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
|
Who was my grandfather?
#poland
Abe Lederman
Hello,
I'm fairly new to genealogy, having spent just the last 3-4 months building my father's side of my family tree. My father, Leib Lederman, was born in the Warsaw / Wlodawa area in April 1925. He took the surname Lederman from his mother, Raizel Lederman. I know a lot about the Lederman's from Wlodawa, including my great grandfather, Schulim Lederman, born in 1865, who survived the war (he and 10 other Lederman's escaped Poland when Germany invaded and spent WW2 in Tajikistan), and died in 1961 in Israel. With regard to my grandfather, he is known as Dawid, or Schulam Dawid. In Yad Vashem testimony, my father's younger sister, gives testimony that her father, Dawid Lederman, was born in 1885 in Warsaw to parents Shalom and Dvora. Lederman is not clearly right as his last name. In various official documents my father listed his name as Leib Lederman Scher. He also lists his mother's maiden name as Scher. I had never heard the name Scher growing up and wonder if it is made up, or somehow he is trying to honor his father. My father's younger sister (3 years younger) never lists a maiden name for her mother. I've spent time trying to find my grandfather's birth record, mostly on JRI-Poland, but with no luck. I'm heading out to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City on Wednesday and see if they can help me in any way. Any suggestions of any kind would be greatly appreciated. Abe Lederman
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: Blumenthal, Berlin
#germany
#holocaust
Valentin Lupu
Hi David,
A cousin of this family, Peter Cullman from Toronto, Canada submitted testimonies in English at YadvaShem in 2018-2019. He is a Holocaust survivor, maybe he can supply more information. Valentin Lupu ISRAEL
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bat Yam-Holon: Beit HaAlmin Darom
#poland
Yale Reisner
Is there someone in the Holon-Bat Yam area who could try to ascertain from the cemetery administration who is the party last responsible for the grave of the late Zyskind Brudniewski, who was born in Łódź, Poland, in 1907 and died in the Holon area on August 11, 1973? The purpose of this inquiry is to determine if Mr. Brudniewski left any heirs.
Any leads would be greatly appreciated. Yale J. Reisner Warsaw, Poland JGFF #913980 <yalereisner@...>
|
|
|
|
|
|
dbpdallas@...
Adam,
I'm not aware of any way to search by certificate number, but if the death occurred in NYC, there may be a way of locating the record. On the FamilySearch website, you should be able to locate the film number on which the record appears. If you are able to visit a Family History Center, you could search the film, certificate by certificate, until you locate the certificate number for which you are searching. David Passman
|
|
|
|
|
|
Andreas Schwab
Solved: records for Gyanafalva prior to 1886 were recorded in Celdömölk.
-- Andreas Schwab, Montreal, Canada
|
|
|
|
|
|
Esther Ajzenbergh:
#names
Walla Walla
There are many Esther Eisenberg desirable to know country of origin and year of birth approximately
RUCH PINCHAS
|
|
|
|
|
|
Judy Petersen
Hi Andras,
Gyanafalva records are enumerated with those of Körmend, and those records have been transcribed for JewishGen. I found Nina's birth record in the JewishGen All Hungary database by searching Grunwald and Gyanafalva--here is the information: Nina Grünwald, born 27 Apr 1878 in Gyanafalva. Her parents are Jakab Grünwald and Zseny Bodanzky. Her Hebrew name is Esther. This record can be found on film 7952152, item 4, image 288. There are also birth records for her siblings Pali, Regina and Kamila, as well as the marriage record of her parents. You can find these easily on JewishGen. Best, Judy Petersen Fort Collins, CO
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: Gravestone Translation
#translation
kassells@...
I'd like to comment on Odeda's exclusion of a link between the father's name and the family name.
There is actually a huge exception to that rule in the years when family names were introduced to Jews by national authorities. One of the sources used by Jews, who did not a fixed name at that time was to use the Yiddish name of their father or grandfather. Actually this was also a common way to be known among their non-Jewish neighbors. Therefore you can be pretty sure that somebody who chose in those years the family name of Wolf had a father or grandfather named Binyamin. Same thing fof Loew, a father named Yehuda and so on. Haas is Yiddish for hare, rabbit. (in German Hase) I am not aware that this name is associated with any particular Hebrew name. I am only aware of the Haas family of Frankfurt /Main (from which I happen to descend) which derived its name from the house sign depicting a hare. I went to the old Jewish cemetery in Frankfurt and could see on tombstone of this family a hare as well. Best regards, Laurent Kassel, Moreshet, Israel
|
|
|
|
|
|
Webinar - "Jewish Genealogy in the Germanies"
#announcements
#events
#germany
#usa
Myra Fournier
To register for this meeting, click this link or copy it into your web browser: You will be prompted to enter your name and email address. When you hit ENTER, you will ABOUT THE PROGRAM The Germany where our ancestors lived is not the Germany of today. Its boundaries have changed markedly over time. Before its unification in 1871, Germany was more a concept than a state, composed of dozens of kingdoms, duchies, and principalities large and small. Each of these states had its own laws and attitudes toward Jews. To do research in “Germany,” one must know which places belonged to which state at a given time, the legal status of Jews there, and the records that they kept. Germany has an enormous wealth of records pertaining to Jews, especially after 1800, but there are no simple, global rules for using them. This talk works backwards from today’s Germany to the early 19th century, emphasizing historical events and their impact on Jewish life, and the way records were kept. Where (in what states) were my ancestors located and what was the legal status of Jews there? What records exist and were kept where? To properly research Jewish records there, you will need to answer these questions. Here is your opportunity to learn from an expert in German-Jewish genealogy! ABOUT THE SPEAKER Roger Lustig is a consultant and family history researcher based in Princeton, NJ. He is one of the long-time leaders and expert research coordinator of JewishGen’s German Research Division (formerly GerSIG, the German-Jewish Special Interest Group). He is an expert on general German Jewish research and history and specializes in the parts of Prussia that became Polish in the 20th century. Roger is a native speaker of German and has had extensive experience with different types of old German handwriting and print and the information contained in handwritten records. He has researched in libraries and archives across Germany and Poland, and transcribed countless vital records, with many from West Prussia and Upper Silesia. Roger has worked in archives in the US, Germany, and Poland and advises museums and civic groups. Additionally, he has developed databases and contributed over 25,000 records to JRI-Poland, while keeping abreast of research concerning all the former and current German-speaking areas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: translation from Ottoman or Hebrew?
#translation
kassells@...
Hi Odeda,
I would try a different reading for the signature: Wamosz The initial letter does not look like a "mem" but a pair of "vav". Best regards, Laurent Kassel Moreshet, Israel
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: Jewish orphanage in Brussels after the Holocaust
#general
N. ARONSON
This is a question which comes up regularly in this forum.
You are probably referring to the children home founded by Jonas Tiefenbrunner during the war, initially in Brussels and afterwards (even after the war) near Antwerp. A book, "Angel of Orphans" by Malki Weinstock (possibly out of print) describes it in detail. You can read about it here: https://www.aish.com/ho/p/65148467.html N. Aronson ngaronson@...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: Headstone translation from Hebrew
#translation
kassells@...
I'd like to comment on the Yiddish name Mikhel.
It is indeed a male name. In the most standard way of pairing Yiddish and Hebrew names (like Binyamin Wolf, Issachar Ber, Naftali Hirsch and so on) Mikhel goes with the Hebrew name Yechiel. Here we find Mordechai with Mikhel which is less standard. Best regards, Laurent Kassel Moreshet, Israel
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you have the Image Group Number (DGS) or Film Number you can use that to help locate the person, and by using the wild card functions for the name (to a bare minimum) with the Show Exact Search turned on. You'll probably get multiple results but it should be easy to eyeball the right person.
Elias Savada Bethesda MD esavada@...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yizkor Book Report for October 2021
#yizkorbooks
#JewishGenUpdates
lackerfeld@...
Shalom,
There is always great excitement in a month when the very last pages of a Yizkor book are translated and placed online, particularly for those books that we have been working on for a considerable time. So now you can imagine the high level of excitement reigning as we were able to see the completion of no less than four such books in the previous month!
The books whose translation was completed last month are:
Now, some projects end and others have just begun. In recent times, new Translations funds have been set up to assist in seeing two books translated. The funds have been set up to receive the financial support of people with keen interest in learning about the communities of their ancestors. Although we are sometimes fortunate to receive the assistance of skilled volunteer translators, the bulk of the translation work is carried out by professional translators and, hence, the need for funds.
You will find these funds, together with a great number of other funds, listed in our Yizkor Book Translation Funds page and your donation towards any of them will allow us to go forward with their translations.
Once again, this past month we received two additional books that were graciously donated to the YB Project by Jack Berger (Jacob Solomon Berger). The books are: the Memorial book of the martyred community Cieszanow on Cieszanów, Poland and Pinkas Zamosc; in Memoriam on Zamość, Poland. Again, we are very excited about receiving these considerable contributions to our project and very thankful to Jack Berger for enabling us to share them online.
And now for details of what was carried out in October:
Yizkor Book updates · Augustów, Poland (Memorial Book of the Community of Augustow and Region) · Babi Yaar, Ukraine (Memory Book: Babi Yar) · Będzin, Poland (A Memorial to the Jewish Community of Bendin) · Bilgoraj, Poland (Destruction of Bilgoraj) · Dzyatlava, Belarus (A memorial to the Jewish community of Zhetel) · Edineţ, Moldova (Yad l'Yedinitz; memorial book for the Jewish community of Yedintzi, Bessarabia) · Jaroslaw, Poland (Jaroslaw Book: a Memorial to Our Town) · Krynki, Poland (Memorial Book of Krynki) · Kurów, Poland (Yiskor book in memoriam of our hometown Kurow) · Lithuania (Lithuania - volume II) · Lviv, Ukraine (A memorial library of countries and communities, Poland Series: Lwow Volume) · Mahilyow, Belarus (25th Anniversary Book of the Moghileff Brotherhood) · Mińsk Mazowiecki, Poland (Memorial Book in Memory of the destroyed Jewish Community of Minsk-Mazowiecki) · Mlyniv, Ukraine (Mlynov-Muravica Memorial Book) · Radom, Poland (The book of Radom) · Sarny, Ukraine (Memorial Book of the Community of Sarny) · Shums'k, Ukraine (Szumsk, memorial book of the martyrs of Szumsk) · Siedlce, Poland (On the ruins of my home; the destruction of Siedlce) · Stowbtsy, Belarus (Memorial volume of Steibtz-Swerznie and the neighboring villages Rubezhevitz, Derevna, Nalibok) · Suceava, Romania (The Book of the Jews from Suceava (Shotz) and the Surrounding Communities) · Tarnogród, Poland (Book of Tarnogrod; in memory of the destroyed Jewish community) · Telšiai, Lithuania (Telshe Book; memorial epitaph of the Holy community) · Warszawa, Poland (Book of Warsaw) · Volkovysk, Belarus (Wolkovisker Yizkor Book) · Yavoriv, Ukraine (Swastika over Jaworow) · Żychlin, Poland (The memorial book of Zychlin) New books
Important links Before ending this report, here are some important links to note:
All the best, Lance Ackerfeld Director of Special Projects - Yizkor Books JewishGen.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: Lithuanian Archive (LVIA) Time Frame for Response Information Needed
#lithuania
Carol Hoffman
Patience. Y
You will receive the document. The archivists in Lithuania are very busy and doing their best to reply in a timely fashion. The money sent was for research and a copy of the record. Carol Hoffman, PhD LitvakSIG President
|
|
|
|
|
|
Question about the origin of my last name and familiy
#hungary
udihem78@...
Hello, my name is Ehud Hamli. I am interested in finding out what the origin of my last name is. My father grew up in Romania originally from Petroshani but was Hungarian, his father was from the place, and his mother from Yugoslavia from Subotica.
I know that Hemli is a Hungarian name and can also be registered as Hemley 'or as Hamly.
From what I have seen there is a record of at least 6 generations back with this last name.
I was interested to know the origin of the last name and last name.
In our family there are versions that the family originates from Germany and others that the origin is from Portuguese martyrs but no one exactly knows.
This name is not common and it is one family.
I would be very happy if you could help me in this matter
|
|
|
|
|
|
Free book with more than 50 testimonies from Jewish survivors from Belgium
#holocaust
Reinier
In April I published the book ''From the Children's Home to the Gas Chamber, and how some avoided their fate.''
It is a book about Belgium with a focus on the stories of child survivors. I conducted interviews with these survivors (born between 1923 and 1943), resulting in about 50 testimonies that feature in this book. The survivors talk about their lives prior to, during, and after the war. Many survivors lived in Belgian orphanages during or after the war, including the following orphanages: Meisjeshuis (Antwerp), Tiefenbrunner, Wezembeek, Aische-en Refail, Baron de Castro (Etterbeek), Les Moineaux (Uccle), the orphanage at the Lange Leemstraat (Antwerp) and the orphanage at the Generaal Drubbelstraat (Antwerp), also known as Manaster orphanage. If you would like to receive a free digital copy of the book, you can send me a message and I can send you the PDF-file of the book. The book is also available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Home-Gas-Chamber-avoided/dp/B091F5SJLL Reinier Heinsman heinsmanreinier@... The Netherlands
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: Jewish orphanage in Brussels after the Holocaust
#general
David Lewin
At 06:29 07/11/2021, Yohanan wrote:
I'm trying to help a friend who's mother stayed between about 1945 to 1948 (not during the Holocaust) in a Jewish orphanage in Brussels, Belgium. I suggest you start with https://www.brusselsmuseums.be › ... › Museums The Jewish Museum of Belgium was conceived almost 30 years ago and aims to introduce the Jewish history, religion and culture as well as encouraging ... David Lewin London
Search & Unite attempt to help locate people who, despite the passage
of so many years since World War II, may still exist "out
there".
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: Headstone translation from Hebrew
#translation
Odeda Zlotnick
It's "Michel", as David Dubin wrote.
Michal is a biblical name for a female, Michel (Michl) is a Yiddish name for a male - unfortunately the spelling is identical... -- Odeda Zlotnick Jerusalem, Israel.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jewish orphanage in Brussels after the Holocaust
#general
Yohanan
I'm trying to help a friend who's mother stayed between about 1945 to 1948 (not during the Holocaust) in a Jewish orphanage in Brussels, Belgium.
Any idea about such an orphanage and if there are records to search. Possible surnames involved are SENATOR and ZLOTO. -- Yohanan LOEFFLER Melbourne, Australia Researching (main surnames): From Austria, Slovakia: LOFFLER / LEFLER, LEDERER, SCHNEIDER, NATHAN, SEELENFRIED, ZAPPERT. From Bukowina, Galicia: MINSTER / MUNSTER, NAGEL, SCHERL, IWANIR. From Poland / Belarus: ALTMAN, KAMINSKY, KAMINKIER, LUBETKIN, SZTARK, YOSELEWICZ, KOSLOWSKI, KRAMARZ, RAUCHFELD.
|
|
|
|