Our mission is to preserve Litvak heritage by discovering, collecting, documenting, and disseminating information about the once vibrant Jewish community of Lithuania.
LitvakSIG has long-term relationships with the archives in Lithuania. We organize a number of geographic-specific project groups whose primary purpose is to identify and collect data from available records for Lithuania from the Russian Empire Period and Independent Lithuania. Contributors to our projects gain access to the data we collect in Excel format. This LitvakSIG.org website is our platform for providing the information we collect and our searchable databases to the public.
In addition, we host a prassword-protected website for our Dues-Paying Membership Litvaksigmembersonlysite.shutterfly.com, which has additional content including records, catalogs of selected Lithuanian Archives, and scholarly articles.
Some highlights of our work include the
- All Lithuania Database (ALD), a free, searchable database that currently has over 1.1 million records and is updated quarterly.
- The LitvakSIG Online Journal, an edited, online journal with articles of interest to people researching their Litvak heritage.
- And the LitvakSIG Discussion List (“LitvakSIG Digest”), a moderated Internet discussion forum for the exchange of information on Litvak genealogy research.
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MACEVA – Lithuanian Cemetery Preservation Project
Consistent with LitvakSIG’s objective of encouraging and supporting the preservation and computerization of primary sources of genealogical data, we support the work of MACEVA, a Lithuanian non-profit organization whose mission includes identifying and preserving pre-World War II Jewish cemeteries in Lithuania and recording and computerizing the information on the gravestones. Click here to go to the website of MACEVA, which is an independent organization and is not a part of LitvakSIG.
In addition to working cooperatively with MACEVA to share the information they are documenting, digitizing and computerizing, LitvakSIG will also be able to accept contributions specifically designated for MACEVA. To contribute now, using our secure on-line credit card system, go to www.litvaksig.org/contribute . Use the box SPECIAL PROJECT and from the Choose Project drop down menu, select Website/IT. In the Enter Notes box, type in MACEVA. In the Amount in US$ Box, type in the amount of your donation. Use the format 100.00. DO NOT ENTER a $.
Click the CHECKOUT box. The total donation amount appears. If it is correct, click the SUBMIT DONATION box. To correct or change the amount, click the BACK box.
To make a donation by check or to mail your credit card information for processing:
Payable to: LitvakSIG, Inc.
Mail to LitvakSIG
c/o Eden Joachim, Treasurer
41 Country Club Lane
Pomona, NY 10970
USA
Always include your full name, billing address, email address, telephone number. You may note shtetl(ach) of interest. This information will be passed on to MACEVA.
LitvakSIG POLICY CHANGE FOR DISTRICT RESEARCH GROUPS
The new district research group structure became effective January 1, 2012.
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First-Time Site Users:
Welcome! We suggest you start with the Family Research Page of our site. It will help you get oriented and explain the basic information you need to identify to leverage our site and LitvakSIG to its fullest. We also suggesr you read the About LitvakSIG section, paying special attention to the Projects and Data Page. You may also need to refer to our Glossary since you may not be familiar with the many Yiddish, Hebrew and Russian terms that are used throughout the site, especially if this is your first foray in Jewish genealogy rsearch.
Data Seekers:
Asuming you know your family shtetl(ach) of interest or your family surname, you can dive into our All Lithuania Database to search for records. If you know your shtetl(ach) of interest, you will want to learn about LitvakSIG projects which are collecting data for your ancestral shtetl(ach). You can do that on the Projects and Data, District Research, Vital Records and Special Projects pages. Once you have found your projects of interest, consider joining LitvakSIG and contributing to one or more LitvakSIG projects so you can gain access to the data in Excel format.
Frequent Site Users:
We’ve incorporated a number of “deep links” in the horizontal menu bar, vertical menu bar, and footer to help you get where you want to go fast: the All Lithuania Database, Shtetl Database, Lithuania Given Names Database, Archives and Repositories, FAQs, etc.
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