Russia Archives and Libraries


 * Archives collect and preserve original documents of organizations such as churches or governments. Libraries generally collect published sources such as books, maps, and microfilm.
 * If you plan to visit a repository, contact them and ask for information about their collection, hours, services, and fees. Ask if they require you to have a reader’s ticket (a paper indicating you are a responsible researcher) to view the records, and ask how to obtain one.
 * Although the records you need may be in an archive or library, the FamilySearch Library may have microfilmed and/or digitized copies of them.

Genealogy/Family History in Russian Archives

 * Neither the Federal Archival Agency nor many Russian archives are staffed or equipped to answer extensive genealogical inquires of a "family history" nature.
 * Unless the exact archive involved has already been identified, family-history inquiries should normally be addressed directly to more specialized genealogical services.

BLITZ
The Russian Ancestry Research Services: BLITZ Information Center works with the historic archives in St. Petersburg and Moscow and provides genealogy research, document retrieval and translations. BLITZ is located in St. Petersburg and also maintains an office in California. BLITZ provides a preliminary genealogy search for US$80.00.

At the conclusion of this preliminary search, they give you our assessment as to the existence of records of your family and the direction of further research. They will also tell you if there are some documents which you should order. On the other hand, if they believe that further research will be unproductive, they will let you know along with the reasons.
 * Russian Ancestry Research Services: BLITZ Information Center 907 Mission Ave, San Rafael, California, 94901-2910, USA Telephone: 415-453-3579 FAX: 415-453-0343 E-mail: enute@igc.org Russian Ancestry Research Services RUSSIA Elena Tsvetkova E-mail: rublitz@gmail.com Telephone: 7(812) 436-9405  Postal Address: Pereulok Grivtsova, 10 Russkoe Geographicheskoe Obschestvo Sankt Petersburg, Russia 190000

Inventories and Guides

 * Find Lost Russian & Ukrainian Family Website
 * Record Types in Russian Archives
 * Visiting an Archive How to prepare for and get the most from a visit.
 * Annotated Register, Russian State Historic Archives, St. Petersburg Call number: 947.2 A3 1994, FamilySearch Library
 * Arkhivnye dokumenty poistorii evreev v Rosii v xix - nachale XX vv Which is a Research guide to materials on the history of Russian Jewry (19th and 20th centuries) in selected archives of the former Soviet Union''. Call number: 947 J57d, FamilySearch Library
 * A Directory and Bibliographic Guide to Holdings in Moscow and St Petersburg WorldCat
 * A basic reference work for those using traditional state and CPSU records, medieval manuscripts, and personal papers, this volume also provides a starting place for those trying to locate manuscript maps, folk songs, motion pictures, genealogical data, technical documentation, and architectural drawings, among other sources.
 * Entries for individual repositories include names (and all previous names) in Russian and English, addresses (including e-mail and fax), transportation, major staff, institutional history, surveys of holdings, access, working conditions, reference facilities, and a bibliography of related finding aids. In addition to indexes of authors, personal names, and an index-correlation table linking previous and present acronyms with current names of repositories, the English edition has an extensive subject index.
 * All of the archives listed are described in more detail with a full bibliography of their published guides and finding aids in the ABB printed directory, Archives of Russia: A Directory and Bibliography Guide to Holdings in Moscow and St Petersburg. (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2000). The English edition is considerably expanded from the Russian-language edition, Arkhivy Rossii (Moscow, 1997).

Libraries
National Library of Russia 18, Sadovaya Street St. Petersburg, Russia, 191069 Phone: +7(812)718-85-97 E-mail: ref.service@nlr.ru
 * Search the Catalog
 * Ask the Librarian

Museums
For a list with links of the many museums in Russia, see www.Russian Museums.info

Record Offices
Civil registration records are kept by civil registration offices in regions. There is no central office.


 * List of Russian Civil Registration Offices. Click on the map for telephone numbers, fax numbers and addresses (in Russian).