The National Archives and Records Administration in Pittsfield (NRAP) has a number of publications in which Jewish ancestors can be located. These include census lists, passenger manifests, naturalization indexes and World War I draft cards. There are also three microfilm publications which are more specifically useful for Jewish genealogy: T990, Mauthausen Death Books, ca. 1939-1944; T733, Guide to German Records Microfilmed at Alexandria; and M1486, Records of the Imperial Russian Consulates in the United States. (For information on the Records of the Imperial Russian Consulates see Arlene Jennings’ article in this issue of Archival Anecdotes.)

T990, Mauthausen Death Books

This is a chronological listing of deaths at the Mauthausen concentration camp indicating each person’s number, full name, date and place of birth, occupation, cause of death, day and time of death and comments. There are two rolls of microfilm in the publication with approximately 7,000 names on each roll.

The guide describes Nazi records that were captured and microfilmed at Alexandria, Virginia. These are the records of the German government, and most are in German. There are 20 finding aids for the original records on nine rolls of microfilm. The Guide gives a folder listing for each document and provides series, provenance (the agency where the records were created or maintained), item, notes on what is in each folder, and, if the item was microfilmed, it gives the first frame number for that folder.

Census records begin in 1790 and end with the 1920 rolls for the entire United States. Indexes are available in book form and on compact disks from 1790 to 1870. Soundex indexes are on microfilm for 1880, 1900 and 1920. Some states are also indexed for 1910. (The next issue of Archival Anecdotes will feature the use of census records.)

Immigration records available in NRAP include passenger arrivals at the ports of Baltimore, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, as well as Canadian border crossings. Smaller ports such as Portland, Maine; New Bedford, Massachusetts; and Providence, Rhode Island, are also available. Most of these records start in 1820 (except the Canadian border crossings which don’t begin until 1895). Most of the ports have indexes for some years. For example, for New York, indexes are available from 1820-1846 and 1897-1943. NRAP Volunteer, Howard Relles, has prepared an Index of 1890 NY Immigrants from Austria, Poland and Galicia which lists 44,052 records, and, with the help of JewishGen®, Inc., volunteers he is now preparing a similar index for 1891. (See his article in this issue. For information on using immigration records, see Archival Anecdotes volume 2, number 2, December 1997; volume 3, number 1, March 1998; volume 3, number 2, June 1998; and volume 3, number 3, September 1998.)

Naturalization indexes for New England, 1790-1906 (longer for Connecticut), and New York Federal District Court, beginning in 1824, can help in locating the naturalization records for ancestors by giving court information as well as certificate and application numbers. NRAP also has applications and declarations for the Federal District Court in Boston from 1906-1929 with an index to 1966. (For more information on using naturalization records, see Archival Anecdotes, volume 4, number 4, December 1999.)

Microfilm of World War I draft cards is available in Pittsfield for New England and New York (M1509, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-18 New England States and New York). The cards are arranged alphabetically by state, then by each draft board, then by surname. To use these records, the researcher needs to know the town where the person lived. In the case of New York City, the street address is needed at the very least. A list of the addresses of each New York City draft board is available. Information contained in the records includes name, address, date of birth, age, race, citizenship status, birthplace, occupation and employer, dependent relative, marital status, father’s birthplace, and name and address of nearest relative.

For reference to other pertinent NARA holdings NRAP has Holocaust-Era Assets: A Finding Aid to Records at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland compiled by Greg Bradstreet (Washington; NARA, 1999). 1,117 pages list textual and microfilmed records by provenance. There is also a bibliography of 472 related items. A cursory look at the contents turns up numerous references to concentration camps, Jewish claims case files, former Jewish owned property, and a “Name index of Jews whose German nationality was annulled by the Nazi Regime” (T-355, roll 9).

Nuernberg War Crimes Trials, Records of Case 9: United States of America v. Otto Ohlendorf et al, September 15, 1947-April 10, 1948 compiled by John Mendelsohn (Washington: NARA, 1978) has a numerical listing of the contents of Case 9 Prosecution Exhibits showing microfilm roll number and first frame number for each exhibit in NARA microfilm publication number M895. There is also an alphabetical keyword index giving roll and first frame number. It includes the following entries among those pertinent to Jewish research: Baltic Refugees; Concentration Camps (also listed by specific camp name); Estonian Jews; Ghettos, Formation of; Jewish Children; Jewish Clothing; Jewish POW’s; Jewish Skilled Labor; Jews; Jews, Star of David; Kristallnacht; Pogroms; POW’s Jewish; Rumanian Jews; Ukrainian Jews. The final page gives information on how to acquire the microfilm.

NRAP also has secondary sources available for Jewish research:

Resources for Jewish Genealogy in the Boston Area