Jewish Community of Rakvere

Collection description

Scope and content:: The collection includes the following civil record books of the Jewish community of Rakvere: birth records from 1923-26, marriage records from 1923-25 and death records from 1921-26.

Archival history:: The civil record books were kept in the archive of the Estonian Ministry of the Interior until 2009-10, when they were transferred to the Estonian Historical Archives in Tartu.

Administrative/biographical history:: A Jewish community did not exist in Rakvere before the last decades of the 19th century. Artisans and demobilised soldiers settled in the town from the middle of the century and Jewish soldiers were buried in a designated plot of the local cemetery as early as the 1850s. 1889 saw the establishment of a Jewish prayer house. In 1917 the community numbered 35 families. They were joined by Jewish soldiers who came to the area during World War I and the Russian Revolution.

In 1920 the Jewish community was accredited by the independent Estonian authorities and in 1926 it became part of the system of Jewish cultural self-government in Estonia. The community functioned until the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940.

Subject terms:: Jewish community; Statistics; Vital records; Vital records--Birth records; Vital records--Death records; Vital records--Marriage records

Access, restrictions:: The collection is open for reference at the Historical Arсhives of Estonia, Tartu. For further data and online access (registration may be required), see the digital access system of the Estonian Archives.

Finding aids:: Basic data on the collection is available at the web portal of the National Archives of Estonia: http://ais.ra.ee, Detailotsing – Leidandmed – EAA.5422.

For further data see the following collections: ERA.14 (Ministry of Interior of Estonia, EAA.30 (The Chancellery of the Governor of Estland); see the list of Jewish-related materials at the digital access system of the Estonian Archives.

Yerusha Network member:: Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People

Author of the description:: Tatjana Schor, Historical Archives of Estonia, and Alex Valdman, Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, 2015