Metadata: Office of the Odessa Military Governor; Odessa
Collection
- Country:
- Ukraine
- Holding institution:
- State Archive of the Odessa Region
- Holding institution (official language):
- Державний архів Одеської області; Государственный архив Одесской области
- Postal address:
- 65026, Украина, г. Одесcа, ул. Жуковского, 18, тел.: +380 (48) 722-9365, тел./факс: +380 (48) 722-8025, e-mail: DAOO@ukr.net http://archive.odessa.gov.ua/
- Reference number:
- F. 457
- Title:
- Office of the Odessa Military Governor; Odessa
- Title (official language):
- Канцелярия Одесского военного губернатора, г. Одесса Херсонской губ.; Канцелярія Одеського військового губернатора, м. Одеса Херсонської губ.
- Creator/accumulator:
- Office of the Odessa Military Governor; Odessa
- Date(s):
- 1837/1856
- Language:
- Russian
- Extent:
- (349 files)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Scope and content:
-
Documents housed in the fonds include (op. 1, 3) imperial edicts and memoranda of the Novorossiia and Bessarabia governor-general dissolving kahals and placing Jews in cities and counties under the jurisdiction of the general state administration (1844); on the korobka [kosher meat tax] and candle tax levied upon Jews to fund the establishment of Jewish schools; on an excise tax for wearing traditional Jewish clothing, exempting “Jewish tsitsis” from this tax, and taxing Jews for wearing yarmulkes (1845-47); a report of the Odessa mayor instructing the Odessa city rabbi to make an announcement in synagogues to the Jewish community that the kahal would be dissolved as of 2 March 1845; reports of the Odessa Municipal Duma containing information on the general boards of synagogues and Jewish houses of worship; on the staff of the office tasked with keeping records on Jews (in connection with the placement of Jews under the jurisdiction of the general state administration), and on allocations necessary for this; on rulings of the Odessa Jewish community on fundraising to support the staff of the Jewish affairs office, and on approving an additional levy from Jewish townspeople and merchants of the 3rd guild to make up the shortfall in this funding (1845); on electing new Jewish “collectors,” with a list of these persons enclosed (1846); on collecting money owed to the Duma from Jewish houses of worship (1847); etc.
Several of the documents housed in the fonds deal with Jews’ conversion to Christianity, including applications and correspondence on “issuing grants to Jews who had assumed the Christian faith” (1845-46); a copy of a statement by the minister of internal affairs (21 May 1847) requesting that the acting Novorossiia and Bessarabia governor-general advise as to his opinion, “as correlates with the law and local circumstances, regarding the possibility of Jews changing their surnames upon baptism,” and the opinion of the Odessa public prosecutor on this subject, namely, that “it would be possible … to permit Jews to change their surname upon baptism should they so wish, with the proviso that their former Jewish surnames should also be indicated in order to suitably preserve their property and adjudicate lawsuits among them,” and a letter based on this opinion by the Odessa military governor of 5 September 1847.
There is also correspondence pertaining to a complaint filed by the Odessa Jewish kahal (15 February 1845) regarding the fact that ninety-eight families including 205 male persons from “various military-settlement locations” had been assigned to the kahal without its consent, and that these persons were in “considerable arrears,” and that only fifty-three persons had actually settled in Odessa, even as the Jewish community was faced with the responsibility of paying for the others and fulfilling military conscription obligations for them; correspondence of the Odessa military governor, the administration of the Novorossiia and Bessarabia governor-general, the Odessa Municipal Duma, and the Odessa kahal regarding an audit of all kahal monetary funds, records, and documents (1845); correspondence of the Odessa Municipal Duma, the Odessa military governor, and the Kherson Revenue Chamber regarding the issue of including Jews who had transferred to the merchants’ estate in conscription lists (1848); information and correspondence on synagogues and houses of worship located in Odessa, on officials thereof, and on the organisation of Odessa’s Jewish hospital and almshouse (1854-5); family list forms and records listing Jews alphabetically and by family, lists of guild craftsmen, etc.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- This was established in 1837 on the basis of the office of the Odessa City Prefect upon the dissolution of the latter post and the appointment of an Odessa military governor to oversee civilian affairs as well. It was in operation until 1848, when the post of city prefect was restored; and from 1854-56, due to the restoration of operations of the Odessa military governor in that period. The jurisdiction and structure of the office of the Odessa military governor was not fundamentally different from the structure and function of the office of the Odessa city prefect (on which see the historical information given in the description of f. 2).
- Subject terms:
- Aid and relief
- Antisemitism
- Antisemitism--Antisemitic measures
- Clothing
- Conversion to Christianity
- Correspondence
- Education
- Education--Schools and universities
- Financial matters
- Financial records
- Health and medical matters
- Health and medical matters--Hospitals
- Jewish community records
- Kahal
- Military
- Synagogues
- Taxation
- Taxation--Candle tax
- Taxation--Korobka
- System of arrangement:
- The fonds includes three inventories systematised according to the structural-chronological principle.
- Finding aids:
- Inventories are available.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Jewish Theological Seminary
