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.
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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.”
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Send your questions to: support@JewishGen.org
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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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Upcoming Programs from the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh
#announcements
#jgs-iajgs
#events
Steve Jaron
Hello All - wanted to pass along some reminders and announcements from the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh.
On October 31st at 1pm Eastern (US) The Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh will be hosting "Ask The Experts" with Tammy Hepps, Caitlin Hollander, Jarrett Ross, and Michael Waas for our International Jewish Genealogy Month / Family History Month Program. The deadline to register in order to submit questions ahead of time has passed however there may be time for additional questions at the end. Anyone who has registered by the October 15 deadline has been sent a Google form to submit their question to the panel.
Registration will remain open until the time of the program.
Cost for this virtual program is $10 USD for non-JGS of Pittsburgh members and Free for members.
Please visit the event page for our panelists bio's and areas of expertise.
On November 14th at 11am Eastern (US) join us for our program with author Jess Wieble - “Dead Letters: Delivering Unopened Mail from a Pennsylvania Ghost Town”
On assignment for a small-town newspaper in rural Pennsylvania, rookie reporter Jessica Weible meets Joan Swigart, a creative fireball and “pioneer in print.” As the two women forge a relationship based on their passion for storytelling, Joan reveals a mystery that she had discovered years ago, but had never solved—a pile of dead letters found in an abandoned general store, just before it was torn down. Joan gives Jessica the letters, each stamped and dated over a hundred years ago, and encourages Jessica to investigate the untold stories of the people and places contained in each one.
Among the letters is a correspondence in Yiddish, which connects to a web of Jewish stories in Pittsburgh.
This program costs $5 per person. It’s free for Jewish Genealogy Society members. Please register online.
This is a hybrid program. Attendees can participate either online or in-person at the Heinz History Center. In-person attendance will be limited to the first 20 people who register. Social distancing will be enforced. Depending on public health conditions at the time of the program, we may revert to all-virtual format and send updated instructions to all registrants. Attendees in person will get a chance to see the actual letters.
On December 12th at 1pm Eastern (US) join us for our program with professional genealogist Janette Silverman - “Written in Stone: When Gravestones Lie” As genealogists, we depend on gravestones to give us at least basic information about a decedent: name, for example, and perhaps years of birth and death. What happens when the gravestone doesn’t match other documents – how do you discover the facts? How do you interact with a cemetery to find graves when the gravestone isn’t in their database?
Dr. Janette Silverman is a professional genealogist, heading a team of researchers specializing in Eastern European and Jewish research at AncestryProGenealogists® the division of Ancestry® that does private client research. Her research on behalf of clients takes her all over the U.S. and Europe. Silverman holds a Doctorate in Jewish Studies from Spertus Institute. Her dissertation, “In Living Memory” explored her family’s journey from Europe to the U.S. from the 1880s to the 1920s, contextualizing their experiences.
Please visit the event page for more information and to register. This program costs $5 per person. It’s free for Jewish Genealogy Society members. Please register online.
https://www. For more information about the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh please visit our website Thank You Steven Jaron JGS of Pittsburgh President
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civil registration mihalyfalva
#records
rachel leshem
Hello Sarah,
Do try the Municipality- population registry offices. I'll try to get the exact name & address from an acquaintance there. Sincerely, Rachel Leshem.
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Janet Furba
Hi there are some Skiba living in Moscow.
Janet Furba, Germany
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vkreynin@...
Hello, If you're researching your ancestries that left Belarus, I can help you get documents from Belorussian archives. All the documents will be transcribed and translated into English.
If you're interested, just send me a note. Vadim Kreynin vkreynin@... MODERATOR NOTE: Please reply privately to Vadim via his e-mail if you are interested
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Re: What name is this on a ship manifest?
#translation
Diane Jacobs
Husband’s name looks like Gerson.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
Diane Jacobs
On Oct 23, 2021, at 5:35 PM, Bob Silverstein <bobsilverstein@...> wrote:
--
Diane Jacobs, Somerset, New Jersey
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What name is this on a ship manifest?
#translation
Bob Silverstein
I cannot read this name on a ship manifest. The family, Diament on lines 16 to 18, was traveling to the husband and father. The first word is husband but I cannot figure out name itself. The full page is also attached.
 Thanks. -- Bob Silverstein bobsilverstein@... Elk Grove Village, IL Researching Kaplan (Krynki, Poland) Tzipershteyn (Logishin, Pinsk, Belarus), Friedson/Fridzon (Pinsk, Cuba, Massachusetts), Israel and Goodman (Mishnitz, Warsaw, Manchester).
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Argentina birth record needed
#latinamerica
#records
bluedevilgrad@...
I am requesting assistance
I am searching for a birth record on an ancestor (Isadore aka Yitzhak DELEWI aka Delvey aka Dolerey aka Levine) reportedly born in Buenos Aires Argentina in 1907. Does anyone know where to look online or where to write for birth records in Argentina? Thank for any assistance.
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Unusual Source of Kielce Records Now Available
#poland
judyggenealogy@...
JRI-Poland is proud to announce the full extraction of the unique attachments to the 1918-1935 deaths and 1935 births housed in the Kielce Branch of the Polish State Archives. These loose pieces of paper were assigned the akt number corresponding to the birth and death registrations in the Kielce metric books and contain backup information substantiating the details in the official records.
Death Attachments (DA)
Death attachments include the death certificate and a hand-written testimony. Unlike the vast majority of pre-1916 death records in Poland, these documents state the cause of death determined by the acting physician as well as date, time and place (or Kielce address) of death, age of the deceased, religion, and marital status; the testimony also includes the parents’ names, town of permanent residence, occupation and surviving spouse. Corresponding hand-written testimony Birth Attachments (BA)
While the birth attachments available are only from 1935, 87% of the births occurred in prior years. These documents include hand-written testimony and parental evidence. While not official birth records, these hand-written testimonies signed by the Kielce Rabbi provide date, Kielce address or town of birth; parents’ names, ages and legitimacy of their marriage; akt number, town and often date of parents’ marriage; legitimacy of the child’s birth (contingent on civil marriage of parents); the father’s profession and town of permanent residence; and witnesses. In addition to this birth testimony, there is also the marriage certificate of parents who were civilly married or the birth certificate or birth affidavit of the father if the parents had not registered their marriage civilly.
Yad Vashem testimony for Kiwa MACHTYNGIER who died in Treblinka
This birth attachment from 1935 testifies the birth on 2-Jan-1926 of Chaim MACHTYNGIER who was lost in the Shoah. His Aunt submitted testimony to Yad Vashem stating 1925 as his date of birth. These birth attachment extracts give researchers the opportunity to correct Pages of Testimony with primary source information.
In short, there is a wealth of genealogical data not typically seen in the “standard” death and birth records…a new great resource for Kielce researchers. Please contact me for a list of surnames.
This project was expedited by the outstanding and relentless extraction efforts of JRI-Poland volunteers who persevered in deciphering unusually challenging handwriting. Thanks again to Ruth Diamond, Ari Schifman, Sally Bruckheimer, Sue Fifer and Marlene Walker.
Judy Golan JRI-Poland Kielce Town Leader JRI-Poland Kielce Area Coordinator
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Yonatan Ben-Ari
I am searching descendants of Reb Yisrael ROSENBAUM of Ostrow who was
a follower of R'Yehoshua Heschel of Apta . The book "Mazkeret Legedolei Ostrow" mentions two such individuals but theories that they may have been the same person. My ancestor (my great grandfather's grandfather) came to Eretz Yisrael during the 19th cent. and was supposedly buried in Tveria. His children who stayed in Europe, last places I know of were Skalat, Romania and Starokonstantine, changed their family name to SCHECHTER as to their professions. My great grandfather, Yacov Gedalya SCHECHTER, son of Yisrael's son David, came to Jerusalem to see how his elderly grandfather was fareing and eventually stayed in Jerusalem. I would be happy to connect with other branches of Yisrael's children to share our family trees. Yoni Ben-Ari, Jerusalem
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Acacia and Bayside Cemetery Photographs
#usa
#photographs
Steven Lasky
About eight or nine years ago I photographed nine plots in Acacia and twelve in Bayside. I gave jpegs of these matzevot to Nolan Altlman of JewishGen's JOWBR. I don't know if they are online via JOWBR yet, you can check. Or, of course, you can volunteer to help him get these photos and this data online by contacting him. Bayside Cemetery, especially, is like a jungle. It was hard to get straight-on photos of at least half the matzevot because of the vast overgrowth. Steve Lasky
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Re: GOLDBERG from Zychlin, Leczyca or Lodz, Poland
#poland
rv Kaplan
I expect you'll have more luck on the Danziger side than the Goldbergs! Harvey Kaplan Glasgow, Scotland
On Sat, 23 Oct 2021 at 17:36, David Jacobowitz <david.jacobowitz@...> wrote: I have been looking for my Goldberg/Danziger family from Poland for a while. Maybe you have some suggestions. Abraham Danziger is my grandfather.
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jbonline1111@...
I have name changes on both sides of my family. It is legal to change one's name without official documentation as long as it is not done to defraud.
On my maternal side, the spelling of both my grandfather's and grandmother's last names changed over the years. I have no proof, but think this was to "modernize" or simplify the spelling. I doubt there is any documentation in official records. It is pretty much the same as first name changes. For example, my grandmother also went from Baila to Bella and my grandfather from Yitzchak to Isidore. My father's first name was changed by his mother sometime before he was 3 years old, reasons unknown. Later, he and his brothers changed their last names without going through official channels. Therefore, when my father applied for Social Security his sister-in-law had to sign an affidavit stating that she knew him by both names. Just to further confuse things, my father enlisted in the US Army under his later names--both first and last--while his brother enlisted using his birth name. In brief, you may or may not be able to find any official documents that explain name changes. -- Barbara Sloan Conway, SC
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Alexander Sharon
Just to supplement Wlodek Matuszewski posting on Wisztyniec, the following data is extracted from the Kingdom of Poland Geographical Dictionary (Słownik Geograficzny Królewstwa Polskiego) and few other sources.
Town Wisztyniec was established in 1538, city rights were granted by the Grand Duke of Lithuania in1 570, and Jewish people have been given rights to establish synagogue and cemetery on January 1,1589. Beginning in the 1850s, a significant number of the town's Jews emigrated to Germany, the United States, and South Africa At the end of 19th century, (I believe statistics are refer to the year 1876), in town were counted nine (9) Eastern Orthodox, 1,778 Protestants and 2,453 Jewish residents. During the Holocaust, all of Vištytis' Jews were murdered, mainly by local collaborators in the town.[1] The exact number murdered is unclear; estimates range from 200 - 400 Jews (out of the town's general population of around 1000). First the men were shot, then the women - but, to save bullets, the Jewish children were killed by having their heads bashed against the trees in the town park.[2] A memorial to the victims was later erected by the Soviets near a windmill called Grist Mill, but the plaque made no mention that those buried in the nearby fields were Jews. Later, a 'Jewish' tombstone was erected that clearly noted what happened. References: (1) http://www.holocaustatlas.lt/EN/#a_atlas/search//page/1/item/179/^ (2) Yad Vashem, Pinkas Hakehillot, Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities from their foundation till after the Holocaust: Lithuania (1996) pp.260–262 MASS MURDER OF THE JEWS FROM VIŠTYTISHolocaust Atlas of Lithuania Alexander Sharon
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Re: Acacia and Bayside Cemetery Photographing
#usa
#photographs
Robert Avner
The information being given about Acacia & Bayside Cemeteries are incorrect. They are two of the three Ozone Park Cemeteries. The third is Mokom Sholom which is always kept locked & you have to call the office to have it opened. What is correct is that there are no offices on site for the three Ozone Park cemeteries however there is a caretaker on site for Bayside Cemetery. They are not managed & owned by the same company. Bayside Cemetery is owned by Congregation Shaare Zedek in Manhattan & that is the only cemetery they own & was forced by a court to manage & maintain it properly. It is only open 9:00am to 3:00pm on Sundays. You should call ahead of time #212-874-7005 & the contact person was Jesse as of this past summer. Acacia is open every day except Saturday to 3:30pm is owned & operated by the same company that runs Mokom Sholom, Linden Hill, Machipelah & Mt Hope on Jamaica Ave. There phone # 212-477-2221. They assume immediately that you are doing genealogy & are not the most helpful.Robert Avner
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Re: GOLDBERG from Zychlin, Leczyca or Lodz, Poland
#poland
I have been looking for my Goldberg/Danziger family from Poland for a while. Maybe you have some suggestions. Abraham Danziger is my grandfather.
1. Fajwel Goldberg b. circa 1800 └ +Fajga Ryfka BORROWER
2. Chaim Wolf Goldberg b. circa 1833, Rawa, Lubartów County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland
└ +Chawa Laja LEFFEL b. circa 1836; m. February 23, 1855, Rawa, Lubartów County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland
3. Razel Necha GOLDBERG b. September 22, 1856, Rawa, Lubartów County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland; d. before 1913, Radom, Radom County, Mazowieckie, Poland
└ +Maer Danziger b. between April 22, 1857 and May 15, 1862, Rozprza, piotrkowski, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland; d. May 14, 1928, St. Alexis Hospital, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States; m. circa 1880, Radom, Radom County, Mazowieckie, Poland
4. Abra Danziger b. September 25, 1878, Rawa Mazowiecka, Rawa County, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland; d. April 2, 1962, Riverdale Nursing Home, 5901 Palisade Avenue, Bronx, Bronx County, New York, United States
4. Rywka Danziger b. between 1880 and May 25, 1883, Bielany, Warsaw, Warszawa, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland; d. 1934, Age 54y
4. Anna Danziger Scheiner Greenberg b. between circa 1882 and August 23, 1885, Rawa, Lubartów County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland; d. April 10, 1957
4. Mary DANZIGER b. between September 12, 1887 and circa May 1889, Radom, Radom County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland; d. March 16, 1985, Cleveland, Ohio, United States
4. Malka DANZIGER b. July 5, 1889, Radom, Radom County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland
4. William Danziger b. December 18, 1895, Radom, Radom County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland; d. October 1969, Miami, Miami-Dade, Florida, United States
3. Ajzyk Goldberg b. October 31, 1862, Rawa, Lubartów County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland
David Jacobowitz Vermont
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itencorinne@...
Hi Julie
The first step should be to search and find all documents in the United States about your grandmother and her parents who could contain their places and dates of birth in Poland. This are the passenger manifest, naturalisation papers, passport applications, marriage and death records and military papers like World War I Draft Card or World War II Draft Card. All this sorts of documents are online on familysearch. Naturalisation papers often also mention if the person immigrated with another surname than later used in the United States which is often the case with Eastern European surnames. Once you know their place of birth you can find the church records on the relevant polish archives websites which have such records online or the Jewish records on JewishGen or Gesher Galicia. Regards Corinne Iten Switzerland
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Re: Acacia and Bayside Cemetery Photographing
#usa
#photographs
Robert Hanna
I was out to both cemeteries about 4 years ago. Acacia was not bad. It is not very large and was in good order and condition. Easy to get around. In fact I noticed a recent burial. Bayside, however, was in disarray. I understand that since then it has been cleaned up. However, it is huge and, without a map, would be extremely difficult to find a grave.
Robert Hanna NYC Researching: CHANAN/HANAN/HANNE/HEINE/HINEY (Warsaw, Poland); BLUMENBLAT (Sarnaki, Poland); KARASIK, THOMASHOW/TOMOSHOFF, COHEN (Babruysk, Belarus); RUBINSTEIN, BUNDEROFF, PASTILNIK, NEMOYTEN, DISKIN (Minsk, Belarus)
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stephen@...
The 1% Jewish ethnicity for your grandmother indicates that her parents were not Jewish. It was not uncommon for Poles who lived closely or worked with Jews to learn Yiddish. Such things even happened in the USA. Colin Powell just died recently, read about his exposure to Yiddish.
-- Stephen Schmideg Melbourne, Australia stephen@...
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A little correction: Vistitis Polish name is Wisztyniec and now lake (jezioro) Wisztynieckie is shared between Poland Lithouania and Russian Federation.
Wlodek Matuszewski
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Re: Tracking down family in Lithuania!
#lithuania
Vivien Dean
Thank you, Russ.
I am researching the Boruchovich and Kotovsky families. Any tips? There are lots of alternative spellings, I know, Regards Viv Dean
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