The Lithuanian State Historical Archives is the principal repository for documents from the imperial period. Its holdings span Lithuanian history from the 13th century to 1918, with some collections extending beyond that year. The archive also holds civil registration records dating from 1940. Four groups of holdings are particularly relevant to research on Russian and Soviet history.

1. Records of Russian imperial institutions. These fonds contain documents produced by imperial authorities operating in Lithuania from the late 18th to the early 20th century. They include records of the Supreme Governing Board of Lithuania, the governor-general’s chancellery, the offices of the Vilnius, Kaunas, and Suwałki civil governors, gendarmerie units, courts, and other governorate institutions. The group also includes records of liquidation commissions established for institutions evacuated to Soviet Russia. Fond No. 378, the Vilnius, Kaunas, and Grodno General-Governor’s Chancellery, is particularly important for political history research. In 2025, the archive transcribed 29 of its inventories, containing approximately 6,000 Russian-language file titles. Researchers can search these inventories and view images of their pages through Transkribus Sites. The search covers the inventories and file titles, rather than the full text of the files.
2. Records of religious institutions and communities. The holdings include fonds of the Roman Catholic dioceses of Vilnius, Telšiai (Samogitia), and Seinai (Sejny); the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kaunas; the curia of the Diocese of Panevėžys; and individual parishes and monasteries. Parish registers of births, marriages, and deaths date from 1599 to 1941. Other fonds document the Lithuanian Uniate Diocese, the Vilnius Orthodox Diocese and its churches, Evangelical Reformed and Evangelical Lutheran communities, Jewish religious communities, and Muslim Tatar and Karaite communities.
3. Personal and family archives. Approximately 30 fonds, containing documents from the 15th century to 1941, illuminate the activities of prominent families and their relationships with imperial authorities. They include the archives of the princely Radvila (Radziwiłł) family (1416–1939), the Sapieha family (1524–1830), and the Oginski family (1447–1915), as well as the Plater (1501–1905) and Tiškevičius (Tyszkiewicz) (1451–1915) families.
4. Civil registration records. This group consists of registers compiled by civil registry offices in Lithuania’s cities and districts from August 15, 1940, onward.

Researchers can search archival descriptions and available digitized documents through the Electronic Archive Information System (EAIS). The archive’s digitization page provides a downloadable list of its fonds and a separate spreadsheet identifying digitized files available through EAIS and ePaveldas.

The Lithuanian Central State Archives holds records of the Republic of Lithuania from 1918 to 1940 and of institutions operating during the Nazi and Soviet occupations. Its Soviet-era holdings include records of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR, the Council of Ministers, ministries, boards, committees, government departments, and trade unions. The archive also preserves photographs dating from the second half of the 19th century, films from the 20th century, and sound and video recordings. These collections are important for studying Soviet administration, collectivization, deportations, and social and political life in Lithuania.

Researchers can search archival descriptions and available digitized records through the EAIS digital reading room. Audiovisual materials can also be explored through e-Kinas, the archive’s virtual film, photography, and audio archive.

Researchers studying deportations, Soviet security-service investigations, or postwar partisan resistance should also consult the Lithuanian Special Archives. Its holdings include deportee registers, NKVD and KGB files, and collections of Lithuanian partisan documents.

The former Communist Party and KGB archive is a key resource for studying Soviet repression in Lithuania. It holds records of the Lithuanian Communist Party, the KGB of the Lithuanian SSR, and related security and internal affairs agencies. Researchers can find material on political persecution, deportations, informant networks, dissident activity, and resistance to Soviet rule. The archive also holds records of the Lithuanian partisan movement.

Researchers can search the collections through the Electronic Archive Information System (EAIS). The archive also provides two specialist resources. The Electronic Archive of Names allows users to search by name for people mentioned in Soviet security, internal affairs, and Communist Party records, and gives references to the relevant archival files. The Electronic Archive of Lithuanian Partisans’ Documents provides digitized documents and photographs of partisan groups, alongside educational material and news about the history of deportations and the partisan movement.

The National Library’s rare books and manuscripts holdings include Church Slavonic manuscripts and early printed works, among them liturgical books. According to the Russian text, these materials have entered the library’s collections since 1968. The holdings also include historical documents from individual Lithuanian regions, including Panevėžys, that shed light on administrative and public life under Russian imperial rule in the 19th century.

The library’s extensive collections of periodicals, official publications, and Russian-language literature from the pre-Soviet and Soviet periods are also noteworthy. Its Lithuanian studies materials document Lithuania’s relationship with imperial and Soviet authorities. The Rare Books and Manuscripts Reading Room provides access to manuscripts and rare publications, while the Lithuanian Studies Reading Room supports research into Lithuania’s history and culture.

The library lists its search tools on its catalogues page. Researchers can use ibiblioteka.lt to search library holdings and ePaveldas to view digitized cultural heritage from Lithuanian libraries, museums, and archives.

Founded in 1570, Vilnius University Library has a history closely tied to the changing status of the university under imperial rule. After the Russian authorities closed the university in 1832, much of the library’s stock was sent to other institutions. The former library premises later housed the Museum of Antiquities; in 1865, the museum and its reading cabinet became the Vilnius Public Library and museum.

The library’s manuscript collections include records connected with the Vilnius Public Library and the administration of the Vilnius Educational District. The Russian text also describes a large collection of Cyrillic manuscript books, including 14th- and 15th-century parchment fragments and Old Believer liturgical texts. Its collections of periodicals published in the Russian Empire and neighboring regions, along with university records, offer sources for studying education, publishing, and the region’s intellectual life under imperial rule. Oriental studies collections and scholarly correspondence from the 19th and 20th centuries shed light on connections between Lithuanian and Russian scholars.

The Vilnius University Library Digital Collections portal brings together manuscripts, rare books, graphic works, photographs, and maps. Its thematic collections include Grand Duchy of Lithuania Court Books, Historical Sources of Vilnius University, Documents of Lithuanian Noble Families, and Monuments of Lithuanian Literature. Together, they span the period from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into the 20th century.

The library’s manuscript holdings include Old Believer texts described in the Russian source as council resolutions, polemical works, and letters associated with the 19th-century Fedoseevtsy and Filippovtsy Old Believer communities. Its institutional archival collections include the records of the interwar Institute of Eastern Europe, which studied the region and the Soviet Union. The library also holds material relating to the Vilnius Educational District and Russian administration in the region, including sources on censorship and publishing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The library’s digital collections provide access to books, periodicals, manuscripts, postcards, and maps, as well as the library’s own electronic publications. They include a collection of parchment documents dating from 1187 to 1500, autographs of scholars and public figures dating from 1626 to 1925, historical maps and views of Vilnius, and early music manuscripts from the library’s manuscript holdings. Another collection documents 15th- to 18th-century bookbindings from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.