There are lots of different types of records available for the post-1905 period – however, as of right now, none of them are available online. The main online genealogical resource for Latvian records – religious records on Raduraksti [...]]]> In my last post, a reader requested that I talk about records after 1905. So here we go!

There are lots of different types of records available for the post-1905 period – however, as of right now, none of them are available online. The main online genealogical resource for Latvian records – religious records on Raduraksti – ends at 1905. But later records are accessible through a variety of avenues, depending on the specific years you’re looking for. Unless mentioned otherwise, all documents are located in the Latvian State Historical Archives (LVVA).

Vital Records

Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths did not begin until the 1920s. Records prior to this time are religious in nature, so it will be necessary to know the religion of your ancestor.

While Raduraksti only goes to 1905 for now, most available records from 1906 to 1909 have been transferred to the LVVA. A list is available on their website here (PDF, the list is organized first by religion, then by parish). However, some records from this time period may still reside with the Ministry of Justice’s Registry Office Archives. This is because of how some records were organized – the registry entries were made into books, so if it happens that earlier years (say 1908 and 1909) are in the same volume as later years (such as 1910 and 1911), the entire book will remain at the Registry Office Archives.

For vital records between 1910 and 1921 (and earlier years as relevant based on the criteria above), it is necessary to contact the Ministry of Justice’s Registry Office Archives (page in Latvian only). This can be done by phone, email or in person. I went in person. You will need to provide as much information as you can, including the religion of the person you are inquiring about. It will then take at least two weeks for them to issue a transcript to you. However, just like with all records, there are no guarantees that the information you are looking for will be found, even if you know for certain what happened where – for example, they could not find my maternal grandmother’s birth record, even though I know for certain when and where she was born and baptized, as these were events witnessed by her older sister, my great-aunt, who confirms the information provided in later official documents. While this record does not seem to exist, numerous others that I asked for do, and I was able to solve the longstanding mystery of where my maternal grandfather was born – in some documents, he says he was born in Lāde parish, in others that he was born in Rīga. His birth record confirms that he was born in Lāde parish.

For vital records after 1921, it is necessary to contact the regional registry office for the area that a person lived. Note that this may not be the local registry office of today – many smaller towns now have their own registry offices, but older records will still be found in the regional office. If you need help figuring out which regional registry office you may need to contact, let me know and I can try to help you.

Census Records

Latvia carried out a national census in 1935 (fonds 1308 abstract 12), and again in 1941 (fonds 1308 abstract 15), a few months after the beginning of the Nazi occupation. The records are arranged by parish or town, and are usually alphabetical based on street or farm name – though beware of only going by street/farm name, since sometimes they will be out of order. As well, sometimes a farm may have been part of a smaller hamlet falling under the purview of a parish and thus grouped by hamlet name first, then farm name. And, of course, just like with censuses in other parts of the world, people may have been somewhere else either for the night of the census or for a longer period of time. The 1935 census is on loose sheets of paper, the 1941 census is bound in book form. The 1941 census has additional fields that the 1935 census does not that are of particular interest to genealogists – namely, full birthdates (the 1935 census only asks for birth year) and places of birth. Of course, this information may not always be accurate, but it does provide a starting point to work from.

School Records

I talked about school records in this post. As a summary: school records can provide more than just your ancestors’ grades – they can also potentially lead to previous school attendance information, birth certificates, and more.

Passports and Immigration/Emigration

In the interwar period, everyone in Latvia needed to have an internal passport. These passports provided the basic details on a person, such as birthdate/place, father’s name, address, occupation, etc. When moving to a new home, it was necessary to register this with the local authorities and have a stamp placed on the passport providing this new information. Stamps were also made to confirm that someone had voted in an election or paid various types of local taxes. For women, it also listed the birth of children. Thus these passports can be a source of all sorts of useful information for the genealogist. However, the collection is not comprehensive – the most extensive collection is available for Rīga (fonds 2996), but some exist for other Latvian cities as well (fonds 2258).

Was your ancestor an international traveler in the interwar period? Numerous external passports and passport applications are also available (fonds 3234, abstracts 24, 32, 33). I found the passport application that was made on my grandfather’s behalf so that he could spend a semester in Sweden to do his practical work (what we’d probably call a co-op or internship these days) while studying at an agricultural secondary school. I knew he had studied agriculture and that he had spent time in Sweden as part of his studies, but I didn’t know where in Latvia he had gone to school, since his family moved all over the country – with the information this passport application provided, I was able to get his full set of secondary school marks, as well as a copy of his diploma.

Did your ancestor immigrate to Latvia during the interwar period? Document collections on immigrants, both legal and illegal, as well as citizenship applications, might be able to provide more information. In the time period directly after the First World War, there were many non-permanent residents in Latvia that needed to be sorted out and either repatriated or settled – refugees, prisoners of war, and so on. Many people fleeing from the Soviet Union chose to settle in Latvia. Documents on legal immigrants and citizenship acquisition can be found in fonds 3234 abstracts 2 and 5, documents on refugees, POWs and illegal migrants in fonds 3234 abstract 1a and 13, and documents on loss of citizenship and expulsion from Latvian territory in fonds 3234 abstracts 21 and 23. Since all of my ancestors were already in Latvia at this time, I only took a look at the abstracts, but since they are mostly organized by surname, it should be easy to find if your ancestors are in them or not.

For emigration from Latvia during World War 2, and subsequent time ancestors would have spent in Displaced Persons Camps, see my post on the International Tracing Service.

House Books

As well as addresses being recorded in internal passports, the movements of people were also recorded in “house books” kept for each address. These books recorded the names of the people, birthdates, supporting document numbers (usually those of internal passports), when they moved to this address, previous address, when they left this address, and the address they moved to. It is thus theoretically possible to follow a family’s moves around the country using only house books. However, like the internal passport collections, the house book collection is far from comprehensive. The books exist mostly for the interwar period, though some individual books may extend beyond those dates (both backwards and forwards). For Rīga, consult fonds 2942, for the rest of Latvia, fonds 2110.

… and more!

What kind of job did your ancestor do? There might be documents relating to trade unions they could have been members of, social clubs or even employment files. If you know where specifically they worked, you could find information on the company that could mention your ancestor. I was able to find two employment files for one of my great-grandfathers – one for his time with the police force (fonds 5604), another for his time as a justice of the peace (Rīga district court, fonds 1536).

Did your ancestor change their name? Throughout the interwar period, but especially in the late 1930s, there was a push for Latvians who had names that were not of Latvian origin to change them to something Latvian-sounding. Records for surname changes can be found in fonds 3234, abstracts 1 and 31, though they appear to be arranged by pre-change surname, so if you don’t know what the earlier surname was, it could be a challenge. I will be addressing the topic of name changes and regulations involved in this in a post later this week.

These are only the most popular types of records. Many others exist as well – look at local court documents, to see if your ancestor was involved in any civil or criminal cases. Rural land records, which I will discuss later, may also cover this time period. Consider all aspects of your ancestors’ lives to try and figure out what may have generated a written record. There are many possibilities!

Did I miss an important type of record? What kind of records have you had success with? Share in comments!

There are, however, numerous ways in which to establish someone’s ethnic identity. They are not [...]]]> So you have established that your ancestors lived on Latvian territory. But what were their ethnic origins? Latvia has been a multi-ethnic territory for centuries, so the distinctions between ethnic groups might not always be so clear in the old records.

There are, however, numerous ways in which to establish someone’s ethnic identity. They are not foolproof, but simply a guideline that can help to unravel some of these mysteries.

Why is ethnicity important? Each ethnic group has its own unique traditions and culture. Knowing about these traditions and cultures helps us paint a clearer picture of our ancestors’ lives, the stories they told, the songs they sang and the languages they spoke.

Surname – The peasantry – mostly consisting of ethnic Latvians – only acquired surnames in the nineteenth century. They were encouraged to choose names that reflected this ethnic origin, though many did not comply and chose German, Polish or Russian names instead. But if they did select a Latvian name, the chances are extremely good that they were ethnic Latvians. Remember, Latvian was considered a peasant dialect in this time period, so anyone who was not Latvian would be unlikely to choose a Latvian name. German, Russian or Polish names, however, since they carried with them the appearance of prestige and a higher social class, were adopted by many different groups that were not ethnic Germans, Russians or Poles, including, but not limited to, Latvians, Estonians and Roma. Jewish surnames can also be of Slavic or Germanic origins, depending on a family’s particular history – sometimes they could come from Germanic origins via Yiddish centuries before surnames were prevalent among the Latvian peasantry, in other cases, they could have been assigned around the same time that Latvian peasants acquired surnames.

Census – Census records – from 1897, 1935 and 1941 – all have a column for ethnicity. However, as census records are derivative sources, they could have their inaccuracies, particularly depending on such things as who answered the census for the household, any biases on the part of the recordkeepers (for example, on the 1897 All-Russia Census, it was common for Belarusians and Ukrainians to be written down as “White Russians” and “Little Russians”, thus subgroups of the main Russian group, rather than as separate ethnicities within a wider Slavic group), and the political climate (the 1941 Census was conducted while Latvia was under Nazi occupation).

Congregation – So your ancestor from Latvian territory has a German, Russian or Polish name, but you believe that they are an ethnic Latvian? Look at religious records. Not the language of the records themselves, but the congregation your ancestor is found in. Many Lutheran parishes had separate German and Latvian congregations, and the records were often kept separate as well. If your ancestor was baptized in the German congregation, it is likely that at least one of their parents was an ethnic German. But here there is the caution regarding upward mobility – if a Latvian was seeking to improve his social status further – maybe he was already favoured by a local baron or had had the opportunity to study – he may have switched to the German congregation in an effort to maintain his higher status. In the nineteenth century, there was a movement against this Germanization by the Young Latvians.

Religion – Generally speaking, ethnic Latvians and ethnic Germans were Lutherans. Sometimes they were Catholics, particularly in Latgale. Some Latvians joined the Russian Orthodox church, or smaller denominations such as Baptist or Reformed churches. It is also important to read baptism entries of children fully – they will typically tell the religion of both parents. This additional information in baptism entries can also lead to surprising discoveries – I found an Anglican British man who settled in Sece parish in the 1870s who baptized his children into his local wife’s Lutheran church.

Class – Class is a big marker, particularly prior to the twentieth century. Ethnic Latvians were predominantly peasant farmers, with some working in trades. The nobility was primarily German, with some Russian and Polish nobles as well. I have yet to hear of any ethnic Latvian baron or large landowner, but it is not outside the realm of possibility. Depending on the time period, administrators would have been German, Russian or Polish. As time passed, Latvians began to move into other positions as well, but, for the most part, this would have only come after emancipation from serfdom.

Location – Where in Latvia did your ancestors live? Vidzeme and Kurzeme, the northern and western provinces of Latvia, had (and still have) the highest percentages of ethnic Latvians. Zemgale (the southern province) also had high numbers of ethnic Latvians – particularly in the west – but as you head east and into Latgale (the eastern province), percentages of Russians, Belarusians and Poles increase. Rural areas were predominantly Latvian, with the exception of the southeast, where there were larger numbers of Belarusians, Russians and Poles. Urban areas were very mixed. Latvians had pluralities in most cities at the end of the nineteenth century (except for in the southeast), but majority populations only in the north in cities such as Cēsis, Limbaži and Valmiera. In the southeast, cities were predominantly Jewish and Polish. In this same time period, there were two rural pockets that were predominantly German, one south of Ērgļi in central Latvia, the other in Kurzeme north of Saldus. The rural areas southeast of Ludza and west of Rēzekne in the east were predominantly Belarusian. Majority Russian rural parishes were found west of Rēzekne and east of Daugavpils.[1]

I hope that these tips can help you narrow down your family’s background and learn more about their traditions. Anomalies do occur, so nothing can be certain, but as a general guideline, these should help your research.

Any other tips? Share in comments!

[1]Population distributions taken from Latvijas Vēstures Atlants, ed. Jānis Turlajs, 1998, p. 28 – “National population at the end of the 19th century”.

I was able to view the passports I mentioned in my previous post, belonging to Pēteris Celmiņš and Anna Celmiņa (born Liepa), and confirmed that they are the correct individuals, and thus able to add their information to my family [...]]]> So today was my second day, and first full day, at the Latvian State Historical Archives.

I was able to view the passports I mentioned in my previous post, belonging to Pēteris Celmiņš and Anna Celmiņa (born Liepa), and confirmed that they are the correct individuals, and thus able to add their information to my family tree!

I learned that Pēteris was a clerk/civil servant (Latvian “ierednis”, the dictionary translates it as “clerk, official, employee, civil servant”, not completely sure which one applies in this situation, but I seem to recall a family member mentioning either clerk or civil servant), and Anna was a bookkeeper. In the war (it doesn’t specify which war, but since the passport was issued in 1919, I’d assume World War I and/or the Latvian War for Independence), Pēteris served as a “second line land guard”.

I also discovered that the family didn’t live exclusively in Rīga, as I had originally thought. Anna was born in Rīga, as were her children Juris (my grandfather) and Skaidrīte, but Pēteris was born in Vijciems parish, in the Valka region of northern Latvia. Additionally, the family moved quite a bit between 1919 and 1927 – their passports show them registered at at least ten different addresses during this period (and possibly more, there were some more stamps that looked like address changes, but they were covered in registration seals and therefore unreadable).

By a stroke of luck, most of these places of residence were in the seaside town of Jūrmala, which just happens to be where I’m staying at the moment. Therefore, tomorrow’s activities are clear – it being Saturday, and the archives being closed as a result, means that I’m going to go around town and find these old residences!

I must wonder though – why did a family with two young children, and seemingly stable employment, move so many times in such a short time period? Most of the moves occurred during summer (June-August), but not all – sometimes they would even move twice in one year. They lived on the same street three times, at what were probably neighbouring addresses (3-5-7), but the times of residence on this street were always interspersed with other residences as well. Only the first addresses and last addresses are outside of Jūrmala.

Hopefully, this is a mystery that can be solved!

The form format is predictable, even if the languages in the headers seem to change – the Krustpils headers are solely in [...]]]> I have had a bit of time now to look at some of the Latvian records for the 1895 All-Russia Census, though I am still on holiday. Just can’t keep away from the genealogy!

The form format is predictable, even if the languages in the headers seem to change – the Krustpils headers are solely in Russian, but in some Riga areas, the headers are in German, Russian and Latvian (pre-spelling reform, so sometimes difficult to puzzle out).

For the most part, my work has been with the records for Krustpils, to try and place ages/birthplaces for some of my maternal great-grandparents.

While browsing these records, I have encountered many surnames that I had not yet encountered in this region. This is due to the fact that the majority of people in this region at this time were Jewish, and my previous experience with records of this area has only been with Lutheran church records. While I am used to how Latvian names are usually written in Russian, this is my first experience working with Jewish names, so I am not entirely certain as to how well they translate or transliterate into Russian. I am given to understand that many Jews of this time period spoke Russian, so perhaps it is a question more of how well the names translate or transliterate into English, but I will need to study this history a bit more to be able to comment on the accuracy of Jewish names in this census.

Like many other census records, these start with the usual fields: name, gender, relationship to head of household, age, marital status (columns one to five). Column six is a bit more unique to this census – estate and condition. Since most people lived on manorial estates – even if still nominally free – these were still important identifying characteristics. Column seven asks whether or not the person was born there (that is, the place of census), and if not, where they were born.

Column eight is a bit of a puzzle – neither the German, Russian or Latvian text is particularly clear – I can’t find the key German or Russian words in my dictionaries, and the Latvian, being in pre-standardized spelling, is difficult to decipher – I think it may mean either “previous places of residence” or “place of parents’ residence”. Googling seems to give indications that this could be a “registration place” for an event of some sort, probably the birth. But this doesn’t resemble what I can draw from the Latvian text, so I’m not sure. Column nine is clearer – is this the person’s permanent residence?

I *think* column ten asks for the ages of people not currently there, and of people staying there for a time. What this means, I’m note entirely certain, but this column is most often left blank. Does anyone else have any input on this?

Columns eleven and twelve are again familiar – religion and mother tongue. Column thirteen asks about literacy and education, and column fourteen asks about occupations.

I’ll have my hands full with this census for awhile – it appears that they had one sheet per family – unlike other censuses I have worked with, where families were listed one after another on one sheet of paper until there was no more space. But I have patience. Hopefully this census, and then the 1935 and 1941 ones that I will view in Latvia, will be keys to unlocking some more mysterious parts of my family history!

Have you had any luck finding your ancestors in this census? Share your stories in comments!

I haven’t yet had the opportunity to examine them in detail, since I only spotted [...]]]> I’m currently traveling, so I hadn’t checked in at LVVA’s “Raduraksti” for a week or so. Today I visited the site, and discovered that the records for the Latvian parishes of the 1895 All-Russia Census are live and available for browsing!

I haven’t yet had the opportunity to examine them in detail, since I only spotted them while going to the website to consult a parish register quickly before heading out to do some sightseeing. But from what I can tell, they seem pretty thorough. Many parishes are listed, and the parish files that I have opened appear to contain full forms. I don’t have my Russian dictionary on hand, so I’m not sure what some of the columns mean, but I hope to get on that later this week as I take a bit of a pause to relax during the mad rush of travel.

In the meantime, I hope that those of you who have been waiting for these records to appear online are able to make use of them. Like the parish registers, they are not indexed, but the images seem to be good quality, so if you know where your ancestors lived, these records could give you good insight into their families.

Best of luck and happy research!