Metadata: The Provincial Board (Gubernskoe Pravlenie) of Suwalki
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. 1009
- Title:
- The Provincial Board (Gubernskoe Pravlenie) of Suwalki
- Title (official language):
- Suvalkų gubernijos valdyba
- Creator/accumulator:
- Provincial Board (Gubernskoe Pravlenie) of Suwalki
- Date(s):
- 1838/1918
- Language:
- Russian
- Extent:
- 15,066 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
This collection contains materials from the governorate board of Suwalki. The files include data on the governorate's branches of government and orders and regulations from St. Petersburg and Warsaw relating to the governorate. The collection also includes documents related to the activities of the central government in St. Petersburg (these include orders by the Tsar, the senate and the provisional government from the World War I period, papers on the abdication of Nicholas II and Mikhail Romanov in 1917 and other documents related to the house of Romanov).
The documents reflect a wide array of matters: finances, including taxation and fining in various localities throughout the governorate, the payment of pensions and allowances and the operation of savings funds. Other documents refer to military activities in the region: the hostilities which took place in 1863 and during World War I, conscription into the army from the Kingdom of Poland during the war and data on refugees during World War I and subsequent relief work for them. Files on administrative issues include information on the status and repair of roads, bridges and buildings; records of the organisation of exhibitions and fairs; various issues submitted by local administrators; and statistical data on the local population, including data on the locals' migration and records on travel permits for Russian subjects and residence permits for foreigners.
Numerous files include statistical data and information on the life and heritage of the Jewish population in the governorate of Suwalki. Several files refer to the process of hiring Jewish religious and secular functionaries – rabbis, cantors and others – and on the operation of Jewish communal institutions. Other issues that are mentioned include the hiring process for doctors and medical assistants and the state of Jewish hospitals. The files also include complaints about the actions of government officials, filed through the provincial board by Jewish residents.
Other files with data on the Jewish population of the governorate include reports on the handling of Jewish civil records (including an investigation into alleged inaccuracies in the registration of Jewish residents in the town of Sudargas) and data on travel and residential permits.
Data on Jewish businesses and organisations can also be found in the collection, including files on the opening of Jewish pharmacies, dentists’ offices and other commercial and industrial enterprises. Jewish cultural and communal organisations are mentioned, including mutual help and charity societies, cultural societies (including the Dos Likht enlightenment society) and libraries.
Part of the collection comprises data on Jewish real estate: requests for building approvals, repairs, or loans; data on houses rented by the government from Jewish owners for military and other purposes; and data on the construction and repair of Jewish communal property, including synagogues and bath houses. Several files include data on insurance premiums paid to owners of properties destroyed by fires.
Another part of the collection holds files referring to criminal activities involving the Jewish population: counterfeiting, smuggling and illegal trade of tobacco and alcohol, illegal border crossing and cases of escaped Jewish prisoners and searches for them. Several files mention the prosecution of Jewish draft evaders and their families, including records of fines and confiscation of property.
- Archival history:
- Prior to the 1950s the documents from the provincial board of the governorate of Suwalki were kept in the Central State Historical Archives in Moscow. Between 1952 and 1957 the collection was transferred to the Lithuanian Central State Archives in Vilnius. Currently, along with other documents from the Tsarist period, the collection is kept in the Lithuanian State Historical Archives in Vilnius.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The provincial board (gubernskoe pravlenie) of Suwalki was established in December 1866 after the reorganisation of the former governorate of Augustow into the governorate of Suwalki. The newly established board served as the main administrative body of the governorate, supervising the activities of the local administrative, communal, law enforcement and judicial authorities. It was also responsible for the supervision of industrial, medical and cultural organisations, among others, that functioned throughout the governorate. The provincial board was abolished in 1918.
- Access points: persons/families:
- Nicholas II
- Romanov, M. N. (Mikhail Nikolaevich)
- System of arrangement:
- The collection comprises 12 inventories. Each inventory lists the files of a former department (general, judiciary, medical, veterinary, financial and others) of the Provincial Board, which are arranged in a chronological order.
- Access, restrictions:
- The collection is open for reference at LVIA.
- Finding aids:
- For online data see the Lithuanian archives' website.
- Links to finding aids:
- https://eais-pub.archyvai.lt/eais/faces/pages/forms/search/F3001.jspx
- 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
