Family Research

Getting Started

If you are new to Litvak genealogy research, you may need some orientation to get you started. This page aims to point you in the right direction.

There are three main things you need to know to leverage your way into Litvak records.

1. The first is the shtetl from which your family originated and the second is the likely versions of your ancestor’s surname.

To find your ancestral shtetl, search the Gazeteer. Once you have found your shtetl, use the LitvakSIG Shtetl List or the interactive shtetl map to determine the Uyezd and Guberniya in which your ancestral shtetl was typically assigned during the late 19th and early 20th century. The Shtetl List page for your ancestral shtetl includes a wealth of related links so that you can learn about the history of the shtetl and other resources available for continuing your research on the shtetl including links to others doing research on the same shtetl.

2.  To find or confirm spellings of your ancestor’s name, use the JewishGen Family Finder to search for your family name. Try using multiple search types, including Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex  so you have a complete picture of the ways in which your family name is likely to be spelled in the records. You should use the Lithuania Given Names Database to identify likely given names for your ancestors. These generally vary from the Anglicized or modified names people adopted after they left Lithuania.

3.  Your next stop is the All Lithuania Database (ALD). This database is a compilation of all data acquired and translated by LitvakSIG since its inception (circa 1997) and up to about 18 months ago. You can search this database for various combinations of surname and locality.

When you begin your searches, it’s best to start with a "broad" search before "narrowing" it down. For example, search your surname for all of Lithuania and if you get a large number of hits, then begin to narrow down the search by entering the shtetl name along with the surname. By starting with too narrow a search (eg. surname with town) you may find that you get few or no hits. You can also perform the search by limiting it to a specific District / Uyezd or Guberniya by selecting it from the Region drop-down menu..

Where do you go from here?

  1. Join LitvakSIG to gain access to our Members Website http://donors.litvaksig.org/site/members which has additional research resources including catalogs of holdings for various archives in Lithuania, our Research Library and many other resources in several languages.
  2. Join the LitvakSIG Research Group for the Uyezd (District) or Guberniya in which your ancestral shtetl belongs.
  3. Identify and join, if applicable, any Special Projects for your shtetl.
  4. Subscribe to the free JewishGen Discussion Group, and use the tag #lithuania when posting or searching for messages.
  5. Explore the Resources Section and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Sections of our website.

Good Luck !