MyHeritage Adds 28 Collections of Jewish Historical Records
We are pleased to announce the publication of 5.8 million records from 28 historical record collections of Jewish historical records. The collections span the 18th–21st centuries and contain vital records such as birth, marriage, death, as well as tax, voter, immigration, and obituary records, from Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Germany, Hungary, the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, and more. These records are invaluable for anyone researching their European Jewish heritage.
The release of these records — made possible thanks to MyHeritage’s collaboration with the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust and its affiliate, JewishGen, a leading website for Jewish genealogy — constitutes the first installment of a licensing agreement that will ultimately make almost all the JewishGen records accessible on MyHeritage. Future installments will include important Jewish historical record collections from North Africa, the Middle East, North America and more European collections.
These collections further expand MyHeritage’s extensive resources for Jewish genealogy. Through its member base of one million users in Israel, MyHeritage is home to the world’s largest collection of Jewish family trees and is the only major commercial genealogy company to support Hebrew. Furthermore, MyHeritage’s collections of global historical records include millions of records that are valuable to individuals researching Jewish heritage, such as passenger and immigration lists that document the wave of Jews seeking refuge in North America, South America, and Israel after their communities were devastated by the Holocaust. You can also explore your Jewish genealogy and Jewish surnames on the MyHeritage Wiki.
The records in these collections will now benefit from MyHeritage’s powerful matching technologies, which automatically match historical records with the 83 million family trees on MyHeritage, as well as MyHeritage’s powerful Global Name Translation Technology™. Until now, JewishGen records were available to search and view in English only. With the MyHeritage versions of these collections, international users can search and view these collections in other languages, such as Hebrew, Russian, or Greek, with the names translated into their native languages. The application of MyHeritage’s cutting-edge technology to the genealogical resources offered by JewishGen will open new doors to those seeking information on their Jewish roots.
Here is more information about each collection:
| Collection | Description | Number of Records | Link to Search |
|---|---|---|---|
 Belarus, Jewish Birth Records | An index of birth records of the Jewish community in Belarus | 319,764 records | Search collection now |
 Belarus, Jewish Death Records | An index of death records of the Jewish community in Belarus | 66,240 records | Search collection now |
 Index to Soviet Extraordinary Commission Pinsk Records | An index of records of Jewish Holocaust victims from Pinsk, Belarus. | 11,705 records | Search collection now |
 Bessarabia, Jewish Births | An index of birth records of the Jewish community in Bessarabia from 1829 to 1915 | 297,265 records | Search collection now |
 Bessarabia, Jewish Deaths | An index of death records of the Jewish community in Bessarabia | 76,225 records | Search collection now |
 Bessarabia, Voter Lists, 1906-1907 | An index of voter lists for elections of the Russian Duma (parliament) | 230,556 records | Search collection now |
 Germany, Dachau, Concentration Camp Records | An index of records from Dachau from 1933 to 1945 | 164,588 records | Search collection now |
Flossenbürg Prisoner Lists | An index of prisoners from the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp from 1938 to 1945 | 88,011 records | Search collection now |
 Germany, Revoked Citizenships and Property Seizures | An index of German citizens who have been revoked of their citizenship from 1933 to 1945 | 81,370 records | Search collection now |
 Hungary, Jewish Vital Records | An index of birth, marriage, and death records of Jewish communities in Hungary | 2,266,404 records | Search collection now |
 Hungary, Property Tax Census, 1828 | An index to the 1828 Hungarian Property Tax Census | 28,732 records | Search collection now |
 Ireland, Jewish Birth Index | An index of birth records from Ireland | 61,503 records | Search collection now |
 Latvia, Jewish Birth Records | An index of birth records of the Jewish community in Latvia | 254,178 records | Search collection now |
 Latvia, Jewish Death Records | An index of death records of the Jewish community in Latvia | 49,037 records | Search collection now |
Lodz Ghetto List | A list of the Lodz Ghetto inhabitants from 1940 to 1944 | 242,690 records | Search collection now |
 The Soviet Extraordinary Commission | An index of Jewish Holocaust victims from the German-occupied Soviet Union Territories | 64,332 records | Search collection now |
 Ukraine, Jewish Birth Records | An index of birth records of the Jewish community in Ukraine | 203,570 records | Search collection now |
 Ukraine, Jewish Death Records | An index of death records of the Jewish community in Ukraine | 44,535 records | Search collection now |
 United Kingdom, Jewish Death and Burial Records | An index of death and burial records of the Jewish community in the United Kingdom from 1733 to 2012 | 78,904 records | Search collection now |
 United States, New York, Immigration from Austria, Poland and Galicia, 1890-1891 | An index of records about immigrants coming to New York from Austria, Poland, and Galicia between 1890-1891 | 96,604 records | Search collection now |
 Philadelphia Jewish Exponent Obituaries | A list of obituary notices from Philadelphia from 1887 to 2013 | 67,850 records | Search collection now |
 Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Jewish Refugees, 1941-1942 | An index of Jewish refugees living in the Soviet Union during 1941-1942 who were evacuated to Tashkent, Uzbekistan | 300,626 records | Search collection now |
 Pinkas HaNitzolim, Volume I, Register of Jewish Survivors | An index of Jewish survivors rescued from camps and the ghettoes in various European countries | 66,773 records | Search collection now |
Pinkas HaNitzolim, Volume II, Register of Jewish Survivors | An index of Jewish survivors rescued from camps and the ghettoes in various European countries | 55,886 records | Search collection now |
Sharit haPlatah, Holocaust Survivors | An index of Jewish people who survived the Holocaust | 61,388 records | Search collection now |
 World Jewish Congress Records | An index of Holocaust survivors that were documented and archived by the World Jewish Congress (WJC) | 102,250 records | Search collection now |
 JewishGen Memorial Plaques Database | An index of records that originates from Jewish synagogue and memorial records (“Yahrzeit Plaques”) in over 40 countries | 336,239 records | Search collection now |
 Yizkor Book Name Index | An index of individuals included in Yizkor books commemorating Jewish communities in Eastern Europe that were destroyed during the Holocaust | 105,563 pages | Search collection now |
Belarus
This collection contains birth records from the Jewish community in Belarus. The records in this collection contain the name of the child, their birth date and place, and the place their birth was filed as well as their parents’ names.
The documentations were originally recorded in various towns and created by their Jewish congregations.
Search Belarus, Jewish Birth Records
This collection contains death records from the Jewish community in Belarus. Death records contain the name of the decedent, the date and place they passed, and the place their death was filed. It can also include information on their parents or spouse.
The index was originally created by the Jewish congregations of the towns where the records were recorded.
Search Belarus, Jewish Death Records
Index to Soviet Extraordinary Commission Pinsk Records
This collection includes records of Jewish Holocaust victims from Pinsk, Belarus. The indexed records typically list given name (often only first initial) and surname of the deceased. A record may include deceased’s birth date, residential address and occupation.
Search Index to Soviet Extraordinary Commission Pinsk Records
Bessarabia
This collection contains an index of Jewish birth records from the region of Bessarabia, which encompassed modern-day Moldova and parts of modern-day Ukraine. Records normally contain the infant’s name, birthdate, and birthplace as well as the names of the parents and information about the original records. In some cases, the names of the paternal and maternal grandfathers are included.
As part of the Russian Empire, the relevant jurisdictions were town, uyezd (county), and gubernia (governorate/province). The records were originally created by Jewish congregations at the town level, and were normally recorded in both Cyrillic and Hebrew script.
Search Bessarabia, Jewish Births
This collection is an index of Jewish death records from the region of Bessarabia. Records normally contain the deceased’s name, date and place of death, age at death, and residence. Records may include names of the parents or spouse of the deceased. Information about the original records is also included.
The records were originally created by Jewish congregations at the town level, and were normally recorded in both Cyrillic and Hebrew script.
Search Bessarabia, Jewish Deaths
Bessarabia, Voter Lists, 1906–1907
This collection contains an index of voter lists for elections of the Russian Duma (parliament). Only men were eligible to vote, and only within certain categories. Records normally contain the first and last name of the eligible voter, his residence, the year of the voter list, and an abbreviation of the voter’s qualification category.
The voter’s patronymic name may also be included, which is understood to indicate the name of the voter’s father. The residence consists of the voter’s town and uyezd within the region of Bessarabia, as well as the applicable modern-day country (either Moldova or Ukraine).
Search Bessarabia, Voter Lists, 1906–1907
Germany
Germany, Dachau, Concentration Camp Records
This collection contains records from Dachau, one of the first Nazi concentration camps established in 1933. From 1933 until April 29, 1945 there were over 206,000 prisoners held from all over Europe, the largest number of people being from Poland, the former Soviet Union, Hungary, Germany, and France. These records contain the name, date, and town of residence as well as the prisoner number and category, when they arrived at Dachau, and their fate when available.
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This collection contains lists of 88 thousand prisoners in Flossenbürg Concentration Camp. This index was created in the 1950s to be used as evidence against camp administrators and guards that were on trial for war crimes. The database was created from two microfilm reels. Records include prisoners’ name, prisoner number, nationality, date of admission to Flossenbürg, and date of death if prisoner died at the camp
The Flossenbürg Concentration Camp was established in Bavaria in May 1938, as a factory for forced laborers. It later became the center of a network of concentration camps in World War II. Approximately 100,000 prisoners, Jews from Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland who arrived from the east in late 1944 and early 1945, were held and forced to work at the concentration camp, and most of them died there.
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Germany, Revoked Citizenships and Property Seizures
This collection contains records about German citizens who had their citizenship revoked, whose properties were seized by German authorities, or whose business licenses were revoked between the years 1933–1945. Records normally contain names of the individuals, date, and place of birth, the last residence known, and the status of the individual.
The actions that are mentioned in this collection affected not only German residents but also individuals who had left Germany and resided in other countries, like Czechoslovakia, that were later annexed.
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Hungary
This collection of 2.2 million records contains an index of birth, marriage, and death records from Jewish communities in Hungary. Records contain the date and place of the event, the names of the individual’s parents, and the name of the town where the event was registered.
The records in this collection were originally created by rabbis, handwritten in German, Hebrew, or Hungarian.
Search Hungary, Jewish Vital Records
Hungary, Property Tax Census, 1828
This collection contains an index to the 1828 Hungarian Property Tax Census, or Vagyonösszeirás. Individuals in this census owned taxable property, which was listed in the census. Records in this index normally contain the first and last name of the property owner, the town, and the county.
The town and county names in this collection are the Hungarian versions used in 1828.
Search Hungary, Property Tax Census, 1828
Ireland
These records contain information on Jewish individuals living in Ireland. They contain their name, birth date, and birthplace.
Search Ireland, Jewish Birth Index
Latvia
This collection contains birth records from the Jewish community in Latvia and include the name of the child, their birth date and place, and the place their birth was filed as well as their parents’ names. This index consists of records from 1838–1921, but most are from 1854–1909.
This index exists due to the contribution of Christine Usdin, a noted artist and sculptor, who made it her mission to translate all surviving Jewish vital records held in the Latvia State Historical Archives. It is also the first to use and benefit from the digitization of the Latvian State Historical Archives’ primary database of family history.
Search Latvia, Jewish Birth Records
The collection contains death records from the Jewish community in Latvia. Death records contain the name of the decedent, the date and place they passed, and the place their death was filed. It can also include information on their parents or spouse.
Search Latvia, Jewish Death Records
Poland
This collection contains lists of the Lodz Ghetto inhabitants from 1940 to 1944. The Polish city of Lodz was inhabited by 665,000 people during that time, a third of whom were Jewish. Records include the names of residents and their ghetto apartment address, and may include the former addresses of the inhabitants, dates of birth, occupation, and date of deportation or death of the individual.
Population registry books were kept by the Judenrat of the Łódź Ghetto from the time of establishment of the Łódź Ghetto in February 1940 until just prior to its destruction in August 1944. In that year, the Nazis dissolved the Judenrat and the ghetto was liquidated. Thus, no entries were made about the fate of those deported to Auschwitz in the ghetto’s last days. The Lodz Ghetto records managed to avoid destruction by the Germans at the time of liquidation of the ghetto.
Soviet Union Territories
The Soviet Extraordinary Commission
This collection includes records of Jewish Holocaust victims from the German-occupied Soviet Union Territories. The indexed records typically list the name of the deceased and birth year. A record may include the deceased’s nationality and occupation.
The index was created by the Soviet Extraordinary Commission at the end of World War II to document German crimes during the war.
Search The Soviet Extraordinary Commission
Ukraine
The collection contains birth records from the Jewish community in Ukraine. It is a part of a database containing 220 microfilms of Jewish vital records. Birth records contain the name of the child, their birth date and place, and the place their birth was filed as well as their parents’ names.
This database is based on records obtained from multiple sources, such as microfilms scanned by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People (CAHJP) in Jerusalem, and private researchers from archives in Ukraine.
Search Ukraine, Jewish Birth Records
Ukraine, Jewish Death Records, 1836–1918
This collection contains death records from the Jewish community in Ukraine. Death records contain the name of the decedent, the date and place they passed, and the place their death was filed. It may also include information on their parents or spouse.
Search Ukraine, Jewish Death Records, 1836–1918
United Kingdom
United Kingdom, Jewish Death and Burial Records
This collection contains death and burial records of the Jewish community in the United Kingdom. The index consists of records from 1733 to 2012. Each record includes the full name and death place. Additional details about the deceased’s birth date, death date, and age at death can often be found.
While the vast majority of the records in this index are from England, the index includes records from the Crown dependencies of Jersey, Wales, and the Isle of Man as well.
Search United Kingdom, Jewish Death and Burial Records
United States
United States, New York, Immigration from Austria, Poland, and Galicia, 1890–1891
This is a collection of records about immigrants coming to New York from Austria, Poland, and Galicia between 1890–1891. Records include the immigrant’s name, date of arrival in New York, ship name and number, roll number of the NARA microfilm, and notes about the immigrant.
The original microfilm may also contain the immigrant’s age, sex, marital status, final destination, and occupation.
Search United States, New York, Immigration from Austria, Poland, and Galicia, 1890–1891
Philadelphia Jewish Exponent Obituaries
This collection is a list of obituary notices which volunteers from the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Philadelphia (JGSGP) completed and published in the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent. The years of obituaries published in this index range from 1887 to 2013. Records may include name, age, birthplace, date of publication of obituary and page number in the issue of obituaries publication.
The Philadelphia Jewish Exponent is published weekly, by the Federation of Jewish Agencies of Greater Philadelphia
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Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Jewish Refugees, 1941–1942
This collection contains information of Jewish refugees living in the Soviet Union during 1941–1942 who were evacuated to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Once in Tashkent, they spread out to different localities in Uzbekistan. Records containing an individual’s name, birth year, gender, and residence can be found.
There were several Central Asian Soviet Republic countries where people fled besides Uzbekistan, such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, or Turkmenistan. These persons were either evacuated or escaped on their own before the German troops marched on their towns.
Search Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Jewish Refugees, 1941–1942
Holocaust
The following collections pertain to Jewish communities or individuals in Europe during the Holocaust. The first section refers to information about Jewish Holocaust survivors, such as the World Jewish Congress list of Holocaust survivors. The second section consists of remembrance lists of those who perished during the Holocaust, such as the Yizkor Book Name Index.
Holocaust Survivors
Pinkas HaNitzolim, Volume I, Register of Jewish Survivors
This collection contains 166 lists of Jewish survivors rescued from camps and the ghettoes in various European countries as they were freed from Nazi control. The register was published in 1945 by the Search Bureau for Missing Relatives of the Jewish Agency. Records in the collection may contain information such as current residence, year of birth, age, father’s name, occupation, previous residence, the original lists in which the record appears, and more.
This is the first volume of a series containing more lists received from the Jewish Agency and other establishments aiming to register the surviving Jews who remained in Europe.
Search Pinkas HaNitzolim, Volume I, Register of Jewish Survivors
Pinkas HaNitzolim, Volume II, Register of Jewish Survivors
This collection contains records of Jewish survivors rescued from camps and the ghettoes in various European countries as they were freed from Nazi control. The register was published in 1946 by The Search Bureau for Missing Relatives of the Jewish Agency. Records in the collection may contain information such as first and last names, place of last registration, and more.
The records are based on information acquired from the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation Genealogy Project at the Jewish Institute of Poland. The information was acquired from the original records created by the survivors in Jewish communities after the war.
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Sharit haPlatah, Holocaust Survivors
Sharit haPlatah refers to the group of Jewish people who survived the Holocaust. This collection contains information about the survivors, such as their surnames, given names, maiden names, places and years of birth, and locations during the years 1945 to 1946. Records also contain the page and line number of the original record.
This collection reflects the work of Chaplain (Rabbi) Abraham Klausner, who visited many concentration camps in south Germany where many of the survivors gathered in the years 1945–1946. While visiting the camps, Klausner collected information about the Jewish people who lived there.
The full text can be found in the USHMM library as Sh’arit ha-pl’atah. (Volume 1, revised), call number [D804.195 .S5376 1946].
Search Sharit haPlatah, Holocaust Survivors
This collection contains records about Holocaust survivors that were documented and archived by the World Jewish Congress (WJC), an international Jewish representative organization established in 1936. Records normally contain the names of survivors, dates, and places of birth, the index of the original record, and the page number in the original index. Records may also include the place of the last residence, citizenship, the age at the time of documentation, the camp from which the survivor was liberated, contacts requested, and any additional comments.
The WJC was founded out of the need for a representative body to support Jewish interests as Nazism spread widely throughout Europe during the 1930s. Among the WJC’s activities were efforts concerning Jewish rights, antisemitism, immediate relief, and rescue efforts.
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Holocaust Remembrance
JewishGen Memorial Plaques Database
This collection consists of records that are part of the JewishGen Memorial Plaque Project. The information in this database originates from Jewish synagogue and memorial records (“Yahrzeit Plaques”) in over 40 countries. Records normally contain the names of the deceased, date of death, Hebrew date of death, the cemetery ID number, and any available comments.
Some records may contain the Hebrew name of the deceased and names of parents if available.
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This collection contains an index of individuals included in Yizkor Books commemorating Jewish communities in Eastern Europe that were destroyed during the Holocaust. Records normally contain an individual’s name and residence and directions to the original Yizkor Book itself, as well as any comments from the entry corresponding to the mentioned individual.
This index is the result of JewishGen’s ongoing Yizkor Book Project to translate Yizkor books and consolidate names in its Yizkor Book Master Name Index (YBMNI).
Sample Records
The Hungary, Jewish Vital Records collection contains the birth record of journalist, political leader, and writer Theodore Herzl. This record includes information such as his birthdate, May 2, 1860; his birth location, Pest, Hungary; the Megye, which is the Hungarian county, Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun; his father’s name, Jacob Herzl; and his mother’s name, Jeanette Diamant.
Birth record of Theodor Herzl in the MyHeritage Hungary, Jewish Vital Records collection
The Lodz Ghetto collection contains the record of renowned photographer Mordka Mendel Grosman. Mendel took thousands of photos in secret documenting the way the Jews lived in the Lodz Ghetto, some of which survived the war and are now displayed in the Yad Vashem museum in Israel. The record shows his date of birth, his residence before living in the ghetto, his residence in the ghetto, and his occupation.
Record of Mordka Mendel Grosman in the MyHeritage Lodz Ghetto List collection
Summary
We are proud to be significantly expanding the Jewish genealogy resources available on MyHeritage, offering collections that span the breadth of Jewish communities around the world. These collections provide rich insights into the lives of Jews from the 18th through the 21st century, including the Holocaust, and will help millions of people around the world learn more about their Jewish roots.
Searching the collections on MyHeritage is free. To view these records or to save records to your family tree, you’ll need a Data or Complete plan.
If you have a family tree on MyHeritage, our Record Matching technology will notify you automatically if records from the collections match your relatives. You’ll then be able to review the record and decide if you’d like to add the new information to your tree.
You can further enhance your Jewish genealogy research by exploring the myriad of Jewish genealogy articles on the MyHeritage Wiki such as Hebrew surnames, Ashkenazi Jewish surnames, Sephardic Jewish surnames, Russian Jewish surnames and more.
