Vilnius District Research Group
The Vilnius district (uyezd) consists of the city of Vilnius and surrounding shtetls (towns and villages). LitvakSIG’s Vilnius District Research Group (DRG) is responsible from obtaining records in Lithuania from the Vilnius uyezd and making them available online. This includes records from specific towns and records that pertain to the entire district.
Shtetls in the Vilnius uyezd are:
Antakalnis, Bagaslaviskis, Bezdonys, Ciobiskis, Gelvan, Giedraiciai, Inturik, Jasiunai, Joniskes,Laibiskis, Maisiagala, Mikasiliskis, Moletai, Musninkai, Naujoji Vilna, Nemencine, Novygorod, Paberze, Rudamina, Salcininkai,Sesuoliai, Shirvint, Snipiskes, Stundishki, Turgeliai, Vilna (Vilnius City), Yakubantse
We focus on records from the late 18th century up to World War II. These records include vital records (births, deaths, marriages and divorces), Revision Lists (like censuses), and conscription and tax lists. The records are obtained from the Lithuania State Historical Archive (LVIA) and the Lithuanian Central State Archive (LCVA) in Vilnius.
We access and translate records, create a database, and distribute the data to our qualified contributors in Excel spreadsheet format via our contributors-only website http://donors.litvaksig.org/site/vilnius. As part of LitvakSIG’s overall mission, our group data is made publicly available in LitvakSIG’s All Lithuania Database (ALD) approximately 18 months from when DRG contributors first receive access. The ALD is accessed via its database web interface, not in Excel format.
Since 2010, the costs of acquiring and distributing data for the Vilnius uyezd amount to more than $100,000. LitvakSIG now has obtained, translated and made available online more than half a million records from the Vilnius uyezd and over two million records from Lithuania in total. Our projects are ongoing, and progress is based on available funds.
The City of Vilnius Internal Passports project and Vilnius Household Registers project are run within LitvakSIG, separate from the Vilnius DRG, and they require separate contributions from those for the Vilnius DRG. More information about these projects can be found at https://www.litvaksig.org/research/special-projects/.
Our contributors are people who are researching ancestors from any shtetl in Vilnius uyezd who have joined together to make the most of our shared resources. Since many of our ancestors lived in one place but worked, were officially registered, owned property or assets, or had relatives in another place nearby, it is only by researching on the broader geographic scale of the uyezd that one can be sure where a family was really "from" and that one has searched thoroughly.
We hope you will consider becoming a qualifying contributor by giving $100 or more to the Vilnius District Research Group. A $100 contribution provides early access for a five year cycle, based on calendar years.
To give you an idea of the benefits you receive from qualifying contributions, here is a brief description of the data available in spreadsheet form:
Vital records (births, deaths, marriages, divorces):
Vilnius City, 1837-1938
Other towns in Vilnius district: Antakalnis, Bagaslaviskis, Ciobiskis, Gelvonai, Jasiunai, Maisiagala, Mikaliskis, Moletai, Musninkai, Naujamiestis, Naujoji Vilna, Nemencine, Paberze, Salcininkai, Sirvintos, Snipiskes, Turgeliai.
Revision lists (census):
Vilnius City, 1784-1890
Other towns in Vilnius district (mostly 1834 revision): Antakalnis, Bagaslaviskis, Bistrycia, Ciobiskis, Dubingiai, Gelvonai, Giedraiciai, Inturke, Joniskis, Kernave, Maisiagala, Medininkai, Mikaliskis, Moletai, Musninkai, Naujamiestis, Nemencine, Ostrovets, Paberze, Rudamina, Rukainai, Salcininkai, Sirvintos, Snipiskes, Stefansk, Sudeikai, Sumsk, Turgeliai, Verkiai.
Various draft, conscript and ghetto lists
Instructions on how to contribute may be found here. If you have questions, you may contact the District Coordinator David Ellis.