Metadata : Varaklani rabbinate (Rezekne district, Vitebsk governorate)
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:
- 4554
- Title:
- Varaklani rabbinate (Rezekne district, Vitebsk governorate)
- Title (official language):
- Varakļānu rabināts (Rēzeknes apriņķis, Vitebskas guberņa)
- Creator/accumulator:
- Jewish Community of Varaklani
- Date(s):
- 1895/1905
- Language:
- Russian
- Extent:
- 7 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
- The collection includes metrical books of the Jewish community of Varaklani 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 1895-1896, 1898,1901-1903, 1905; books of marriage registrations from 1895, 1897-1898, 1901-1902; and books of death registrations from 1895 and 1899. Consequently, the records contain information on the genealogy of Varaklani 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 Varaklani. 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.
- Archival history:
- Many of the records originating in the Latgalian area of Vitebsk governorate were originally consolidated in Vitebsk and Vilnius, and later in Mogilev and Minsk. During the interwar and Soviet periods, many local records from Latgalia, including Varaklani in Rezekne district, were brought to Riga. Books of civil records of the Varaklani Jewish community from the period 1868-1899 are stored in the fonds 5024 (collection of Latvian Jewish Rabbinate Metric books) of the Latvian State Historical Archives.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Jewish community of Varaklani began towards the end of the 18th century. According to the census of 1897 there were 1,375 Jews in the town (75% of its total population). Three synagogues were built. During most of the late 19th and early 20th centuries the crown rabbi of the community was Rabbi Jacob Pollak, who was also a crown rabbi in Rezhitsa (Rezekne). In 1935 58% of the town's population (952 people) were Jewish. During the period of Latvian independence, until the 1934 coup d'état, the Jews in Varaklani actively participated in the municipal self-government. Several Jewish educational institutions and Zionist youth organisations operated in the town. After the Soviet takeover of Latvia in 1940 the Jewish community institutions and organisations were disbanded.
- Access points: locations:
- Varaklani
- 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:
- 4554
- Title:
- Varaklani rabbinate (Rezekne district, Vitebsk governorate)
- Title (official language):
- Varakļānu rabināts (Rēzeknes apriņķis, Vitebskas guberņa)
- Creator/accumulator:
- Jewish Community of Varaklani
- Date(s):
- 1895/1905
- Language:
- Russian
- Extent:
- 7 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
- The collection includes metrical books of the Jewish community of Varaklani 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 1895-1896, 1898,1901-1903, 1905; books of marriage registrations from 1895, 1897-1898, 1901-1902; and books of death registrations from 1895 and 1899. Consequently, the records contain information on the genealogy of Varaklani 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 Varaklani. 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.
- Archival history:
- Many of the records originating in the Latgalian area of Vitebsk governorate were originally consolidated in Vitebsk and Vilnius, and later in Mogilev and Minsk. During the interwar and Soviet periods, many local records from Latgalia, including Varaklani in Rezekne district, were brought to Riga. Books of civil records of the Varaklani Jewish community from the period 1868-1899 are stored in the fonds 5024 (collection of Latvian Jewish Rabbinate Metric books) of the Latvian State Historical Archives.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Jewish community of Varaklani began towards the end of the 18th century. According to the census of 1897 there were 1,375 Jews in the town (75% of its total population). Three synagogues were built. During most of the late 19th and early 20th centuries the crown rabbi of the community was Rabbi Jacob Pollak, who was also a crown rabbi in Rezhitsa (Rezekne). In 1935 58% of the town's population (952 people) were Jewish. During the period of Latvian independence, until the 1934 coup d'état, the Jews in Varaklani actively participated in the municipal self-government. Several Jewish educational institutions and Zionist youth organisations operated in the town. After the Soviet takeover of Latvia in 1940 the Jewish community institutions and organisations were disbanded.
- Access points: locations:
- Varaklani
- 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
