Metadata : Ventspils rabbinate (Courland Province)
Collection
- Country:
- Latvia
- Holding institution:
- Latvian State Historical Archives
- Holding institution (official language):
- Latvijas Valsts vēstures arhīvs
- Postal address:
- Slokas iela 16, Rīga, LV-1048
- Phone number:
- +371 20 017 505
- Country:
- Latvia
- Holding institution:
- Latvian State Historical Archives
- Holding institution (official language):
- Latvijas Valsts vēstures arhīvs
- Postal address:
- Slokas iela 16, Rīga, LV-1048
- Phone number:
- +371 20 017 505
- Reference number:
- 4358
- Title:
- Ventspils rabbinate (Courland Province)
- Title (official language):
- Ventspils rabināts (Kurzemes guberņa)
- Creator/accumulator:
- Ventspils rabbinate
- Date(s):
- 1894/1909
- Language:
- Russian
- Hebrew
- Extent:
- 62 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
- The collection includes metrical books of the Jewish community of Vindava (Ventspils) which were maintained by “official” or so-called crown rabbis. The crown rabbis held the Russian government-mandated designation of rabbi and functioned as record keepers, Russian administrative representatives, and occasionally Jewish communal secular leaders. The metrical books in the collection consist of: books of birth registrations from 1894, 1896-1906, 1908-1909; books of marriage registrations from 1894–1902, 1904, 1906–1909; and books of death registrations from 1894–1901, 1903–1905, 1907–1909. Consequently, the records contain information on the genealogy of Ventspils Jews, as well as brief data for studying the history of the Jewish family and demography. By exploring the metrical books, it is possible to study the Jews who arrived in the city from other places, as well as the inter-communal family ties of Jews in Ventspils. For instance, data on marriages contain information about the day and the month of marriage, age of the bride and groom, including data on their origin from other cities, names and the social status (estate) of the parents, names of witnesses and the amount specified in the ketubah (i.e. the amount of money the woman will receive from her husband in case of divorce or death). The death records contain the names of the deceased, date of death, age, place of death, place of burial, cause of death and sometimes the social status (estate) and the city of origin of the deceased. The birth records contain information on the date of birth and the date of circumcision for boys, names of mohelim (the circumcisers), the name of the newborn, the names of the parents and the social status (estate) of the father. The book of divorces includes the names of the spouses, their age, the date of the divorce, the reason for the divorce, the names of the rabbi and witnesses, and also who initiated divorce proceedings. The books of divorces from 1894 and 1900 contain records of one divorce each.
- Archival history:
- Records from different cities in Courland, including local materials from Ventspils, were deposited in the Courland Provincial Archive in Jelgava Castle which was established in 1903. In the 1920s many of these materials were consolidated into the newly organised Latvian State Archive in Riga which existed throughout the interwar period. During the Second World War the Nazi occupation authorities searched for vital records of the Jewish population and brought some of these records into archival custody. Metrical books of the Ventspils Jewish community from the period of 1854 to 1893 are kept in the fonds 5024 (collection of Latvian Jewish Rabbinate Metrical books) of the Latvian State Historical Archives.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- In 1799, Jews received the right to settle in Ventspils (Vindava). According to the census of 1897, there were 1,313 Jews in the city (18.4% of the city’s population). In 1864 there was one synagogue and one prayer house. In 1909 there were five Jewish schools: four private schools and one state school. From 1897 until the end of the First World War the official rabbi of the Vindava Jewish community was Ephraim Samunov.
- Finding aids:
- For finding aids see the digital project Raduraksti of the Latvian State Historical Archives.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
- Author of the description:
- Ilya Vovshin, Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, 2018
- Reference number:
- 4358
- Title:
- Ventspils rabbinate (Courland Province)
- Title (official language):
- Ventspils rabināts (Kurzemes guberņa)
- Creator/accumulator:
- Ventspils rabbinate
- Date(s):
- 1894/1909
- Language:
- Russian
- Hebrew
- Extent:
- 62 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
- The collection includes metrical books of the Jewish community of Vindava (Ventspils) which were maintained by “official” or so-called crown rabbis. The crown rabbis held the Russian government-mandated designation of rabbi and functioned as record keepers, Russian administrative representatives, and occasionally Jewish communal secular leaders. The metrical books in the collection consist of: books of birth registrations from 1894, 1896-1906, 1908-1909; books of marriage registrations from 1894–1902, 1904, 1906–1909; and books of death registrations from 1894–1901, 1903–1905, 1907–1909. Consequently, the records contain information on the genealogy of Ventspils Jews, as well as brief data for studying the history of the Jewish family and demography. By exploring the metrical books, it is possible to study the Jews who arrived in the city from other places, as well as the inter-communal family ties of Jews in Ventspils. For instance, data on marriages contain information about the day and the month of marriage, age of the bride and groom, including data on their origin from other cities, names and the social status (estate) of the parents, names of witnesses and the amount specified in the ketubah (i.e. the amount of money the woman will receive from her husband in case of divorce or death). The death records contain the names of the deceased, date of death, age, place of death, place of burial, cause of death and sometimes the social status (estate) and the city of origin of the deceased. The birth records contain information on the date of birth and the date of circumcision for boys, names of mohelim (the circumcisers), the name of the newborn, the names of the parents and the social status (estate) of the father. The book of divorces includes the names of the spouses, their age, the date of the divorce, the reason for the divorce, the names of the rabbi and witnesses, and also who initiated divorce proceedings. The books of divorces from 1894 and 1900 contain records of one divorce each.
- Archival history:
- Records from different cities in Courland, including local materials from Ventspils, were deposited in the Courland Provincial Archive in Jelgava Castle which was established in 1903. In the 1920s many of these materials were consolidated into the newly organised Latvian State Archive in Riga which existed throughout the interwar period. During the Second World War the Nazi occupation authorities searched for vital records of the Jewish population and brought some of these records into archival custody. Metrical books of the Ventspils Jewish community from the period of 1854 to 1893 are kept in the fonds 5024 (collection of Latvian Jewish Rabbinate Metrical books) of the Latvian State Historical Archives.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- In 1799, Jews received the right to settle in Ventspils (Vindava). According to the census of 1897, there were 1,313 Jews in the city (18.4% of the city’s population). In 1864 there was one synagogue and one prayer house. In 1909 there were five Jewish schools: four private schools and one state school. From 1897 until the end of the First World War the official rabbi of the Vindava Jewish community was Ephraim Samunov.
- Finding aids:
- For finding aids see the digital project Raduraksti of the Latvian State Historical Archives.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
- Author of the description:
- Ilya Vovshin, Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, 2018
