43rd IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, LONDON, 30 July-3 August, 2023

Related to: General Bessarabia, 

 

Welcome to the Bessarabia Corner at London Conference!

Please join Bessarabia SIG at the 43rd Jewish Genealogy conference in London.

Here are sessions and events related to Bessarabia. Last updated at April 26, 2019.

SHARE Fair - Sunday, July 30, 2 pm - 5 pm. This is the place where every region (SIG) has a table and people asking questions, getting a sense about the regions, where our ancestors lived. Also there are several companies, museums, archives who can help in genealogical research.
Bessarabia SIG had a table with maps and resource material for our region. Please visit the Bessarabia SIG table at ShareFair.

Laws for Jews in Russian Empire (not just for Bessarabia!) - Monday, July 31, 1:45pm - 2:45PM. Yefim Kogan.
The Russian Empire established Government special laws and regulations for the Jews. Laws concerning Jews from 1649 to 1873 were published in S. Petersburg in 1874. To better understand how our ancestors lived in Russian Empire, it is important to know these laws. Knowledge of these laws will assist us to understand how our ancestors lived and worked and why they moved to and from one place to another. I will introduce three categories of the published laws and discuss examples of the laws in each category. Some of these laws looked too good to be true, some of them were later reversed, some laws were not followed by local administration or town governments. Below are samples of laws for Jews:

1) Laws for all Jews in Russian Empire. 1804: About Arranging Jews. There are 56 laws in it, and here one: All Jewish children can be accepted and taught, without any distinction from other children, in all Russian public schools, gymnasiums and universities.
2) Laws for Jews in a region (gubernia) or a town. 1856: On granting Jewish farmers of the colony Valia-lui-Vlad in the Bessarabian region a fifty-year benefit/privilege from recruitment.
3) Laws for a particular person or group of people. 1836: About Jews who received degrees in medicine. Practicing doctor Iosif Bertenzon required to have an appointment in medical profession and he received an approval from Tsar Nikolai I who made it a law.

There are Laws about Jews in Military service, Jews in Agricultural colonies, Education of Jews, restrictions to live in some towns or regions, Laws for Karaite Jews, and more.

Full presentation in pdf format. Original book in Russian.

Bessarabia SIG Meeting - Tuesday, August 1, 8:30am-9:30am, Yefim Kogan - Leader and Coordinator of JewishGen Bessarabia SIG.
The meeting is open to anyone with roots or interest in the region historically known as Bessarabia, an area now comprising the Moldova Republic and parts of Ukraine. We also researching Transnistria, a breakaway republic from Moldova. It used to be part of Kherson and Podolia gubernias. At the end of the 19th century and before the War, Bessarabia had significant Jewish presence. The Bessarabia SIG was organized at the end of 2011 to help people in their Bessarabian genealogical research.

See slides from Bessarabia SIG meeting in pdf format.

Research Like a Pro: Tips and Limitations for a Research in Bessarabia/Moldova - Thursday, August 3, 9:15am - 10:15am, Alina Khuda, professional genealogist.
We will discuss Jewish resources in Ukraine and Moldova that will help to find your ancestors from Bessarabia. Repositories of Odessa, Kherson Oblasts in Ukraine and National Historical Archives of Moldova will be examined for different type of resources: synagogue books, land/tax lists, property ownership, school lists, etc. Moreover we will discuss locations in Bessarabia that could be researched online/remotely and onsite. Check-list of tips and limitations will be provided.

Computer Lab: Genealogical Research for Bessarabia/Moldova genealogists - Tuesday, August 1, 10:30am - 12:00PM. Yefim Kogan.
Participants of the workshop will explore the Bessarabia SIG website and learn how successfully search for the records in Romania/Moldova databases and at the Bessarabia website. The session will be hands on experience for the beginners as well as for intermediate researchers to learn methods of finding information about people born or lived in Bessarabia, and about towns and shteitlakh which now belong to Moldova or Ukraine. The presenter will describe techniques of how to search for Bessarabian records and information outside of Romania/Moldova database at JewishGen, for example, how to find people from Bessarabia in the Lithuania, Belorussia, Ukraine databases, or outside of JewishGen.

See slides from Bessarabia Computer Workshop in pdf format.