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Looking For Volunteers - HTML Coding #yizkorbooks #JewishGenUpdates #general

Susan Rosin
 

The Yizkor Book Project: https://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/ is now looking for volunteers with knowledge of HTML coding.

 

If you would like to help with preparing and updating the Yizkor Books In Print pages: https://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/ybip.html  and other tasks requiring HTML coding and can spare about 5 hours per month, we would like to hear from you!

 

Basic knowledge of HTML coding is required. Basic knowledge of handling graphic files would be an advantage

 

Please contact: lackerfeld@...   for more information and see how you can become a part of the great team of the Yizkor Book Project.

 

We are looking forward to hearing from you,

 

Susan Rosin

The Yizkor Book Project team

 

 

 
Re: Hyman Sacks death record, Manchester, England #records #unitedkingdom

David Harrison <djh_119@...>
 

Note that the loss of WW1 records was due to a German bomb in WW2, not British carelessness.
David Harrison
Birmingham UK

From: main@... <main@...> on behalf of LAURENCE HARRIS via groups.jewishgen.org <laurenceharris=btinternet.com@...>
Sent: 23 January 2021 11:57
To: main@... <main@...>
Subject: Re: [JewishGen.org] Hyman Sacks death record, Manchester, England #records #unitedkingdom
 
On Fri, Jan 22, 2021 at 10:05 PM, Fig, Lorraine wrote:
I see that it's also possible from a link to the website provided by Michael Tobias to request a copy of military service records.  My Great-great Uncle was in the British Army in WW I. The form requires one to fill in the Service Number of a deceased person, which I do not have.  Where would I be able to obtain that?  Any ideas?
Many thanks!
Lorraine Fig Shapiro
Lorraine,

Most British WW1 soldiers had medals and should have medal cards. Search using the form at https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-medal-index-cards-1914-1920/  .   It does not matter if you don't know his service number - the search works without this information.  If the search dos not provide any results for you then that means he did not serve under that name (or the spellling you are using) or was not awarded any medals.  Try just putting in only his surname, or perhaps possible spelling variants of the just the surname.
Less than 50% of the service and pension files survived.  You need to search on Ancestry.com for these.

Laurence Harris
London, England

Sephardic resources new for 2021 Rootstech #sephardic #events #announcements

mandy.molava@...
 

If anyone is joining the Rootstech online conference in February, there will be another talk/class on 'Secrets to researching Jewish Genealogy - Jewish genealogy revealed', as well as Sephardic resources - these have been confirmed by email. 

I am still learning and researching, myself, so I'm hoping these will help and also others on here.

Mandy Molava
Researching Russia Brest Belarus and Galacia and much more
Re: sephardic genoma and Familytreedna #dna #sephardic

Jill Whitehead
 

All the main DNA companies seem to have upgraded their ethnicity percentages recently - I am with FTDNA, MYHeritage, 23andme and Ancestry. None of them agree any way, and all give completely different assessments of ethnicity.  These assessments are not accurate for those of Jewish ancestry. 

Jill Whitehead, Surrey, UK
Re: Database of diaries and letters #russia #translation

Judith Singer
 

Hello - Like Tema Frank, I am very interested in the daily lives of our ancestors, so this could be an excellent resource if it were more accessible to English speakers. It seems to me that as a starting point, a searchable list in English of the names of the towns described in these documents would be very helpful. I am willing to help fund the preparation of such a list if Jewish =Gen or any interested individual cares to undertake it. 
Judith Singer
CHARNEY and related names in Kavarskas
SORTMAN and related names in Seredzius and Vilijampole
Re: Hyman Sacks death record, Manchester, England #records #unitedkingdom

David Harrison <djh_119@...>
 

Service Numbers are known usually only by that person, I doubt if any family member would know it.  I think your best bet is to find any item such as a mess tin upon which that number may have been stamped.   In the British Army campaign medals (but not WW1) are given with the recipient's name and number.  Other places which might have it are any ex-service organisation of which he was a member or the regimental association.  If he died on Active Service then AJEX, the British Jewish Ex-service person's organisation may have it from their book of Jews who died in the services in WW1.  Other than that, when we can all travel freely, as part of a holiday in the UK you could visit the National Archive at Kew (in London) and do your own manual search; I have done that to find information about dead relatives and that only requires the name.

David Harrison, Birmingham UK
Searching in London, UK, the Netherlands and Friesland for VAN RYN,  DE YOUNGE, DRIELSMA, DUPARC, DUQUE, HYMAN, MYERS,PIMONTEL, ROCO and SREPHANY. 

From: main@... <main@...> on behalf of Fig, Lorraine <lfig@...>
Sent: 23 January 2021 01:50
To: main@... <main@...>
Subject: Re: [JewishGen.org] Hyman Sacks death record, Manchester, England #records #unitedkingdom
 
I see that it's also possible from a link to the website provided by Michael Tobias to request a copy of military service records.  My Great-great Uncle was in the British Army in WW I. The form requires one to fill in the Service Number of a deceased person, which I do not have.  Where would I be able to obtain that?  Any ideas?
Many thanks!
Lorraine Fig Shapiro
Ann Arbor, MI

Re: Database of diaries and letters #russia #translation

mandy.molava@...
 

I am also interested in Minsk area 1900-1903 possibly up to 1907. If you manage to find anything would appreciate an email, I am very interested in their daily lives here, to get to know my great grandparents before they emigrated. 
I will have a look at that link, thanks for sharing, Google translate does appear to change quite regularly, so it's worth nipping back to see.

Thanks in advance and good luck

Mandy Molava
Researching Russia Brest Belarus Galacia and much more 
Re: Russian translation #translation #russia

ryabinkym@...
 

Zelman-Gersh Bird, shoemaker, 34 years old, presented a boy who was born on February 28, 1902 from Chaya's wife, nee Mordenstein (possibly), 32 years old. When circumcised, the boy was given the name Shmul.

Translated by Michael Ryabinky
Columbus, OH
Re: Russian immigration to the US late 1980s where to look? #russia

mvayser@...
 

On Wed, Jan 20, 2021 at 04:48 PM, <mashasims@...> wrote:
Hi Aaron,
Thank you. It does work. I just found myself and my family. It's kind of cool to see yourself in a database with all the other Jewish refugees. We came to the US after the 1980s. You have to click on HIAS database search tab to search. 
Once you find one of the people this way, you can then type the "case number" in the results into the "case number" field, while erasing other criteria.  Search based on the case number will show all members of the family.

For some reason, I'm unable to find folks who came through in the previous immigration wave in the 1970's.  Perhaps, the data has not been made available yet?

Mike Vayser
Re: Hyman Sacks death record, Manchester, England #records #unitedkingdom

LAURENCE HARRIS
 

On Fri, Jan 22, 2021 at 10:05 PM, Fig, Lorraine wrote:
I see that it's also possible from a link to the website provided by Michael Tobias to request a copy of military service records.  My Great-great Uncle was in the British Army in WW I. The form requires one to fill in the Service Number of a deceased person, which I do not have.  Where would I be able to obtain that?  Any ideas?
Many thanks!
Lorraine Fig Shapiro
Lorraine,

Most British WW1 soldiers had medals and should have medal cards. Search using the form at https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-medal-index-cards-1914-1920/  .   It does not matter if you don't know his service number - the search works without this information.  If the search dos not provide any results for you then that means he did not serve under that name (or the spellling you are using) or was not awarded any medals.  Try just putting in only his surname, or perhaps possible spelling variants of the just the surname.
Less than 50% of the service and pension files survived.  You need to search on Ancestry.com for these.

Laurence Harris
London, England
Re: Ethical Responsibilities of Genealogical Organizations during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic #education #guidelines

Jeffrey Mark Paull
 

The U.S. has been administering doses of the COVID-19 vaccine since mid-December.  As of mid-January, there was an average of almost 900,000 people getting their first doses of the vaccine each day. This pace might change, but based on the recent rate, it could take a full year – until January 2022 – for every American to get at least one shot, according to data analyzed by The Wall Street Journal. See: https://www.wsj.com/articles/where-our-current-covid-19-vaccination-rate-will-take-us-11611324000.

 

Although the IAJGS International Jewish Genealogy Conference is still over six months away, conference registration and hotel reservations begin in March.  It is unrealistic to think that the majority of Americans are going to be vaccinated by then, or even by July, when final travel arrangements, including airline flights, are generally made.

 

Last year, the decision to cancel the in-person event, and to hold an all-virtual conference was not made until May of 2020. This resulted in a lot of uncertainty and inconvenience for everyone, as travel plans had to be cancelled, and refunds processed.  In addition, the lateness of the decision left little time for the IAJGS to plan a virtual conference.

 

This year, as we prepare to go down that same path again, perhaps it would be beneficial if the IAJGS, rather than making their decisions in a vacuum, opens the decision-making process to include as many stakeholders as possible.  For instance, why not poll speakers, attendees, and registrants of the conference to find out what their preferences are regarding an in-person international conference vs. an all-virtual conference?  A hybrid event offering speakers and attendees the option for either in-person or remote attendance, is another possibility.

 

 

If nothing else, opening up the decision-making process would give the IAJGS a feel for the number of people interested in attending an international in-person conference, to see if hosting a live event this year is even feasible.

 

It would also be beneficial for the IAJGS to provide speakers and attendees with a way to share health-related information with one another on its social media platforms. With so much variability between different states and countries in regard to COVID incidence, prevalence, and vaccination rates, as well as the ever-changing landscape regarding COVID testing requirements, and dining and travel restrictions, it is important for attendees of an international conference to have a mechanism for sharing information, and for communicating with one another. 

These suggestions may not represent business as usual for the IAJGS, but then, extraordinary challenges, such the ones we are facing in the midst of a global pandemic, call for extraordinary measures.
Jeffrey Mark Paull
Re: sephardic genoma and Familytreedna #dna #sephardic

Bernard Miller
 

My experience is similar. The test was done with MyHeritage and I uploaded the results to FTDNA.
My genealogical research had found thousands of Sephardic blood relatives (my mother's side) and a handful of Ashkenazi (my father's side) and I expected the DNA results to reflect this.
The initial results with MyHeritage were approximately 95% Ashkenazi, 3% North African and 1% West African.
The initial results with FTDNA were 98% Ashkenazi, 1% North African and 1% East African.
Then for a period FTDNA showed 100% Ashkenazi and MyHeritage was around 98% Ashkenazi.
FTDNA still shows 100% Ashkenazi. MyHeritage, with much fanfare, has reverted to it original 95% Ashkenazi, 3% North African and 1% West African.
Unfortunately the figures do not reflect my genealogical research where I have a few found dozen Ashkenazi blood relatives but a few thousand Sephardic blood relatives.
Where I have managed to track DNA matches genealogically, I have found half a dozen Ashkenazi and several hundred Sephardi.
The latest FTDNA map shows a bubble over parts of Europe from which I have virtually no identified relatives but absolutely none of the area from which I have identified hundreds. Virtually all my blood relatives come from Western West and Southern Europe, the British Isles, Portgual, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany and Denmark. The FTDNA bubble doesn't come anywhere near there being resolutely positioned over Eastern Europe.
So for now I ignore their guesses at my origins and wait for the databases to change.
Bernard Miller
Re: Hyman Sacks death record, Manchester, England #records #unitedkingdom

Fig, Lorraine
 

I see that it's also possible from a link to the website provided by Michael Tobias to request a copy of military service records.  My Great-great Uncle was in the British Army in WW I. The form requires one to fill in the Service Number of a deceased person, which I do not have.  Where would I be able to obtain that?  Any ideas?
Many thanks!
Lorraine Fig Shapiro
Ann Arbor, MI
Resource for Lodz Ghetto Researchers #lodz

Edna Hoover
 

Very moving background material!
 

 

Because They Were Jews!

Memorialization:

  • First Series Produced: 1945-1948

    "On October 17, 1941 (10-16-41), my wife Mathilde, three-year old daughter Mirjam, and I
    were deported from Prague to the Lodz Ghetto.

  • What I have painted and sketched here was only an attempt to portray what my eye saw:
    Lodz natives, people from Lodz on the water-pump, starving families,
    children who sold matches, cigarettes, saccharin, and homemade candy on the streets;
    Jews who were so weak that they no longer could get up from the street;
    a wagon filled with bricks pulled by ten starving, exhausted Jews
    guarded by a German soldier with a fixed bayonet!

  • I produced all of the artwork after the liberation.
    Rumkowski was chosen by the German administration as the "Judenälteste" (Eldest of the Jews).
    I was registered to work as an industrial designer in Metal I (Metall II) but only on paper.
    In the Ghetto, I could also paint and sketch in pencil and most importantly,
    produced portraits of the majority of the directors of about 40 factories, for which I received food or other things.
    The food one received with the ration cards were only hunger rations with 100 grams of horsemeat for one week."

Description:

  • David Friedmann (David Friedman, Dav. Friedmann) was an accomplished artist long before World War II and the Holocaust.
    As each of his options narrowed, he continued to produce art illustrating the events and personal experiences of his time.
    In December 1938, David fled from Berlin to Prague, escaping with only his artistic talent as a means to survive.
    In October 1941, he was deported to the Lodz Ghetto, then to camps Auschwitz-Birkenau and Gleiwitz I.
    He survived a Death March to Camp Blechhammer in Upper Silesia, where he was liberated on January 25, 1945 by the Red Army.
    He defied all odds to survive at the age of 51 years and paint again.
    His burning desire was to show the world the ruthless persecution, torment, and agony as practiced by the Nazis,
    in the hope that such barbarism would never happen again.
    In 1949, he fled Stalinist Czechoslovakia to Israel and later immigrated to the United States.

  • Because They Were Jews!
    Copyright © 1989 Miriam Friedman Morris
    All Rights Reserved
    Site constructed with permission of Miriam Friedman Morris
    Note: No one other than Miriam Friedman Morris may represent, edit or publish the art or material.

"Edna Hoover"
JGFF Researcher # 66736
For BAUMGARTEN-FRANKENTAL, Leczyca, Lodz Area
Database of diaries and letters #russia #translation

temafrank1@...
 

I found what looks like an amazing resource - it is a collection of diaries from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, dating from the 1800s to the present. https://prozhito.org/.

In theory it is searchable, but the search engine won't work in English translation. I've Google Translated some of the individual diary entries and they are fascinating.

(I'm trying to find diaries that:
a) will give me a sense of everyday life for regular folk in the early 1900s. Particularly interested in anything from Minsk in the 1900 - 1914 period , and
b) anywhere in Russia during the civil war (1917-1919). I'd love to get diaries by soldiers who were on the Bolshevik side. (Most diaries I can find are told from the perspective of the Whites, not the Reds.
It is so frustrating that I can't get the search engine to work. )
 
Tema Frank
Edmonton, Canada
Project: https://temafrank.com/tema-frank-history-detective/
Re: Immigrant ships that never made it to America #general

temafrank1@...
 

I wonder how and when they figured it out, and how they would have reacted. 
--
Tema Frank
Edmonton, Canada
Project: https://temafrank.com/tema-frank-history-detective/
Looking for Zalman FLESER / FLESERIS / FLESHER / FLEISER #lithuania

Denise Fletcher
 

My great-uncle Zalman was born on 7 March 1893 in Prienai, Marijampole (Suwalki Gubernia) to Yankel-Mendel and Pesha-Freida Fleser (born Bialobrodka).  He was the second youngest of 10 children, 8 of whom we know left Lithuania before 1930.  Six of his siblings went to the UK:  Basha, Woolf, David (Davis), Leah, Max and Hasha (Kate).  Two of them, Benjamin and Morris, went to South Africa.  A sister, Feige, remained in Lithuania and perished in the Holocaust.  There is a possibility that Zalman applied for an Internal Passport in Prienai on 20 November 1931, as such a record exists, but it's List Only, so we have no further information.  He also isn't listed in the Yad VaShem database.
 
If anybody recognises any of these details about Zalman and knows what happened to him, we would be very keen to know.  My email is dfletcheroz@...
 
Best,
Denise Fletcher, Sydney Australia
 
 
Re: Immigrant ships that never made it to America #general

mail1@...
 

I too was told in Ireland that some of the people there were dropped off were told it was the US.

Joseph Weiss
Re: German labor camps/detention centers in 1933-34 #germany #holocaust

Lewis, Megan
 

Volume I of the Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933-1945 published by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum includes the early camps.  While the articles do not list prisoners' names they do include footnotes and suggestions for further reading.  You can download the entire volume for free at https://www.ushmm.org/collections/plan-a-research-visit/electronic-resources#encyclopedias.  The early camps are in Part A.

You can search for oral histories, archival materials, publications, photographs and historic film in the Museum's Collections Search catalog https://collections.ushmm.org.

Megan Lewis
Re: Looking for family members in Volunskaya gubernia ( now Ukraine) 1800-1900. #ukraine

Sherri Bobish
 


Marina,

The modern name for Poritzk appears to be Pavlivka, Ukraine.
https://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/community.php?usbgn=A0013

Try searching The JewishGen Ukraine Database https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Ukraine/
You can search by surname or town name.  It's usually better to do a soundex search on the surname, as names got spelled in variant ways.

Hope this helps,

Sherri Bobish
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