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This database contains a transliteration from Russian of a partial index found in Fond 3362, series 2, file 1 in the Central State Historical Archive of Belarus in Minsk.  This index was microfilmed by the LDS, on microfilm #1,920,800, film item #4.

It is an index of the birth records of boys born in Mogilev between 1864-1894, listed by father's given name only.  It was originally compiled by persons unknown from the Crown Rabbinate Records of Mogilev.  There are 9,805 records in this index.  It should be noted that the index, as it was found on the microfilm, did not include all years for which for records are available in the Minsk Archive and which were microfilmed by the Mormons (LDS).

The original index was probably compiled by at least six individuals, as evidenced by the six different handwritings that it contains.  It is unknown who made the original index or why it was made.  It is also unknown whether the original index was checked or proofed against actual records when it was compiled.  Also, this transliteration was completed using only the original index.  For these reasons, there may be errors in the correspondence of the index number to the actual record numbers.

The index contains the following columns:

• Year of Birth - Birth year of the child
• Index # - corresponds to the record number on the actual records
• Surname
• Father's Given Name
• Comments

There are fields missing throughout the database.  This is either because there was no data or the data was unreadable.  Also, during different time periods the information collected was slightly different.  The person who compiled the index for the years 1890-1891 included some patronymics.

For actual baby names and other information, one must go to the actual birth record, found on the LDS microfilms below, and look for the index #.  In addition to the microfilm numbers below, some of these same microfilms contain certain, marriage, divorce, and death records.  For a complete list of Belarus records microfilmed by the LDS, please see the JewishGen InfoFile "by-rec.txt".  The records on these rolls begin in 1837.  The actual records are in the Central State Historical Archive of Belarus in Minsk.

Below is an aid to help you find the actual birth records (register), in either the LDS microfilms or in the Archive in Minsk:

Please note that the index includes years for which the actual records have not been microfilmed.  Likewise, the index does not contain entries from all the records that were microfilmed.

The original records are written on facing pages -- left-hand page in Russian, right-hand page in Hebrew/Yiddish.  The quality of the records varies greatly.  The actual birth records will give you the following (for girls and boys): Baby's name and birthdate (Hebrew and Russian), father's name and his father's given name, mother's name and her father's given name, sometimes occupations, place of residence if not Mogilev (e.g. "resident of xxx"), and the recorder of the birth (usually mohel, if a boy).  Names vary on both sides of the page: Russian variants sometimes in Russian, Jewish in Hebrew/Yiddish.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank several people who made this database possible. Hadassah Lipsius discovered the existence of the index on the LDS microfilm and conveyed this information to Schelly Talalay Dardashti.  Schelly copied over 200 hardcopy pages from the microfilm, donated them to the JewishGen Belarus SIG and publicized its availability.  She found former Mogilev resident, Bella Nayyer, who transliterated the index on a volunteer basis.  Ed Sternin and Dave Fox converted Bella's word processing document to database-ready format.  Michael Tobias and Warren Blatt provided the search engine and technical expertise to put this database online.  Risa Heywood and Dave Fox prepared this Introduction to the database.

Future Plans for Mogilev Vital Records Microfilmed by the LDS

This database is only a first step.  The goal of the JewishGen Belarus SIG is to create online databases of the information found on the birth, marriage, death, and divorce registers found on the LDS microfilms.  This would allow people to find not only surnames, but all of the information found on record.  This will be a monumental and potentially costly project, which will require the commitment of researchers with family connections to Belarus.  First, the SIG needs a chairperson to head up this project.  Second, we will need someone promote the collection of tax-deductible donations to pay for the translation / transliteration of very difficult handwritten documents from the microfilm.  Take a look at what the JRI-Poland Project has been able to accomplish!  Belarus researchers could do the same.  If there is anyone interested in either of these important positions, please contact David Fox at fox@erols.com.

Searching the Database

In doing you online search of this database, we suggest that you use the Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex name search because of the numerous variations of spelling the same surname.

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Last Update: 30 May 2003   MT
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