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The goal of the Trakai
District Research Group project is to acquire and translate records such
as census lists, revision and family lists, and other miscellaneous
documents from towns in the Trakai District. The Trakai District (or Uyezd)
is in the Province (Gubernia) of Vilnius. Therefore, most of the lists
which have already been translated, as well as those to be translated in
the future, are from the Vilnius State Historical Archives (LVIA) in
Lithuania.
There are 16 towns (shtetlach)
in the Trakai District, as well as several villages with Jewish communities
so small that they are integrated with the Jewish communities of larger
surrounding towns. Because our Jewish ancestors were migratory through
need or nature, they tended to be born in one town, to be registered in
another, and to live in a third or more, as they grew up, married,
and eventually emigrated. The Trakai District Research Group strives to
collect all available data from Jewish towns and hamlets in Trakai that
existed in the 19th and 20th centuries, literally following the trails of
our forebears.
Many steps are involved
in the journey of a document from the LVIA to your computer. Once a list
has been ordered for translation, it is assigned to a translator fluent in Russian,
Lithuanian and English. The 19th century documents are in
Russian/Cyrillic, while the 20th century records are frequently
in the Lithuanian language. Upon completion of the English translation,
the file then comes to me, the Trakai District Coordinator, for proofing
and verifying the translations. An added element unique to the Trakai lists is
the assembling of translated files into multi-sorted Excel spreadsheets,
enabling researchers to view the data alphabetically by surname, by town
and surname, or chronologically by household.
All data is distributed to qualified members of the group. The
final destination of translated documents is the LitvakSIG All
Lithuania Database (ALD), where the records become accessible in a
searchable database to researchers world-wide, about a year or so after
the initial distribution to group members. To become a qualifying member of the group, a
minimum donation of $100 is required. All contributions are
tax-deductible as provided by law and made directly to LitvakSIG, a non-profit organization.
The more funds we have at our disposal, the faster I can proceed with
new acquisitions to further the objectives of the group.
For additional information, please
contact me.
Trakai District Research Group Coordinator
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