I’ll admit, this post is long overdue. It should have been one of the first posts on this blog. But it is here now!
For the purposes of this post, I am assuming several things. The main assumption is that you have utilized all of the records in the place where your Latvian ancestor migrated to – naturalization documents, death certificates, etc. I am also assuming that you are familiar with what different types of records contain – for example, that you know what you can expect to find on a census record versus a passenger ship list. All fonds numbers mentioned for records are from the Central Fonds Register of the Latvian Archives (a “fonds” is a collection of related documents).
So let’s begin!
Step 1: Do you know where in Latvia your ancestor was born? If YES, go to step 6. If NO, go to step 2.
Step 2: When did your ancestor emigrate from Latvia? In the POST-WORLD WAR 2 PERIOD, go to step 3. In the INTER-WAR PERIOD, go to step 4. PRIOR TO 1920, go to step 5.
Step 3: Consult DP camp records – you can write to the International Tracing Service (discussed in this blog post) for more information. When you have found a birthplace, move to step 6.
Step 4: If your ancestor emigrated from Latvia in the inter-war period, they could be found on passenger lists, most often departing from German ports such as Hamburg or Bremerhaven, but some people emigrated via the United Kingdom. You can also consult Latvian passport collections for major cities (fond 2996 for Rīga, other cities fond 2258), to see if your ancestor lived in one of them. Passports will list place of birth. Numerous emigration records and passport applications for the interwar period also exist. When you have found a birthplace, move on to step 6.
Step 5: If your ancestor emigrated from Latvia prior to 1920, you can consult passenger ship lists as above for step 4. If they immigrated to Canada, consult the Li-Ra-Ma collection, which documents immigrants from the Russian Empire between 1898 and 1922, including numerous Latvians. The Li-Ra-Ma website mentions that the National Archives in the USA has a similar collection. The Li-Ra-Ma collection website includes digital images of the immigrant files. When you have found your ancestor’s birthplace, move on to step 6.
Step 6: When was your ancestor born? After 1921, go to step 7. Between 1909 and 1921, go to step 8. Prior to 1909, go to step 9.
Step 7: Contact the registry office of the municipality. When you have learned all you can from these records, go to step 8.
Step 8: Contact the Registry Office Archives of the Ministry of Justice in Rīga (in Latvian only), who hold records from 1909/1910 to 1921 (some records for 1906-1908 will also be held here, depending on the municipality and how their records are bound, see note on step 9). When you have learned all that you can from the records available there, go to step 9.
Step 9: Consult religious records, available online at Raduraksti. These resources will provide basic birth/marriage/death records. The records are organized by year and type of record. Records could be in Latvian, German, Russian or Hebrew (for Jewish records). [Update July 2010: Most records from 1905 to 1909 have been transferred to the Latvian State Historical Archives, who are responsible for Raduraksti. They have not yet been added to the website, but hopefully will be soon. Until they are, you will need to contact the LSHA directly.] If you get stuck, brick walled or want to consult other sources for more information, go to step 10.
Step 10: Religious records (and later civil registration records) will form the backbone of your research, but sometimes the records don’t exist anymore, or you want to find additional information about your ancestors that doesn’t appear in those kinds of records. In this case, you will want to consult other records that are available – from 1920 to 1945, go to step 11. From 1890 to 1920, go to step 12. Prior to 1890, go to step 13.
Step 11: A wealth of documents from the independence era can be found in the Latvian State Historical Archives. Examples: The 1935 Census (fonds 1308, abstract 12), the 1941 Census (fonds 1308, abstract 15), civil servant employment files (judicial -fonds 1536, police -fonds 5604, I’m sure files for other departments exist as well, but these are the ones I have utilized) and house books (Rīga -fonds 2942, other cities -fonds 2110). For an earlier time period, go to step 12.
Step 12: In this time period, important records available are military records and the All-Russia Census of 1897, however they can be less complete than more recent records. The records for Latvian parishes for the All-Russia Census of 1897 can be found online on Raduraksti. Military records vary in quality and depth of information, I have utilized them only briefly. They appear to be organized in the archives by the specific division of the military. I would recommend searching by the words “pulks” (regiment). Many of these records date from the Latvian wars of independence, but it might be possible to find other types of military records as well. During part of the Russian Empire period, it was mandatory for men to register for military service at the age of 21, and many parishes have their local muster rolls available. For earlier time periods, go to step 13.
Step 13: It is at this point when completeness and variety of records starts to become extremely dependant on individual civil parishes. Some parishes have large numbers of surviving records, while other have few to none. It always pays to consult neighbouring parish records as well, just in case. To find what might be in civil parish records, search for “pagasta valde” (parish council) or “pagasta tiesa” (parish court), and then look for the parish name you want. You can also search by parish name to find what other records could exist. Due to various Latvian noun cases, I would recommend, when searching by parish name, that you leave off the ending (for example, search “Limbaž” instead of “Limbaži”), since the case form can influence what records are found. Another useful source are the “revision lists”, which list members of various communities, and could provide more detailed information, depending on the purpose of the list. Revision lists for Latgale are at fonds 1881, Vidzeme at fonds 199, Kurzeme (which includes modern-day Zemgale province) at fonds 630. Some revision lists are available on Raduraksti – at time of writing, these are lists pertaining to the towns of Bauska, Grobiņa, Jaunjelgava, Jēkabpils and Jelgava. [Update: All revision lists appear to be online. Though unfortunately for Latgale, there are very few surviving lists from this time period.]
Unless mentioned otherwise, these records are only available at the Latvian State Historical Archives (LVVA) in Rīga, Latvia. To access the records in the archives reading room, it is necessary to register for a reading room pass. I would recommend doing this by email in advance of your visit. When you request materials, it may take a few days for the material to be located and made available for you, so plan your visit accordingly. The staff are extremely helpful, so do not be afraid to ask for help. However, not all of the staff speak English, but most do speak German and/or Russian. All speak Latvian. Visiting the archives is free, but copies cost money, and the cost can vary depending on shape and age of the documents. When I visited the LVVA in December, I spent about 80 lati ($150, £100) on copies. It was worth it! The copies are also annotated with the fonds number, abstract number and item number.
I hope this helps you formulate your research plan. As always, if you need any help, or have any questions, just ask!
That’s an excellent, clear outline for research planning. Thanks again, Antra, for your great assistance.
I’ve really enjoyed reviewing your blog posts – it’s always nice to find another researcher in their 20s. I just found out about Raduraksti even though I have been working on my Jewish Latvian immigrant ancestors for some time now. The records look very daunting but I am going to try to use your translation pointers. I have been told that my Cohn (Kagan) and Price (Preis) relatives originated from Liepaja and Riga…so hopefully I will find what I am looking for!
Hi Meredith,
My mother-in-law was born in Leipaja
Meredith,
Best of luck! I don’t have much experience with Jewish records, but from what I’ve seen, they do seem to be quite detailed. You will need to learn how to read Russian and/or Hebrew if you don’t already know how – most of the Jewish records I’ve looked at have been written in both. If you haven’t already, I’d highly recommend checking out JewishGen’s Latvia databases. They’ve got an amazing collection there.
Здравствуй Антра! Огромное тебе спасибо, за твой труд.
Пытаюсь найти корни. Информации мало. Но твои пошаговые рекомендации вселяют надежду. Отец (Кухальский Николай Константинович) родился в Риге, в 1911 году (май). У тебя шаг 8: “Контакт ЗАГС Архиве Министерства юстиции, в Риге,…” Как сделать этот шаг? Практически. Надо делать запрос? Или есть варианты “On lain”? Адреса, пароли, явки…?!
С большим уважением, Алекс.
Здравствуй, Алекс!
Где ты живёшь? В Латвии? Адрес Архиве Департамента ЗАГСа Министерства юстиции: Рига, ул. Калькю 24. Не думаю, что ты можешь “online”. Я буду идти в Латвии в месяц, и буду узнавать. Я говорю тебе когда я знаю! (Извините, я не хорошо говорю по-русский)
I was adopted along with my sister Eva. We have not yet been able to trace our biological history. We are in search of our birth parents and have no luck thus far. I hope someone from celmina.com would help us out. We contacted our adoption agency and they have no files or records for us.
Saulvedis,
When where were you adopted? Before the Soviet era? During the Soviet era? After the Soviet era? Is the adoption agency you’re referring to an international agency, or one in Latvia? I don’t know much about modern day adoptions, I’m afraid, but you could always try contacting the Latvian Ministry of Welfare and they may be able to point you in the right direction.
i do not know how to find my birth parents. would somebody help me?
thank you, Antra i will contact the latvian ministry of welfare
HI, I found ur information very helpful.. I am trying to get some family history on my husbands family, Who were born in Latvia and were in some kind of camp during World War II, and we think left Hamburg, Germany to come to Australia.. I can not find any information on them at all… How do we get information of passenger lists? Or copies of their passports? We have very little information on them to help so finding it quite difficult! Hope u can help.
Thanks, Rebecca
I´m looking fore Darta Dorothea Reinfelds 1871??????
Born in Mezotne or Riga Latvija Bauska?
Married to C Degute…. Degutnice
Lived in st Petersburg,,Petrograd ,,, Vec Millgravis Riga
Pls help me it´s importend
Антра! Ты не представляешь, как я был приятно удивлён, когда обнаружил от тебя ответ на свои вопросы.
У меня были проблемы со здоровьем (сей час, всё хорошо), поэтому зайти на сайт смог только теперь. Ещё раз огромное спасибо и низкий поклон за твой благодарный труд. Теперь у меня есть хоть, какая то надежда найти корни своих родных людей. Я живу в Подмосковье и на знаю, когда смогу приехать в Ригу. Могу ли я послать письменный запрос на тот адрес, который ты дала. 31 мая ты писала, что будешь в Латвии через месяц и всё узнаешь подробнее. С огромным уважением и надеждой, Алекс.
FROM MITAU/LATVIA… SOPHIA( NEE BARNETT) JOFEH AND ARTHUR JOFEH ….
WERE AM I TO START LOOKING IN THE OVERSEAS RECORDS …IVE GOT AS FAR WITH ALL THAT CAN BE OFFRERED HER IN THE UK WITH ALL THE SERCH ENGINES…ETC… CAN SOME ONNE SUGGEST SOMING IN LATVIA?
THANKS IN ADVANCE…
SAM
BRILLIANT SITE…!!
Dear celmina,
I have family members who came from a place called Padinay in Courland. I have only found Padone as a railway station point. Any advice on how to discover where my jewish ancestors came from or are you aware of the name
Gareth,
I’m not familiar with a place called Padinay – the letter “y” is not used in Latvian, so it is likely a German, Yiddish or Russian name for a place. If you think Padone could be the matching Latvian placename, then I’d suggest consulting the Jewish records for Liepāja and Aizpute (the two closest towns with Jewish records available) to see if your family members are mentioned there. The Jewish records for Liepāja and Aizpute are available on Raduraksti.
Hi,
Just wanted to note, that the Raduraksti “resource” you refer to is often useless. The page scans are simply too crude to be readable, particularly the old Russian handwritten parts – even the printed portions are marginal at best. The folks at the archives that respond to English emails are not the most helpful either. Bottom line – if need to do legit research, you apparently have to go to Riga.
Commend you on your efforts,
Tranas
Tranas,
Are you referring to the quality of the scans or the quality of the handwriting? Sometimes here and there the scanners have messed up and aren’t of good quality, but the vast majority are of top-notch quality, so it’s unfortunate if the ones that you’ve found haven’t been. If you’re referring to the quality of the handwriting, that’s not something that will change by viewing the documents in person, they’ll still be difficult to read.
I do recommend that everyone visit Rīga to do research at the archives, but it is perfectly possible to get started and retrieve a lot of information from the sources available on Raduraksti.
Hallo,
I am doing some genealogical researches about family Wolmar, who lived in Ingria (today Leningrad region) approximately starting from 1650/1700. I have heard a story about this family who had Finnish roots, who was living in the city of Wolmar/Valmiera in 1600 and after the siege and the fire of the city, they escaped from Livonia and settled down in Ingria, choosing as surname Wolmar in memory of their abandoned city.
Does anybody know any more detailed information about this fact?
Thanks.
Stefano (from Italy)
Hello, I am searching for the GRASIS/BRUVERIS FAMILIES… It has been a long road and so many brick walls.
My grandfather was Janis..he served in the war and was a high ranking officer…my grand mother ALICCIA BRUVERIS ( she remarried) lived in Riga. We assume she passed away at the age of abt 90. Contact was lost then. My grandfather remarried a woman( name unknown) who already had 2 sons from her previous marriage and they had a farm.
Does anyone know of these names?
thank you
I am looking for my grandmother’s family. She was born around 1888 in Auce (Auze) Latvia. Her father was Charles Greenberg or Greenburg. I’ve seen it spelled both ways. They immigrated to the US through Ellis Island, NY around 1906-7 though the 1910 census in San Francisco states they immigrated in 1898.
My grandfather, her husband was born in or near Riga and was born around 1882. His name is Robert Gross. He had a brother Frank and they both were in San Francisco in 1910. If anyone has any connections I’d would be thrilled. I am going to Riga and will go to the LVM. My Letish is very minimal so I don’t know how far I will get. Any tips welcome. Thanks, Victoria
My Grandfather ( known as Charles Theodore or Theodore Edward HELLWIG) was born in (what is now known as) Kaldiga or Dundaga Latvia in 1871 to Edward Hellwig and Julia ( nee Saunders). Can you please advise a reliable person who can research his history.Or can you please advise me what records are available on line to enable me to search myself
Hello,
Thank-you for all your information, i have just sent off some emails hopefully i can get more info back.
Its all very hard when you dont read, speak or even know anything about Latvia.
Rebecca, i am in exactly the same position as you. My husbands grandmother was born in latvia and came to Australia with her mother when she was 9 about 1949/50. I found their immigration records here http://www.naa.gov.au/ I hope you find what your looking for if you havent already.
Good Luck everyone. X
DOES ANY ONE KNOW HOW I CAN FIND MY GRANDPARENTS BURIAL PLACES. i KNOW MY GRANMOTHER DIED IN RIGA, BUT UNSURE WHERE MY GRANDFATHER DIED. THANKS….
Hi there, I’ve been researching elements for a novel losly based on my relatives story of escape from Latvia ahead of the Russian invasion in 1944. I stumbled across your site as I’ve been looking for names to base the characters on, and I couldn’t find my fathers surname of ‘Bukbarde’ or ‘Bukbards’. Do you have any idea what this surname could mean? Thanks
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My great-grandfather was born in Poland or Russia, but apparently came to the US from Libau, Latvia. I managed to find a ship record, but am having trouble navigating the archives. Can you offer me any info, previous blog posts, or instructions?
I find all this information very interesting. My sister and I are planning a visit to Riga (Latvia) in May and have been trying to find out some information about my father, born in Latvia in 1925 (Died in the UK 1981) and came to the UK after the War. We understand he was in a German POW Camp before he came to the UK but only knowing his Name,Date of Birth and, place of Birth as “Latvia” it is very difficult. I understand that some DP’s changed there Surname some time? his Surname was “Vilmans”. Does anyone know if the name “Vilmans” is a typical Latvian name?
A few years ago I started to search my ancestors and created a user name, parole etc., unfortunately now I have forgotten all these, but since my email is the same, I cannot get in…. if I create another profile, they ask me to change my email, since it exists already with the previous profile. I send messages, but don’t get an answer. What can be done? Does anyone know where I could find a responsible contact, to unblock the situation?