897.

* FHL microfilm number

* Item number on microfilm

* Image or page number on microfilm

* Place and year of registration

* Record number

* Day, month, year of event (Julian calendar)

* Day and month (Jewish calendar)

Groom/husband’s place

* Groom/husband’s surname

* Groom/husband’s given name

* Groom/husband’s father’s name

Groom/husband’s age

Bride/wife’s place

* Bride/wife’s surname

* Bride/wife’s given name

* Bride/wife’s father’s name

Bride/wife’s age

Rabbi

Witnesses

* Comments

* Archive reference (fond, list, item)

Death Records

1904 Register of Deaths. Entries include a 2-day-old female, a stillborn, and three adults who died in the Hebrew Hospital.

Alphabetical Book of Deaths, 1901–1914. The fourth entry on the left corresponds to the 2-day-old female from the 1904 register.

* FHL microfilm number

* Item number on microfilm

* Image or page number on microfilm

* Place and year of registration

* Record number

* Surname

* Given name

* Father’s name

Mother’s name

Spouse’s name & surname

* Day, month, year of death (Julian calendar)

Day and month (Jewish calendar)

* Town of death

* Place of residence

* Comments

* Archive reference (fond, list, item)

This database is searchable via the JewishGen Romania Database and the JewishGen Ukraine Database.

Last updated March 2026.
For questions, contact Yefim Kogan or the JewishGen Bessarabia Research Division.