Revision Lists — Bessarabia
The Reviskie Skazki (Revision Lists) — were conducted in territories ruled by the Russian Czar in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Revision Lists enumerated individuals/families subject to taxation and identified men to draft into the army.
There were ten known major Reviskie Skazki taken in Russian Empire. For the Bessarabia district and later Bessarabia Gubernia, the following Revisions may apply:
By the Treaty of Bucharest of May 28, 1812, the Ottoman Empire ceded the Bessarabia region to the Russian Empire — the land between the Dniester River on the east, the Prut River on the west, and the Danube on the south. It is not clear if the seventh revision (1815-1825) was held in Bessarabia, because of the special status of the region. No records for Bessarabia have yet been found from the seventh revision. Although there are some records dated as early as 1824 from Kishinev, Ismail and Hotin, it is not yet known if there are Jewish records among them. No records from the eighth revision (1833-1835) have yet been found, but in the ninth revision (1848-1854) there are former registration numbers for the families listed as being in the prior (8th) revision.
The Russian military authorities of occupation during the war with the Turks in 1774 recorded 1,300 Jewish families in Moldavia. At that time Moldavia, included not only the Bessarabia region, but also a section of current Romania, named Moldova/Moldavia, including the major city of Iaşi (Jassy). The records from 1774 have not been found. In this database, we have records from the ninth and tenth revisions. There are also some additional records added to these Revisions in different years.
This project of translating/transcribing Bessarabia Revision Lists began in August of 2009, using records microfilmed by the LDS Family History Library.
The Mormons (LDS) microfilmed Revision Lists for all districts of Bessarabia (now in Moldova Republic and Ukraine) in 2003, at the Moldova State Archives in Chişinău (Kishinev) (MoldSA). There are a total of 292 microfilms for Bessarabia, which can be ordered and viewed at any of the LDS Family History Centers, as well as at the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City. Some microfilms contain all Jewish records; others may have only several images dedicated to Jews. Of the 292 microfilms of the Bessarabia Revision Lists, 30 definitely have Jewish records in them, and possible more. All of the lists are in the Russian language (Cyrillic alphabet).
Below is a list of the microfilms which contain Jewish records. There are also some small shtetls listed under the district town, such as the shtetl of Kaushany (Căuşeni), listed in LDS under Bendery, in microfilm #2,373,291, which is already complete. Only the records from Bendery were listed as Jewish records in the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC); Akkerman, Kishinev and Alexandreny records did not have that designation. That is why we could possibly find more Jewish records among the Revision Lists microfilms, once we look into all 292 microfilms.
A list of microfilms (continually updated) can be accessed by clicking here.
Revision Lists — Database Fields
The Revision Lists may contain following information:
Current Database Contents
A complete inventory can be accessed by clicking here.
Only Bendery was listed in the LDS' Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) as that microfilm as having Jewish records, but not three other towns. That gives us hope that we will find Jewish records in the 1830s and even the 1820s.
"Kehila" records: For the update of 2014, several sets of records are named "Kehila records". They were recorded in 1824. Such records were found only in Khotin uezd, and there were four different kehilot in Khotin uezd: Khotin, Lipkani, Brichani and Ataki (Ataki was part of Khotin uezd in 1824, and later moved to Soroki uezd). For example each person in the Lipkani kehila record set was registered in Lipkani Kehila, but lived in many small and medium-sized places around the town of Lipkani. For Lipkani Kehila, Jews lived in 48 localities. For all four Kehilot, Jews lived in about 200 localities in the Khotin uezd. In some villages there were only 2-3 Jewish families. Many of these localities were found on the maps of 1840-1860, and many exist now.
Here are some sample illustrations of Revision Lists from 1848 and 1854. Click on each image for a larger view.
This project was made possible by hard work and dedication of many people who translated, transcribed and validated the records.
Translators, Transcribers and Validators:
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The Bessarabia Revision Lists can be searched by clicking here.
Last Update: July 2020