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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Re: I lost Zippe after she arrived
#usa
Lee Hover
Another possibility: My grandmother, named Zipporah, known as Zippe, became Sophie in the U.S.
Lee MESSING Hover Lacey, WA. ATSCHULER (all spellings)-Warsaw; SANDIK--Warsaw; MESSING--Warsaw; LAP(P)IN--Lithuania; KLEIN--Hungary
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Name for Yitchak
#names
estelle
Ignatz was a common name in Hungary
Estelle Guttman Reston VA
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ViewMate translation request - German
#germany
Aaron Roetenberg
I've posted 4 vital record sin German for which I need a translation. It is on ViewMate at the following address ... https://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM85169, 85172, 85189, 85190 Please respond via the form provided on the ViewMate image page. Thank you very much. (Aaron Roetenberg)
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Re: Town of Tschatorisk? and BURKO-GOLDSHMIDT family of Kaunas
#ukraine
#lithuania
Alexander Sharon
Staryi Chortoryisk is a current (modern) name of the town Czartorysk, located on the Styr River In Wolynia region. Town is named after old Lithuanian prince family of Czartoryjski.
There are 29 entries for Staryi Chortoryisk in JGFF towns database. Alexander Sharon JGFF editor
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Re: Searching Hamburg lists for family groups
#records
Alan Reische
Phil:
I had a putative date of arrival in NYC from the naturalization petition. After working backwards to that date, I found two manifests with virtually no passenger information. I’ve concluded either that the manifests are incomplete, or that my grandfather (from whose naturalization documents I obtained the arrival date) mistakenly or intentionally misstated the date on his petition. But why would he have done so intentionally? The residency requirement in the late 1800s remained at 5 years, and his brother had been naturalized 9 years earlier. Would he have just relied on (erroneous)memory to recall specific date of arrival, or would documentation of arrival be required? If proof of arrival was required, then its likely there is one or more missing manifests. If the affidavit was simply called on to provide what he recalled, then its more likely he was just mistaken. I’d welcome other thoughts. Alan Reische
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Re: Does anyone have information about last names
#holocaust
#poland
#names
Annette Weiss
In the Austro-Hungarian Empire which included parts of what is now Poland and Ukraine, only "civil" marriages were considered "legal." If your ancestors had only a religious marriage and not a civil one, the children would have to take the mother's name, since the marriage was not sanctioned by the government. This happened to my grandfather and his brother in the 1880's.
Annette Weiss New York City
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Re: Help with translating family postcards
#translation
fredelfruhman
I will try to take a look at these later.
They are written in German. May I suggest that you take a look at the ViewMate feature of jewishgen for future reference? Not only can you post such images there (and can classify them, such as 'translation -- German' (or 'translation -- other', if you're not sure of the language), but they will be seen by many volunteers who are eager to help with translations. In addition, ViewMate allows for easy rotation of images, which is very helpful for postcards, which often have the writing in at least two directions! -- Fredel Fruhman Brooklyn, New York, USA
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Re: Records From Secret Vatican Archive Offer New Clues to Response to Holocaust
#holocaust
Susan J. Gordon
Again, thanks for this, Jan. A few years ago, I visited the former Jewish Ghetto of Rome, which had been established in 1555. Small shops, restaurants and residences still lined the narrow streets, but no gates locked or unlocked the inhabitants.
A plaque on the wall by the Portico d'Ottavia commemorates the roundup on October 16, 1943, which was Shabbat, when most residents would be at home. Susan J. Gordon
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Viewmate--translation needed--GERMAN
#translation
Joseph Walder
I've posted a vital record in German for which I need a translation. It is on ViewMate at the following address ...
This is a marriage record for Moses Moritz Walder and Brandel Betty Eber from 1884. I would appreciate as complete a translation as possible, including any notes related to later events and anything about place of origin, family members, previous marriages, and professions. I'm not able to decipher the handwritten German from this era.
Please respond via the form provided on the ViewMate image page. Thank you very much.
Joseph Walder
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Re: Website to help improve image quality for faded documents or overlapping images
#photographs
#general
Bruce Drake
I found it intuitive to use. It did improve the photograph I was studying, but the original resolution was so bad it was beyond improving
Bruce Drake
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Viewmate 85181---translation needed--GERMAN
#translation
Joseph Walder
I've posted a vital record in German for which I need a translation. It is on ViewMate at the following address ...
I am interested in as complete as possible a translation of the marriage record for David Glanz and Rywka Graeber, including anything about place of origin, family members, previous marriages, and professions. I'm not able to decipher the handwritten German from this era.
Please respond via the form provided on the ViewMate image page. Thank you very much.
Joseph Walder
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Re: Does anyone have information about last names in Russia
#poland
#names
#holocaust
jbonline1111@...
My family came from what is now Belarus, but was formerly tossed between Russia and Poland. All the children from the mid-1800s on, the farthest back I have been able to go, have paternal last names.
-- Barbara Sloan Conway, SC
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Re: ViewMate Translation Request - Russian
#translation
ryabinkym@...
VM85177
In Russian:
Дорогая моя сестра Катя! Твоё письмо я сегодня получила и меня очень удивляет, что ты до сих пор не получила наше письмо, где мы тебе писали, чтобы ты писала и послала посылку на моё имя, что Идочка уже уехала к Виточке и я пока осталась одна. Когда она там устроится, она меня заберёт, а пока моя родная сестра, я осталась одна одиношенька и мне так тоскливо, что когда я тебе пишу слёзы невольно льются. Да дорогая, неудачно у меня сложилась жизнь, хоть Идочке и Мане не легче, но у них хоть есть дети. Правда я знаю, что Идочка и Витачка меня не оставят. Быть на старости обузой, мне не хочется дожить до этого. Пока я работаю и на жизнь себе зарабатываю, а там видно будет. Я знаю, моя родная, что моё письмо тебя расстроит. Не надо, и ты этим мне не поможешь. Ты и так нам достаточно помогаешь, ведь кроме тебя у нас на свете никого нет из близких и ты так хорошо и утешительно пишешь, что становится на душе очень легко.
Translate into English:
My dear sister Katya! I received your letter today and I am very surprised that you still have not received our letter, where we wrote to you, so that you write and send a parcel in my name, that Idochka has already left for Vitochka and I am still alone. When she settles there, she will take me, but while my own sister, I am left alone and I am so sad that when I write to you tears involuntarily flow. Yes, dear, my life was unsuccessful, although Idochka and Mania are not easier, but they at least have children. True, I know that Idochka and Vitachka will not leave me. Being a burden in old age, I do not want to live to see it. As long as I work and earn my living, and then we'll see. I know, my dear, that my letter will upset you. Don't, and you won't help me with that. You already help us enough, because besides you we have no one close to us in the world, and you write so well and comfortingly that it becomes very easy in our souls.
Comment: Idochka And Vitachka is two names Ida and Vita, saying with love. It is a special Russian form with suffix chka.
Translated by Michael Ryabinky
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How To Document A (Given) Name Change
#names
Martin Kaminer
Hello All,
My maternal grandmother was born Aranka Feigenbaum in Hungary in 1906. She arrived at Ellis Island on August 16th 1927 along with her mother and siblings and is listed as Aranka on the manifest (as well as on the visa application dated 1921). At some point soon thereafter she started using the name, or being known as, Gladys Feigenbaum. She died in 1998 having lived in New York City since her arrival 71 years earlier. I do not know whether her name was ever legally changed, though her legal documents -- including naturalization -- use the name Gladys, not Aranka. How might I determine whether her name was ever legally changed? If it was never legally changed, what other methods might be used to document this? Appreciatively, Martin Kaminer
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Re: Were there markings on Jewish headstones in the United Kingdom that identify who the stonecutters were?
#unitedkingdom
Michael Hoffman
In London the stone cutters engrave their name usually on the front "Kerb Stone" I cannot comment on the graves in the cemeteries in other UK towns and cities.
Michael Hoffman Borehamwood, HERTS UK.
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Re: Entry and Exit from 'Palestine'.
#israel
Please try the IGRA collection. Registration is free and will allow you to see if there are any hits. The Israel State Archives has the lists of immigrants (in Hebrew) without an idex. But at the moment the website is down for service and should be up in a
few days.
Rose Feldman
Winner of 2017 IAJGS Award for Volunteer of the Year Israel Genealogy Research Association
   Help us index more records at http://igra.csindexing.com
Keep up to date on archives, databases and genealogy in general and Jewish and Israeli roots in particular with http://twitter.com/JewDataGenGirl
-- Rose Feldman
Israel Genealogy Research Association
Winner of 2017 IAJGS Award for Volunteer of the Year
http://genealogy.org.il
http:/facebook.com/israelgenealogy
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Re: Searching for David Wolfe and Wishengrads
#general
Jeff Miller
I have a Moishe Wishingrad and more family information.
Reply to Jeff Miller singingtm@...
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Re: Town of Tschatorisk? and BURKO-GOLDSHMIDT family of Kaunas
#ukraine
#lithuania
Hi Susan, In this form it is not recognizable. The name refers to an old aristocractic family. Please check:
Czartoryski - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org › wiki › Czartory...
Czartoryski (feminine form: Czartoryska, plural: Czartoryscy; Lithuanian: Čartoriskiai) is a Polish princely family of Lithuanian-Ruthenian origin, also known as ...
Connected families: Sieniawski, Poniatowski, ...
Estate(s): Czartoryski Palace
Motto: Bądź co bądź; (Come what may)
Current region: Poland
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Re: Jews Orphan Asylum Kent - England
#unitedkingdom
#records
#yizkorbooks
paveanyu@...
Dear Lizzy, 31st August 2020
I wonder, if I may politely suggest to you, please contact the London Beth Din: 020-343 6255---305 Ballards Lane London N3--Finchley-- Wishing you --Mazel and Brocho --and a lot of strength to find your 'roots' Best wishes, Veronika Pachtinger(paveanyu@...)
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Re: Town of Tschatorisk? and BURKO-GOLDSHMIDT family of Kaunas
#ukraine
#lithuania
Rodney Eisfelder
Susan,
Tschatorisk is a German spelling of a Polish or Russian etc town. The Polish equivalent of the German "Tsch" is "Cz", so that means the Polish name would be something like Czatorisk. The JewishGen town finder description of Staryi Chortoryisk says the Polish name is Czartorysk, so I think you have found your town. I hope this helps, Rodney Eisfelder Melbourne, Australia
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