Embedded Files
Reading: S. Ansky "The Enemy At His Pleasure"
Cheder Audits - CAHJP HM2/7952, TsDIAL.
At Kreigsarchiv:
Casualty Cards
Hospital Records
Decoration File
Grundbuchsblatter
Tepperberg, Christoph: Sources for Genealogical Research at Kriegsarchiv
2.2.1.10. NCO certificates (Evidenz der Unteroffizierszertifikate)
Shortcut: Zertifikatisten.
Period covered: 1872-1918 (years of birth 1828-1893).
Size: 40 volumes index and protocols.
Description: After 12 years of service, non-commissioned officers with excellent conduct had the claim for a job in the civil service. At the end of their military service they got a special certificate of discharge, and therefore were known as Zertifikatisten. Their names were entered in chronological order in the protocol, and then indexed by name. The relevant records are kept within the files of the Ministry of War. A well-known example is the file of Pope John Paul’s father, who was an NCO in Wadowice and Bielso Biała (Bilitz).
Information pertaining to persons: a lot of personal data; among others name, rank, unit, religion and exact date of birth of the claimant.
Search pattern: By name, using the contemporary index (first letter only).
Finding aids: Der zeitgenössische Personenindex zu den Protokollen.
Publications: EGGER, Papst Johannes Paul II.
2.2.1.2. Basic service sheets (Grundbuecher, Grundbuchsblaetter)
Shortcut: GB.
Period covered: 1820-1918 (years of birth ca. 1790 - 1900).
According to the Saint-Germain peace treaty of 1919, all Grundbuchsblaetter of the years of birth 1865-1900 for soldiers outside the new Austrian Republic had to remain in, or to be surrendered to the “successor states”. Therefore the Kriegsarchiv keeps from these age-classes only the personnel files for soldiers from the territory of today's Austrian Republic. In the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the majority of these files has been lost.
2.2.1.4. Hospital’s sheets (Krankenvormerkblaetter der Militaerspitaeler)
Shortcut: MilSpit.
Period covered: 1914-1918 (years of birth 1865 - 1900).
Size: 6,300 boxes.
Description: In military hospitals, a personnel sheet (Vormerkblatt = Krankenblatt) was made for every patient (soldier or prisoner of war). Of prime importance are the records of the hospitals in the field (755 boxes), because records from garrison hospitals etc. were usually kept on a territorial basis and therefore shared the fate of other records remained in the successor states after 1918. These records – as far as kept in the Kriegsarchiv – are an important source because they include a lot of personal details, and because the majority of other personnel records transferred to the successor states are considered lost. So the hospital’s sheets as well as the files of wartime losses and wartime decorations are often the only remaining source for soldiers with residence outside of today’s Austrian territory (also called “subsidiary records”).
Filing system: Usually arranged alphabetically (phonetic system!)
Information pertaining to persons: Name of hospital, family name, first name, unit, rank, year of birth, place of birth, home town, religion, date of admissal/dismissal to the hospital, medical diagnosis, sickness/wounds and healing process, therapy.
Search pattern: By name.
Finding Aids: the records are accessible by alphabet (phonetic pattern!)
2.2.1.5. War casualties = wartime losses (Kriegsverluste des Weltkrieges)
Shortcut: 1) Phon, 2) KGF, 3) TK.
Period covered: 1914-1918 (years of birth 1865 - 1900).
Size: 40 million index cards, and 120 boxes of documents.
Description: There are three groups of records dealing with wartime losses:
1. Phonetischer Kataster der Kriegsverluste (phonetic card index of war losses);
2. Kriegsgefangenenkarteien- und listen (Card indexes and lists of prisoners of war); and
3. Totenkartei (Card index of war deaths), in addition to the card index of the parish registers.
Filing system: The index cards are arranged by phonetic alphabet, the lists by numbers.
Information pertaining to persons: family name, first name, unit, rank, year and place of birth, home town, as well as admissal/dismissal dates to and from a military hospital, wounds, missing-in-action reports, date of death, sometimes next of kin and home address; day and place of being taken prisoner-of-war; day and place of death.
Search pattern: By name; phonetic pattern! e.g.: Rot = Ral, Tod = Tal, Rutkowski = Rulkaki, Tepperberg = Tebew.
Finding Aids: the records are accessible by alphabet (phonetic pattern!)
2.2.1.8. Wartime decorations (Belohnungsakten des Weltkrieges)
Shortcut: BA (OBA und MBA).
Period covered: 1914-1918/1958 (years of birth 1865 - 1900). Size: 3,249 boxes.
Description: A very important record group, even though – like the wartime losses – difficult to handle. The applications for decorations were sent from the army in the field to the decorations section (Belohnungsgruppe) of the High Command. They are one of the major sources for personal details for the First World War.
Filing system: Separate records for officers and other ranks.
Information pertaining to persons: family name, first name, rank, unit, company, type of decoration, reason for recommendation by superior officer, date of decoration; from late 1917 on there are often mentions of year of birth, home town, and year of entering military service.
Search pattern: By name.
Finding Aids: Inventory; alphabetical card indexes for 1914-1918, and printed personnel gazettes for Common Army, Austrian Landwehr, and Hungarian Honvéd (1914-1923).
Publications: INVENTAR; EGGER, Genealogische Quellen; ALLMAYER-BECK; and various articles of Ernst RUTKOWSKI, a former archivist of the War Archives.
Listings of Families searching for loved ones
https://books.google.com/books?id=tJJLAQAAMAAJ
https://www.facebook.com/ProjektWojak
PENSION RECORDS
Archiwum Akt Nowych Biuro Personalne (Fond 2/10/0/2)
Records in Ukrainian Archives for Property Losses during WW1.
CASUALTY LISTS (VERLUSTLISTE): KILLED, WOUNDED OR POW
WW1 Casualty Lists contains lists of soldiers serving in the Austro-Hungarian Army who were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. Information recorded includes first and last name, rank, regiment number, place and year of birth, and place where killed or prisoner of war.
The following sites can search the Casualty Lists
1. Genteam.at (requires free registration) - Search casualty lists in Military folder by last and first name.
2. Digital State Library of Upper Austria
advance search Title = Verlustliste at http://digi.landesbibliothek.at/viewer/searchadvanced/
4. National Library of the Czech Republic
5. WW1 Casualty Lists Project and Explanation SEARCH PAGE
WOUNDED AND SICK LISTS (NACHRICHTEN UBER VERWUNDETE UND KRANKE)
1. National Library of the Czech Republic
enter keywords like surname in search box on right hand side.
PRISONERS OF WAR
1. Documents of the International Red Cross displaying cards of prisoners of the first world war in internment camps.
https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Search
Enter Surname and Choose Nationality as "Austro-Hungarian",
Then Choose Available Files as British and French Custody, Russian Custody, or Romanian custody.
2. The Archives of the Danish Red Cross
Our archives (ICRC) mainly contain information from the Western Front. The Danish Red Cross ran a separate agency for prisoners captured on the Eastern Front – first for Germans held in Russia and Russians held in Germany, and then in 1917 for Austro-Hungarian and Romanian prisoners. For this reason I recommend you to contact the following archives : Danish Archives: https://www.sa.dk/en/about-us/contact/
The archive from Danish Red Cross, The Prisoner of War-office in Copenhagen contains a card index and lists of German POWs in Russia during WWI:
Danish Red Cross, Prisoner of War Department, Copenhagen 1914-1920 Archive Series
Alphabetical index to lists of prisoners of war (1914 - 1919)
Lists of German prisoners of war in Russia (1915 - 1915)
Danish Red Cross, Paris office 1917-1920
Card index from the POW Camp in Hald at Viborg (Jutland), that was operated by the Danish state. In the Hald camp were POWs of Germany and Austro-Hungary interned: Statens Krigsfangelejre, Haldlejren 1917-1920
You order an archive search after information of your grandfather and scans of relevant files etc. against payment of 755 DKK/hour, which can be ordered here: Purchase an archive search, scan or transcription
For further information about archive searches can our department of Revenue Funded Activities be contacted at mailboxIA@sa.dk or +45 41 71 72 01
Monday-Thursday 9-15 and Friday 9-13.
Lars H. Bak
Archivist, MA in history
User Services
The Danish National Archives
Haderslevvej 45, 6200 Aabenraa
Phone: +45 33 92 33 10
mailbox@sa.dk | www.sa.dk
3. National Library of Czech Republic
4. JDC World War 1 Prisoner of War Cards Available
JEWISH MILITARY CHAPLAINCY (ISRAELITSCHE MILITARSEELSORGE)
Records of the Jewish Military Chaplaincy contain marriage and death records of soldiers from across Galicia. Records for Galician soldiers can be found in any of the following record sets organized by chaplaincy district centers.
Lublin - Birth and Death records. AGAD Fond 312, File number 2292 and 1146.
Vienna - Marriage records 1915-16. Kriegsarchiv (originals), FHL 2345934 item 6 (microfilmed-FHL)
Vienna - Marriage records 1917. Kreigsarchiv (originals), FHL 2345934 item 7 (microfilmed-FHL)
Vienna - Marriage records 1917. Kriegsarchiv (originals), FHL 2345935 item 1 (microfilmed-FHL)
Vienna - Marriage records 1918. Kriegsarchiv (originals), FHL 2345935 item 2 (microfilmed-FHL)
Vienna - Death records 1914-1918. Kriegsarchiv (originals), FHL 2345935 item 3 (microfilmed-FHL)
Vienna - Birth records 1915. Kriegsarchiv (original), FHL 2345936 item 2 (microfilmed-FHL)
Krakow - Marriage records 1915 -1916. Kriegsarchiv (originals)
Krakow - Marriage records 1917 -1918. Kriegsarchiv (originals), FHL 2286667 item 2 (microfilmed-GMV)
Przemysl - Death records 1914. Kriegsarchiv (originals)
Przemysl - Marraige records 1916-1918. Przemysl State Archive Fond 1924 (scanned)
Lemberg - Death records 1914-1918. Kriegsarchiv (originals), FHL 2330355 (index), FHL 2330357 item 1 (microfilmed-GMV)
Brno - Death records 1915-1917. Kriegsarchiv (originals), FHL 2329319, 2329320 item 1 (microfilmed-GMV)
Brno - Birth records 1914-1916. Kriegsarchiv (originals), FHL 2329020 (microfilmed-GMV)
Brno - Marriage records 1914-1917. Kriegsarchiv (originals), FHL 2329021 (microfilmed-GMV)
Sternhal - Death records 1914-1916. Kriegsarchiv (originals), FHL 2331402 (microfilmed-GMV)
Sternhal - Death records 1916-1918. Kriegsarchiv (originals), FHL 2331669 item 1 (microfilmed-GMV)
Sternhal - Birth records 1914-1915. Kriegsarchiv (originals), FHL 2331401 items2 and 3 (microfilmed-GMV)
Sternhal - Marriage records 1914-1915. Kriegsarchiv (originals), FHL 2331402 (microfilmed-GMV)
Stanislau - Death records 1914-1918. Kriegsarchiv (originals), FHL 2343735 items 3-5 (microfilmed-GMV)
GALICIAN MILITARY RECORDS
1. Galician Military Records 1865-1930 (microfilms 2439871-2448983): https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1713234
Projekt Wojak Facebook Page and Wojak Search Engine
(Micro-reproduction of original manuscripts at the Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine in L′viv. Military records (registration cards, personnel files, medical tests) from various cities in Galizien, Austria; now in various areas of Poland (mainly Krakow province) and Ukraine (mainly L′viv, Ivano-Frankivs′k, and Ternopil′ provinces). Includes personnel files for military personnel, both officers and enlisted. About 70% of the documents show the name, birth place and year; less than 10% have the full birth date. Filed alphabetically by year. The years are not in order. There are some documents that are out of order, usually found at the end of the file. Text in German, Polish, and Ukrainian. Record group 780, series 3, files 108-962, 964.)
LISTS OF RECRUITS BORN 1883 - 1920 FROM TOWNS IN THE STANISLAU DISTRICT
Stanislau District Military Records 1883-1939 (microfilms): https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1382964
(Micro-reproduction of original manuscripts at the State Archives of Ivano-Frankivs′k Region, Ukraine. Military records (lists of recruits) for Stanislau (Gerichtsbezirk), Galizien, Austria; later Stanisławów (powiat), Stanisławów, Poland; now Ivano-Frankivs′k, Ivano-Frankivs′k, Ukraine. Text in Polish, Ukrainian and Russian. Record group 6, series 2, files 20-22, 35-45, 68-72, 107, 134-143, 206-216, 240-248, 283-290, 328-333, 359-365, 392-395, 416-419, 451-455, 484-489, 505-510, 525-533A, 546-548, 565-568, 589-592, 634-639 -- Record group 7, series 1, files 75, 140.)
RESPONSE FROM THE VIENNA WAR ARCHIVE
With reference to your e-mail, the Vienna War Archive informs you of the following:
The actual personnel documents of k k. armed power: military land register sheets, lists of positions and assent protocols (service sheets, draft lists and enlistments registers) for the birth cohorts 1850-1900, insofar as they relate to persons who had possessed their right of domicile outside the borders of today's Republic of Austria, after the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy (1918) did not end up in the Vienna War Archives. In accordance with the peace provisions of Saint-Germain (1919), the records remained in the Successor states where they were largely destroyed. It's true especially for the Galician (Polish/Ukrainian) personnel files. In the Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe (Central Military Archives), ul. Czerwonych Beretów bl. 124, PL00-910 Warsaw, tel. 0048-22-6813-144, e-mail: caw@wp.mil.pl Internet: http://www.agad.archiwa.gov.pl there are documents only from such former ones k. and k. Military personnel after the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy into the Polish army had joined. The Vienna War Archives only keep Galician (Polish/Ukrainian) soldiers Subsidiary documents on awards and war losses of the world war 1914-1918 (reward applications and hospital memo sheets as well as files on the dead, wounded, missing and prisoners of war).
After 1918, the records of Habsburg army personnel who enlisted after 1867, were transferred from Austria to the successor states. Reason for this is quite prosaic – the successor states took over the obligation to pay the military pensions of former k.k. veterans. It might well be that the documents are now in Poland. Documents of Professional soldier were likelier to be transferred to units all over the monarchy to where the soldier last lived. For Vienna, there is a chance membership forms mention military service. Another place to look at would be the archive of the postal service. It was typical to set long-serving army veterans as junior officials – into the post, gendarmerie, and railway branch. Again, previous military service might be mentioned in the personnel papers. I think at least some of the post archive is now part of the Central Administrative Archive branch of the State Archives in Erdberg.
Dr. Ilya Berkovich
Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter | Research Associate
Institute for Habsburg and Balkan Studies
Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften | Austrian Academy of Sciences
Georg-Coch-Platz 2, 1010 Wien, Österreich | Vienna, Austria
T: +43 1 51581-7319
ilya.berkovich@oeaw.ac.at | www.oeaw.ac.at/ihb/personen/berkovich-ilya
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT WW1
From Casualty Lists to Hospital Records by Michael Moritz
National Library of the Czech Republic
Maps of WW1 battle lines in the Gesher Galicia Map Room
Austro-Hungarian's Last War 1914-1918
The Enemy at His Pleasure: A Journey Through the Pale of Settlement During World War One by S. Ansky
Der Heldenweg des Zweier-Landstrum 1914-1918
Austrian Military Recruitment in Galicia
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/centenary-digitised-records/
http://www.1914-1918-online.net/
Jewish Soldiers in the Russian Army
https://1914.svrt.ru/index.php
https://lostrussianfamily.wordpress.com/2015/02/22/time-killing-google-searc
h-leads-to-massive-wwi-database/
Military History Museum in Poland
World War History: Newspaper Clippings 1914-1926
"I've ordered military records from Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe, Wojskowe Biuro Historyczne, ul. Pontonierów 2A, 00-910 WARSZAWA. I had to mail the request to them, but then it was quite easy to obtain the records. There is a form to fill out, I emailed them in, and they promptly replied in Polish with the form, which I then filled out and returned via regular mail. I don't recall but I think the processing time with them was about 1 month, and the materials returned were quite useful." -Martin Wahlen 11/20/2022
List of Losses (Soldiers KIA, Soldiers WIA and also Prisoners of War) of the Austro-Hungarian Army in WWI
https://des.genealogy.net/ou1wk/search/index
https://digi.landesbibliothek.at/viewer/index/
Nachrichten über Verwundete und Kranke (Notices about wounded and sick soldiers)
If you search for a soldier who lived in Bohemia or Moravia you will find more records here:
If you search for a soldier from Austria or Slovakia you will find more records here:
https://www.crarc.findbuch.net/php/main.php
Prisoners of War and Civil internees in WWI of all nationalities in care of almost all forces of war (but not Russia):
https://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Search
The Lists of Losses often mention the place or camp in Russia were the Prisoner of War was held.
Sometimes there were printed some letters from prisoners of war in Russia in the Austrian newspapers.
Anne Buchanan: My grandfather was also imprisoned twice by the Russians during WW1 and I managed to obtain some records from The Austrian War Archives (after finding details in the Casualty Lists). Depending on where your ancestor was from and what information you can find, it may be worth contacting the War Archives and asking for some research to be done.
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