Libau

[Felix Rabinovich]

Libau (aka Libava, and now Liepaja) is a town in South West Latvia (3rd
biggest after Riga and Daugavpils), on Lithuanian border. It was under
Russian tzar's rule in early 20th century. I guess that the data on the
death certificate (Country: RUSSIA; County: LIBAU; City or Town: COURLAND)
mix County and city. Courland (or more correct, Kurland) was a province
(gubernija), and Libau was both a city and a county. People called it
depending on what their native language was (OK, for Jews - what was their
best local language), not depending on who was in power at the time.

> Has anyone tried to get birth certificates from LATVIA for the early
1900's?

I did, but I lived in Riga at the time, and can speak Latvian, and I could
go to ZAGS (that's the Soviet name of record-keeping office), submit an
application, and wait for response. It took about a month overall, and we
knew the answers for all the questions (and besides, the reason was
emigration, not genealogy, so I guess we were way more determined to get
the paper, not to ensure we are getting an absolutely right paper). So my
experience may not be relevant, but if I can help - let me know.

Felix Rabinoivich
Los Angeles, CA
frabi...@dttus.com