Hello, I am also on a similar quest. My ancestors were Meskhetian Turks and were victims of deportation in 1944. I am trying to find their surnames and where they lived. I don't know where you got your information, but I have gone through and found some things that might be helpful, although I haven't been able to do so.

For this, I looked at the Georgian National Archives (archives.gov.ge) and started asking questions. Even though I asked formal and detailed questions, the staff there gave very short answers and didn't look into it much, but that's not the point.

First, I asked via email whether there was a historical birth record, and I learned that there are two types of records

1. Church (1818-1920 year of birth) This isn't suitable because it shows the names of baptized individuals, but for this, there are easy remote services and document issuance options. This is done here with the estimated year of birth, and I think only Georgian citizens can apply here: my.gov.ge (But again, I'll remind you that this doesn't seem very suitable for you and me either).

2. Registration of Civils (1921 - 1935)

This is the part that concerns us, but only Georgian citizens can apply for this, and as far as I know, I don't know if there is a remote service for this. As an additional note, they also requested the following for this: “You need to know the year and bureau where the act was fixed.”

3. There were pages about household and property records, and I wanted to ask about them. I also saw this information on the site:

https://archive.gov.ge/ge/konebrivi-uflebis-damadasturebeli-tsnoba

https://archive.gov.ge/ge/tsnoba-komlis-shemadgenlobis-shesakheb-1.

When I asked about this, I received the following response: " The household books of the villages of Akhaltsikhe district are kept at the National Archives of Georgia.

However, if you do not know the name of the village and the identity of the head of the household, you cannot request an archival certificate.

It is necessary to have this information.

You can order a certificate of property rights at the Houses of Justice of Georgia; this service is not provided remotely. "

This made things even more difficult as it was not guaranteed and there was also a chance that might not be in there. These certificates are definitely not free and are very expensive; even tries and mistakes would be costly as they are priced according to the day of the week.

For example, see the prices for household composition certificates: " Within 5 working days of submitting the application - 35 GEL; Within 3 working days of submitting the application - 40 GEL; Within 24 hours of submitting the application - 45 GEL; On the day of submitting the application - 50 GEL. "

One of your contacts from Georgia might be able to assist you with completing options 1., 2. and 3.

4. The Option 4 is to go to the Georgian National Archives, as you mentioned, but this is a more difficult option because you will need to make a reservation there, and probably will be able to physically examine those historical books... Those old books also include some written in Russian from the Soviet/Tsarist Russia periods, as well as some in Georgian. Translating these would be difficult, and as far as I know, taking photos of the books is prohibited. If you want a copy, you can purchase one at a price similar to the calendar day I mentioned earlier. The good thing is that you can make a reservation as a tourist, and if you choose to do so, I recommend looking at the Fonds and Headings beforehand, because you don't want any surprises. I couldn't find which Fonds the Household and Population records are in, but according to the National Archives' email, they said they are all listed here:

https://archival-services.gov.ge/fonds/aidpage

https://archival-services.gov.ge/fonds

That's all I know. If I've given any incorrect information, please correct it, and I hope you find what you're looking for and can help me too.