Administrative Divisions

There are terms every genealogist needs to know. The administrative terms could be confusing especially as they changed often due to political history. Yet I feel this is important basics required to build the knowledge. Hope this little article can clear it up. History of our ancestors in Eastern Europe is made up of three major periods

1. Polish 1500-1795.
   - when the Jews moved from German Eastward and settled in Poland. The process started earlier and by 1500s substantial number of Jews found in all the countries that made up later Pale of Settlement. This period came to end by the third (last) division of Poland
2. Russian 1795-1917
The borders of the newly formed provinces were redrawn as the results of territorial acquisition.
3. Soviet 1917-1991
   - Yet again

To compare it I would use American term for the State and County.

Country	State	County
Polish	Wojewodship	Powiat (Povet)
Russian	Gubernia	Uezd
Russian (Soviet)	Oblast	Rayon

Therefore this post could be used as the reference

Finding that long lost relative who left for America

It occurred to me that my previous post could be helpful in yet another situation. Due to migrations of late 19th - early 20th century, families were split along both sides of Atlantic Ocean. As the result many of the Russian Immigrants of the 1980s could recall the legend of a relative who left to New Word. Thus Ellis Island could be the first step to find these long lost cousins and reunite the families. Please refer to my post My ancestor came from Russia but the place has been forgotten for search advice.

My ancestor came from Russia but the place has been forgotten

Yep heard that one before. Ready to start new life and often traumatized by the past experiences some people tried to forget their past. Their children born abroad did not quite had social-cultural background to seek or carry that knowledge further down.

So how do you find this out?
Start with the immigration records. If you live in America go to Ellis Island register for free and start searching. Make sure to look at scanned ship manifests. Do you best to decipher the handwritten records. Most of the Jewish immigrants passed through this port during 1881-1924 period. To maximize your chances remember the following: 1. The idea of spelling of one's last name did not exist. Use the phonetic spelling. 2. Towns names were often changed with borders, languages and sometimes were corrupted. 3. Maximize the geography. There are plenty of gubernia-level maps online. Spend some time to know at least the main towns within the uezd your ancestral shtetl belonged to. Trust me there aren't that many and it really pays off. Going back to Ellis Island. As the immigration requirements changed, ship manifests required more information about the passengers. Starting from the early 20th century ship manifests contain such invaluable information such as the nearest relative in the old country and name and address of the individual the immigrant was about to join. Together they can bring both worlds together, literally uniting the Old and New Worlds within a context of one family. And don't forget that nice picture of the actual ship. This is when genealogy comes alive. P.S. Make sure to also check Castle Garden and Steve Morse famous site loaded with tones of helpful information.

Knowing Your Geography - part 1

While living in the Russian Empire Jews were limited to the west-most portion of it known as Pale of Settlement. Today this territory makes up four countries: Lithuania, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. (Ironically no Russia made this list).
Empire was divided into Gubernias as per map below. Next step is to figure out which Gubernia your earliest ancestor came from and which of today's countries it is now part of. This would determine the archive which likely contains the information you need.

Just Who are You to tell Us how to dig for our roots?

Welcome researcher!

My professional background in technology, along with data analysis, advanced knowledge of European history, geography and the long-term commitment to genealogy allowed this blog to come to life.

For nearly two decades now I perform several translation projects annually for a well-known genealogy company. This gives me unique exposure to data otherwise unknown or of little interest to the general public.

Typically historians are not very interested in genealogy while genealogical researchers at large, remain ignorant of historical facts that are not directly related to their families.

This blogs aims to fill this gap.

Since a lot of effort goes into each and every post, I ask to provide the link to the original posts should you chose to site any details on your own sites. For a serious publication however, my prior approval is required.

With all this being said, enjoy the history