Hungary, Jewish Vital Records Index - FamilySearch Historical Records

Hungary

What is in the Collection?
This collection covers records for the years 1800 to 1945. The images in this collection were scanned from microfilm copies of the originals, which are held in county archives under the direction of the National Archives of Hungary [Országos Leveltár] in Budapest. Records that are not part of this collection may be accessible for research by correspondence, or researchers can get permission to research the records in person at the archives.

Beginning in 1788, Jews were required to keep records of births, marriages, and deaths in German under Catholic supervision. Because these records were required for conscription and taxation purposes, Jews often evaded registration. The law was reemphasized several times during the early 1800s. Most Jewish communities did not actually start keeping records until the practice was again codified into law in 1840. In 1885, the Hungarian Royal Ministry of Cults required Jewish vital births, marriages, and deaths to be recorded in vital registers that included several congregations in a sub-district rather than in registers for each individual congregation. Exceptions were allowed when individual congregations paid to have their own registrar. With the beginning of civil registration in 1895, Jewish registers ceased to be official state documents.

Some of the earliest Jewish records have not been preserved and, in many cases, have missing years. Often only the transcripts remain, and the originals are unaccounted for.

Collection Content
This collection contains birth, marriage, and death records. Birth records are the most common in the collection, making up about half of the total records, followed by death records, with marriage records making up the smallest portion of the collection.

What Can This Collection Tell Me?
Birth records may contain the following:
 * Child’s name
 * Date of birth
 * Gender
 * Legitimacy
 * Father’s name, occupation, and place of birth
 * Mother’s name, maiden name, and place of birth
 * Parents’ residence
 * Child’s place of birth
 * Midwife’s name
 * For a boy, date of circumcision and who performed it
 * For a girl, date of naming
 * Witnesses’ names
 * Death date of infants who died in the year of birth

Marriage records may contain the following:
 * Groom’s name, occupation, and place of birth
 * Names of the groom’s parents and their residence
 * Groom’s residence, age, and previous marital status
 * Bride’s name and place of birth
 * Names of the bride’s parents and their residence
 * Bride’s residence, age, and marital status
 * Date and place of the marriage
 * Proclamations, witnesses’ names, and the officiating rabbi’s name

Death records may contain the following:
 * Deceased’s name, occupation, place of birth, gender, status, and age
 * Cause of death
 * Date and place of death
 * Date and place of burial
 * Parents’ names and occupations

How Do I Search the Collection?
To search this collection by name: Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

As you are searching, it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

Use these Jewish vital records to identify ancestors (individuals, their parents, and their spouses) and make family connections.

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in Hungarian. For help with reading the records, see the following resources:


 * Hungary Language and Languages
 * Hungary Genealogical Word List

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image. Collection Citation:

"Hungary, Jewish Vital Records Index, 1800-1945." Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : accessed 2016. Magyar Orszagos Leveltar, Budapest (Hungary State Archives, Budapest, and county archives, Hungary).

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):