Russia Jewish Research

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Maps of Jews in the Russian Empire

 * For a map showing the percentage of Jews in the Pale of Settlement and Congress Poland, c. 1905, click here.
 * To view an additional historical map showing the historical percentage of Jews in governments, click here. Definition of "Pale of Settlement" from Wikipedia.org: The Pale of Settlement (Russian: Черта́ осе́длости, chertá osédlosti, Yiddish: דער תּחום-המושבֿ, der tkhum-ha-moyshəv, Hebrew: תְּחוּם הַמּוֹשָב, tḥùm ha-mosháv‎) was the term given to a region of Imperial Russia in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed and beyond which Jewish permanent residency was generally prohibited. It extended from the eastern pale, or demarcation line, to the western Russian border with the Kingdom of Prussia (later the German Empire) and with Austria-Hungary. The English term "pale" is derived from the Latin word "palus", a stake, extended to mean the area enclosed by a fence or boundary.

Gazetteer of Jewish Communities

 * Use the JewishGen Communities Database by clicking here.

Jewish History in Russia

 * Read the Wikipedia.org article History of the Jews in Russia, by clicking here].

Russian Jewish Records

 * In 1835 Russia mandated the keeping of Jewish records. Two copies were made. The official copy was turned into the government usually the city council - gorodskaia duma. Beginning in 1857, a Crown rabbi, paid by the state, kept the registers.

The JewishGen Databases

 * JewishGen.org has indexed millions of Jewish records from the Russian Empire. These come from many different sources, e.g., vital records, voter lists, business directories, and ghetto records. The records are organized for searching under the present-day country names. Access requires free registration. To search, click here.