Metadata: Judicial investigator at Vilnius Regional Court
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:
- 668
- Title:
- Judicial investigator at Vilnius Regional Court
- Title (official language):
- Vilniaus apygardos teismo tardytojas
- Creator/accumulator:
- Judicial investigator at Vilnius Regional Court
- Date(s):
- 1817/1917
- Language:
- Russian
- Extent:
- 408 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
- The collection of the Judicial investigator in the Vilnius region includes: various criminal investigation files; records on cases of participation in strikes; on distribution of revolutionary materials; on evading of conscription and more. The collection contains many Jewish-related records. Some of these materials relate to charges against Jews in connection with criminal activities such as fraud, theft and violence. In some cases the victims were the Jews. For example, the file of 1874-1875 consists of materials on the prosecution of the peasants Kononovich, Rubashka and the Jew Margolin for the murder of Mr. Friedman, a Jewish resident of Dokṧycy (inventory 1, file 9). An important part of the collection is materials related to the history of the Zionist movement. These records include charges against youth for belonging to a Zionist youth organization in Vilnius in 1908-1911 (inventory 1, file 99). Among similar documents it is important to note materials from 1912 accusing some prominent Zionist activists in Vilnius including: Yitzhak Gruenbaum, the brothers Boris and Isaac Goldberg, Yudel Belovelski (aka Yehuda Volovelski; Yehudah Karni) and Alter Druyanow of belonging to Zionist organizations (inventory 1, file 166). Numerous files relating to the evasion of conscription contain, inter alia, papers of a 1909-1913 investigation into the activity of a gang of Jews against conscription in Vilnius (inventory 1, files 123, 124). The collection also includes investigative materials from 1868 against the tax-farmer Isel Meer Kliachko for failing to report on how much money he collected, for the non-payment of taxes, and for inciting others not to pay as well. In addition to this, in 1864-1878 Kliachko was accused of submitting a false complaint to the Vilnius governor on the illegal elections to some posts in the Jewish community of Novogorod (inventory 1, file 3). Many files in the collection contain materials of investigation on missing Jewish children. The collection also includes materials from 1892-1893 on charges against Rabbi Hirsh Fridzon and his son Leiba for faking a death certificate. The file from 1895-1896 mentions the accusations against Iser Gordon for encouraging peasants to emigrate to America.
- Archival history:
- After the First World War many materials of the Vilnius governorate’s institutions were consolidated in the State Archive in Vilnius (Archiwum Panstwowe w Wilnie) founded by the Polish authorities. In the late 1940s these records were handed over to the Central State Archive of the Lithuanian SSR.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The special role of Judicial Investigator was created in the Russian Empire by law on 6 July 1860. The aim of this reform was to enable investigations to be independent of administrative and police power. With the help of the police, the judicial investigator led preliminary investigation of various cases in the territories entrusted to him. From 1864 the judicial investigators became members of the regional courts and enjoyed the rights of court members. The post of judicial investigator at the Vilnius Regional Court was established on 20 November 1883. The investigating judge was subordinate to the regional court and was under the control of the prosecutor's office. The judicial investigator was appointed by the Russian Emperor upon the recommendation of the Minister of Justice. However, in practice, the investigator also depended on the governor's recommendation.
- Access points: locations:
- Dokṧycy
- Novogorod
- Smorgon’
- Svencionys
- Vilnius
- Access points: persons/families:
- Friedman
- Goldberg, Boris
- Goldberg, Isaac
- System of arrangement:
- The collection consists of one inventory organised in thematic-chronological order.
- 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, 2019