Editor: Dr Saul Issroff
Copyright © 2003 Saul Issroff, Mike Getz, SAfrica SIG
and Jewishgen Inc.
URL: http://www.jewishgen.org/SAfrica/prenumeranten/index.htm
Updated: 26 January 2003

These are lists, usually in book form, and they contain the names of subscribers or sponsors who supported the compilation and production of the book by payment or donation prior to its publication. Prenumeranten are a rich source of genealogical data and are likely to be accurate because the subscribers paid for the privilege of inclusion. The prenumeranten of Jewish communities in Europe in past centuries total many thousands. The term is a Yiddish word meaning prior numbers. Harduf's Transliterated English<>Yiddish Dictionary gives numeriren for number. Alternative spellings are: prenumeraten, prenumeratin, prenumeratn.

Two good descriptive resources are:
1.. http://www.jewishgen.org/Rabbinic/infofiles/prenumeranten.htm contains an historical overview of prenumeranten lists,
2.. http://www.jewishgen.org/litvak/prenum.htm contains explanations of the abbreviations which appear in many prenumeranten lists.

A number of other prenumeranten resources are also featured on the JewishGen web-site and these may be accessed via the JewishGen search-engine. Type prenumeranten into the query box and then left-click on the SEARCH button.

The text of a South African prenumeranten book, published in two parts, the only known extant original copy, is reproduced here. The contents were translated from the original Hebrew into English by Beryl Baleson and Hayyim Edinburg.

1.. The Generations of Beth Yosef - 1
2.. The Generations of Beth Yosef - 2