JewishGen Blog: A Blog about Jewish Genealogy

Rainbow in the Night (Video)

2012-02-10T10:39:00.002-05:00

From the YouTube description:
Rainbow in the Night, offers a glimpse into World War II Krakow as seen through the eyes of a survivor. Beginning with footage of a 1939 original oil painting of a synagogue being ravaged by the Nazis, shown at a private event in the survivor's home, Rainbow in the Night is an exquisitely emotional journey, as the survivor recalls first the warmth of his childhood home, then the shock and disbelief as people are forced to leave their homes for the Krakow ghetto, taken to an extermination camp and after enduring unspeakable cruelty, finally liberated. Set against a backdrop of utter despair and hopelessness, the survivor relives the inexplicable power that enabled him to persevere, the rainbow in the figurative night that promised better days to come. Culminating triumphantly with our hope for the future, the faces of hundreds of modern day Jewish children, Rainbow in the Night is both a euphoric tribute to the indomitable human spirit that enabled the Jewish people to survive against all odds and also a call to arms, to rekindle the spark of Jewish pride and unity among Jews worldwide, as we continue to rebuild the generations that were destroyed by the Nazis.

Update: KehilaLinks

2012-02-09T10:24:00.001-05:00

Posted by Susana Leistner Bloch

We are pleased to welcome the following webpages to JewishGen KehilaLinks We thank the owners and webmasters of these webpages for creating fitting memorials to these Kehilot (Jewish Communities) and for providing a valuable resource for future generations of their descendants.

Anyksciai, Lithuania - Created by Lew Chilton and Marlis Humphrey
Brid (Borod, Brod), Ukraine (S-C) - Created by Marshall Katz
Esen (Eszeny, Esen), Ukraine (S-C)-Created by Marshall Katz
Keretsky (Kerecke, Kerecky), Ukraine (S-C) - Created by Marshall Katz
Klishkivtsi (Cliscauti, Klushkevitz), Ukraine (B) - Created by Harriet Kasow and designed by KehilaLInks volunteer Ronald Wallace
Kolodne (Darva, Kolodne), Ukraine (S-C) - Created by Marshall Katz
Nasielsk (Nashelsk, Nasielska Wola), Poland - Created by Eli Rabinowitz
Yanoshi (Makkosja¡nosi, Janosovo), Ukraine (S-C) - Created by Marshall Katz
Zaluzhzhia (Beregkisalmas, Zaluz ), Ukraine (S-C) - Created by Marshall Katz

KehilaLinks webpages recently updated:

Some of our Kehila webpages were created by people who are no longer able to maintain them. We thank them for their past efforts and wish them luck on their future endeavors.

The following webpages are "orphaned" and are available for adoption.

If you wish to follow their example and create a KehilaLinks webpage or adopt an exiting "orphaned" webpage please contact us at: < bloch@mts.net>.

NEED TECHNICAL HELP CREATING A WEBPAGE?: We have a team of dedicated volunteers who will help you create a webpage. Please contact us if you would like help in creating a KehilaLinks webpage.

Susana Leistner Bloch, VP, KehilaLinks, JewishGen, Inc.

Barbara Ellman, KehilaLinks Technical Coordinator

2012 Conference Update

2012-02-06T13:42:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends,

Our program is expanding.

Every day we receive new exciting proposals. At least 200 hours of lectures and meetings are already scheduled. No time to be bored whatever your area of interest or your language: every hour you will have either a lecture, a workshop, a film or a SIG meeting concerning this area.

And if you really do not find any, why not visit the resource room, the vendor’s room or one of our exhibitions? Make sure to be there on Sunday morning and not to leave until Wednesday evening because of our program will start at top speed and the latest lecture Wednesday night will be no less exciting than the ones proposed on Monday or Tuesday.

Questions about the conference?
Subscribe to the Jewishgen mailing list 2012 Paris conference by clicking here.

Recall

Registration: 63 days left for earlybird registration for Paris 2012.
Call for papers: Some days left only. You can speak French or English: speakers@paris2012.eu
Booking a room at the Marriott Paris Rive-gauche: click on "Hotel", Enjoy very attractive conference rates with the specific code zx4zx4a. This discount is valid for the Congress as well as 5 days before and 5 days after if you want to extend your stay in Paris.

The SIGs, and BOFs in Paris 2012
Some days left to send back the application form. Write to contact@paris2012.eu

We can already announce the presence of the following SIGs and BOFs: South Africa, AustriaCzech, Belarus, Bessarabia, Bukovina, Canada, Gersig, Gersher Galicia, Kremenets District Research Group, Latvia, Litvak, Sub-Carpathia, Svencionys District Research Group, Yizkhor book project, Lodz Area Research Group, Ukraine, UK-SIG, Tunisia, Sephardic.

Tours, Travels and post conference programs
We are pleased to inform you that we have just signed a partnership agreement with Joubert Voyages (www.joubertvoyages.com), for the organization of genealogical travels before and after the Conference. Several destinations will be available, depending on the number of attendees who will register: Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Hungary, Baltic Countries, but also Portugal or Normandy...

Joubert Voyages will also be able to organize flight and hotel reservations for people who want to travel by themself to all these countries and provide special conference rates tickets on French railways (SNCF) and on Air France flights.

Within a few days, a specific website will be opened, in order to have access to the program for each trip and to register (online or not). Our partners also plan post conference programs in Belgium and in United Kingdom. You can also now sign for one of the exciting tours our guides have planned for you in Paris during and after the Conference: www.paris2012.eu

Program
Among the new speakers that have been scheduled: Diana PELTS, Director of Ukraine’s Central State Historical Archives in L’viv will be sponsored by the Lucille Gudis memorial Fund, Georg GAUGUSH will be sponsored by the AustriaCzech SIG, Bozena KUBIT, Head of the Ethnography and Silesia Department of the Willa Caro Museum in Gliwice Poland, (formerly Gleiwitz, Prussia) will be sponsored by the GerSig, Nicholas EVANS is sponsored by the UKSig and by the LatviaSig and many other…..

Want to know more? http://www.paris2012.eu/events
The Committee

Catskills Institute Writing Contest on Catskills and the Holocaust

2012-02-06T03:13:00.002-05:00

Posted by: Jan Meisels Allen

The Catskills Institute (http://catskills.brown.edu/index.shtml) along with other organizations**, is sponsoring two paired writing contests--fiction and non-fiction as part of a book project, Summer Haven: How the Catskills Experienced the Holocaust, edited by Holli Levitsky Professor of English and Director of Jewish Studies at Loyola Marymount University, and. Phil Brown, Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies at Brown University, which will provide a locus for literature exploring the experience of the Holocaust in the Catskills.

**The contest is sponsored by the Catskills Institute, Jewish Book Council, the "1939" Club, the Sigi Ziering Institute at American Jewish University, Brown University Judaic Studies Program, the Jewish Studies Program at Loyola Marymount University, the Jewish American and Holocaust Literature Symposium, and AskAbigail.com.

The Catskills represent a central facet of the American Jewish experience, most often associated with comedy, food, a unique vacation style. Holocaust survivors occupy a space central to, and yet at the same time apart from, this community.

To read about the two contests, the rules, deadlines etc.go to:
http://www.upstater.net/2012/01/31/event-catskills-writing-contest/

I have no affiliation with the contest, the Catskills Institute or the other sponsors of the contest.

Jan Meisels Allen
IAJGS Vice President
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Delays by US Government Agencies

2012-02-06T03:10:00.000-05:00

Posted by: Jan Meisels Allen

The New York Times has an article on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and the long delays by government agencies in complying, The Courts have ruled the agencies must comply in 20 days, but some agencies have taken 20 years. Unfortunately, the National Archives has a request pending since 1992. There is a chart comparing different agencies, if you click where it says "multimedia" ( on the left- below the bar graph) and a long wait for
information--which shows the most egregious agencies, including the National Archives, with the oldest pending request and in 2010 that request was 6656 days old.
http://tinyurl.com/6ox276v

original url:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/us/slow-freedom-of-information-responses-cloud-a-window-into-washington.html?emc=eta1

Thank you to Paul Silverstone, IAJGS Treasurer and IAJGS PRAMC member for sharing this article with us.

Jan Meisels Allen
IAJGS Vice President
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

Virginia Vital Records Access Bills Pass Respective Chambers

2012-02-06T03:07:00.002-05:00

Posted by: Jan Meisels Allen

I have previously written on this forum about Virginia HR 272 [death and marriage], SB 309 [marriage records] and SB 310 [death records] which reduce the "closed" period for marriages and deaths held by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) from 50 to 25 years. The Virginia House and Senate have unanimously passed the bills in their respective houses, requiring the House bill to be approved by the Senate, and the Senate bills by the House, before being sent on to the Governor. If you want to look at the bills actions go to: http://legis.state.va.us/ and type in the bill numbers.

We have been advised by the former president of the Virginia Genealogical Society, Peter Broadbent, that another vital records bill will be introduced next week: SB 660, in the Senate Education and Health Subcommittee on Health Care replacing the existing placeholder bill
http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?121+ful+SB660+pdf. The replacement bill will make it clear that after the "closed" period ends for vital records, these records should go to the Library of Virginia like any other archival records, ii) direct VDH to create an online vital records
index which is publicly available online through a contract with a private entity at no direct cost to the Commonwealth of Virginia, and iii) specify that the index will be capable of being linked to the underlying digital documents (if those are public) by the Library of Virginia.

Jan Meisels Allen
IAJGS Vice President
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

JGS Conejo Valley and Ventura County February 12 Assisted Research Afternoon

2012-02-06T03:02:00.002-05:00

Posted by: Jan Meisels Allen

The Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County (JGSCV) will be meeting on Sunday, February 12, 2012 1:00-5:00 pm at the Los Angeles Family History Library 10741 Santa Monica Blvd. West Los Angeles (on grounds of the LDS Temple ). Parking is free.

Note: This special program is open only to current (2012) dues paid members of JGSCV. Anyone may join or renew their JGSCV membership at door. Single membership $25.00; family $30.00 (two people residing in the same household).

Program: Assisted Research Afternoon at the L.A. Family History
Library (LAFHL)

Experienced JGSCV members and Family History Library volunteers will be available to help members get the most out of the L.A. Family History Library's resources, including computer assistance with many popular genealogical databases including Ancestry.com (full access), Fold3.com, Heritage Quest, World Vital Records, Godfrey Memorial Library on-line resources and more! The LAFHL has 86 computers (PCs not MACs)allowing more people to use them simultaneously. There are the Jewish microfilms of Eastern Europe and a selection of others, and maps and gazetteers. Bring your research documents with you and bring a flash drive if you want to download electronic images of online images. Hard copying is also available.
Our sister JGS, JGSLA's library is available for research at the LAFHL.

Barbara Algaze, volunteer at the LAFHL, and librarian for the JGSLA, will give an introduction to the resources at the L.A. Family History Library starting at 1:30 p.m.

Remember to bring some small bills and coins in case you wish to make copies of anything off the computers, books, journals or microfilms. We will have very limited cash on hand to make change.

Directions:
The LAFHL is located at: 10741 Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles on the grounds of the LDS (Mormon) Temple. From the 405 freeway get off at Santa Monica Blvd. and go east to Manning Ave. Turn north on Manning Ave, make the first left into the LDS Temple compound, proceed right until reaching the Visitor's Center then, park along the fence. The entrance to the LAFHL is on the right (east) side of the Visitor's Center. The library is on the lower floor of the FHL-there are stairs and an elevator from the first floor.

The Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County is dedicated to sharing genealogical information, techniques and research tools with anyone interested in Jewish genealogy and family history.

For more information on JGSCV and the meeting, see our website www.jgscv.org

Looking forward to seeing you at the research afternoon.

Jan Meisels Allen
President, JGSCV

Cheating the death train

2012-02-01T16:49:00.000-05:00

Israeli woman tracks down local vet, others to thank them for saving her father during the Holocaust.

Click here to read the entire article from "The State"

(hat tip:Deborra Wood)

Announcements: JGS of Cleveland

2012-02-01T15:36:00.000-05:00

Please Join Us at the Next Meeting of The Jewish Genealogy Society of Cleveland on Sunday, February 5, 2012, at 1:30 PM.

The topic will be: Locating and Using Naturalization Records -- A Tool For Finding Your Family's Shtetl

The meeting will take place:

Park Synagogue East

27500 Shaker Boulevard

Pepper Pike, Ohio

Yizkor Books Update: January 2012

2012-02-01T15:21:00.000-05:00

Posted by Lance Ackerfeld

Shalom,

Here we are again, at the end of the month, the activity in which can be categorized with some endings and also some new beginnings in our Yizkor Book Project.

As far as endings go, this last month we completely uploaded all the entries received from the "Litvak Heritage" series that were generously donated by Joel Alpert and Josef Rosin. Together with the existing online entries, I believe we now have a remarkable amount of information on a myriad of Lithuanian communities but we certainly aren't stopping here and even more translations are going on for these and other communities, as we "speak".

Amongst the new beginnings that took place this month was the grateful receipt of the complete translation of two books and, hopefully, they will be totally online within the next few weeks. The first donation is for the Csenger, Hungary Yizkor Book which was kindly donated by Stanley and Renee Fishkind. The second book, in English and Polish, is for a book on Lopuszno, Poland and was kindly donated by its editors - Marek Maciagowski and Yaacov Kotlicki.

Apart from these, a number of new projects were begun and if you would like to get involved in any one of the projects listed below or if there is a project that has been something you have been considering and you don't know how to begin, please contact me and I'll assist you, however I can.

Another new exciting beginning is the first Yizkor Book translation to come out as a hard copy through our Yizkor Books in Print Project which is being led by the untiring and resourceful Joel Alpert and the many volunteers working with him. The first book is the 'Destruction of Czenstochow' Yizkor book for Czestochowa, Poland and as soon as it's made available, we will let you know where it may be purchased.

In the meantime, if you are a coordinator who has a completely translated Yizkor book, we invite you to contact Joel whose contact information can be found at http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/ybip.html Of course, if you would like to be involved in this project in any way, he would also like to hear from you and you can see what tasks are required on this same page.

The final new beginnings were the addition of the Halmeu, Romania Yizkor book to our list of Translation funds and in the near future it will be joined by the Serock, Poland and Sarny, Ukraine Yizkor Book Projects.

Note that a very positive way of helping to see translations placed online is by supporting this project or one of the many Translation Funds which have been set up to bring about the professional translation of the Yizkor books. If you feel able to support this effort, please go to the Yizkor Book JewishGen-erosity page:

http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen-erosity/v_projectslist.asp?project_cat=23

to learn about the Translation Funds currently underway.

As far as the January figures go, we added 8 new projects, and updated 27 ongoing projects. All additions and updates have been flagged at http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/translations.html to make it easy to find them.

International Holocaust Memorial Day

2012-01-29T20:07:00.003-05:00

Posted by: Jan Meisels Allen

In memory of the Holocaust, the United Nations (UN) remembers on January 27 each year, this day which is called International Holocaust Remembrance Day. An article, "Heroic Act of Resistance at Auschwitz-Birkenau" was published in commemoration http://ifounditinthearchives.tumblr.com/
The article has a link http://tinyurl.com/87dok66
original url:
http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/78917641?access_key=key-p6qpxwab1cyf9b2k63i of a rarely viewed Army Intelligence report. The report was declassified in 2010 and the Associated Press found it at the US National Archives as part of their ongoing effort to mine the eight million secret records that have been declassified under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act of 1998.

Thank you to Randy Herschaft of the Associated Press for bringing this to our attention.

Jan Meisels Allen
IAJGS Vice President
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

(USA) Genealogists Not Invited To Testify on SSDI at House Ways and Means Subcommittee Hearing

2012-01-29T18:43:00.003-05:00

Posted by: Jan Meisels Allen

IAJGS as one of the 3 voting members of the Records Preservation and Access Committee (RPAC) http://www.fgs.org/rpac/index.phphas has been coordinating with the other managing members, FGS and NGS and the RPAC chairman, David Rencher, chief genealogist of FamilySearch (see website for a listing of all the genealogical organizations that are participating on RPAC) in addressing the genealogical community's deep concerns over the recent actions to limit or prevent access to the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) [the commercial version of the Death Master File, produced by the Social Security Administration]. Four bills have been introduced in Congress (HR 3475, S1534, HR 3482, HR 3215) that if enacted would limit access or totally deny access to the SSDI due to concerns that access to the SSDI has lead to identity theft by identity thieves, obtaining Social Security Numbers of deceased children and applying for tax refunds for these non related children.

For the past several months, IAJGS and others from RPAC, have been in discussions with the House Ways and Means Committee Social Security Subcommittee staff on the genealogical community's needs for access to SSDI including the Social Security Numbers [SSN], including providing them with suggested legislative language addressing the concerns of using deceased
children's SSN's while still permitting legitimate users --including genealogists--access to the SSDI . Several very prominent genealogists were lined up to testify on the hope that the genealogical community would be an invited testifier--even with only one representative. We were advised the upcoming hearing would not be specific to any of the current bills in
Congress but rather to address the issues and what legislation should include.

IAJGS was the coordinator and the lead spokesperson with the Subcommittee staff. As such IAJGS was advised by the Ways and Means Committee Social Security Subcommittee staff on January 26 that due to their very limited time and the issues growing more complex, they decided not to go with a genealogist witness. They commented that we may submit testimony for the record. The decision as to whom may be a presenter at a hearing is made by the Subcommittee chairperson, in coordination with the ranking subcommittee member and with subcommittee staff. The decision is not appealable. The hearing information is available on the House Ways and Means Committee website--February 2 at 9:00 AM.
http://tinyurl.com/7mp5op8

original url:
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/Calendar/EventSingle.aspx?EventID=276835

Please read the hearing advisory at: http://tinyurl.com/7xojjc3

original url:
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=276834

For information on submitting a statement see:
http://tinyurl.com/6lu7dw7

original url:
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/committeesubmissions/

Statements may be submitted through February 16- two weeks following the hearing. How and where are located in the link immediately above.

You will be able to watch the hearing live from the convenience of where ever your computer is-- go to: http://tinyurl.com/6uq9pd7 full url:
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/Calendar/?EventTypeID=149&CatagoryID=4772
and either click on the hearing or scroll down to the bottom right of the screen where it says committee videos (http://waysandmeans.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2) and we should see it live. I have been told it will also be archived so one can watch it any time.

To learn who is on the Subcommittee: Go to the Committee website: http://waysandmeans.house.gov/About/Members.htm
The people who serve on the full Ways and Means Committee are listed first and scroll down to the Subcommittee on Social Security-- Each of the members own websites may be accessed by clicking on their names under the full committee.

This subcommittee hearing is to hear what should be in legislation. The IAJGS and RPAC have provided staff with legislative language and concepts, held several conference calls and had numerous e-mails and phone calls with the staff...they received our input-- if they do anything with it we will only know when the new bill is proposed. Therefore, when/if a new bill is introduced it will be heard in both the House and Senate- and an opportunity exists for more input at those times.

For those who are interested in ideas on this issue go to the Records Preservation and Access Committee (RPAC) website http://www.fgs.org/rpac/index.php where there is a talking points paper.

Needless to say IAJGS and RPAC are very disappointed that the genealogical community was not invited to be a presenter at the February 2 hearing. IAJGS is planning to submit a statement. As more information is made available it will be posted to this forum.

Jan Meisels Allen
IAJGS Vice President
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

(USA) National Archives Attempting To Restore the 1973 Fire-Damaged Military Records

2012-01-22T18:25:00.002-05:00

Posted by: Jan Meisels Allen

In 1973 a devastating fire burned millions of US military records located in the St. Louis, Missouri facility--we all thought the records were lost forever. A recent article in the St. Louis Beacon, http://tinyurl.com/7ya32sy
original url:
http://www.stlbeacon.org/arts-life/neighborhoods/out-and-about/114919-profile-of-national-archives-at-st-louis
relates the story of the restoration efforts being undertaken by the National Archives, in St. Louis. We will not see all of the millions of documents restored in our lifetimes, but they have already treated 15,000-20,000 records out of the 6.5 million burned.

Jan Meisels Allen
IAJGS Vice President
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

Virginia Vital Records Access Bills Reported Out of Committee

2012-01-22T15:29:00.000-05:00

Posted by: Jan Meisels Allen
On January 19, the Senate Education and Health Committee unanimously reported out (approved) SB 309 on marriage, divorce records http://tinyurl.com/79jfq8x original URL:
(http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?121+ful+SB309+pdf) and SB 310 on death records http://tinyurl.com/7f5wu6l original URL (http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?121+ful+SB310+pdf ) by Senator Blevins reducing the "closed" periods for marriage and death records from the current 50 years to 25 years. The companion legislation HB 272 http://tinyurl.com/7p2n88b original
URL:(http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?121+ful+HB272+pdf) also passed out of committee.

The other chamber will start to consider bills in mid-February.

Further information will be posted when available.

Jan Meisels Allen
IAJGS Vice President
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

Announcement: JGS of Greater Miami

2012-01-19T14:48:00.000-05:00

JGS of Greater Miami will be meeting Sunday, January 29, 2012, 10:00am Greater Miami Jewish Federation, 4200 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL

Free Secure Parking on site. Press #001on the box and the gate will open.

Have ID. Special complimentary refreshments.

If you're in the Miami area, don't miss this exciting and unique presentation with the fabulous Steve Morse, (http://stevemorse.org) creator of the "One Step" genealogy search engine as we celebrate our 23rd Anniversary. Steve has been presenting his 1940 census lectures nationwide, but we are the only JGS to have this special bonus that Steve agreed to do for our members. Five lucky members will be selected (more if time permits) after his presentation and Steve Morse will run your search for you.

This time we must charge $5.00 admission for non-members. Any guest who joins the fee will be waived and that person will be eligible for the drawing. Remember, for the extra bonus only members and those joining at the door, will be eligible for a chance to have Steve Morse do their search for the 1940 ED. Don't miss this exciting and unique opportunity.

Contact Frances Waxman, VP/Membership (fjw6@comcast.net) if you plan to attend so we can provide for sufficient refreshments, or call her cell at 786-210-7966.

Guests and their friends are always welcome. $5 admission this time only. As always no admission fee for members. Come and enjoy the morning of genealogy with your fellow researchers. This should be a very informative session. We look forward to seeing you there to share this and for us to share with you.

Joan Parker,

Immediate Past President

JGS of Greater Miami, Inc.

joanparker@intergate.com

New Project: Jewish Cemetery of Miskolc, Hungary

2012-01-19T10:38:00.002-05:00

Project Description
The objective is to secure sufficient funding to photograph 18th and 19th century headstones and photograph 20th century cemetery books for the Jewish cemetery in Miskolc, Hungary. The 18th and 19th century written records were lost in the Holocaust and such information is currently only available by visiting and searching the overgrown part of the cemetery. A list of names of 20th century deaths were recently made available at the Miskolc synagogue. Another list of 20th century burials is available at the Miskolc cemetery. We estimate that there are approximately 16,000 18th and 19th century headstones, which will be documented by taking 10,000-12,000 photographs in addition to 600 photographs of pages of the 20th century cemetery records.

Miskolc is the third largest city in Hungary. In the 1940s it was reported to have a Jewish population of about 14,000. The city's total population was at that time about 100,000. The cemetery was started about 1792 and its size is reported to be 6 1/2 hectares or 65,000 m2. A picture of the cemetery's surface and geographic location in Miskolc can be accessed at http://binged.it/qZXHa8.

The project involves removing vegetation from the overgrown part of the cemetery, cleaning headstones, and highlighting inscriptions as necessary using a medium that will not contribute to deterioration of the stones. Workers will then photograph each stone and map its location. Volunteers will be recruited from among JewishGen researchers to transcribe the inscriptions and burial locations using the JOWBR template to be integrated into the JOWBR database at http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/cemetery/.

These records will be indexed and transcribed by JewishGen volunteers.

Estimated Cost
The total cost is estimated at $11,000-$13,000 based on a unit cost of $1.00 for each photographic image.

The projects has been divided into three phases to allow work to proceed while funding is being raised through donations to the Hungarian SIG The project will require funding from Jewish Gen accounts such as H-SIG account and JewishGen-erosity.

The project will be organized in phases as follows:

Photograph the approximately 600 pages of two cemetery books. Estimated cost $600.00
Clean as necessary and photograph approximately 600 gravestones from the town of Hejocsaba that have been transferred to the Miskolc cemetery. Estimated cost $600.00
Clean as necessary and photograph the remaining 18th and 19th century gravestones in phases of approximately 1,000 graves at a time as sufficient funds are raised. Estimated cost $11,000-$12,000
Peter Szlukovinyi, acting rabbi of the Miskolc synagogue, has approved and is participating in the project. He provided his written authorization allowing JewishGen to photograph available burial records and headstones and to create and publish an index to the burials

To contribute to this project, please click here.

New JewishGen Course: Create Family History Pages

2012-01-19T10:31:00.002-05:00

Posted by Phyllis Kramer

Do you have a lot of genealogical family material to share and want to organize it into a set of images, but don't know how? Marlis Humphrey will explain and demonstrate how to create image rich family history pages for your family.

Students will learn how to layout, design, and edit a quality family history page set for two ancestors,that can be broadened at a later time. You will learn to include documents like census, naturalization and photographs of your family, heirlooms and memorabilia.

Students will discover sources of digital resources (templates, fonts, etc.) for formatting, and will walk through a project using Photoshop Elements 10 for editing; students will learn how to format the pages for printing using Shutterfly.

Class will feature multimedia including a series of short screencasts with voice narration, powerpoint instructions and text notes for reference. We will use the FORUM for questions and answers and we will encourage students to post their digital pages (.jpg files) for review and comment.

*Please* read the full course description and the software requirements at www.jewishgen.org/education; there are no set times for this course as our students are from around the world; enroll via our secure online enrollment system.

Please address all questions to JewishGen-Education@lyris.jewishgen.org

Phyllis Kramer
VP, Education

Announcement: JGS of Colorado

2012-01-19T10:29:00.000-05:00

"What's Jewish about Jewish Genealogy: Naming Patterns; Calendar; Gravestones; Lifecycle, etc." with Ellen Kowitt

Sunday, January 22nd from 1:00 to 3:00 pm in Denver at the Congregation
Hebrew Education Alliance, 3600 South Ivanhoe Street, Denver
No cost for JGSCO members
$30 for non-members (includes one year membership in the JGSCO)

A great session topic to jump into and start or re-start your research! What are the uniquely Jewish clues that will guide you in researching Jewish family history? Come to this session for a primer on customs, traditions and resources including gravestones that are used to successfully navigate Jewish genealogy.

This lecture and workshop is the third in a series (note that each session is independent of the others; come to as many or as few as you'd like) as a part of the seven-session Jewish Family Tree Initiative: Workshop and
Mentoring Series. Led by members of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado, the program was developed to help you get started doing Jewish family history research.

Each session includes an instructional lecture and a hands-on workshop to assist with the creation of family trees and historical research utilizing genealogical resources and techniques. Mentoring assistance outside of class will be available. The sessions are open to everyone. There is an $30 one-time fee for non-members for a book and materials which includes one year of membership in the Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado. Attendance is not required at all seven sessions to participate; jump in any time to get started!

Terry Lasky
JGS of Colorado
Denver, Colorado

New Kehilalinks Page for Nasielsk, Poland

2012-01-19T10:26:00.001-05:00

Posted by Eli Rabinowitz

The Nasielsk, Poland Kehilalinks Page is now active, and can be viwed at: http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/nasielsk. Our aim is to re-establish a "virtual" Jewish life in this town, a meeting place for descendants of the Jews of Nasielsk.

Eli Rabinowitz
Perth, Australia
eli@elirab.com

Free Webinar From Southern California Genealogical Society

2012-01-08T03:50:00.002-05:00

Posted by: Jan Meisels Allen

The Southern California Genealogical Society offers free webinars to anyone worldwide. The next free webinar is: "The Two Sides of Interviewing" with Jean Wilcox Hibben. This presentation looks interviewing it from a couple of different angles: from the fields of speech communication and folklore; more specifically, oral history gathering techniques. Also included is a discussion of the "other side" of interviewing: responding as the interviewee. Some suggestions for before, during, and after the interview, for those on both sides, are covered.

When: Wednesday Jan 18: Time: 60 minute class, 30 minute Q&A
6:00 PM - Pacific
7:00 PM - Mountain
8:00 PM - Central
9:00 PM - Eastern
Space is limited, so reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/491227857

The complete list of webinars can be found at on the SCGS website
(http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/JamboreeExtensionSeries2012.htm).

Jan Meisels Allen
IAJGS Vice President
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

Who Do You Think You Are Returns for Third Season

2012-01-08T03:48:00.000-05:00

Posted by: Jan Meisels Allen

It was just announced that the third season of Who Do You Think You Are will explore the family histories of: Martin Sheen, Marisa Tomei, Blair Underwood, Reba McEntire, Rob Lowe, Helen Hunt, Rita Wilson, Edie Falco, Rashida Jones, former NFL running back Jerome Bettis, Jason Sudeikis and Paula Deen. see: http://tinyurl.com/7t8rcgl
original url:
http://www.nbc.com/news/2012/01/06/nbc-announces-the-celebrities-tracing-their-family-trees-on-season-three-of-who-do-you-think-you-are/

The series starts again Friday, February 3 8 PM/7PM-check your local NBC station for details.
http://www.nbc.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/

Jan Meisels Allen
IAJGS Vice President
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

Finding Your Roots-a 10-part series on PBS--March 25, 2012

2012-01-06T02:25:00.002-05:00

Posted by: Jan Meisels Allen

Recently announced is a new genealogy series with historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr. "Finding Your Roots". It will air on March 25 on PBS--it is not yet listed on PBS website.

Each episode will feature two "famous" people in the one-hour episode, including Barbara Walters, Martha Stewart, Kevin Bacon and others.
See
http://www.clicker.com/tv/finding-your-roots-with-henry-louis-gates-jr/.

Thank you to Dick Eastman and the Eastman Online Genealogy newsletter for alerting us to this new series.
http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2012/01/finding-your-roots-a-10-part-series-on-pbs.html

Jan Meisels Allen
IAJGS Vice President
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

Survivor Donates Prized 'Sidur' To Yad Vashem

2012-01-05T12:12:00.000-05:00

Click here to read more from the Jerusalem Post

Teaching the Truth about Destroyed Jewish Communities in Poland

2012-01-05T12:09:00.000-05:00

Click here to read more from the Forward.

Jews of Cork

2012-01-05T12:07:00.000-05:00

Click here to read more from the Jewish Chronicle.