NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AMSTERDAM - NOT JUST FOR "DUTCH" : JEWISH GENEALOGY post #3

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AMSTERDAM

The story of the Portuguese Sephardic Jews being converted or being expelled is that they went wherever they were welcomed and Holland and Amsterdam was one of those places. (Greece and Italy were also popular and generally you will find that some Sephardic Jews also lived in Germany, Poland, and Russia.) Sephardic means Spanish speaking.  Over decades of marrying within their own people, Sephardic Jews sometimes feel they are distinct genetically and culturally from German Jews or Jews of Slavic lands. They may have changed their surnames or used one name as a kind of civic name and another among their brethren.

For genealogists the search is for IMMIGRATION RECORDS.

Within the National Archives of Amsterdam site, you may find the following that will be helpful to that quest.

NAME CHANGES as a means of assimilation to a new culture.

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION or SPONSORSHIP.  Not so different from the requirements of immigrants in the United States during the 19th and early 20th century, you had to know someone who would write that you had a good character or that they would support you financially.  Find one of these letters and you may verify where the people came from.

Also within this archives are a huge collection of SURNAME oriented collections.  So use the surname, be it Belmonte or Schonenberg, to see what others have given over.

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NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AMSTERDAM - NOT JUST FOR "DUTCH" : JEWISH GENEALOGY post #2

Last month I posted about the National Archives of Amsterdam and said I would post more as I myself learned more about this site.  I mentioned that there are resources for those who are not "Dutch" including Jews - Dutch Sephardic Jews and Jews of the Holocaust including people who escaped to Holland may be represented.  Like many other databases that are offered by Country or Ethnic Group (Ukrainian, Irish, etc.) the data will continue to be loaded on and so checking back every so often is a good idea. There may also be spotty information due to the temporary or permanent loss of records. Still, we can be grateful for what is given as there is usually no charge, Google translate can help English-speakers quite a bit, and a person no longer has to afford to travel to go to an archive.

Today I want to mention some items within this on-line archives which are interesting!

POPULATION REGISTERS start at 1851 and are spotty. (civil)
BIRTH REGISTERS - both religious (baptismals) and others that are not (civil). These include Mennonites and Portuguese (Sephardic) Jews.
THERE MAY BE PHOTOS OF THE FAMILY included.

House numbers are NOT the same as today.

MARKET PERMITS or "Cards" say what it is your merchant ancestor was selling.  There are also PHOTOS included in this collection.  I suggest that if the market permit coincides with the history of the Holocaust you do some cross-checking with records elsewhere.

"UNDERLYING REGISTERS" important and searchable.

These include marriage bonds, contracts put out to the public (so if anyone objects, because they know someone is already married for instance, which is still done in some churches in their bulletins.) This ends in 1811 when Napoleon changed the laws.  Witnesses will be listed, as will it say if a person is divorced and to whom the bride or groom this time around was married to before! That is so valuable and unexpected.

A little more on this archive next month!

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AMSTERDAM


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