Jewish Roots In Ukraine And Moldova: Pages from the Past Annd Archival Inventories / n 1999, in official cooperation with the Ukraine State Archives (Ukraïnskyi derzhavnyi arkhiv) and the Moldova National Archives (Arhivă Naţională a Republicii Moldova), Weiner authored and published Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldova.[3] The book includes archival holdings of the Ukraine State Archives and its branch archives throughout the country and the Moldova National Archives in Chișinău as well as local town hall documents throughout Ukraine and Moldova.[4] The book also features document examples, maps, antique postcards depicting towns and daily life, and modern-day photographs. There are individual town listings for localities throughout both countries.[5][6]
The book includes an inventory of 1,392 towns and over 5,000 record entries for these towns. Sources of the material were the Ukrainian State Archives, Moldova National Archives, Ministry of Justice (ZAGS) in Ukraine and Moldova, Polish State Archives (AGAD in Warsaw), Urzad Stanu Cywilnego (Warsaw-Srodmiescie), and the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw. There are over 1,200 images in the book, of which there are 970 color photos of 190 towns, 121 black and white photos, 115 document examples, and 20 color maps.[7]
The archives of Ukraine and Moldova were not accessible to the public for genealogical research purposes until the two countries gained independence in 1991. Once available, the ability to access even one birth record could take more than a week. Weiner made repeated visits to Ukraine and was aided by the former mayor of Otaci, Moldova, who served as a driver and translator.[6] The book and the Routes to Roots Archive Database are the only known town-by-town inventories of archival documents (published in English) in that these lists were officially sanctioned by the directors of the both the State Archives and Ministry of Justice (includes local town hall archives) in Ukraine and Moldova.[8]
Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldova took over seven years to complete.[9] Weiner worked with two directors of the State Archives of Ukraine, Borys Ivanenko and Dr. Ruslan Pyrih, and collaborated with archivists throughout Ukraine to compile the information for the book.[5] The Director of the Moldovan National Archives, Antonina A. Berzoy, contributed an article on the archives there, as did other regional scholars and experts.[4]
