Steven Rosenberg.

JewishGen Ukraine SIG Coordinator

Janette Silverman

JewishGen Liaison/Advisor

Avraham Groll

Project Synopsis

Smiela was one of the main towns in what was Kievskaya Gubernia during the 19th century, with a significant Jewish population of 7,475 according to the 1897 Russian Census of that year. The records for the town of Smiela were stored in the State Archives of Cherkassy Oblast and in the Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine in Kiev. Fortunately, the Jewish records for Smiela stored in the State Archives of Cherkassy Oblast– birth, death, marriage, and divorce records for 1839-1897 as well as Revision Lists (Censuses) 1811-1858, Family Lists (Taxation Lists) 1847-1917 and Military Records 1831-1871 for the District of Cherkassy were microfilmed by the Church of the Latter Day Saints and are held in the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City. Information contained in these records still remains unreachable for many, for they are not available on-line.

The JewishGen Ukraine SIG is digitizing the reels of microfilm of vital records from Smiela held by the FHL. Once these reels have been digitized, this project will oversee the translation and indexing of this data. Smiela Vital Records are found on 6 microfilm reels at the FHL. The original Archival Material for Smiela came from from Fond 388; Opis 1; Dela 1-8, 10-30 and Fond 931; Opis 1; Dela 3093, 3162. These records are on microfilm numbers 2152718, 2289403-2289404, and 2289443-2289445.

The Cherkassy District Records of interest for Revision Lists include 9 microfilm reels at the FHL, microfilm numbers 2199441 through 2199449. Family Lists include 6 microfilm reels, microfilm numbers 2192577-2192580, 2199426, 2199429 and Military Lists which include 2 microfilm reels, microfilm numbers 2199435 and 2199426.

Images of the original documents from this scanning project are not available through JewishGen and can be obtained through the Family History Library.

The key audience for this project is anyone with an interest in the Jewish history of Smiela, Cherkassy Uyezd, Kievskaya Gubernia, and the Ukraine in general.

Smiela was home for many Jews during the late 19th century. Unfortunately, even though these records have been microfilmed, usage of these records requires access to a Family History Library and the ability to read Cyrillic or in some cases Hebrew, which is beyond the capabilities of many. This project will be a significant help in preserving and providing access to what has survived of Smiela's Jewish Records by providing all with access to the transcriptions of the records by searching the JewishGen Ukraine Database.

We will begin work on the project as soon as we have begun to raise funds (we already have a translator ready to begin).

Throughout the course of the project, completed spreadsheets will be made available to donors who contribute $100 or more. At the same time, translations of records might also be posted on relevant KehilaLink webpages.

Estimated Cost

We estimate that it will cost $13,400 to complete this project, based upon the following projections:

Please note: Any funds still remaining at the completion of this translation project will be used to fund additional Smiela projects and to acquire Smiela records from archives in Ukraine.