The Weekly News Nosh

JewishGen Weekly E-Newsletter

Phil Goldfarb Tulsa, Oklahoma USA, Editor

Date: January 1, 2023

“A Family Without The Understanding Of Their Past History, Foundation And Ethnicity Is Like A Tree Without Roots”

A Happy and Healthy New Year to All!

Enjoy this week’s Nosh!

Regards,

Phil

pgoldfarb@...

1.      Have You tried Using the JGFF Alert System? It is an “immediate advisory system” which constantly monitors all entries and changes made to the JewishGen Family Finder (JGFF) and alerts you immediately of potential matches. The JGFF Alert System relieves you of the need to check periodically for new entries. This is just one of JewishGen’s Value Added Services that you can get with an annual gift of $100 or more. Go to:   Fall Appeal 2022/5783 - JewishGen-erosity                                                                              

2.      JewishGen Summer Fellowship: Applications Now Open! JewishGen is pleased to invite applications for its third annual JewishGen Future Scholars Fellowship program to take place from June 20, 2023 – June 29, 2023. Rising second-fourth year undergraduate students in accredited colleges or universities are invited to apply. The purpose of this program is to inspire and begin the training of the future generation of leaders in Jewish genealogical involvement. Focusing on Poland, we seek to explore basic tools of genealogical searching in Poland, once home to more than half of world Jewry, and share and protect the history that gave shape to that genealogy of the past and future. To read more and apply, go to: Fellowship (jewishgen.org) For questions, contact: agroll@...

3.      Year End Update: New Expanded Memorials & Plaques Database Grows to More than 256,000 Records. The MPD database includes the data from synagogue memorial plaques, yizkor lists, congregation memorials, founding member and officer plaques, war memorials and rolls of honor, Holocaust memorials, deportation memorials, memorials from local conflicts, etc. Information from these memorials/plaques may include dates of birth, death, patronymic information, towns, military ranks, etc. This update added approximately 25,700 records and 9,000 photos from 119 sources worldwide. This update brings the Memorials & Plaques Database holdings to 256,000 records and 163,000 photos from 551 synagogues, institutions and memorials representing 49 countries. For a complete listing of the institutions currently in the database see http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Memorial/tree/MemList.htm.  Information on submitting data at: http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Memorial/Submit.htm

4.      Year End Update: JOWBR Grows In Excess of 4.3 Million Records. This update, adds approximately 85,000 new records and 35,000 new photos (not necessarily the same records/images.)  The database is adding and/or updating 257 cemeteries / cemetery sections.  This update brings JOWBR’s holdings to more than 4.3 million records and 988,000 photos from approximately 10,300 cemeteries/cemetery sections representing 144 countries! Please visit www.jewishgen.org/databases/Cemetery/ to access the JOWBR database.

5.      JewishGen Education 2023 Mentored Research Opportunities. They offer 7 On Demand Home Study Courses eligible for a discount VAS voucher coupon of $18; https://www.jewishgen.org/education/edu-tuition.html ,17 mentored courses ranging from Fundamentals to advanced Peer Study Groups. Immigration and Writing workshops coming in February. Check out their Catalog. https://www.jewishgen.org/education/edu-mentor.html  Their Calendar:  https://www.jewishgen.org/education/edu-courses.asp  As well as their Special Services such as: Talk to a Genealogist by the Hour. For questions contact Nancy Holden: education@...

6.      JewishGen Press Year End 2022 Update: JewishGen Press published 23 books in 2022. Most of the publications were Yizkor books, but they also published some memoirs, research and holocaust books and even one work of fiction. To see all JewishGen Press publications, please visit: https://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/ybip.html

7.      Have relatives from Ukraine? The Ukraine Research Division uploaded 100,000 new records in December. Each record has a link to the page of the original document where you find your ancestor's listing! You may find additional information in the original record.   They are able to do this work thanks to donations by generous contributors and they have thousands of additional documents to transcribe!   Check this list if you want to help with the future transcription of your family village or shtetl’s records or Yizkor Books: Ukraine Projects - JewishGen-erosity

8.      Lithuania passes law allocating nearly $40 million for Holocaust survivors. Lithuania’s parliament passed a law this week to set aside over 37 million euros ($38 million) as restitution for Holocaust survivors and their heirs. This is nearly double the money the government had already set aside for restitution claims in a country where 90% of its Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Today only 5,000 Jews remain in the country. Read the story from JTA: Lithuania passes law allocating nearly $40 million for Holocaust survivors - Jewish Telegraphic Agency (jta.org)

9.      From FamilySearch: Create Your Own Printable Family Tree Keepsake. View and share your family tree in a fun way with a printable family keepsake you’ll cherish. Just select your favorite designs. You can print or share your tree and add family names as you go! Go to FamilySearch: FamilySearch

10.  Borrowing Genealogy Books from the Internet Archive. Internet Archive is a great place to search for books for your research. Their diverse collection has been digitized with the help of libraries, archives, museums, and individuals, as well as the books the Archive has collected and digitized. In these cases, you can look at the book online or download it via numerous formats, including PDF and eReader versions. For more information go to: Legacy News: Borrowing Genealogy Books from the Internet Archive (legacyfamilytree.com)

11.  FamilySearch 2022 Genealogy Highlights. FamilySearch.org recaps their year of 2022 including a summary on their all-virtual RootsTech 2022 event which welcomed more than 3 million participants through online, broadcast, and other channels from 227 countries and territories. The conference featured over 1,500 sessions in more than 30 languages, covering 185 topics—all of which have been freely available online at RootsTech.org since the conference ended. Read their 2022 highlights: FamilySearch 2022 Genealogy Highlights

12.  Happy New Year! Did You Know that the Times Square ball drop was the brainchild of the Jewish owner of the New York Times? Adolph Ochs hired an electrician to design a five-foot lighted ball that would be lowered on a flagpole on the roof of the paper’s headquarters at One Times Square. The first drop was on New Year's Eve 1907. Read the history of the ball drop from NY Jewish Week: History of Ball Drop in Times Square

13.  ‘Finding Your Roots’ Host Henry Louis Gates Jr. Previews New Season.  Every family seemingly has that one member who takes it upon themselves to go down the genealogy rabbit hole becoming an online sleuth or simply uses DNA testing for ancestry roots.  “Finding Your Roots,” hosted by Henry Lewis Gates, Jr., debuts its ninth season Jan. 3 on PBS. Using genealogical detective work and cutting-edge DNA analysis revealing buried secrets and inspiring stories, the fascinating series of “Finding Your Roots” features influential actors, athletes and celebrities learning about their detailed family trees. Read more from Dick Eastman’s EOGN: https://wwweogncom.wildapricot.org/page-18080/13036311

14.  Israel to excavate City of David's historical Pool of Siloam. The Pool of Siloam is an archaeological and historical site within the City of David which was part of the Jerusalem water system at the time of the Temple during the reign of King Hezekiah and was constructed some 2,700 years ago. The Pool served as a reservoir for the Gihon Spring from which water was diverted and stored in underground tunnels. Some archaeologists believe that it was used as a ritual bath (mikveh) for pilgrims to purify themselves in before continuing to visit the Temple. Read the story from The Jerusalem Post: Israel to excavate City of David's historical Pool of Siloam - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

15.  Last Nuremberg prosecutor alive expected to receive Congressional Gold Medal. Nuremberg prosecutor and US Army veteran Ben Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor of the famed Nuremberg Trials that brought Nazi war criminals to justice at the end of World War II, is set to receive a Congressional Gold Medal for his achievements. Read the story from the Jerusalem Post: Last Nuremberg prosecutor alive expected to receive Congressional Medal - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

16.  The Tour de France Winning Smuggler Who Saved Hundreds of Lives in WWII.  Italian Gino Bartali is one of the all-time greatest road cyclists. If it hadn’t been for the Second World War and the obvious halt to grand tours among enemy nations, he might have won more Tours de France than anyone. After all, when war broke out, Bartali had already won the Tour once and the Giro d’Italia twice. But what Bartali did during the war was far more righteous and laudable than racing a bike: He saved lives. Hundreds of them. And he kept his secret until the day he died. Read the story from Adventure Journal: The Tour de France Winning Smuggler Who Saved Hundreds of Lives in WW2 (adventure-journal.com) Thanks to Jim Richards for this story.

17.  Zambia to get first rabbi in six decades. Lusaka the capital to get a Chabad House next year. There are an estimated 100-150 Jews in the country of almost 20 million people. The first Jews to arrive in Zambia were Ashkenazim from Eastern Europe (mostly Lithuania) who migrated in the 19th century when it was a British colony. Read the story from JNS: Zambia to get first rabbi in six decades - JNS.org

18.  Jews in the Wild West. 10 surprising facts about Jews in the American Frontier. The Wild West isn’t usually thought of as a home to Jews, yet early Jewish Americans lived there and left their marks. America’s western regions in the 1800s were home to thousands of Jews. An 1878 survey by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the only such census in that era, found that 230,257 Jews then lived in the United States   including 21,465 in 11 western states and territories. Read the story from Aish: Jews in the Wild West - Aish.com

19.  A Queens, New York synagogue is moving, and the fate of its storied ark is in limbo. Arthur Szyk’s soaring design at the Forest Hills Jewish Center may be too big for a museum, and out of fashion with current design trends. Crafted of bronze and gold-leaf plaster, and topped by a bejeweled crown, the astonishing 26-foot-tall ark of the Forest Hills Jewish Center fills its cavernous sanctuary with an imposing presence. Read the story and see a picture of this amazing ark from NY Jewish Week: A Queens synagogue is moving, and the fate of its storied ark is in limbo - Jewish Telegraphic Agency (jta.org)

20.  61-year-old Holocaust memorial designated as a national monument. Buried at the foot of the Kol Israel Foundation’s Holocaust Memorial are the ashes and artifacts of Jews killed by the Nazis in three concentration camps. The surrounding walls are engraved with the names of those who died during the Holocaust, as well as the names of survivors who have died since. Since its dedication on May 28, 1961 at Zion Memorial Park in Bedford Heights, Ohio, the memorial has been a place of remembrance and honor for the victims of the Holocaust. This week, the monument has been recognized as a national monument. Read the story from USA Today News: 61-year-old Holocaust memorial designated as a national monument - US Today News Thanks to Bruce Drake for passing along this story.

21.  The National Library Of Israel: Their Most Popular Articles of 2022 Our Most Popular Articles of 2022 (web-view.net) Editor Note: I am very proud to say that the most popular article of 2021 was an article that I wrote in May 2021 on the 100^th year anniversary about The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 and Oklahoma’s Jews. You can view it here: The Tulsa Race Massacre and Oklahoma's Jews (nli.org.il)

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