JewishGen is pleased to announce its 2010 pre-IAJGS Conference
update to the JOWBR (JewishGen's Online Worldwide Burial Registry) database.
The JOWBR database can be accessed at
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Cemetery/ If you're a new user, we
recommend that you take a look at the first two explanatory screencasts at
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Cemetery/Screencasts/

This update includes more than 108,000 new records and approximately
13,000 new photos. The database is adding 170 new cemeteries along with
updates or additions to an additional 155 cemeteries >from 19 countries.
JOWBR's holdings now exceed 1.4 million records >from approximately 2,700
cemeteries / cemetery sections >from 46 countries!

Since our last update, JewishGen was pleased to add a number of new
institutional and individual donors while continuing to work with its
existing valued donor base. An itemization of the larger submissions and
new donors are as follows:

-- Iasi, Romania. Reuven Singer and his team of data entry, translation
and proofreading volunteers have completed their work on all available
burial records for Iasi. This latest installment includes close to 32,000
records to bring the entire data set to 65,000!
-- Lodz, Poland.
o We are pleased to announce that JewishGen and JRI-Poland
have gained permission >from the "Organization of Former Residents of Lodz in
Israel" to add the names >from their burial registers to the JOWBR and
JRI-Poland databases. We estimate there will be approximately 70,000 to
75,000 total records. This update includes the first 12,000 records. Our
team of volunteers continue with the data entry and proofreading of the
remaining records. If you?re interested in helping with data entry, please
contact me at NAltman@...
o Thanks to Avigdor Ben-Dov for coordinating additional
submissions of more than 2,000 records >from burials marked by the IDF
working with the Yad LeZehava Holocaust Research Institute (YZI) Witnesses
in Uniform project at three sections of the cemetery in Lodz. This brings
the current number of identified burials to 3,400.
-- Louisville, Kentucky. Herman Meyer & Son Funeral Home in
Louisville, Kentucky has compiled extensive information on burials >from 7
Louisville Jewish cemeteries. We greatly appreciate their submission of
basic information for close to 11,500 records. Additional information on
Kentucky genealogical resources and headstone photos for some of the records
can be found at their website: http://www.meyerfuneral.com/
-- Baltimore, Maryland. Thanks to the Jewish Museum of Maryland
(www.jewishmuseummd.org) and Deb Weiner for an additional 9,900 records from
the Belair Road and Berrymans Lane Baltimore Hebrew Cemeteries.
-- Maine. Thanks to Harris Gleckman, Project Shammas for "Documenting
Maine Jewry", for submitting close to 6,500 records >from 16 Maine cemeteries
and cemetery sections. Additional information on Maine Jewry can be found
on their site at www.MaineJews.org
-- American Jewish Archives (AJA). We continue to work on various
cemetery records >from across the US ad the Caribbean >from the archives of
The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives (AJA) in
Cincinnati, Ohio, http://www.americanjewisharchives.org/ This update
includes more than 6,000 records >from 36 cemeteries. We thank the
administration at the Archives and Jennie Cole for help facilitating the
arrangement.
-- Pennsauken, New Jersey. Our thanks to Rabbi Gary Gans for his
submission of 6,000 records >from the Crescent Memorial Park in Pennsauken,
NJ.
-- Liepaja, Latvia. Our thanks to Paul Berkay, Ella Barkan, and Edward
Anders for their submission of 3,600 records >from the town of Liepaja,
Latvia. Additional information on Liepaja can be found at their website
http://www.liepajajews.org/cem/CemIndex.htm
-- Bathurst Lawn Memorial Park and Pardes Shalom Cemetery, Ontario.
Thanks to Kevin Hanit and Allen Halberstadt representing the JGS of Canada
(Toronto) for more than 3,200 records >from 122 updated and new sections of
these two Canadian cemeteries.
-- South Carolina Cemeteries. Thanks to Ann Hellman, president of the
Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina (http://www.jhssc.org/) for
their additional submission of close to 2,200 burial records and 365 photos

from 5 South Carolina cemeteries.

-- Petach Tikvah, Israel. Thanks to Gilda Kurtzman for her ongoing
work at the Segulah Cemetery in Petach Tikvah for approximately 2,200
additional photos
-- Sacramento, California. Thanks to Bob Wasco for submitting
approximately 2,200 records >from the Home of Peace Cemetery in Sacramento.
-- Various US States. Thanks to Julian H. Preisler of Falling Waters,
West Virginia for submitting more than 2,100 records >from 25 cemeteries in 9
states. For more information on Mr. Preisler's cemetery indexing please see
his website t http://www.jpreisler.com/cemeteryindexes.htm
-- Colma, California. Thanks to Pierre Hahn, Rosanne Leeson, and Jeff
Lewy >from the San Francisco Bay area Jewish Genealogical Society, for adding
close to 2,100 records >from the second book of burial records >from Home of
Peace Cemetery & Emanu-El Mausoleum in, Colma.
-- New Jersey. Thanks to Jerome Nathans and the Jewish Historical
Society of North Jersey (jhsnnj@...) for more than 1,000 records from
5 New Jersey cemeteries.
-- Bavarian Cemeteries. JewishGen has been working with the Bavarian
Ministry to assist them with headstone translations >from various Jewish
cemeteries. Information >from close to 700 translations >from 7 cemeteries,
along with other civil document data >from the Ministry is included in this
update. The Ministry's websites are currently in progress and will provide
additional information and the headstone photos. Our thanks to Evamaria
Brockhoff, Head of the Department of Publications at the Bavarian State
Ministry of Science, Research and Arts / Centre of Bavarian History
www.hdbg.de
-- German Cemeteries. Our thanks to Leo Hoenig for submitting his
collection of German cemetery information >from information collected by
Klaus H.S. Schulte. This update includes 650 records >from 21 small German
cemeteries.
-- South Africa. Thanks to Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, "The Traveling
Rabbi", spiritual leader of the South African Country Communities and the
African Jewish Congress for his submission of approximately 450 records and
550 photos >from 13 cemeteries. For additional information, please see
www.africanjewishcongress.com
-- Whether your name or records are listed above, we appreciate all
your submissions! Thank you to all the donors that submitted information
for this update.

We appreciate all the work our donors have done and encourage you to
make additional submissions. Whether you work on a cemetery / cemetery
section individually or consider a group project for your local Society,
temple or other group, it's your submissions that help grow the JOWBR
database and make it possible for researchers and family members to find
answers they otherwise might not. Please also consider other organizations
you may be affiliated with that may already have done cemetery indexing that
would consider having their records included in the JOWBR database.

Nolan Altman
JewishGen VP for Data Acquisition
JOWBR -- Coordinator
June 2010