Document is titled in Cyrillic: PASPORT" with questions down the left-hand side covering the same matters, namely residence permits.
Louis Turow
Movsha Leyzer Abram Litmanovich Turovsky.
In Yiddish he was probably called Moishe, Litman's zin (son).
The Imperial and Soviet governments, both, required residents to carry internal passports. The documents in question are not for foreign travel, nor for travel in general. They give the bearer permission, for a length of time, to reside somewhere other than the place of issuance. He was permitted to live elsewhere from mid 1913 though mid 1914.
Document is titled in Cyrillic: PASPORT" with questions down the left-hand
side covering the same matters, namely residence permits.
Cursive handwriting is difficult to read, particularly in the Old Orthography - the Russian alphabet that was shortened in about 1923.
This passport was issued by the Council of Townspeople.
The word meshchansogo refers to a social class rather than a place.
Persons in the Russian Empire were categorized by social class: peasant, military,
nobility, clergy, town dweller, and so forth. Jews could not be land owners,
nor noblemen, nor practice trades or professions, nor live in large cities -
Odessa was a major exception - or in Great Russia proper. They were classed
as bourgeoisie, which was really a misnomer since most scrambled around living
by their wits.
Their classification under the term meshchanin for males, meshchanka for women
took on the denotation of petty bourgeoisie after WWII in the USSR. Some genealogists
erroneously twist the term to mean small business person, or, more plainly,
business person.
Of a place called, the best that can be made out, Loevsky or Loivsky, in the Rechitsa district of the province of Minsk. The bearer is given permission to leave the place and to reside elsewhere in the Russian Empire. For how long; starting when? I can't say because I cannot read the 4th through 6th lines under the great big lettering - which says Minsk. So a council of townsmen had control over the non-religious status of all Jews, is the way it boils down. Thus our Moishe, Litman's zin (son), had to get permission from them to leave town.
The bearer is Movsha Leyzer Abram Litmanovich Turovsky.
In Yiddish he was probably called Moishe, Litman's zin (son).
The document is signed by the Chairman of the Village Elders in addition to a member of the Council. I can not read their signatures.
Next to item 7, on the left side is Moishe's own signature. He signed Movsha Leyzer Turovsky in a shaky but passable Russian script, as though he had learned to write Russian pretty late in life on his own.
The biggest seal, on top, tells us that there was no payment needed for this document. (International passports from the 19teens cost 50 rubles, if I remember correctly.) It also says that it is good for no more than 1 year. Next to the seal is what appears to be a post-printing stamp that talks about specific conditions for Jews as well as about permanent residency. That's as far as I can go because the stamp is either indistinct on the original, or the scan dropped out a lot of information.
On the left:
1. Asks for religion. Written in is Judaism.
2. Asks for DOB or age. 29 is written.
3. Wants to know how his family earns their bread. Left blank.
4. Asks if he is currently married or was married. Currently.
5. I'm not sure. It wants to state the proximity to something. Left blank.
6. Asks about his relationship to military conscription. Of the 5 words I can
make out nos 2, 4, and 5. This indicates to me that he will be, or was, called
up with some sort of militia unit and has to do with 1906. Thus, the 1906 in
the area devoted to his military obligation apparently refers to active service.
There are a number of words that seem to be place names connected with his unit
and the purpose for the call up.
Down near the bottom there are two dotted lines to permit an extension of the permit.
At the right is place for another fee-free seal.
In the center is the document number: 422.
In the upper left is another number which I will bet is the identification of the clerk who made out the passport. No 328.
Now, when you see noir movies that have sinister-looking officials demanding from frightened travelers, "Your papers", you have an idea of what the oppressed fish out.
See more of Louis' draft related documents.