The Svencionys County Court of Vilnius Gubernia

Collection description

Holding institution (official language):: Lietuvos valstybės istorijos archyvas

Title (official language):: Vilniaus gubernijos Švenčionių apskrities teismas

Scope and content:: The collection comprises records of the activities of the county court of Svencionys. These include ukases (decrees) of the state senate, circulars, resolutions, judiciary protocols and verdicts, books of court proceedings, maps and other data on several estates and localities. Files recording the persecution of participants in the 1831 and 1863 Polish insurrections are also included.

A number of files in the collection refer to Jewish residents of the former county of Svencionys. Some of these refer to legal proceedings on issues of property and finances: questions of land and real-estate ownership, division of real estate rights according to wills, questions of the custody of children, financial disputes, including unpaid debts and the selling of property in order to cover obligations, and taxation, including the collection of tax on kosher meat. Cases of false or incorrect registration in residential lists are also mentioned.

Several files record cases of criminal activity, including smuggling and counterfeiting, insults and injury, theft of horses, money, valuables and goods and smuggling, including the smuggling and illegal trade of alcohol. Some files record investigations into arson cases. Certain papers mention escaped prisoners and the search for runaway inmates.

Archival history:: Prior to the 1917 revolution, the records of the Russian administration in the former Vilnius governorate were kept in a government depository. At the end of the 19th century they were transferred to the newly established Vilnius State Archive, which became a part of the Central State Archive of the Lithuanian SSR in 1940. In 1957, together with other pre-revolutionary documentation, these materials were included in the Central State Historical Archive of the Lithuanian SSR, predecessor of the current State Historical Archive.

Administrative/biographical history:: The county courts in the governorate of Vilnius, including the county court of Svencionys, were established in October 1831. They served as the lowest judicial court and addressed both civil and criminal cases. The county courts functioned until April 1872.

Subject terms:: Crime; Financial matters; Financial matters--Debt; Legal matters; Prisoners; Real estate; Smuggling; Taxation; Taxation--Korobka; Trade and commerce; Trade and commerce--Alcohol trade

System of arrangement:: The collection consists of three inventories arranged according to chronological/thematic order. Jewish-related materials can be found in the first and the second inventories; the former lists the criminal cases that were brought before the court while the latter includes the civil cases.

Finding aids:: Inventories in Lithuanian are available at LCVA and online at the Lithuanian Archives' website.

Links to finding aids:: https://eais-pub.archyvai.lt/eais/faces/pages/forms/search/F3001.jspx?_afPfm=-7dec7f9e.6

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

Author of the description:: Galina Baranova, Lithuanian State Historical Archives, and Alex Valdman, Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, 2014