PREFACE

Presently, all around the world there are hundreds of thousands Jews, whose ancestors lived at the territory of today's Belarus 100-300 years ago. It's natural that people would like to learn about their roots and see the confirming documents. Though Russia has gone through many wars - from Napoleon's invasion, uprisings and revolution - a lot of archive documents of the nineteenth century have survived. Most Jewish people originating from Belarus may find genuine documents about several generations of their parents and grandparents, particularly book entries about their birth, marriage and death, residence, registration with a specific kagal, social classification (merchants, artisans or petty bourgeois), their passports, trading contracts, trade licenses, ownership documents on real estate with its detailed description, conscription documents, documents on court hearings, which particular Jews were involved in as plaintiffs, offenders or witnesses, information on participation in the jury, voting at Parliamentary elections in 1907 and 1912, police documents on involvement in radical organizations, various post-revolution certificates and other documents. Moreover, most Jews may find documentary confirmed history of their families during 5-7 generations! They should know their father or grandfather's name, place of residence and approximate date of birth. The present work is based on genuine documents from Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian archives, primarily of those of the National Historical Archive of Belarus, State Archive of Minsk Oblast, Russian State Archive of Ancient Documents, Central State Historic Archive of the Ukraine and others. If your family name is included in the attached lists, it may be sufficient for establishing the family archive and genealogy. You can also find your relatives in other countries, whom you have not been aware of! This web-site information will be constantly updated. Your requests on cities and specific small towns in Belarus will be prioritized.

Yours truthfully,
Eduard Rabinovich Autho