Contacting the Archives in Vilnius: Instructions, Experiences, Pitfalls - Genealogy Wise2024-03-29T00:58:21Zhttp://www.genealogywise.com/forum/topics/contacting-the-archives-in?groupUrl=genealogyoflithuania&commentId=3463583%3AComment%3A189168&groupId=3463583%3AGroup%3A157566&feed=yes&xn_auth=noLast night I sent an email to…tag:www.genealogywise.com,2018-07-25:3463583:Comment:7541902018-07-25T17:42:29.033ZAnthony Lumbishttp://www.genealogywise.com/profile/AnthonyLumbis
<p>Last night I sent an email to the State Archives in Vilnius. This morning I received a response from them assigning a number to my request and stating that I would need to transfer 15.66 EURO to a bank in Vilnius before they would begin the search. I have read all the various posts concerning this subject and was wondering if anyone has found an easier more economical method of paying the required fee? Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>Last night I sent an email to the State Archives in Vilnius. This morning I received a response from them assigning a number to my request and stating that I would need to transfer 15.66 EURO to a bank in Vilnius before they would begin the search. I have read all the various posts concerning this subject and was wondering if anyone has found an easier more economical method of paying the required fee? Thanks for your help.</p> Several years ago I wrote to…tag:www.genealogywise.com,2012-08-01:3463583:Comment:4570322012-08-01T23:46:53.336ZBob Krampetzhttp://www.genealogywise.com/profile/BobKrampetz
<p>Several years ago I wrote to both Belarus and Poland archives (don't recall the name/address) regarding information from Lida - about 1908-1911. A marriage and a birth. Since the church for both was in Lida (then Poland, today Belarus), the Polish archive responded that I had to inquire at the Belarus archive.</p>
<p>The response I subsequently received from the Belarus archive had me abandon hope of learning what I wanted. The letter was in a 3"x4", cheap paper, envelope - with…</p>
<p>Several years ago I wrote to both Belarus and Poland archives (don't recall the name/address) regarding information from Lida - about 1908-1911. A marriage and a birth. Since the church for both was in Lida (then Poland, today Belarus), the Polish archive responded that I had to inquire at the Belarus archive.</p>
<p>The response I subsequently received from the Belarus archive had me abandon hope of learning what I wanted. The letter was in a 3"x4", cheap paper, envelope - with little space for my address, as it was covered in numerous small denomination Belarussian stamps. The letter was even more weird, a 6" x 7" tissue thin paper with only a single line written in Russian (or Belarussian, don't recall) that merely asked me to mail $300 (U.S.) to some individual and their address. Nothing more. </p>
<p>Needless to say, I ignored it and put aside hope of soon learning more about my maternal line.</p>
<p>I will reread the replies here and see if others have found a more 'legitimate' source for information.</p>
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<p> </p> Greetings!
I totally agree wi…tag:www.genealogywise.com,2011-03-25:3463583:Comment:3334712011-03-25T16:22:52.239ZEllynmariehttp://www.genealogywise.com/profile/EllynmarieTheep
<p>Greetings!</p>
<p>I totally agree with Joanie D! I have had great success using and communicating with the Archives!</p>
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<p>I have been researching our family since 2003 and, because of limited family and information, have had to contact the Archives for assistance many times. Although the turnaround time is very slow, the information simply cannot be obtained without them. I have branches leading back to the 1780's, from the Seneiji Trakai Region/Parish, and since our family…</p>
<p>Greetings!</p>
<p>I totally agree with Joanie D! I have had great success using and communicating with the Archives!</p>
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<p>I have been researching our family since 2003 and, because of limited family and information, have had to contact the Archives for assistance many times. Although the turnaround time is very slow, the information simply cannot be obtained without them. I have branches leading back to the 1780's, from the Seneiji Trakai Region/Parish, and since our family immigrated in 1907-1918 our USA info is relatively new and very limited. But the documents I purchased gave me godparents, attendees at weddings, all concluding our families on the South Shore of MA were actually connected prior in LT.</p>
<p>My most recent search, registered in Feb 2007, was recently completed in March 2011. It was worth the wait!! </p>
<p>Registering your request is free and doesn't hinder your search. I'd strongly suggest getting in the queue. There's nothing to lose!</p> Hi, Nina,
I wrote letters in…tag:www.genealogywise.com,2011-03-22:3463583:Comment:3325832011-03-22T15:06:11.715Zcarolyn travershttp://www.genealogywise.com/profile/carolyntravers
<p>Hi, Nina,</p>
<p>I wrote letters in English to Lithuanians who might be related to me and received one reply. The lady was in her 70's and wrote in English, but requested that I write again in Lithuanian as she speaks no English. She sent me an email address for her daughter, but it doesn't work, so I'd like to write to her again, hard copy. Can you assist me in writing in Lithuanian?</p>
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<p>Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Hi, Nina,</p>
<p>I wrote letters in English to Lithuanians who might be related to me and received one reply. The lady was in her 70's and wrote in English, but requested that I write again in Lithuanian as she speaks no English. She sent me an email address for her daughter, but it doesn't work, so I'd like to write to her again, hard copy. Can you assist me in writing in Lithuanian?</p>
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<p>Thanks so much!</p> I am fluent in lithuanian, so…tag:www.genealogywise.com,2010-11-19:3463583:Comment:2951132010-11-19T20:01:01.041ZNina Jankauskashttp://www.genealogywise.com/profile/NinaJankauskas
I am fluent in lithuanian, so if you ever receive anything that is in lithuanian please feel free to post here or contact me directly - ninajankauskas@yahoo.com.
I am fluent in lithuanian, so if you ever receive anything that is in lithuanian please feel free to post here or contact me directly - ninajankauskas@yahoo.com. This is a big help. I have na…tag:www.genealogywise.com,2010-04-22:3463583:Comment:2469442010-04-22T15:23:00.945ZJeffrey Kirkhttp://www.genealogywise.com/profile/JeffreyKirk
This is a big help. I have names, dates of birth, and towns (or villages) of birth in some cases, so I will be able to provide them with this information. It seems that the key difference between the search you described and others I have read about is that you instructed them to trace back to other relatives if the references existed in the documents. I would like to do the same. Thanks again.
This is a big help. I have names, dates of birth, and towns (or villages) of birth in some cases, so I will be able to provide them with this information. It seems that the key difference between the search you described and others I have read about is that you instructed them to trace back to other relatives if the references existed in the documents. I would like to do the same. Thanks again. I hope this will help. I gave…tag:www.genealogywise.com,2010-04-22:3463583:Comment:2469412010-04-22T14:30:41.783ZJoanie Dhttp://www.genealogywise.com/profile/JDzengielewski
I hope this will help. I gave them as much information as I could. Just searching a given surname won't be very helpful--I'm afraid--unless you want to spend lots of money. You at least have to give them some idea of where to look and a possible time frame. I knew exactly where my ancestor came from (including the church parish). That made it easy. In the most recent search, I again had a couple of names and dates and only one place name. But they searched through 65 different church registry…
I hope this will help. I gave them as much information as I could. Just searching a given surname won't be very helpful--I'm afraid--unless you want to spend lots of money. You at least have to give them some idea of where to look and a possible time frame. I knew exactly where my ancestor came from (including the church parish). That made it easy. In the most recent search, I again had a couple of names and dates and only one place name. But they searched through 65 different church registry books to locate more information.<br />
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So if you're looking for a grandmother, for example, and don't know an exact date of birth, look at your parent's date of birth and go back about 25 years for an approximate year. The registry books usually cover about a 20-year span so they may find something. If you know that your ancestor came from the Vilnius area, that could help too. As you probably know (and as I found out), Vilnius is not only a city, it's like a county so it can cover many cities.<br />
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Once they find that one ancestor, they may be able to trace back to more family by using the information provided in the document - for example, in a birth certificate, you'll get the parents' names. In a marriage certificate, you'll get parents' names and where they come from, you may also get birth dates of the bride and groom (if I remember correctly). So one find can lead to a lot of information.<br />
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I wrote in English (and all my responses have been in English) to LIETUVOS VALSTYBES ISTORIJOS ARCHYVAS, Gerosios Vilties g. 10, 03134 Vilnius, Lithuania. There's also an e-mail address: istorijos, archyvas@lvia.lt if you want to ask more questions. I found them to be very helpful.<br />
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Good luck with your search! Hi, I am hoping to request in…tag:www.genealogywise.com,2010-04-21:3463583:Comment:2468162010-04-21T17:20:48.750ZJeffrey Kirkhttp://www.genealogywise.com/profile/JeffreyKirk
Hi, I am hoping to request information from the Vilnius archives soon. I have heard of people requesting a single record, but am interested in having them do a search like you have described. Could you explain how you worded the requests? Did you just ask them to do a search for any person with a given surname? Also, did you have to have your request translated into Lithuanian or do they understand English?<br />
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Thanks,<br />
Jeff
Hi, I am hoping to request information from the Vilnius archives soon. I have heard of people requesting a single record, but am interested in having them do a search like you have described. Could you explain how you worded the requests? Did you just ask them to do a search for any person with a given surname? Also, did you have to have your request translated into Lithuanian or do they understand English?<br />
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Thanks,<br />
Jeff I have used the Archives in V…tag:www.genealogywise.com,2010-04-17:3463583:Comment:2458682010-04-17T19:36:05.109ZJoanie Dhttp://www.genealogywise.com/profile/JDzengielewski
I have used the Archives in Vilnius twice - several years ago we did it by mail - we received instructions on how to pay for the research; we were told how much it would cost to begin the research and then after finding the documents we were looking for, they contacted us with a price for copies and/or translations. For each of the two phases, we went online to get the currency exchange for litos and sent a money order (dollars) for the payment. They had located 25 documents for our family - an…
I have used the Archives in Vilnius twice - several years ago we did it by mail - we received instructions on how to pay for the research; we were told how much it would cost to begin the research and then after finding the documents we were looking for, they contacted us with a price for copies and/or translations. For each of the two phases, we went online to get the currency exchange for litos and sent a money order (dollars) for the payment. They had located 25 documents for our family - an excellent result.<br />
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We again requested research to be done on another branch of the family in 2006 and were put on a waiting list for 3 years (we were told in advance that it would take that long). I was notified in January of 2010 that I'd come up in the queue for the research to begin. We were given the cost to begin the research (1 research = 400 Lt or about $172). This time we wired the money directly to the bank in Lithuania with no problems at all. We used the information supplied to us by the Archives. I received a letter today (April 17) outlining all the registry books and years they searched (approximately 65 areas) and came up with 15 records (birth, death and marriage). They advised that the originals are in Russian, Polish and Latin and that 1 record with translation would cost 72 Lt - 1 record without translation would cost 20 Lt.<br />
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Instead of paying to have all the records translated, I am only having one each translated of the birth, marriage and death certificates since most are very similar. I'm hoping that one translation will help me figure out the others. If not, I'll go to my regional Polish Genealogy Society where they have translators available.<br />
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All in all, I've had very good success with the Archives in Vilnius and would use them again in a minute. I think they're are extremely thorough and accurate. I could pay a genealogist to do the same thing but it would probably cost me more AND I understand that the process to access the books is very slow and it can take several days to go through only a handful of books. The research that I did at our own Dept of Vital Records was as bad as that! We pay about $10 an hour to do the research and you can only get 3 books an hour or so - then it's lunch time! In a day, I could easily spend between $50-75 to look up information!<br />
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I would strongly suggest that you consider the Archives. At this point it is about the only way to get the research done without getting swindled by someone who claims to be able to get the information. I've tried that - never again!<br />
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You just need to have patience!<br />
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Jo A few thoughts on my experien…tag:www.genealogywise.com,2010-03-07:3463583:Comment:2362202010-03-07T18:03:42.023ZJim Zuishttp://www.genealogywise.com/profile/JimZuis
A few thoughts on my experiences with the archives, for what they are worth...<br />
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I've sent payment to the archives both ways, via check and via wire transfer. I've had checks lost in the mail and had to re-send them after stopping payment. Wiring money is more pricey but secure. The first time I wired funds, it was through my my local credit union, although they had some trouble doing so. More recently I wired funds through the Lithuanian Credit Union here in Boston. Although their policy is to…
A few thoughts on my experiences with the archives, for what they are worth...<br />
<br />
I've sent payment to the archives both ways, via check and via wire transfer. I've had checks lost in the mail and had to re-send them after stopping payment. Wiring money is more pricey but secure. The first time I wired funds, it was through my my local credit union, although they had some trouble doing so. More recently I wired funds through the Lithuanian Credit Union here in Boston. Although their policy is to provide that service for members only, they were nice enough to to do this for me in this case. If I need to wire more in the future, I plan on either opening a basic savings account with a minimal amout or maybe get a credit card so I don't put a strain on their good graces. I paid $40 - $45 per transaction in my two wire transfer experiences.<br />
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In terms of correspondence, I have found that e-mail seems to work well.<br />
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- Jim Zuis