IGRA has added three new databases and updated three others, adding over 37,782 new listings, many of them with images. With a variety of subjects, from immigration to military, from the Ottoman period to the Israel times after the British mandate, the following preview will give you a good idea about our latest additions. We invite you to find your family records in our search engine https://genealogy.org.il/AID/
Notebooks of Todros Warshavsky 1824-1909 Jerusalem – (images available)
Todros Warshavsky was one of the Mukhtars of Jerusalem. These notebooks are in the Jerusalem Municipal Archives and the information should be identical or similar to the information found in the Nufus – the Turkish census for Palestine from the end of the 19th century. The lists include 5,172 names.
Jewish Deportees in Alexandria, Egypt 1915 – update (images available)
The Turkish government forced many Jewish residents without Turkish citizenship to leave Palestine during World War I. There were others that left of their own free will. The nearest safe port was Alexandria. This is a collection of a few documents in various languages. The 790 names listed are only a portion of the deportees. One of the lists is of those deportees traveling to Australia. A few years ago, two other documents from this file were added to the IGRA collection. These documents are from one of the archives of the National Library of Israel.
Community Ransom (Kofer HaYishuv) 1938 – update (images available for some lists)
The community ransom was a tax imposed by the Jewish National Council in Mandatory Palestine to finance central security operations and increase the size of the self-defence force known as the Haganah. The principle of the tax was that those who could not make a physical contribution to the Haganah would pay a “ransom” to its treasury. The money was collected through a tax on luxuries, cigarettes, restaurant bills and so on. The tax was formally introduced on June 24, 1938, during the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine. It abolished with the foundation of the state of Israel in May 1948. This list includes the names of 300 people from Tel Yosef, Merchavia and Ayanot.
Home Guard (Mishmar Haam) Jerusalem 1947-1949 – (images available)
Mishmar Haam was established in Jerusalem in September 1947, parallel to units of the same name that were established in Tel Aviv, Safed, and Haifa. This unit, headed by Ze’ev Avnat (Epstein), recruited volunteers over conscription age and those who did not enlist for health reasons. Its purpose was to maintain order in the city and deal with the civil challenges in it (similar to the Home Front Command and today the Home Front Command), in preparation for the expected possibility of war breaking out. The list includes 9,480 names and is from the Central Zionist Archive.
Voters’ Register for the Safed Municipal Elections 1950 – (images available)
Voters’ lists since the founding of the State of Israel include residents of all denominations. This release includes 2,043 voters. The original document is in the Israel State Archives.
Students 1948-1965 – (images available) update
This update includes 648 students. It includes those entering school in the early 1950s in Mizra, Ashdod, and Sde Uziyahu and graduates from a vocational school in 1952. The documents are from the Israel State Archives.
Name Changes 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979 – update
Official name changes were published in the government publication Yalkut HaPirsumin (Official Gazette). There can be many reasons for a name change and all official changes go through the Ministry of Interior. This release includes the publications of 1974, 1977, 1978 and 1979 and includes 20,138 people who have changed their name. The years 1978 and 1979 seem to be relatively sparse. These publications are in the National Library of Israel, law libraries and offices, and partially on the internet.
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