Genealogical research in Belarus — discover your ancestry

One of the most significant and in-demand documents in genealogical and historical-family research are metric books, which were carefully kept in parish churches of various denominations and preserved with great attention. These books thoroughly recorded acts of baptism, marriage, and death of parishioners and their families in remarkable detail. In the territory of Belarus, along with the Orthodox population, Catholics and Jews traditionally lived, and records were kept at different times in different languages: Latin, Polish, and Russian. Being part of the Russian Empire, the Belarusian provinces regularly conducted censuses of the taxable population — the so-called Revision Lists, which contain very detailed and valuable information about the family composition, including kinship ties of all members with the head of the household. One of the most popular and highly requested services of our center is confirmation of Polish roots or Jewish nationality, which later allows descendants of Poles and Jews to obtain a residence permit in Poland or repatriate to Israel successfully.

Our experts also actively study other valuable historical materials that help uncover the biographies of people who lived in past centuries and shaped communities. Important sources of biographical information are often personal files of the 19th–20th centuries, indicating places of study, work, and service (service records or registers). Special attention is paid to local censuses conducted in towns and rural areas (agricultural censuses and household books), which make it possible to obtain unique information about the everyday lives of ordinary people. A special place in Belarusian history belongs to the local nobility (szlachta), which became part of the Russian Empire at the end of the 18th century. Sources on its genealogy are truly fascinating and help to understand the social ties of that historical time. Many materials have also been preserved about Jews living in the territory of Belarus. All these diverse sources together make it possible to take a more detailed look at the everyday lives of ancestors who left their important mark on the country’s cultural and national history.