Lettonie : liste des familles juives de Rēzekne, vers 1896 à 1914

This list was created in January 1898 and is a family list of Jews belonging to the Jewish Community of Rēzekne, Latvia [in Russian: Rezhitse; in German: Rossitten: in Latvian: Rēzekne].

About the Records:

The original is handwritten in Russian Cyrillic script and forms part of the holdings of the Latvian State Historical Archives in Riga. The list is held in Fond number 5426 at the Archives and can help to 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 to military service were chosen according to the family lists. Lists were supplemented and updated 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 the family. Lists were divided into two parts -- on the left for males, and on the right for females. There were 10 columns containing information on all the family members.

About the Database:

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 following fields are included in the database:

• Family Number: Families have been grouped based on numbers assigned in the original family files.


• Family Name: This refers to the family's surname. The surnames were Russian in form but in these lists have been transliterated into German forms. Latgallian names were predominantly of Slavic etymology.


• Maiden Name: Unfortunately, only a low percentage of maiden names are recorded, but they are included where available.


• First Names / Given Names: This refers to the person's first or given name or names and is of Hebrew or Yiddish origin. They have been transliterated into German.


• Father's Name: Over 5,500 of the entries in this database include the first names of the entrant's father, thereby giving two generations of the family. This is consistent with the Russian practice of recording the patronymic as part of the official name or family identity.


• Age-in: This column gives you the entrant's age in the year specified. For example, "44 in 1911" tells you that the person was 44 years old in 1911. Occasionally the column gives the person's date of birth although this is rare. The ages in certain years in this list date from 1896 to 1911. The Age was given as of the 1st of January in which the list was set up.


• Date of Death: This field will sometimes give you an exact date of death, but more typically simply the year of death.


• Town: The list is a Rēzekne Family List and is the modern form of the town name. This will help you search the JewishGen Family Finder to see if anyone else is searching this locality.

How do I find out more about family members who are listed?

As the files are damaged and of large size 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:

Ms. Irina Veinberga, Head of Department
Latvian State Historical Archives (Latvijas Valsts vestures arhivs)
Slokas iela 16
Riga LV-1048
Latvia
E-mail: [email protected]

The archives now 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 (postal order). They provide a highly professional service and will bill you on completion of the work. Although the 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.