1795 Ostrog District Jewish Census

Mel Werbach, M.D., Ostrog District Census Coordinator
edited by
Marlis Humphrey, Ukraine SIG Projects Director

This database is a translation of the 1795 listing of Jews in the District of Ostrog census books, currently located in the local regional museum in Ostrog, Ukraine, the State Historical and Cultural Trust. Its official title is translated as OSTROG Head Tax Record for 1795 and is found in book 4437. The census has a total of 2,950 entries.

The translator worked from photographs of the original pages. These photographs were generously donated by Allan Dolgow, who arranged for them to be taken at the Ostrog State Historical and Cultural Trust. In addition, a number of financial contributors made the translation possible.

The census was conducted by the Russian government two years after Ostrog was transferred from Poland to Russia; it is not surprising, then, that the left side of each page is in Russian, while the right side presents essentially the same data in Polish. At least three pages of the listing are missing. Of those we know about, each belongs to the “Ostrog/Old Town” section (located between photos #570 and #572, #631 and #633, and #736 and #737).

The sections of Ostrog covered by the Census are as follows:

1. listed as Miedzyrzyc – Franciscan
Residents of the section of the town of Miedzyrzyc Ostrogski
belonging to the monastery of the Catholic Order of St. Francis

2. Residents of the town of Miedzyrzyc Ostrogski
previously belonging to the Honorable Starost of Novogrod
and Knight of Polish orders Tadeusz Czacki, son of Felix;
confiscated due to the rebellion

With three exceptions – Radshoski, Witkowski, & Witkowska – (included in the comments field), there are no surnames listed in the census. Moreover, although Jews frequently had more than one given name, Jewish entries are typically limited to a single given name along with the patronymic (i.e., father’s given name). The head of each household is listed first, followed by family members. Ages and occupations are included, together with useful notes for a fair number of entries.

It is often difficult to identify an ancestor without the help of a surname. A useful aid in identification would ordinarily be to combine the information provided in the 1795 census with information gathered from the subsequent 1834 census, by which time surnames were routinely used in official records. Unfortunately, the museum does not have any records from the 1834 census and does not know where they are located. However, they do have possession of the 1850 and 1858 census records, which might be helpful in tracing ancestors.

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