Is it just me?

I have difficulty in being sure of what geographic areas are included in
"Belarus". Did the boundaries shift with time periods such as after the
Russian Revolution? WWI? WWII? Or is this a modern overlay of a
specific geographic area that doesn't change no matter what the time
period? . Is there duplication with other SIGs because of this?

Susan Welsh
Santa Barbara, CA
MODERATOR NOTE: The Belarus SIG at jewishgen.org/Belarus has excellent resources
to explore. You may to check "Timeline Consequences of Border Changes" by
Nancy Holden at: http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/resources.htm#Timelines

Sue Welch asked:

<< I have difficulty in being sure of what geographic areas are included
in
"Belarus". Did the boundaries shift with time periods such as after the
Russian Revolution? WWI? WWII? Or is this a modern overlay of a
specific geographic area that doesn't change no matter what the time
period? . Is there duplication with other SIGs because of this? >>

In some cases, when towns were on the border between Belarus and
another country (in this example, Lithuania), both the BelarusSIG and
LitvakSIG will be involved in translating records. Which archive holds
the records -- i.e., Grodno or Vilnius -- will most likely determine which
SIG will undertake the translation.

LitvakSIG for years has had District Research Groups for the Lida,
Oshmiany and Disna districts, and now for Svencionys. All the towns
in Oshmiany and Disna Districts are in Belarus, but many records are
in the Lithuanian State Historical Archives in Vilnius, accessible to
LitvakSIG.

Under JewishGen's "All Country" database system, records translated
by one SIG can be shared with another SIG's database when towns
were in one country when the records were created but are now in
another.

If you have towns that were considered "border towns", it's important
to find out which research projects ALL relevant SIGs are undertaking
and support them to the best of your ability.

Judy Baston, Coordinator,
LitvakSIG Lida District Research Group.