Metadata: The High Court of Lithuania
Collection
- Country:
- Lithuania
- Holding institution:
- Lithuanian State Historical Archives
- Holding institution (official language):
- Lietuvos valstybės istorijos archyvas
- Postal address:
- Gerosios Vilties g. 10, 03134 Vilnius
- Phone number:
- (8 5) 213 74 82
- Web address:
- http://www.archyvai.lt/lt/lvia_naujienos.html
- Email:
- istorijos.archyvas@lvia.lt
- Reference number:
- f. 443
- Title:
- The High Court of Lithuania
- Title (official language):
- Lietuvos vyriausiasis teismas
- Creator/accumulator:
- High Court of Lithuania
- Date(s):
- 1797/1850
- Language:
- Russian
- Polish
- Extent:
- 10,124 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The High Court of Lithuania served as the highest appeal court of the governorate of Lithuania. After the split of the governorate in 1801 it functioned as the High Court of the Governorate of Vilnius. The records of the cases brought before the court include rich data (correspondence, protocols, texts of judicial decisions and so forth) on various social, cultural and religious subjects. Many files include Jewish-related material
The civilian cases include documents on business and financial disputes, such as a dispute between the Jewish community of Vilnius (Kahal) and the local guild of butchers on the production and sale of kosher meat in the early 19th century (these files contain copies of earlier documents on this subject, which date from 1667 and later). Some files refer to Jewish community affairs, such as a dispute between members of the Kahal of Vilnius that was brought before the court in the 1820s (one of the members is also accused of involvement in a death by defective medicines).
A large part of the collection refers to cases of violence, including murders and arson (for instance, materials from 1802 mention a case of Jewish tanners from Telsiai who allegedly burned the house of one of their competitors). Some documents mention Jews who were suspected of assisting criminal activities: Jewish tavern-keepers from a village in the vicinity of Vilnius were accused of hosting burglars and murderers (mentioned in records from 1804); Jewish residents of Vilnius supposedly cooperated with a gang of criminals (mentioned in papers from 1810-12). Records from 1819-22 mention an investigation into Jews suspected of assisting an escaped Jewish prisoner to flee abroad.
The records mention numerous cases of theft, smuggling, counterfeiting and other unlawful activities, such as illegal lumbering (mentioned in an investigation into Jews from Vilnius in 1823-30). Several investigations into alleged bribes of local officials are also mentioned (including a report on Jews from Kaunas bribing a local court clerk in 1880 and the alleged bribing of a local court official in 1807).
Some files include data on investigations related to alleged offences connected with religion. For example, there is the accusation of a Jewish tavern keeper in connection to a robbery at a church in Telsiai in 1799 and the case of a Jewish couple from a village in the vicinity of Ashmyany who allegedly hid ritual items lost by a Catholic priest in 1807. In at least one case, an investigation into allegations of ritual murder is recorded (the accusation was raised against tavern-keepers from a village near Shiauliai in 1801).
- Archival history:
- Prior to the 1917 revolution, the records of the Russian administration in Vilnius, including the materials of the governorate, were kept in a separate government depository. In the early 1920s 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 High Court of Lithuania, the highest regional appeal court, was established in February 1797, to replace the former High Lithuanian Tribunal, which functioned before the First Partition of Poland. In 1797-1801 the court held its sessions in Vilnius and Hrodna. After the division of the governorate of Lithuania into the governorates of Vilnius and Hrodna, the court permanently resided in Vilnius. The court included two departments, criminal and civil. After the 1830-31 uprising the court was reorganised into the Chambers of the Criminal and Civilian Court (see f. 447 at LVIA).
- System of arrangement:
- The collection is arranged in chronological/thematic sections.
- Access, restrictions:
- The collection is open for reference at LVIA.
- Finding aids:
- A basic inventory is available online in Lithuanian. More detailed inventories in Russian are available at LVIA. Records and descriptions of the Jewish-related materials of the collection are also available at the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People.
- 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:
- Alex Valdman, Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, 2014
