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This page is an index to the databases collected by the Latvia SIG, and contains descriptions of each database. The data is displayed on separate pages, in some cases as a formatted file, suitable for web browsing only , and in all cases, as a plain ascii text file. Each file can be searched with your browser's 'find' command, and text files may be saved to your hard drive if you would like to do so. You will also find links to databases at other sites relevant to Latvian Jewish genealogy.

Holdings of the Latvian State Historical Archives

Latvian Subscription List Database

State Department Records

Kurlander Young Men's Mutual Aid Society Records

JewishGen HaMelitz Index


Latvia Subscription List Database

prepared by Harold Rhode

(originally distributed on diskette with the Latvia SIG Newsletter, volume 1, number 3)
copyright 1996, by Harold Rhode and the Latvia SIG
Permission is given to use and copy these materials freely for non commercial genealogical pursuits.

These names were extracted from subscription lists, which appeared either in the front or back of books published during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The individuals and institutions on these lists contributed to authors who needed money to publish their books, and in return the authors listed the contributors in these books. The people on these lists all lived in what is present-day Latvia. There are also names inclded from the index of the book, Di geshikhte fun di Idn in Letland fun yor 1561-1923 [History of the Jews in Latvia], published in 1928 in Riga, Latvia. There is also a list of contributors to agricultural communities in present-day Israel and Syria.

Go to Latvian Subscription List Database
 

 

State Department Records

RG 84 Riga Consulate 1924
Compiled by Mike Getz
(originally published in Latvia SIG, volume 1, number 3) Copyright 1996, by the Latvia SIG

Record Group 84 (RG 84) consists of records of Diplomatic and Consular offices of the U.S. Department of State, presently located in the National Archives II facility in College Park, MD.

The method, filing and other systems used, vary with the time period and the offices concerned. Their regional jurisdiction also depended on the diplomatic status of relations with the United States. Thus in 1924, Riga processed correspondence and traffic involving Soviet Russia, with whom there were no diplomatic relations. This explains the presence of numerous cases dealing with residents or family in the Soviet Union as well as Latvia and elsewhere in the published extract.

Correspondence during this period was filed under category numbers ranging from 100 to 800. Specialized sub-sectors, the 300, 600 and 800 series, dealt with matters involving U.S. citizens, their families and interests. Category 310 was concerned with whereabouts of family members, contacting them and passing on financial aid, as well as assisting departures and monitoring deportations from the United States. The extract reflects these activities.

See 1924 Riga Consular Records

 

Kurlander Young Men's Mutual Aid Society

(Originally published in Latvia SIG, Volume 1, Number 4, December 1996) Compiled by Mike Getz

We are indebted to Latvia SIG member Naomi Freistadt for the Kurlander Young Men's Mutual Aid Society (KYMMAS) records, a summary of which follows. Recorded are the names, dates of birth, towns of origin and names of spouses, where available, of members born in Latvia. The records include a large number born in the USA and elsewhere, which have not been included. The period covered stretches from the 1870s to the 1920s and later.

As the example of these records illustrate, further details, including names of children, vocations and professions also appear. Occasionally, siblings and others are mentioned as heirs where there is no other family. Deadlines and space precluded including these. We will be happy to provide copies to those interested.

Please e-mail Mike Getz at mikegetz005@comcast.net, for information on obtaining specific records. Note also that these records also form part of the all Latvia Database.

Spelling used in these records has been adhered to with some attempt to standardize. SIG members will be able to identify the names of towns, and where necessary, relate them to those current. A few names are new to us and may be variations we are unfamiliar with.

Sample KYMMAS Record

Go to KYMMAS Records

Go to KYMMAS data (text file)
 
 

JewishGen HaMelitz Database

An index , by Jeffrey Maynard, to lists of names and announcements printed in the Hebrew newspaper HaMelitz during the years 1893 to 1903. The list consists of Lithuanian and Latvian Jewish donors.

Go to JewishGen HaMelitz Index

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