Latvia & Estonia Research Division: Projects, Opportunities, and Contact Information

We are always looking for additional support! This group is entirely comprised of volunteers. As a result, all of the progress we make is based on the support of volunteers and donors. All contributions are greatly appreciated.

Current Projects

The Latvia Research Division is currently working on the following indexing projects: 

• Riga Vital Records, 1880-1909 - working on early 1880s

• Estonia Jewish population registers, 1921-1940 

• Internal Passports handed in to Riga Police 1919 -1940

  •  Jēkabpils completed, Daugavpils in progress

• Internal Passport Issuance Books

  • Abrene – 1 book  completed, Daugavpils – 3 books completed, Jēkabpils - 4 books completed, Ludza - 10 books completed, Rezekne - 16 books completed

  • Cesis – 8 books in progress, Liepāja - 68 books in progress, Riga approximately 420 books - 16 completed, Valmeira - 12 books in progress, Tukkums - 16 books in progress/almost complete

Future Projects

• Addition of Christine Usdin 1897 All Russian Census family members for Riga and Daugavpils to the 1897 census database of adults

• Translations of Pinkas ha-Kehilot Latvia v'Estonia for missing towns (Latvia RD can supply photocopies of the originals)

• Evaluation and migration of Courland Research Group website (in progress), including links to directories

• Consolidation of victim lists to JewishGen Holocaust website

• Correcting broken links in the Latvia Database (vital records and 1897 census) and adding archival information missing from some 1897 census database records

Volunteer Opportunities

We have opportunities for Hebrew and Russian speakers as translators, as well as people familiar with Old German script. We also need people familiar with spreadsheets (no language skills necessary) to compile and prepare data for loading into our database.

Donate

Our projects are made possible through the donations of our members and researchers.  We appreciate your support.

Leadership Team

The Latvia & Estonia Research Division is administered by an international (US, UK, Israel)  team of three co-directors who have a total of 87 years of genealogical research experience among them. Two of our directors, Arlene and Marion, were  involved with our predecessor organization (Latvia SIG/Special Interest Group) from its earliest days. Arlene has been instrumental in forging a relationship with the Latvian archivists since the late 1990s. 

• Paul Cheifitz

• Arlene Beare

• Marion Werle

Contact Us

We are always happy to hear from you and we welcome your questions, as well as suggestions and links to resources to include on this website.

Contact the Latvia & Estonia Research Division Co-Directors - LatviaRD@jewishgen.org

Contact the Webmaster - mwerle@jewishgen.org