Jewish Names in U.S. State Department
Files (RG59) 1910-1929

This database contains almost 15,000 entries from the Central Decimal Files of the U.S. Department of State, Record Group 59 (RG 59), pertaining to the Protection of Interest during the period 1910-1929. These records primarily deal with the welfare, whereabouts, and deaths of American citizens and their families abroad.

The database provides links to digitized images of significant genealogical value. Many include documents of births, marriages and deaths of US citizens abroad; settlement of the foreign estates of US citizens who died abroad; lists and correspondence of US citizens temporarily or permanently residing abroad. Names of people who were not US citizens were often mentioned and are included in this database.

The Original Source Data

This record group consists of correspondence from American citizens or their representatives who appealed to the U.S. Department of State for help in tracing relatives, sending money, food and other assistance to family members in Europe, as well as responses from the U.S. Department of State and related documents. Most entries were made during and immediately following World War I.

The source of this data is the U.S. Department of State Files, housed at the National Archives II, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, Maryland, 20740 and available online through the NARA Catalog.

In the 1990s, The Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington (JGSGW) created an index to names believed to be Jewish in the records from the time period of 1910 to 1929, class 3, protection of interests, for selected countries. At that time, the documents were only available in person at the National Archives, and the index included instructions on how to locate the original documents.

The files have since been digitized, and although the digital images are available online through the NARA Catalog, the filing system is complicated and the files are not searchable by name on their website. In 2024, JGSGW updated the database, adding thousands of new records and providing links to the online digitized images.

Viewing the Online Images

The database results include a link to the first page of the scanned document(s) in the NARA Catalog. The NARA Catalog user interface provides the capability to navigate page by page through the document as well as options to zoom in or out and download documents.

Each search result may yield one or more documents (each with potentially one or more pages). Using the file and document number provided in the search results, navigate sequentially through all online images which are annotated with the file & document number provided in the search results. The file and document number annotation may be either on the top or the right side of the document. Please note that the names associated with search results may be found on any page within the document(s).

Viewing Considerations: Many of these documents were scanned such that the last page of the file is the first one that appears in the catalog (i.e. the images will be presented from the last page to the first page). In some cases, there may be pages in the document that are not annotated with the file and document number. Continue to page through all images until you see a different file and document number.  

Viewing the Original Records

The records in this collection have been digitized by NARA and are available via the database search results. A very small number of the original documents could not be found in the digitized NARA catalog. In these cases, the original documents may be available at NARA in College Park, Maryland. Information regarding location, hours, and research appointments can be found at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland.

• Customer Service Center: 866-272-6272
• Email: inquire@nara.gov

About this Database

This database contains over 14,000 entries from Record Group 59, covering the time period 1910-1929, for selected geographical locations — primarily Palestine (2,000 records), Romania (2,000 records), and Austria-Hungary (4,300 records). The specific list of countries appears in the table below.

Database Fields:

• Surname: Last name of person whose name appears in the correspondence, document, list, etc. When more than one name appears, each is listed separately. If the maiden name is given along with the married name, both will be listed in the database.
• Given Name: First name; and middle, patronymic or title, if given.
• City: This refers to the geographical location given in the correspondence or document. It may be the last known residence or place of birth of the person whose whereabouts are questioned, or the residence of the person making the inquiry.

Spellings of names and towns vary for many reasons. Also, keep in mind that the town may be the last known residence, not the city or town you believed they lived in most of their lives. No attempt has been made to correct the spelling of any of the information to what the person entering the data believed should be the “correct” spelling, and no attempt was made to use the modern name of the locality.

• Country: Corresponds to the City.
• Box number: The number assigned by NARA to the archival box containing the document. For example, boxes 4568 through 4572 contain documents classified as 367m (Turkey in Asia); boxes 4572 through 4581 contain documents classified as 367n (Palestine).
• File & Document number: The decimal number assigned to the specific document. Documents in this database are assigned numbers as described below.
• File Unit: A series of documents that are stored together in contiguous group within the digital NARA catalog.
• Image: A link to the digital scan of the original document in the online NARA Catalog. Please note, a very small number of the original documents could not be located online. In these cases, please contact NARA for help locating the document(s).

Explanation of the Decimal Classification System Used by
U.S. Department of State

From 1910-1963, the U.S. Department of State used a decimal classification system for its central files. Individual State Department documents were assembled and arranged according to subjects, and a decimal file number was assigned to each document. Records concerning the Protection of Interest were given a number beginning with 3. Documents assigned to this category were further classified according to the foreign country involved. File "3xx.yy" is for “Protection in country xx of private and national interests of country yy”. Each foreign country has a unique two-digit number or a two-digit number and letter that follows the initial number 3. The US was assigned number 11, Palestine 67n, and Romania 371. The complete list of codes is in the table below.

After the country code comes further numbers and letters that provide each document with a unique number. Most of the documents in this database deal with welfare and whereabouts (3xx115) or deaths (3xx113) of American citizens.

For example, 371 denotes that the correspondence concerns a matter involving Romania, while 371.11 tells us that the document deals with the interest of an American citizen in Romania. The number that follows the file number (usually after a slash or hyphen) is the specific document number within that file. e.g. 371.71/11. In the Archives’ parlance each unique, individual number is called “locator information.” When several numbers appear after the slash, this denotes that there are several similarly numbered documents that have the individual’s name appearing in them. (e.g. 371.71/112 & 113 & 115). In this case, search all three documents 371.71/112, 371.71/113 and 371.71/115.

A record with a decimal number of 367n.113 indicates that it deals with the death of an American citizen in Palestine. This record was used as a substitute for a death certificate in the U.S., as the country in which the death occurred issued the original death certificate.

Note that these country designations are complicated by the fact that the time period is 1910-1929 — which spans World War I, and thus there are two sets of borders, since many national boundaries were changed after WWI. For example, "Austria" in the 1910-1918 period refers to the entire Austrian Empire, and thus includes Galicia and Bukovina (today, parts of Poland, Ukraine, and Romania). Some countries (the "360x" set) did not exist until after 1918.

Illustration: 367n.1115-Adler, Miriam ET al/1

Morris Adler inquiring about the whereabouts of his wife, daughter, father and married daughter, believed to be living in the Hungarian Colony in Jerusalem.

Acknowledgements

Volunteers from JGSGW, who visited the National Archives over a period of several years in the 1990s, extracted the information and created this database. Credit is given to Rita Krakower Margolis(z”l), Mike Getz, Roberta Solit, Bernard Norwood, Peter Lande, Fred Kolbrener, Simone Bercu, and Sheri Meisel. Many thanks go to Dr. Milton Gustafson (z”l) at NARA II for his assistance over the years. In 2024, Karen Steinfeld and Sue Fialkoff (volunteers from JGSGW) updated this record set adding thousands of new entries and providing direct online access to the original documents.

For more information on RG 59, see https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/059.html.