Metadata: Kovel’ Municipality; Kovel’, Kovel’ County, Volhynia Province
Collection
- Country:
- Ukraine
- Holding institution:
- State Archive of the Volhynia Region
- Holding institution (official language):
- Державний архів Волинської області
- Postal address:
- 21 Veteraniv St., Lutsk, 43024, Ukraine
- Phone number:
- 380 (0332) 715 376
- Web address:
- www.volyn.archives.gov.ua
- Email:
- info@davo.voladm.gov.ua
- Reference number:
- F. 229
- Title:
- Kovel’ Municipality; Kovel’, Kovel’ County, Volhynia Province
- Title (official language):
- Ковельский городовой магистрат, г. Ковель Ковельского у. Волынской губ.; Ковельський міськиймагістрат, м. Ковель Ковельського пов. Волинської губ.
- Creator/accumulator:
- Kovel’ Municipality
- Date(s):
- 1812/1871
- Language:
- Russian
- Polish
- Extent:
- 524 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Scope and content:
- Included are incomplete files on various accusations: on the Kovel’ and Mel’nitsa Jewish kahals accused of failing to pay debts and taxes for the benefit of Roman Catholic churches (1827, 1841, 1844, 1847); of unlawfully burying, at the Jewish cemetery in the town of Mel’nitsa (1840), Jews who had reportedly died suddenly; of harbouring and mutilating persons to aid their evasion of military conscription (1842, 1846, 1852-53); of incitement to not pay the candle tax; files on Jews of the town of Ratno accused of candle tax evasion (1848); on Kovel’ kahal officials accused of abusing their power and insulting police officers (1842, 1858); files on the collection of money from the Jewish community of Nesukhoizhi for the benefit of local churches (1848); on an investigation into the reasons the Ratno Jewish community had failed to keep tax books (1854); etc.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Municipalities were elected bodies of city self-government, founded when these cities were granted the Magdeburg Rights (Vladimir in 1431 [renamed Vladimir-Volhynskii upon its annexation to Russia after the third partition of Poland, 1795]), Kovel’ in 1518). Headed by a voito, they consisted of two collegia and were in charge of administrative, economic, financial, and judicial affairs. After Right-Bank Ukraine was annexed to Russia and the Volhynia province was created, these bodies were reorganised on the basis of the Charter [gramota] on the Rights and Privileges of the Cities of the Russian Empire (1785). They were under the jurisdiction of the provincial magistrate, as well as the Volhynia Central Court (from 1831, the Provincial Chambers of the Criminal and Civil Court) as an appeals instance. After the first three functions mentioned above were transferred in 1737-38 to the newly-created city dumas, the municipalities’ function was solely to hear court cases, assess and collect real estate taxes, apportion craftsmen among guilds, etc. Interacting with these bodies in the name of Jewish communities were individuals (Jewish town councilmen) as well as bodies of self-government (kahalim, Jewish societies). They were liquidated in 1866 in connection with the adoption of the judicial reform pursuant to the Rules on the Abolition of Municipalities and City Halls [ratushy].
- Access points: locations:
- Kovel’
- Kovel’ county
- Mel’nitsa
- Ratno
- Ukraine
- Volhynia province
- System of arrangement:
- The fonds includes two inventories systematised chronologically.
- Finding aids:
- Inventories are available.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Jewish Theological Seminary