Family Search Updates 9 January 2015

Over the last week or so FamilySearch has been busy updating some of their existing Historical Record Collections. A couple of these have been discussed in this blog previously, the Argentina, National Census, 1895 and the many Belgium Civil Registration collections. Below, is the list of the additions for the week.

many of these collections are great sources for records of our Jewish ancestors. The list above is just a small fraction of the almost 1900 collections now available at FamilySearch. The complete list of Historical Record Collections, is search able from any computer and as always is free of charge.

Belgium Civil Registration at FamilySearch

One of the most important records for all family historians has always been the government records of Birth, Marriage and Death. These Civil Registration documents can provide very important information not only for the person of record, but also parents, siblings and spouses.
Now, FamilySearch has just updated some of the Civil Registration records for Belgium. The areas that have been updated and the years covered are;

• Belgium, Antwerp            1609-1909
• Belgium, Brabant             1582-1912
• Belgium, East Flanders    1598-1906
• Belgium, Hainaut             1600-1911
• Belgium, Limburg            1798-1906
• Belgium, Liege                 1621-1910
• Belgium, Luxembourg      1608-1912
• Belgium, Namur                1800-1912
• Belgium, West Flanders    1582-1910

The records can provide a good amount of information. The example below is the death record of Jacob Meyer Cohen, who died on 17 August 1853. This record comes from the Belgium, East Flanders collection. The top image is the index, and the bottom image is the original record. 
 

The records are part of the Historical Collections at www.familysearch.org and are free to all.

Belgium, Civil Registration, 1795-1910 at FamilySearch

The number of records available at www.familysearch.org for finding our Jewish ancestors continues to grow. On 5 September 2012, the Belgium, Civil Registration database for the years 1795-1910 was increased to include over 560,000 records.

The database is part of the Historical Collections section at FamilySearch, and can easily be accessed for no charge through the home page. The records for Belgium are available in the Continental Europe section (as shown below).

At this time the collection does not include the images, it is only an index, however, the information provided is very useful. The two records below, show the incredible information that can be found from a death entry. The top entry shows the death of 1 year old and the bottom entry, a 53 year old man. The amount of information provided for researchers is incredible and should be very beneficial to those with ancestry from Belgium.

The Jews of Belgium

The Jewish history of Belgium dates back to the first century AD, when the first Jews arrived in the area now known as Belgium. They arrived at that time with the Romans. The earliest mention of the Jews was in the early 13th century in the Duchy of Brabant.
In 1261, Duke Henry III ordered the expulsion of all Jews from that area. These early Jews also suffered during the Crusades, as those who refused to be baptised were put to death. For the most part the Jewish community disappeared after that.
The next major influx of Jews into Belgium came in the 16th century as Sephardic Jews fled Spain and Portugal and settled in places such as Belgium and the Netherlands. At this time a large community developed in the area of Antwerp.
In the early 1700's, Belgium began to have a more open Jewish community, which allowed the Jews more security and freedoms. Over time Belgium fell under the rule of France and the Dutch government, which also allowed them to be more open. It was during this time that the first major group of Ashkenazic Jews began to arrive.
The Jewish population of Belgium eventually grew to be almost 100,000, with more than half of this total based around Antwerp. The second largest community was in Brussels. Between the two cities, they probably accounted for over 75% of all the Jews in Belgium. This was the Jewish population shortly before the outbreak of World War II.
Belgium was occupied by the Nazi's from 1940 to 1944. During the war around 25,000 Jews lost their lives, many at Auschwitz. Today there are about 40,000 Jews living in Belgium, of which 1/2 live in Antwerp. Today's Jewish Community of Antwerp is one of the largest in all of Europe, with over 30 synagogues.

At this time the first Jews from Belguim are being added to the Knowles Collection - Jews of Europe database, and will be available soon.