Family themes of many Polish genealogists force investigation in Lithuania. The availability of metric books varies from region to region. in conversation with the household quarterly More Maiorum – Laimonas Gryva – a historian and professional genealogist from Lithuania – warns that searching in this region is simply a large challenge. You frequently gotta usage another intermediate sources for genealogy.
Is genealogy popular in Lithuania?
Yeah, it's becoming more and more popular. 1 Lithuanian household group on Facebook has more than 10,000 members. This may seem small, but it must be remembered that only 3 million people live in Lithuania.
The net has been instrumental in making the search for ancestors massive. Not everyone can go to the archive during working hours, and thanks to the materials placed online we can devote ourselves to passion erstwhile we have time for it.
Typical tabular-narration evidence of birth certificate from the parishes of St. Philip and Jamesof 1864 in the Russian Empire
Who are the Lithuanian genealogies?
Hobby, it's massive adequate that it's not the domain of 1 group of people. In the archive, I see people of all ages performing various professions.
Importantly, professional genealogies are not only historians, but, for example, erstwhile teachers or scientists from another fields.
This is like in Poland, where more and more people are active in genealogy regardless of their education or profession. What do you think the Lithuanians are looking for their roots for?
The first wave of popularity of genealogical research, just after the collapse of the russian Union, is the 1990s. They were primarily people looking for noble roots. present everyone is curious in knowing their ancestors, regardless of their social status.
Research in Lithuania: USSR times
What about before 1990?
I would have risked saying that no serious genealogy had been cultivated in Lithuania before 1990. The Soviets utilized to say nobles were workers. Hence, descendants of erstwhile nobles hid this fact. Others, on the another hand, had no reason to look for roots.
Do Lithuanian genealogies set themselves any “targets” in genealogical research? In Poland, any proceed to effort to prove (at all costs) noble origin. Others are trying to find judaic ancestors.
It seems to me that genealogies want to know first and foremost 3 things: where they come from (in a geographical sense), what is their origin (as social status) and what professions their ancestors did. The answer to this last question is the most difficult, as this information is not always mentioned in church files from the area of Lithuania. Whether individual was a blacksmith or a farmer or a potter can stay a mystery forever.
The metric books in the current territory of Lithuania were written in different languages at different times. How hard does this make household research?
Yes, in different periods we can find records in Latin, Polish and Russian. Only since 1918 does Lithuanian appear. For the younger generation, the biggest challenge is Russian due to the fact that they do not know Cyrillic.
The alleged revisional constituencies, or censuses, which were partially made available for Lithuania
on household Search
Could books have been written in another languages in the area of Lithuania at the same time, but in different places?
Nope. The entries until 1827 were in Latin, in 1827–1847 in Polish, and in 1848–1918 (except for the Suwalska province, any of which lay in the current Lithuania) in Russian. This was due to the laws, and the Russian language was introduced by an order in the territory of the Archdiocese of Vilnius and Zmud.
Like part of the current Poland, Lithuania belonged (in terms of legal and binding jurisdiction) to the Russian Empire. Did this origin fundamental differences in archival sources depending on the circumstantial region in which we conduct household research?
There are differences in metric records between the erstwhile provinces: Suwalska, Vilnius and Kaunas. There is no request to explain what the metric books looked like in the Suwałki state – the tabular-narration strategy was utilized throughout the Russian Empire (excluding the territory of the Kingdom of Poland – the ed.).
The biggest challenge for Lithuanian genealogists are metric books just from the erstwhile Suwałki province. During planet War II, many books—most frequently covering the years until 1918–1920—were lost. The books at the current border with Poland and Kaliningrad region were peculiarly affected. household searchers who come from this area seldom have the anticipation of extended search. Sometimes the preserved death and vow books of 1918–1940 and the 1942 census help.
Research in Lithuania: hard areas for genealogy
Are there any another regions hostile to genealogy?
Such an example may be the Klaipeda region – territory belonging to East Prussia, later, until 1923, to Germany – as Kreis Memel. Many books in this area have gone missing.
What happened to them?
Some old evangelical metric books are only available in German archives. another 20th century archives were lost during planet War II, with the exception of the civilian books of Klaipeda (Memel) dating from 1874–1943, written in accordance with Prussian jurisdiction.
Did the nobles surviving in the territory of the present Lithuania, straight incorporated in Tsar's Russia, endure in a peculiar way?
All persons of noble origin had to confirm this again before herroldia. To this end, they had to prove their origin and present the papers they had during the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Repressions became peculiarly cruel between 1830 and 1831 and after 1863, due to uprisings.
Many Russian officials besides arrived during this time, creating a fresh social “class”
What are the oldest metric books you've always dealt with?
In the Lithuanian Central Historical Archive, e.g. birth books from the parish of Joniškis (near Latvia) from 1599 to 1621, the parish of Merkinė from 1604 to 1618, or from the Vilnius church of St. John from 1611 to 161616 (births) and 1602 to 1615 (marriage).
First page of St. John's Church's oldest metric book in Vilnius from the early 17th centuryDid you have those books in your hands?
No, the originals of these books have been scanned and not made available to readers. You can find it on epaveldas.lt. I had quite a few inventory in my hands from the 17th century.
Are there another portals for genealogical investigation in the area of the current Lithuania where you can find scans of metric books outside household Search and Epavendas?
At the moment, any metric books are placed on the website genemetry.eu (base created by volunteers). But I can already say that the state archives will make a fresh portal, where metric book scans will be placed in October 2021.
One of the metric books, available on the genmetrik.eu portalGreat! We will surely inform Polish genealogists. Many of them search their ancestors in the area of present Lithuania erstwhile their ancestors left the area after planet War II. Are there genealogical search engines akin to Polish Geneteka for the area of Lithuania?
Last year it was launched by genealogy enthusiasts search engine metikai.lt. presently (2021) the page has more than half a million entries, but this number is expanding all the time.
Administrative division of the church
Is the administrative division of the Roman Catholic Church applicable for genealogical investigation in Lithuania? In Poland, depending on the region and on a peculiar diocesan archive, access is more or little friendly.
Vilnius archdiocese and viola are very friendly to genealogy researchers. The documentation is almost complete from the late 18th century to 1940. During the russian Union, part of the archives from the area of present Belarus, covering the years 1875–1940, were transferred to the archives there.
In Lithuania until 1926 there were only these 2 archdioceses. Part of the Suwałki state belonged to the Sejne archdiocese. Now we have six of them: the Vilnius metropolis is divided into the Vilnius Archdiocese and the dioceses: Koshedar and Poniewy, and the Kaunas metropolis into the Kaunas Archdiocese and the dioceses: Šawel, Telshan and Vilkovy. However, the archives themselves do not have many metric books. The Soviets took them from 1940 to 1941.
Then the diocesan archives in Lithuania barely exist?
They function institutionally, but do not have old archival sources. These were confiscated by the Russians.
Studies in Lithuania: books of another religions
Are there inactive metric books in individual churches?
Some parishes collect any books, but there are very fewer of them, most frequently Roman Catholic churches. In 1940–1941, the Russians most frequently confiscated books from 1875–1940, or those that might have affected the living. Although it depended on how meticulous russian officials were. any priests managed to hide older books, and in specified cases they are inactive held in parish offices. All that we find in the state archives was taken in the early 1940s.
What about the availability of sources? After all, there were many evangelicals or persons who lived in Lithuania.
The evangelical books – in most cases – remained in their worst condition. any of them – both from Calvinist and Lutheran churches – were preserved even from the early 18th century. In the case of books from synagogues, especially from the western part of Lithuania, we lost these sources irretrievably.
Orthodox books remained almost complete from the mid-19th century until 1940.
What archival sources, apart from metric books, can genealogies benefit from?
Good and crucial sources are, first of all, the files of the Earth and Grodzki courts, which served as notarial law firms, lists of taxpayers from 1795 to 1858 (the alleged "Revisional Convictions", ros. Ревизские сказки), 1942 census, but besides any noble folders concerning possession of assets, lists, certificates and another materials.
Are the mortgage books preserved – or akin sources?
In any places, specified sources have remained in perfect condition. For example Hypothetical Division of the Vilnius territory Court from 1919–1944 is simply a large origin of information about the past of many Vilnius structures. In any of these books you can find even wills, purchase-sale contracts. Sometimes it is an excellent origin of cognition about ancestors. Not the genealogy itself – as a search for household ties – but a communicative about family.
Research in Lithuania: What to watch out for?
Many Poles studied and studied in Vilnius, Klaipeda or Kaunas. Is there any information about this aspect of life?
In the case of the erstwhile Vilnius University, which was closed on May 1, 1832, the Tsar Nicholas I appeared after the suppression of the November uprising, and reopened only in 1919, the student files did not stay at all.
Many Poles went to Poland from 1945 to 1947 and there are many sources from this period. In general, Lithuanian archives gather much information about Poles surviving in Vilnius region from 1920 to 1939.
By changing the subject a little... Is the digitisation of archival sources on a large scale?
Once so, but no fresh scans were added to Epavildas for respective years.
Who is liable for this issue: the state (archive) or are there any groups of enthusiasts, local associations, who carry out their own digitalization?
The main part is the Office of the Chief Archiver of Lithuania, the equivalent of the Polish Chief Directorate of State Archives.
W There are not many sites of this kind created by enthusiasts, but for the said genmetrik.eu. Therefore, it is hard to tell what and how many materials were photographed by enthusiasts. specified initiatives are surely being implemented, but they do not always come to light.
In conclusion, what should we look for erstwhile looking for ancestors in Lithuania?
During planet War I and II, many archival papers were exported to Russia, many died during the journey. Part of the church records from the Suwałki state were destroyed in 1939–1945. The Genealogue looking in this area must so prepare for challenges and search in intermediate sources.
Laimonas Gryva − was born in 1971 in Kaunas. erstwhile he was a fewer months old, his household moved to Vilnius. There, in 1994, he graduated from Vilnius University in the past faculty with a bachelor's degree, and 2 years later he obtained a master's degree.
After working in the area of history, and in peculiar in the past of transport, he began a household search activity, which he has been doing for 12 years.
