Metadata: Vilnius city police administration
Collection
- Country:
- Lithuania
- Holding institution:
- Lithuanian State Historical Archives
- Holding institution (official language):
- Lietuvos valstybės istorijos archyvas
- Postal address:
- Mindaugo 8, 03107 Vilnius
- Phone number:
- +370 5 219 5320
- Email:
- istorijos.archyvas@lvia.lt
- Reference number:
- 420
- Title:
- Vilnius city police administration
- Title (official language):
- Vilniaus miesto policijos valdyba
- Creator/accumulator:
- Vilnius city police administration
- Date(s):
- 1797/1916
- Language:
- Russian
- Extent:
- 4,085 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains records of the Vilnius city police administration on a wide range of criminal, judicial, political and administrative matters. The materials include correspondence referring to the activities of the police administration in investigation of crimes, prosecution of individuals for participating in demonstrations, orders of various senior officials, statistical information on the economic and social situation in the city, records relating to issuing passports, residence permits and other documents for the city's residents.
Accordingly, the collection comprises Jewish-related records not only on criminal and other illegal activities, but also important materials that shed light on the life of Jews in Vilnius and its surroundings in areas such as economic activity, payment of taxes, politics, religious life and more. For example, papers relating to the economic activities of Jews, include files containing data on the number of Jewish merchants, artisans and workshops in Vilnius from 1827-1830 (inventory 1, file 50), and materials from 1819-1829 on the inspection of shops in Vilnius (inventory 1, file 41). Among papers related to the administrative activities of the Vilnius police administration are documents from 1813 on the preparation for the census of Jews arriving from other governorates (inventory 1, file 7); on the displacement of Jews to other governorates from 1853-1855 (inventory 1, files 327, 328); on collection of arrears from the Antokol’ Jewish community from 1853-1859 (inventory 1, file 326); lists of Vilnius’ Jewish residents who emigrated to the USA in 1892 (inventory 2, file 749); correspondence from 1900 on charitable activities on behalf of poor Jews (inventory 2, file 823); correspondence with the Vilnius Governorate Board and the Vilnius City Board on the opening of a Saving and Loan Fund for Jews in 1900 (inventory 2, file 828); and on fining families of recruits who evaded military service. The religious life of the Vilnius Jewish community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries can be studied by means of the correspondence between the police administration and the Vilnius Governorate Board on the election of synagogue members (inventory 2, files 184, 191, 225, 237, 363) and via petitions on the opening of new synagogues in the city (inventory 2, files 802, 926, 945, 967). Documents from various years refer to the conversion of Jews to Christianity. Many files in the collection contain materials indicating the participation of Jews in political life and the revolutionary movement. Documents from the early 20th century mention Jewish individuals accused of possessing and distributing illegal literature of the Bund, of belonging to the Bund, of participation in demonstrations, of agitating workers and conducting strikes, and of possessing Zionist materials. The papers also include materials on the surveillance of Zionists activists in connection with preparations for the convening of the Sixth Zionist Congress in 1903 (inventory 2, file 1673). Papers from 1903 mention also a case against a Jewish man accused of damaging the emperor’s portrait (inventory 2, file 1669). File of 1905 contains correspondence with the director of the Vilna Jewish Teachers' Institute on the participation of the students in strikes (inventory 2, file 1816). File of 1910 mentions the Vilnius Governor's requests for political trustworthiness of JCA members. Records which refer to criminal activity consist of: a case from 1813 on a group of people involved in the murder of Urka Benjaminovich (inventory 1, file 8); papers from 1816 on a charge of Jews in the manufacture of counterfeit money; file from 1849-1851 on the search for the smuggler Avsei Gurevich (inventory 1, file 303); papers on surveillance of individuals suspected of various criminal and administrative offences; reports and correspondence regarding wanted persons and their violations. Some files contain complaints of Jews for violence and illegal actions by police officials.
- Archival history:
- The records of the Vilnius city police administration were handed over to the Central State Archive of the Lithuanian SSR in the late 1940s.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- In 1863, in accordance with the police reform of 1862, the Vilnius city police administration was established. The police administration was directed by the Politzmeister (chief police officer), who was subordinate to the governor. The main duties of the city police department were: to fight crime; maintain public order; conduct surveillance of the city population; suppress demonstrations, strikes and the revolutionary movement; and deal with various judicial and administrative functions. These functions included, for instance, control over the implementation of court verdicts, resident registration, control over the collection of taxes, fire and sanitation control. Cities police administrations were abolished soon after the 1917 February revolution.
- System of arrangement:
- The collection consists of two inventories which are arranged chronologically/thematically.
- Finding aids:
- Detailed inventories are available for free online access on the website of the Lithuanian Chief Archivist Service.
- 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:
- Ilya Vovshin, Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, 2018
