Israel: Two census databases now available

Researchers of families living in Eretz Israel during 1915 and 1922 have additional resources available to all.

Now on the Israel Genealogical Society website, the following two databases were originally in Hebrew. The names have been transliterated into English to assist linguistically-challenged family historians. Search parameters include exact, starts with, contains or ends with, surname and/or first name.

Here's information on the 1915 Census of Tel Aviv:

In the historical archives of Tel-Aviv there is a 1915 census of the first Hebrew city. Tel-Aviv was under the Ottoman regime at that time. It has not yet been discovered who planned this census nor for what purpose. The census was conducted 6 years after the lottery of plots among the members of the "Ahuzat Beit Association" on April 11, 1909. This is considered the official date of the founding of Tel-Aviv.

The census included the following information on the residents: family and first name, occupation, source of income, mother tongue, number of persons residing at the residence, address, and if the person was an actual resident of Tel-Aviv. In addition the census includes information on the condition of the residence: number of rooms, "bath" room, rent paid for the apartment and the name of the owner. If the rooms were shared with other people, their names are mentioned. There are a number of people listed with no residential information.

In 1915, the population of Tel-Aviv was 2,679. They spoke nine different languages, with about half of them speaking Hebrew and Yiddish. ... [click on the link above to read more]

A search for STEIN in the 1915 Tel Aviv database:

Click on the first name and learn the following details:

The 1922 British Mandate Census - covering Petah Tikva & Tel Aviv-Jaffa - is about 20% of the Jewish population of Eretz Israel at that time. The IGS says that, to the best of their knowledge, this is all that remains of the original census.

In 1922, the British undertook the first census of the mandate. At that time, the population stood at 752,048 individuals, including 589,177 Muslims, 83,790 Jews, 71,464 Christians and 7,617 persons belonging to other groups. At the moment, we have only the list of Petah Tikva and Tel Aviv-Jaffa residents.

Here's a sample search for HORO (Horowitz, Horovitz, Horodish, etc.). The first image is part of the list of hits:

The next image is a partial capture of what a researcher will see when clicking on the second name in that list:

The municipal archives of Tel Aviv-Jaffa and Petah Tikvah made the materials available to the IGS.

Note: Although the 1915 Tel Aviv census says "for members only," it is in fact open to all.