JewishGen.org Discussion Group FAQs
What is the JewishGen.org Discussion Group?
The JewishGen.org Discussion Group unites thousands of Jewish genealogical researchers worldwide as they research their family history, search for relatives, and share information, ideas, methods, tips, techniques, and resources. The JewishGen.org Discussion Group makes it easy, quick, and fun, to connect with others around the world.
Is it Secure?
Yes. JewishGen is using a state of the art platform with the most contemporary security standards. JewishGen will never share member information with third parties.
How is the New JewishGen.org Discussion Group better than the old one?
Our old Discussion List platform was woefully antiquated. Among its many challenges: it was not secure, it required messages to be sent in Plain Text, did not support accented characters or languages other than English, could not display links or images, and had archives that were not mobile-friendly.
This new platform that JewishGen is using is a scalable, and sustainable solution, and allows us to engage with JewishGen members throughout the world. It offers a simple and intuitive interface for both members and moderators, more powerful tools, and more secure archives (which are easily accessible on mobile devices, and which also block out personal email addresses to the public).
I am a JewishGen member, why do I have to create a separate account for the Discussion Group?
As we continue to modernize our platform, we are trying to ensure that everything meets contemporary security standards. In the future, we plan hope to have one single sign-in page.
I like how the current lists work. Will I still be able to send/receive emails of posts (and/or digests)?
Yes. In terms of functionality, the group will operate the same for people who like to participate with email. People can still send a message to an email address (in this case, main@groups.JewishGen.org), and receive a daily digest of postings, or individual emails. In addition, Members can also receive a daily summary of topics, and then choose which topics they would like to read about it. However, in addition to email, there is the additional functionality of being able to read/post messages utilizing our online forum (https://groups.jewishgen.org).
Does this new system require plain-text?
No.
Can I post images, accented characters, different colors/font sizes, non-latin characters?
Yes.
Can I categorize a message? For example, if my message is related to Polish, or Ukraine research, can I indicate as such?
Yes! Our new platform allows members to use “Hashtags.” Messages can then be sorted, and searched, based upon how they are categorized. Another advantage is that members can “mute” any conversations they are not interested in, by simply indicating they are not interested in a particular “hashtag.”
Will all posts be archived?
Yes.
Can I still search though old messages?
Yes. All the messages are accessible and searchable going back to 1998.
What if I have questions or need assistance using the new Group?
Send your questions to: support@JewishGen.org
How do I access the Group’s webpage?
Follow this link: https://groups.jewishgen.org/g/main
So just to be sure - this new group will allow us to post from our mobile phones, includes images, accented characters, and non-latin characters, and does not require plain text?
Correct!
Will there be any ads or annoying pop-ups?
No.
Will the current guidelines change?
Yes. While posts will be moderated to ensure civility, and that there is nothing posted that is inappropriate (or completely unrelated to genealogy), we will be trying to create an online community of people who regulate themselves, much as they do (very successfully) on Jewish Genealogy Portal on Facebook.
What are the new guidelines?
There are just a few simple rules & guidelines to follow, which you can read here:https://groups.jewishgen.org/g/main/guidelines
Thank you in advance for contributing to this amazing online community!
If you have any questions, or suggestions, please email support@JewishGen.org.
Sincerely,
The JewishGen.org Team
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BADER Emma
Amit N
Dear all,
I am trying to crack open a black hole, with no luck so far. My grandmother's uncle was married to a woman who according to the family knowledge took her life at some point. I have succeeded to find her maiden name this week. She was Dr. SPITZER Istvanne Szul BADER Emma. I can tell they were married before 1900, and that she died sometime between 1910's-1930's. They lived in Sombor (Zombor in Hungarian, nowadays Serbia). I thought that such a case would appear on newspapers, but couldn't find anything in Hungaricana.hu. I don't read Hungarian, so that's another impediment...A JewishGen search also did not show results. Do you have any idea on how to break this wall and find some information about her and her untimely death? Thank you all, Amit Naor Israel
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New records online: the New York City *Geographic* Birth Index, late 19th and early 20th century, from Reclaim The Records
Asparagirl
Hello again from Reclaim The Records!
We've just released the first-ever online copy of the New York City *Geographic* Birth Index. It's a new tool to help find people born in New York City in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, especially if their birth records had spelling variants or poor handwriting. This record set is an index to all births in New York City from roughly 1880-1912 (or 1917-ish in some cases outside of Manhattan). But unlike a typical birth index arranged by surname or by date, this one is arranged by the child's place of birth, the actual exact street address. We think there's about 2.8 million names in here, maybe more, in over half a million images. They've never been available outside of New York City before. And now they're all online, and all free! Read all about it in our latest newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/reclaimtherecords/introducing-the-new-york-city-geographic-birth-index But you can also jump right to the records themselves, which are available online at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/nycgeobirthindex (Note that you can even download some or all of the half a million images from the Internet Archive, if you really want -- although the .zip files are pretty big!) And the records are also online at FamilySearch: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/3023263?availability=Family%20History%20Library And that's because FamilySearch generously donated the microfilm scanning work for us again -- thank you, FamilySearch! So if you already know the address of a New York City family from another source, such as a census record (US Federal Census, New York State Census, or the 1890 New York City "Police Census") or a city directory or a vital record, go check that same address through the years to see if any other kids with a similar surname were born at that address, too. You might find some previously-unknown births where the names might have been misspelled or mistranscribed in the "regular" New York City birth index. Check out our newsletter, linked above, to see an example of what we mean. Reclaim The Records is a 501(c)3 non-profit, independent from JewishGen, but we appreciate their letting us use this lovely new discussion group to mention some of our ongoing activities. ;-) To learn more about Reclaim The Records, and the kinds of work we do to acquire new historical records and put them online for free public use -- sometimes with the help of Freedom of Information lawsuits that we file against government agencies, archives, and libraries -- please check out our website: https://www.ReclaimTheRecords.org/ Special shout-out to Jewish/NYC genealogist Jordan Auslander, who first alerted us to the existence of the microfilm records at the New York City Municipal Archives -- at an IAJGS conference session he presented a few years ago. - Brooke Schreier Ganz Mill Valley, California President and Founder, Reclaim The Records https://www.ReclaimTheRecords.org/
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Re: New site/app for searching graves in Israel
#israel
Werner Hirsch
Thank you very much for this post, I was able to find the graves of several of my family members. I did put in the names that I was looking for in English, and it found them even though there was only a Hebrew name on the stone. So, I would guess that the site does, at least,some conversion from English to Hebrew.j
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Re: Need Help Locating Marriage Certificate in Maryland
jbonline1111@...
I've had good luck with naturalization papers and death certificates. I think the former are more likely to be accurate than the latter. Please remember that many people didn't know their exact birth date but were told they were born at Passover, such and such year, as my grandfather was. My mother and her siblings "gave" my grandfather a birth date so they could celebrate.
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Re: who are or where is Bialostoker
#poland
Mark Halpern
dsyner@... asks about Bialostoker in Detroit
A Bialystoker is a person with roots in Bialystok. My mother was born in Bialystok, so I call myself a Bialystoker. See https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/BialyGen/ for more about Bialystok. Jewish Records Indexing - Poland www.jri-poland.org has indexed all the available Jewish vital records for the city of Bialystok from 1835 through 1905. These indices are all included in the JRI-Poland database https://www.jri-poland.org/jriplweb.htm. Search SYNER or ZINER using Soundex and set Geographical region to Grodno Gubernia. There are some surnames in the results but none spelled either SYNER or ZINER. If you do not find any names of interest, maybe your Bialystoker family comes from a nearby town. You should search all the lists and surname indices on the BialyGen website https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/BialyGen/. If your family does not show up in any of these lists/databases, you need to look at US documents such as Naturalization papers and Passenger Lists to hopefully find the town your family came from. Best of luck, Mark Halpern
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Re: who are or where is Bialostoker
#poland
Hi,
I guess it is about Bialystok a big town in Poland (now at the eastern part of the country) with a big Jewish population before IIWW. So it looks like your grandfather was a President of Bialystok. Best regards Wlodek Matuszewski
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Re: who are or where is Bialostoker
#poland
In lower Manhattan..east side...cant recall exact name of that building..i think it s on Grand St. There was also a bialystoker benevolent Society
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searching for cousins
Deanna Levinsky <DEANNASMAC@...>
I am looking for relatives who came from Kursk, Russia. Last name Grosnowitz/Grosnowicz
First names were Berel/Benjamin, Rose and Belkie/Bertha. They lived on New Jersey Ave, Brooklyn, NY Rose married Mr. Canon Simon and they had one son. -- Deanna M. Levinsky, Long Island, NY
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Re: Date of Birth input into databases
Marion Werle
Currently, JewishGen (or LitvakSIG) databases are not searchable by birth year, let alone birthdate, nor are birth records complete, or even available, for every Litvak town. You should also be aware that any birthdates supplied by immigrants in the locale where they settled are not necessary accurate. All immigrants ultimately took an official birthdate, which may or may not reflect when they were actually born. In many cases, they may not even have known - maybe an approximate date and proximity to a holiday (Pesach, Purim, Shavuot). Unless you can actually find a birth record, you will be lucky to figure out the year of birth (perhaps from a revision list or marriage record, although there was also incentive to lie on revision lists, especially for males of draft age).
-- Marion Werle <canadagenes@...>
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"The Lost Names of Lithuania"
#lithuania
Merle Kastner <merlebk18@...>
Pointed out to us by Judy Clare:
"The Lost Names of Lithuania" https://vimeo.com/369375187 Merle Kastner JGS of Montreal ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Lithuania SIG #Lithuania "The Lost Names of Lithuania"
#lithuania
Merle Kastner <merlebk18@...>
Pointed out to us by Judy Clare:
"The Lost Names of Lithuania" https://vimeo.com/369375187 Merle Kastner JGS of Montreal ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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ViewMate: Translation from LITHUANIAN request
#lithuania
Ilan Ganot
Dear LitvakSig members,
I have just received >from the Lithuanian Historical Archives in Vilna documents concerning my family. I kindly request your support in translating relevant part of the following documents, recently uploaded to the ViewMate: VM75698: http://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM75698 (page heading and Line 797 only) VM75699: http://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM75699 (page heading and Line 552 only) VM75700: http://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM75700 (handwritten text & original stamps) Please respond via the form provided on the ViewMate image page. Thank you very much. Ilan GANOT Researching: ITING, TUCH, KURS >from Mazeikiai and Zidikai ilang12350@gmail.com
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Lithuania SIG #Lithuania ViewMate: Translation from LITHUANIAN request
#lithuania
Ilan Ganot
Dear LitvakSig members,
I have just received >from the Lithuanian Historical Archives in Vilna documents concerning my family. I kindly request your support in translating relevant part of the following documents, recently uploaded to the ViewMate: VM75698: http://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM75698 (page heading and Line 797 only) VM75699: http://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM75699 (page heading and Line 552 only) VM75700: http://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM75700 (handwritten text & original stamps) Please respond via the form provided on the ViewMate image page. Thank you very much. Ilan GANOT Researching: ITING, TUCH, KURS >from Mazeikiai and Zidikai ilang12350@gmail.com
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ViewMate translation request - Yiddish on back of photo
#poland
ssroth@...
Dear friends,
I'm hoping somebody can help me translate a Yiddish note on the back of a postcard. It is on ViewMate at the following address: http://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM75732 Please respond via the form provided on the ViewMate image page. Thank you so much. Sheree Roth Palo Alto, CA
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JRI Poland #Poland ViewMate translation request - Yiddish on back of photo
#poland
ssroth@...
Dear friends,
I'm hoping somebody can help me translate a Yiddish note on the back of a postcard. It is on ViewMate at the following address: http://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM75732 Please respond via the form provided on the ViewMate image page. Thank you so much. Sheree Roth Palo Alto, CA
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Re: Need Help Locating Marriage Certificate in Maryland
Lewis, Megan
Dear Ellen, Do you mean Elkton, MD in Cecil County? In Maryland, marriage records are held by the clerk for the county's circuit court. Information for Cecil County is at https://mdcourts.gov/clerks/cecil/marriage. Elkton was known as an East Coast "Graetna Green" for eloping couples because it has been well connected by roads since Colonial times, is the Cecil County seat and is where MD, PA and DE meet, making it also convenient to NJ. Regards, Megan, native Marylander Megan Lewis Reference Librarian 202.314.7860 National Institute for Holocaust Documentation
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Re: Date of Birth input into databases
Russ Maurer
Yes, this is easy to do using either the LitvakSIG "All Lithuania Database" (https://www.litvaksig.org/search-ald) or the JewishGen Lithuania Database (https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Lithuania/), which searches the ALD and other records. Dates of birth in ALD birth records are formatted as DD/MM/YYYY; single-digit months and days are generally recorded without leading zeros. Dates of birth sometimes are found in other kinds of records such as census, marriage, or death records and there may be differences in the format, such as the use of hyphens instead of slashes, the presence of leading zeros, or the use of alpha months in place of numerical. It is important to recognize that "/" and "-" are not permissible in the search input and must be replaced by spaces.
Thus, for example, to search for a birthday of March 9, 1875, input "any field" "contains" "9 3 1875" and, to make sure you haven't missed anything, also try the following variations: 09 3 1875 09 03 1875 9 03 1875 9 mar 1875 09 mar 1875 The ALD contains over 244,000 birth records. Good luck! Russ Maurer, Records Acquisition & Translation Coordinator, LitvakSIG
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Division of Volhynia between the wars
#ukraine
Marilyn Levinson
Dear Researchers
When I posted my question about the inter-war boundaries of Volhynia, I received many emails asking me for further information if I found it. I received an excellent email with an explanation and map, that I think goes a long way to explaining the boundaries. The site referenced in the email is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volhynia. I hope this link helps clarify some of the complexities of this geographical situation. Marilyn Levinson Spring Lake NC -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com
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Ukraine SIG #Ukraine Division of Volhynia between the wars
#ukraine
Marilyn Levinson
Dear Researchers
When I posted my question about the inter-war boundaries of Volhynia, I received many emails asking me for further information if I found it. I received an excellent email with an explanation and map, that I think goes a long way to explaining the boundaries. The site referenced in the email is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volhynia. I hope this link helps clarify some of the complexities of this geographical situation. Marilyn Levinson Spring Lake NC -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com
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Re: Need Help Locating Marriage Certificate in Maryland
Madeleine Sann
Sad to say, but I have gotten numerous New York City marriage certificates and the lengthier affidavits from the early 20th century and have yet to see a town of birth, only a country, often wrong, from personal knowledge. The same gap with naturalization papers, social security applications (a bit later), and many death certificates. I hope you find your documents but they may be unhelpful in terms of birthplace. If anyone has suggestions for documents that are more likely to show place of birth, I’d love to know what they are.
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