Belarus

Where the records are

The National Historical Archives of Belarus in Minsk (NIAB) and its branch in Grodno hold the church registers of the old Minsk, Grodno, Mogilev and Vitebsk provinces, including many consistory copies. Regional state archives hold the civil registration of the Soviet period.

The north-west of today's Belarus was in the Vilna province until 1917, so its registers may be in the Lithuanian State Historical Archives in Vilnius, not in Minsk.

What is online

• The catalogue of the National Archival Fund. All 42 state archives of Belarus, described down to the single file, many inventories as PDF files. A search that finds nothing is not proof the register is lost: try other spellings and the inventory itself.
• The National Historical Archives of Belarus in Minsk: the main archive for church registers, tax censuses (revision lists) and the records of the old provinces.
• The archives of Belarus. The portal of all state archives, with their addresses and rules.
• Metric books in the archives of Belarus. A volunteer catalogue of which metric books are kept where.
• Skarb. A name index of more than 500,000 people from files of Belarusian archives: personal files, lists and cards, not church registers. Run by a private research company.
• Partisans of Belarus. Second World War partisans, by name and village.
• Pomnim. A search of burials by name, place or date.
• FamilySearch. Films of many Belarusian and Vilna-province registers; viewing needs a free FamilySearch account.

How to order

The Belarusian archives answer genealogical requests, also from abroad, for a fee. Name the place, the faith, the years and, if you found it, the collection and file numbers (fond and case).

Traps

• Catholic registers may be in Polish or Latin, Orthodox and Uniate ones in Russian or Church Slavonic.
• Uniate (Greek Catholic) parishes became Orthodox in 1839, and their earlier registers are filed with the Uniate institutions.
• The same village may be listed under a Belarusian, Russian and Polish name.