Documentation from the Lithuanian Central State Archives, Lithuania, 1916-1941

The Lithuanian Central State Archives (Lietuvos Centrinis Valstybės Archyvas - LCVA) was created during 1918-1990. The LCVA deals with archival documentation, films, photographs and recordings that are a part of the Lithuanian cultural data-base. The history of the Archives can be divided into distinct periods: during Lithuania's independence following World War I; the Nazi occupation of Lithuania; the Soviet regime; and Lithuania's independence from 1991 to the present. The first period encompassed the establishment of the government institutions. During this period, the Constitution was accepted as well as additional legislation to regulate life in the newly independent nation and to preserve the national heritage. Included are documents of state institutions in southeastern Lithuania, occupied by Poland (1919–1939); documents of the civil administration of the eastern lands; documents of the Provisional Government of Central Lithuania and its departments; fonds of the Vilnius Magistrate, Stephen Bathory University; fonds of schools, banks, Courts of Law, and other institutions and organizations. The Central National Archives were established in Kaunas, the capital of Lithuania at that time. In 1921, a peace treaty was signed between Soviet Russia and Lithuania, facilitating the return to Kaunas of many documents that had been taken to Russia during the Czarist regime. During the second period under the Reichskommissariat Ostland, 1941–1944: documents from fonds of the Commissar-General Office in Kaunas, district commissariats, district administrations, police stations, local governments, offices of county heads, prisons, and the Vilna Ghetto. The third period was during the Soviet regime in 1940–1941 and 1944–1990, following the invasion of Lithuania by the Soviet Union, when the Archives administration was transferred to Vilnius (Vilna) under a new name: the Lithuanian Central State Archives. The Yad Vashem Archives copied several groups of documents: registration of Jewish residents in various institutions according to different categories; lists and personal files of Jewish taxpayers and non-taxpayers; application forms and personal cards for issuing passports; birth certificates; documentation from the Ministry of Education and Religion regarding Jewish secondary schools, including the "Javne" gymnasium for girls, the Real Gymnasium, the Keshavas Gymnasium, personal files of Jewish students from the Vilnius University (Vytauto Didžiojo), graduates of universities abroad, permits to cross the Lithuanian-Latvian border, certificates for residents regarding private property, correspondence with the administration of Šiauliai County, the administration of local rural districts for conscripts and reservists, and protocols for voters including Jews. Documentation from various ministries: Culture, Education, Foreign affairs, Police, and statistics in Lithuania for the years 1916-1941. Correspondence with the rabbinical committee. Administrative appointments in educational institutions, such as the Telšiai Yeshiva and Panevėžis Yeshiva; lists of rabbis. Documents (minutes, reports, lists, etc.) of councils of synagogues and prayer houses in various places in Lithuania:: Kaunas, Kėdainiai, Kretinga, Marijampolė, Mažeikiai, Raseiniai, Rokiškis, Šiauliai, Alytus, Taurage, and Trakiai. Charter of the Department of Jewish Higher Education in Lithuania. Correspondence with the Department, regarding the establishment of Jewish courses and the appointment of teachers (including biographies of teachers). Jewish theater in Lithuania, including lists of artists, orchestrators and technical staff. Council of the Workers 'and Peasants' Police with lists of major merchants, landowners, and manufacturers. Lithuanian general census data. Lists of residents of the Gervetsiu, Varnionis, Bistrichos Shvenchenis, Mikolishkis, and Vilniaus [Vilna] Ghettos, prepared on 27 May 1942. Lists of evacuees from Lithuania to the interior of Russia, the Soviet Union in 1941. Included in places in Lithuania are: Joniskis, Marijampolė, Raseiniai, Skuodo, Šiaulių, Panevėžys, Tauragė, Telšiai, Ukmergė, Utena, Vilkaviški, Alytus Biržai, Jurbarkas, Kalvarija, Kaunas, Kėdainiai, Kretinga, Mažeikiai, Naumiesčio, and Vilnius [Vilna]. In the collection are thousands of names of persecuted, victims, and survivors. Representative of Jewish refugees from the War Refugees Department of the Lithuanian Red Cross, 1940; "Ezra" - Jewish Charity, Social Aid and Cultural Society, 1926-1940; "OZE" - Jewish Health Protection Organization, 1922-1940; "Agudat Israel", 1926-1940; Telšiai Jewish Women's Charitable Society, 1936-1940; "Nachalat Israel" - Jewish Charity Society in Kaunas, 1938-1940; Society to Aid German Jews, 1933-1935; Vilnius Committee of Jewish Refugees of the Red Cross of the Lithuanian SSR, 1940-1941; Society to Aid Lithuanian Jewish Workers in Kaunas, 1920-1928; Society for the Care of Jewish Mental Patients in Lithuania, 1925-1940; Society for Helping Impoverished Jews, 1932-1940. Languages: Lithuanian, Yiddish, Hebrew. 88,265 scans. Documents from the Educational Collections in Lithuania, Jewish Gymnasiums in Vilna, 1918–1939. The Teacher’s Seminary of Dr. Charno in Vilna; The Yiddish Gymnasium named after Sophia Gurevitch in Vilna; The Humanities Gymnasium named after H. Epstein in Vilna; The Yiddish Elementary School named after L. Gurevitch in Vilna; The Yiddish Elementary School named after Dr. Charno in Vilna; Names and surnames of students and teachers. Languages: Lithuanian, Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian, Polish. 83,201 scanned pages. For additional information, see item no. 11714980. [Added documents, January 2025]: Jewish Education; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1918-1940. Documents from the collections on education in Lithuania. Jewish gymnasiums in Vilnius, 1918-1939: Fond 222-1 Private Teachers Seminary Tarbut, Wilno, 1921-1939; Fond 223-1 The Dr. Chаrno Teacher’s Seminary in Wilno, 1926-1939; Fond 383-3 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Consular Section in Latvia: personal files on Jews for obtaining foreign passports and visas. Languages: Lithuanian, Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian, Polish. 43,333 scans.