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Imagine walking the very same streets that your parents, grandparents or your great grandparents walked somewhere in Eastern Europe --- or one of the other countries where they had once lived. Imagine the sights ... the sounds ... and the smells that must have been there .... before you became a part of this world. Well, I did imagine and it finally happened for me in 1995 when my wife and I traveled to Talnoye, Ukraine. Yes, there was a "time" when Jewish life compared more like the Sholom Aleichem stories we've all read. A time when making a living and studying Torah were the only important goals a Jew could hope to (and pray to) achieve. Yes, imagine all this ... and if you can't actually travel to the "old country" ... then the next best thing is to research your family and their history. The many sites listed in my web site will help you feel a sense of those days past. From how to send money --- to the names of various departments of government, you will find it on this web page. If I have missed something, let me know. My goal is to make this site one of the most valuable and comprehensive web sites you will ever discover in your constant search for more information about your family and their lifestyle! Ukraine borders the Black Sea and is between Poland and Russia. Comparably speaking, it is slightly smaller than Texas. My personal impression of Ukraine, after traveling through the country and visiting Kiev, Berdichev, Kharkov and Talnoye, is that it is huge and crude! Ukraine, known as the Breadbasket of Europe, with a population of 50.1 million people today, had much Jewish genius, tradition, cuisine, music, philosophy, literature, leadership and achievements that had previously emerged from this land. It is a fact that prior to being called Ukrainians, Ukrainians were called Rusyns according to a statement in the book "Ukraine, A History" by Orest Subtelny on page 69 and 307. Ukraine is the biggest country in Europe with the exception of Russia. It is larger than France by territory and has the second biggest population - 50.5 million - after Russia with an estimated Jewish population of around 500,000. Check out this web site for more information - Jews were in Ukraine before the Spanish Inquisition. They traveled directly from Palestine, through Syria, Kurdistan, Dagestan, Kuban to Crimea. In their travels, they even converted the Khazars to Judaism. Their descendants still live in Ukraine today and are known today as Karaimes. Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews were a loose group until the pogroms of Bogdan Chmielnik and his Cossacks between the years1648 and 1656. The Cossacks, who lived in the Ukraine, overran Poland, and for whatever unjustifiable reason, vented their wrath on the Polish Kingdom, aided by their Tartar compatriots from the Crimea. The first major pogroms occurred after March, 1881 in Chernigov, Katerynoslav, Kherson, Kiev, Odessa, Poltava and Tavriya Guberniyas... and then spread throughout the Pale of Settlement and the Kingdom of Poland. Cossack is the English spelling of the people - in Russian it is spelled Kazak, and in Ukrainian it is Kozak. It is a Turkish word meaning free person. Jewish Pogroms in Ukraine, 1918-1921. Eastview Publications has microfilmed over 32,000 pages of documents from the Kiev archive: "Documents of Kiev District Commission for Relief to Victims of Pogroms" There are more details and a finding aid: Unfortunately for the Jews, after the Cossacks conquered Poland, they started to look for the King of Poland, but there was no King at that particular time, so the Cossacks had to show their ire and frustration on someone. They picked the Jews, some of whom had been money factors and tax farmers for the Polish nobility in Ukraine. They slaughtered the Jews in huge numbers and with great cruelty. Jews preferred to surrender to the Tartars who then sold them into slavery, rather than be tortured and murdered by the Cossacks. The Cossacks did their terrible deeds, not only in Poland, but as well in Lithuania. When it was all over, the Jews who survived had been reduce to a destitute state. All of their homes, schools, Talmud Torahs, books and torah scrolls were reduced to ashes. An interesting article on Cossacks is in the National Geographic, Vol. 194, No. 5 dated November, 1998. Much of the above information was gleaned from an article written by Len Yodaiken, Kibbutz Kfar Hanasai, in Israel shoshly@canaan.co.il and edited it for this web site. There is more to this interesting story and hopefully I will be able to bring the full story to these pages in the future. During the 1930s, keep in mind in your research, that all of western Ukraine was either located in Poland and/or Czechoslovakia. Stalin, in 1932 raised Ukraine's grain procurement quotas by 44 percent. The results left the people in a starving situation. Information about this period, with a graphic description can be found at In 1939 the Jewish population of Ukraine was 1.5 million (1,532,776) or 3% of the total population of Ukraine. One half to two thirds of the total Jewish population of Ukraine were evacuated, killed or exiled to Siberia (Reitlinger, page 251). Ukraine lost more population per capita than any other country in the world in WW II. The Jewish Community of Ukraine is the fourth largest in the world, after the US, Israel and Russia, and currently numbers approximately 550,000. Since 1989, 200,000 Ukrainian Jews have emigrated to Israel. There are authentic documentation that mentions a flourishing Jewish Community in Kiev in the tenth century. There are perhaps 9,000 or more inhabited places in Ukraine. The location of each is made more difficult by the fact that many alternate names are, and have been used, including Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, German and Magyar names. One of the best links to find the location of your family shtetl is using either the Map blast site Ukraine SIG is another newly developed site dealing with all things Jewish Ukraine There is a sub-group entitled UKR-Odessa Gen Research Group which has its own web site at "Galina does searches in the Odessa State Archives for our members at a group rate. Vital (B, M, D) records (most?) survived all the wars and cover Jews for the years 1875-1922. Generally, the first surname (no limit on given names) searched costs about $68 (if any are found) and about $23 if nothing found. Additional surname searches are a few dollars less for each. Her success rate is about 65% in finding something. These searches are only "partial" or "limited" searches for 25 year periods at these low fees. Members may sign up for new searches but may wait another year as the "list" is long. Higher rates apply for a 47 year search."
The previous information was obtained from a post to Further general information is available at Yad Vashem has a large library on the Ukrainian Jewry during the Holocaust. Yad Vashem has a branch in Givataiim, "Volhynia House," located at
"100 Evreiskikh Mestechek Ukrainy" (100 Jewish Shtetls of the Ukraine) The first volume which has been published concerns only the towns of Podolia and can be purchased from a bookseller in the US. "A History of Ukraine" - authored by Paul Robert Magocsi and published in 1996 "A Travel Guide to Jewish Russia & Ukraine" - authored by Ben G. Frank and published by Pelican Books. Useful information for the Jewish traveler. Describes the Jewish communities the author encountered as he traveled in the footsteps of a twelfth century rabbi and includes numerous photographs and an index. "Archival Sources for Ukrainian-Jewish Genealogy" - authored by Dr. Sallyanne Sack and published by Avotaynu - "The Bones of Berdichev" authored by John and Carol Garrard, is the story of the life and fate of Vasily Grossman, a Russian Jewish agnostic, whose life is changed after reporting the horrors of the war and the Holocaust. Published by The Free Press, New York ISBN 0-684-82295-4 "Brave Old World" - a story about a onetime great Hassidic center in Ukraine "The Complete Works of Isaac Babel" - authored by Isaac Babel who was born in Odessa in 1894. His first years were spent in Nikolayev. To get a good read for those who want to get the feel of a Jew's life and outlook during those times, Anita Citron anitac1@erols.com recommends reading this book in a posting to the UKR-ODESSA-Gen-L@rootsweb.com on 11-21-2001. The book was reviewed in the NY Sunday Times Book Review pages. "Encyclopedia of Ukraine" - this information book may well be available either at your local library or through inter-library loan. The Encyclopedia is available for purchase at "Essays of History of Jews in Ukraine - authored by J. Chonigsman and A. Naiman and published in 1992 in Kiev. This book traces events of Jewish life from the days of Khazars up to the end of WW II. "Exile in the Foothills of the Carpathians. The Jews of Carpatho-Rus and Mukachevo, 1848-1948" - authored by Professor Yeshyahu A. Jelinek and published by the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora research Center, Tel-Aviv University in 2003 in Hebrew. The Hebrew title: "Hagola Leragley Hakarpatim - Yehudey Karpato-rus' Vemukachevo, 1848-1948" ISBN 965-338-057-5 You can order from Tovia Klein tok26@netvision.net.il "From a Ruined Garden" - authored by Kugelman and Boyarin "Into Auschwitz, For Ukraine" authored by Stefan Petelycky deals with the many Ukrainians who have had their lives subjected to the tyrannies of Soviet Communism and German Nazism. For more information visit "Jewish Heritage Report" - an article written by E. Sololova reports his personal experiences in "Search of Jewish Cemeteries in the Ukraine" is in the Winter 1997/98 issue Jewish History of Ukraine "Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldova" - authored by Miriam Weiner and published in 1999, offers town-by-town listings of archives, from Birth, Marriage, Divorce and Death records to voter and tax rolls, draft registrations and property listings going back, in some cases, to the 1700s. Jewish Roots Department Attached to Jewish Religious Community in Kiev - information on Tourism, Genealogy, Entombment search, Chassidic places, Communities, Holocaust, etc. an interesting commercial site "Jewish Tombstones In Ukraine and Moldova" - in both Russian and English. Published in 1993 by Image Publishing House in Moscow. "Jewish-Ukrainian Bibliography" - a selected annotated bibliography of resources in English by Andrew Gregorovich - 2nd Edition. Toronto: Forum, 1999 116 pages "Jews in Ukraine" (A Historical Investigation) authored by Matvy Shestopal who was a respected faculty member at the Taras Shevchko University of Kiev. He was purged from the University in the period of ideological wars in the 1960's and died in the 1970s. His manuscript was hidden by loyal students and published in Kiev in 1999. a middle section from the three pages shown in Ukrainian is provided in English translation at http://www.ukar.org/shest01.shtml http://www.bl.uk/collections/easteuropean/jewsukr.html "The Jews of Moscow, Kiev and Minsk: Identity, Anti-Semitism, Emigration" - authored by Rozalina Ryvkina - The Jews of Moscow, Kiev and Minsk:... "Lists of WW2 deaths by Oblast" Knyha Pamiati Ukrainy translated to "Commemorative Book of Ukraine". You will need someone who can read Ukrainian to help research the names in this list. "Manya's Story" - a story about the Polevoy Family experiences living in and around Talnoye in the early 1900s - authored by Mrs. Gray and according to Borders Book stores, there are about 2,000 copies at the publisher's warehouse $20.00 - also available at Amazon.com "Memory of Fallen Soldiers from WWII" (Knyha Pamiati Ukrainy - Commemorative Book of Ukraine) lists names by town of people killed. The book can be purchased from a Ukrainian Bookstore or you can search the Library of Congress catalogue (on-line) and do a search for Knyha Pamiati Ukrainy. There are 300 volumes, each containing about 15,000 names for a total list of 4,500,000 soldiers. Not all oblasts have started, or finished, this tribute. Each volume has about 1,500 family names of fallen, or missing, soldiers, arranged by village, Raion, and Oblast. These figures indicate that more soldiers died per capita, than any other nation lost in WW II and if you add another 8 million civilians lost, you have more people who died from the Ukraine, than any other country. "Origins and Meaning of Ukrainian Surnames" compiled by Gregory Gressa from texts by Jeff Picknicki, University of Manitoba, and additionally, works of John-Paul Himka & Frances A. Swyripa, University of Alberta as well as other contributors. "Personal History: Buried Homeland" authored by Aharon Appelfeld and published by The New Yorker on 11/23/1998. An excerpt is available on-line http://magazines.enews.com/magazines/new_yorker/ "Roll Call Lest We Forget" - a list of names of Ukrainian causalities from WW I as compiled by Lubomyr Luciuk, Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association and published by The Kashtan Press, Kingston, Ontario, Canada "Secrets of Berdichev" - the book focuses on the community as a whole, rather than on individuals. Some names to appear. Alan Shuchat, a landsman whose family came from Talnoye where my father came from as well, has identified some of the chapter and translated them into English in a JewishGen Digest dated 12/11/00 Message 16. "Some Archival Sources for Ukrainian Jewish Genealogy" - authored by Aleksander Kronik - This book can be purchased through my link with Amazon.com at the left side bar. "The History of Lemkovyna" - authored by I. F. Lemkin "The Road from Letichev - the history and culture of a forgotten Jewish community in Eastern Europe". Authored by David A. Chapin and Ben Weinstock and published by Universe.com, Inc. in Lincoln NE "The Shtetl: Image and Reality: Papers of the Second Mendel Friedman International Conference in Yiddish," edited by Gennady Estraikh and Mikhail Krutkov and published by Legenda, University of Oxford in 2000. ISBN 1-900755-41-6 There are references to Berdichev entitled "Berdechev in Russian Literary Imagination:" From Israel Aksenfeld to Friedrich Gorenstein "Treasures of Jewish Culture in Ukraine". The 145 page book
"World War II in Ukraine" - the Ukrainian experience in World War II with a brief survey of Ukraine's population loss of 10 million by Andrew Gregorovich. http://www.infoukes.com/history/ww2/
Mosty - a web page where you will find descriptions of books dealing with various Ukrainian topics Ukrainian Book Store, 10215 97th St. Box 1640, Edmonton, Alberta Canada T5J 2N9 Phone: 780 422 4255 Fax: 780 425 1439 e-mail: ukrbkst@planet.eon.net Site: www.ukrainianbookstore.com Zora Books - Research material, books and software. Located in Britain http://www.btinternet.com/~zorabooks/index.html General (Click on either of these links to go to my Ukranian Maps
An excellent site to find information about most European countries is at http://searcheurope.com Remember that the western portion of Ukraine was under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1722 to 1918, and under Polish rule within that empire, and later, for a good portion of that time. Immigrants arrived with documents and papers in German, Polish, Rumanian or Russian, because the language used on the documents was the official language of whatever government was ruling Ukraine at the time. Genealogy Primer - "Where do I start" During Soviet days, Ukrainian cities carried Russian names, and since the Russian language doesn't have an "H" in the alphabet, a "G" was used in its place. Global Gazetteer is a great web site. It is a directory of 2,880,532 of the world's cities and towns, sorted by country and linked to a map for each town. A tab separated list is available for each country. World-Wide Gazetteer Help in finding information about a specific village or city can be found at the Getty Vocabulary Program There are over 900,000 records for places arranged in hierarchies representing all nations of the modern world and including vernacular and historical names, coordinates, place types and other relevant information. This is one powerful web site for researchers. The Ukrainian Center of Genealogical Research serves to bring your family together. The team of professional genealogists try to connect you with your past - the history of your family! 2001 Census of Ukraine - the first census link is in Cyrillic, but it looks very interesting The second site is in English and it states that on 22 February the Ukrainian government resolved to hold a national census between 5 and 14 December 2001. The last census was held in 1989 when Ukraine was still a part of the former Soviet Union. At that time the population of Ukraine was 51.45 million. However, during the last seven years, Ukraine's population has been continuously decreasing, and the birth rate is lower than the mortality rate. Statistical data for the first half of 2000 showed that there were 49.5 million people in Ukraine. According to the State Statistics Committee, by 1 January 2001 the Ukrainian population shrank to 49,291,200 - check this and a lot more information out at All Ukrainian Jewish Congress - is the largest Jewish organization in Ukraine and their web site offers a lot of background information
Anti-Semitism in Ukraine - and information about the Jewish Communities Archive Addresses The Archives in Ukraine do not have a master name index where they can determine surnames for you. This is the reason why it is essential to know the birthplace of your ancestor as historical records are archived by locality ... and then by religion. The birthplace of your ancestor can be determined from one of several documents including immigration records, alien registration applications, naturalization papers, civil and church records, social security card applications, military records, etc. The country of Ukraine is made up of Oblasts (equivalent to our States or Provinces) and Raion (equivalent to our Counties or regions). There are presently 25 Oblasts and a number of Raions in each Oblast. In most cases there are at least 12 Raions in an Oblast and sometimes as many as 26. Addresses and phone number for the 25 Oblasts can be found at Raions of Ukraine includes postal codes where available, in alphabetical order David Chapin visited three archives in Ukraine in 1995 and reported as follows: St. Petersburg has 3 which include the National Library. This is a sophisticated archive that is well indexed and has good duplication facilities; 2. The State Archives is a different set of records from the National Library. It seems to have more legal-type documents. It is poorly indexed, requires special passes to use it, and has no duplication equipment; 3. Archives annex has some type of cooperative photocopy arrangement with the National Library. This information obtained from a report on 7-30-1995 by David Chapin when visiting Russia and Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Consulate has forms to use in requesting documentation. There is a fee charged of $40.00 for research by the consulate which applies only to information on consulate employees, or for all documentation. Their address is 3a Soborna area, 29008, Ukraine. They also have a web site. Writing to the Archives Main Ukrainian Archives' Addresses - To communicate by letter with anyone in Ukraine, or to request information on an ancestor from an Archives in Ukraine, one should know the appropriate modern Raion and Oblast of the ancestral village or town and the Russian Guberniya or Austrian Crown Colony. There are a number of ways to find the proper address of your ancestral home. One is to look in the 'Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World,' which lists the longitude and latitude of the location and should also list the Raion and Oblast. You might also find the village on maps links on my pages or in Atlases in your local library. More information can be found at The Ukrainian Archival system for family research is made up of:
Addresses of Ukrainian Archives (in English), but far from complete Main Ukraine Archives UKRAINA Central State Historical Archives in Kiev and L'viv UKRAINA UKRAINA Archives Addresses for Western Ukraine and SE Poland Archive Addresses in Ukraine Archives in Russia Archives of the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast - State Archives of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukraine Central State Historical Archives in Kiev Kiev Science and Technology Library (also known as the Vernadsky Library). This sprawling library is a very sophisticated operation. The Judaic collection was housed in a separate building. In addition to modern Jewish materials (including such books as WOWW, Beider's Surname Book, The Lord's Jews, etc.) it also contained a portion of the Ansky collection and Jewish town Pinkas records. The Ansky collection contains some interesting questionnaires and other materials. The Pinkas records were also of interest. I found the Chevra Kadisha Pinkas record for the town of Letichev in their archives, but I was disappointed that it contained administrative protocols and nothing about the burials themselves. However, there were lots of lists of names in this particular book. This information was from David Chapin who visited Ukraine in 1995. Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine - L'viv Branch
Chernivtsi - has an Oblast Archives Director of the Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine (Note: you can find the Ukrainian Cyrillic spelling of the above address at http://www.lemko.org/genealogy/galiciapl.html Ivano Frankivsk Oblast Archives - has inventory for towns and districts in Western Ukraine and Eastern Poland. Khmel'nyts'kiy State Oblast Archives Khmelnitsky Oblast Archive is a very sophisticated, modern archive in a new building. It was well-indexed, with accessible photocopy equipment. It seems to contain mostly records from after 1917. It was easy to find what I wanted, and the staff was extremely helpful. Typical charges (in 1955) were $5 per photocopied document (regardless of the number of pages copied). Offers numerous Jewish records from Tsarist times for all of Podolia. The archive is fairly well indexed to the main record groups (i.e. revision lists, metricular lists, census are all easy to find). From a posting by David Chapin on 7-30-1995 L'viv Oblast Archives - inventory includes property records for many towns with the current borders of Western Ukraine and Eastern Poland according to a posting by Miriam Weiner on 6/28/04 to Gesher Galicia SIG forum National Archives of the Ternopol Oblast, |
Ukraine | Crimea
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