MyHeritage, the online genealogy platform, has published a trove of Lithuanian Jewish historical records stretching back to the late 1700s.
The data contains a collection of more than four million records from 1795 to World War I (the era of the Russian Empire) and from 1919 to 1940 (the era of independent Lithuania). Most of the records are geographically from present day Lithuania itself but owing to shifting borders over time, the records also cover parts of what is now Poland, Belarus and several other neighboring areas.
MyHeritage stresses that these records have "tremendous genealogical value" and "will open a new frontier of discovery for individuals who are researching their Lithuanian-Jewish heritage."
“This year we are increasing our efforts to expand the Jewish genealogy resources on MyHeritage,” said Gilad Japhet, CEO of MyHeritage. “Adding this collection from LitvakSIG provides a valuable resource for anyone of Lithuanian-Jewish origin. On a personal level, some of my own ancestors appear in this collection, including my paternal grandmother and her siblings from the small Lithuanian town of Valkininkai (Olkieniki), making this addition especially meaningful for me and my family.”
The Lithuanian-Jewish Records from LitvakSIG collection is free to search on MyHeritage. However, a subscription is needed to access the full records and recorded matches.
Jews began living in Lithuania as early as the 13th Century. The country's Jewish population before World War II was approximately 210,000, many of whom were murdered during the Holocaust.