The basis of genealogical exploration involves the search for and processing of essential genealogical details, including records of births, marriages, and deaths, with occasional information on divorces. In present-day Ukraine, these records are overseen by state civil registration authorities, commonly known as RAGS. Details about these occurrences are input into a centralized digital database and, subject to specific conditions, can be provided to interested individuals upon request.
In the former USSR, equivalent institutions were referred to as civil registration offices, denoted by the term ZAGS, a nomenclature still in use in contemporary Russia and Belarus. These offices were established in 1918. Prior to that year, the responsibility for maintaining registers of births, marriages, and deaths was entrusted to religious organizations, which recorded pertinent information in metric books. The primary religious denominations in Ukraine from the 17th to the early 20th centuries included Orthodoxy, Greek Catholicism, Catholicism, Judaism, and Lutheranism.
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Orthodox metric records
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In the 17th century, the compilation of Orthodox metric books commenced within the borders of Ukraine, with their upkeep not becoming obligatory until 1721. In 1724, the Holy Synod of the Russian Empire's Orthodox Church approved a three-part format for the metric book, encompassing entries for births, marriages, and deaths. The definitive template and regulations for metric record-keeping were only formalized in 1838. By that time, metric entries contained considerably fewer details. These records existed in two copies: the ecclesiastical copy preserved in churches, and the consistory copy, a reproduction of the church copy forwarded to the diocesan administration.
Greek catholic metric books
Greek Catholic metrics, like Orthodox ones, have been kept since the 17th century. Today, only isolated copies remain, playing a negligible role in genealogical research. The majority of Greek Catholic metric books preserved in Ukrainian archives date from the second half of the 18th century until 1939.
In the 19th century, the territory of Ukraine was divided between the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires. Uniate dioceses existed in both states. While they thrived in Austria-Hungary, in the Russian Empire, there was a push towards absorption by the Moscow Patriarchate.
Greek Catholic metric books were maintained differently in these two empires. In Russia, from 1808, the keeping of metrics by Uniates had to comply with the requirements of the Synod of the Orthodox Church. Despite different templates, metric books in both places also consisted of three parts: births, marriages, and deaths. Languages of record-keeping: Latin, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian.
Roman catholic metric books
Catholicism has been present on the territory of Ukraine for a considerable period, owing to its historical inclusion in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland, which later formed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Our archives house Roman Catholic metric books dating back to the 16th century. Gradually, in the 17th and 18th centuries, as mentioned earlier, the territory of Ukraine was divided between two empires. Catholic parishes operating in the Russian territory also had to keep metrics in accordance with the Synod's requirements. Ukrainian Roman Catholic metric books from Austria-Hungary and Russia also fall into three groups. Languages of record-keeping: Latin, Polish, Russian.
In the latter half of the 18th to the early 19th century, the Russian Empire facilitated conditions conducive to the migration of European inhabitants seeking to cultivate sparsely populated lands. A substantial portion of these settlers comprised Germans hailing from cities such as Danzig, Frankfurt, Alsace, Baden, Württemberg, the Palatinate, and others. The establishment of Lutheran churches accompanied the settlement of Germans, and from 1764 onwards, these churches were mandated to maintain metric books and submit copies to governmental authorities in the Russian Empire. Lutheran metrics, like other religious denominations, followed a three-part structure. Languages used for record-keeping: German and Russian.
Jewish metric books
The practice of maintaining metric books commenced in 1804 for the Jewish community, and by 1835, its compilation was not mandatory. Rabbis were entrusted with making entries in the metrics. Despite the compulsory nature of keeping metric books from 1835 onwards, records of performed rituals were frequently omitted. This was influenced by the unique aspects of the religion itself—unlike many other denominations where rituals were exclusively conducted by clergy, every Jew had the autonomy to perform a ritual independently outside the synagogue. Additionally, metrics occasionally lacked entries for the birth and death of girls. Jewish metric books also adhered to a three-part structure: records of births, marriages, and deaths. Languages utilized for record-keeping: Russian and Hebrew.[1]
How to find church records in Ukraine
In the 2000s, several specialized reference publications were issued, documenting the entire corpus of metric books housed in various archives of Ukraine. Each volume provides information on the preservation status pertaining to specific populated areas, accompanied by a chronological overview, and supplemented with geographical references. By the end of the 2010s, publications of this nature had been released for all state regional archives in Ukraine, with the exception of the archives of the Zhytomyr and Lviv regions.[2]
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- Church records at MyHeritage
- Birth records in Ukraine at MyHeritage
- Marriage records in Ukraine at MyHeritage
- Vital records in Ukraine at MyHeritage