Finding Eastern European Records, Part 5 (Locating records in European Archives )

I've often been asked how I find so many documents from various parts of Eastern Europe--many of which have appeared in blog posts.  This is the fifth in a series of posts describing how to find Eastern European records for your own ancestors.  While these posts will generally concentrate on how to find Jewish records in Eastern Europe, many of the strategies will also be applicable to records for other religions.  (Note that in the Russian Empire, most record sets were recorded separately by religion.)  The entire series can be seen here.

While a growing number of documents can be obtained in a researcher's local region (either online or via LDS microfilm) as discussed in earlier posts, an significantly larger number of documents are sitting undigitized--and sometimes disorganized--in Eastern European archives.

Birth Records for the Town of Shpikov--from Khmelnitski Archives

Finding Eastern European Records, Part 4 (FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com)

I've often been asked how I find so many documents from various parts of Eastern Europe--many of which have appeared in blog posts.  This is the fourth in a series of posts describing how to find Eastern European records for your own ancestors.  While these posts will generally concentrate on how to find Jewish records in Eastern Europe, many of the strategies will also be applicable to records for other religions.  (Note that in the Russian Empire, most record sets were recorded separately by religion.)  The entire series can be seen here.

FamilySearch.org

FamilySearch.org has a small but growing number of Eastern European data sets available.  In addition, since many Eastern European Jews spent time in Western Europe while in transit to America, often family members will appear in surprising places, so wider queries are recommended.

FamilySearch is free to use, although some of the documents it references are only available through other (paid) sites.

Hungarian Jewish Vital Records on FamilySearch; this is a joint effort with JewishGen's H-SIG

Finding Eastern European Records, Part 1 (LDS Microfilms)

June 2018 update:  These records are now digital (not on microfilm), so updated instructions are available here.

I've often been asked how I find so many documents from various parts of Eastern Europe--many of which have appeared in blog posts.  This is the first in what will be a series of posts describing how to find Eastern European records for your own ancestors.  While these posts will generally concentrate on how to find Jewish records in Eastern Europe, many of the strategies will also be applicable to records for other religions.  (Note that in the Russian Empire, most record sets were recorded separately by religion.)  The entire series can be seen here.

This post will cover how to find records available via the LDS on microfilm.

1888 Tax Census for the Marienhoff Family of Nezhin, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)

The document above is an example of a document found on an LDS-filmed microfilm.

The LDS have microfilmed a huge number of records from around the world, including Jewish records covering many towns and districts.  These microfilms can be ordered inexpensively ($7.50 for a 3-month rental) and delivered to the Family History Center of your choice.  Make sure to search multiple spellings for both your town and the district in which the town was located as often records are listed under the spelling for the time period in which they were initially generated--and spellings and even town names changed over time.

Starting in Genealogy--for Free

Genealogy has changed significantly since I started researching in the 1990s.  Instead of having to travel to an archives branch to try to find boat records and census records on microfilm, you can find many of those documents sitting at home.  The internet has made a lot of basic genealogy doable from home, which is wonderful.  Many people have heard of Ancestry.com because of their advertising campaign, but Ancestry costs money (unless you cancel before completing an initial 14-day free trial), and until you have the basics down on your family, it could be overwhelming.  Ancestry is great (and I do have a subscription), but wait on it until you exhaust some of the other free sites.

A better starting place is FamilySearch.  This site is entirely free (although they do ask that you set up a free account to see some of the original documents).  They have a lot of records, and they add more all the time.  You can search for family members in census records, boat records, and more.  Many states (Ohio is one I've used a lot) have all of their vital records (birth, marriage, death certificates) on FamilySearch; these are great resources for finding parents' names and helping to move back another generation.  You can also search their catalog for additional (not online) documents that they have on microfilm and can be delivered to a local Family History Center for you to peruse.