Metadata: Police Court (Ordnungsgericht) of Kreis Werro
Collection
- Country:
- Estonia
- Holding institution:
- Historical Archives of Estonia
- Holding institution (official language):
- Eesti Ajalooarchiiv
- Postal address:
- Tartu, Nooruse 3, 50411
- Phone number:
- +372 738 7521
- Web address:
- www.ra.ee
- Email:
- tartu@ra.ee
- Reference number:
- EAA.950.1
- Title:
- Police Court (Ordnungsgericht) of Kreis Werro
- Title (official language):
- Võru sillakohus
- Creator/accumulator:
- Police Court of Kreis Werro
- Date(s):
- 1765/1890
- Language:
- German
- Extent:
- 6,798 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection comprises court records and reports made by the Police Court of Kreis Werro (German: Werrosches Ordnungsgericht). The Police Court was the lowest court in Livonia and dealt mostly with minor crimes and policing. The Court was active from 1765 to 1890 when the Kreis Werro (Russian: Верроский уезд, now Võru maakond) was a part of the Governorate of Livonia within the Russian Empire. The collection includes 33 Jewish-related records dated from 1829 to 1888.
Among the papers prepared by the Police Court are two reports on the number of Jewish residents living in the kreis in 1873-1874 and 1876. The rest of the Jewish-related cases belong to the section of Court proceedings (criminal cases). Many of these cases are violations of passport regulations (10 cases, dated from 1844 to 1879); there is also one Jewish-related case on vagrancy (1860). Another large group of crimes committed by Jews are violations of trade and excise rules (7 cases dated from 1829 to 1880). In five of these cases, Jews are accused of being itinerant pedlars (German: Hausierer). In one case a Jew is accused of illegally trading in packages of tea and 7 calfskins (the case is dated 1854). There is also a case on the auction of goods confiscated from a Jew (1850-1851).
The collection also includes a number of crimes against property committed by Jews. Five of these cases are thefts, namely pickpocketing (one case dated 1869-1870), thefts of horses (two cases dated 1877-1878 and 1881 respectively) and thet heft of a sewing machine (one case dated 1878-1882). In addition, a Jew was charged of theft by swindle (1886-1888). Among other crimes against property, Jews were accused of counterfeiting (1863) as well as of misappropriation (cases dated 1871 and 1883). The debt of a Jew who allegedly sold tobacco was also recorded (1840).The Police Court had one registered complaint against a Jew (1844) and one accusation of slander (1873).
Additional examples of Jewish-related files: Investigation cases against the Jew Wulf Gomsel for passportlessness, 1878 (inventory 1, file 2167); Files in investigation cases against the two Jews Schmul Baranow and Meyer Kachin because of prohibited peddling of various stall goods, 1829/1830 (inventory 1, file 2278); Investigation cases against the Jew Isak Becker for alleged embezzlement of foreign property, 1883 (inventory 1, file 4033); Investigative cases against the Jew Seling Flaum for issuing wrong credit tickets, 1863 (inventory 1, file 6308).
- Archival history:
- Initially records from the province (Governorate) of Livonia were stored in its capital, Riga. After 1914, a part of the records were moved to Tartu and Riazan. Currently the entire collection is split between the Estonian Historical Archives and the Latvian State Historical Archives, although most of the Estonian-related cases are kept in the National Archives in Tartu.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Police Court of Kreis Werro (German: Werrosches Ordnungsgericht; Estonian: Võru sillakohus) was the lowest court which dealt with misconducts (minor crimes) and civil cases. It also controlled public order and domestic trade, taxes and fines.
- Subject terms:
- Crime
- Legal matters
- Passports and visas
- Trade and commerce
- System of arrangement:
- The collection is arranged thematically and chronologically within the thematic groups. These thematic categories are in Estonian while the records themselves are in German. The Jewish-related cases on statistics are in the section of “Materials on Statistics (Acts)” (“Materjalid statistika kohta (Aktid)”), the documents on the auction of Jewish goods are in the section “Materials on vodka combustion, commercial and industrial enterprises” (“Materjalid viina põletamise, kaubanduse- ja tööstusettevõtete kohta”), in the subsection “Market, Auction and Exhibit Acts” (“Aktid turgude, oksjonite ja näituste kohta”). The Court proceedings are in the section “Kohtuprotsessi toimikud”, Jewish-related cases belong to the subsection “Crimes against public peace and order” (“Avaliku rahu ja korra rikkumine”, mainly the subsections “Violation of passport regime” (“Passirezhiimi rikkumine”) and “Violation of trade and excise rules” (“Kaubandus- ja aktsiisieeskirjade rikkumine”); the rest of the cases are in the subsection “Crimes against property” (“Omandivastased kuriteod”).
- Finding aids:
- General data on the collection is available on the web page of the Historical Archives of Estonia: www.ais.ra.ee; the collection is also briefly described in: Центральный исторический архив Эстонской ССР. Путеводитель. Москва-Тарту, 1969. С. 76-77.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
- Author of the description:
- Antonina Martynenko