I emailed the Patronato (in Spanish) asking about immigration records but there was no reply. I did see that Facebook has a page for the Patronato but the information about it is sketchy. I tried posting on that but nothing happened. I don't think the contact person mentioned in this discussion group for the Patronato is the contact anymore (I used the organization's email address, not a person's).

There are articles out there about the Cuban Jews but they speak generically about the immigration experience and don't provide clues to where there may be data. I've tried researching the potential ports of embarkation (Bremen, Hamburg, etc.) but so far no luck. None of the major genealogy portals have their names as immigration ship passengers. The portal called Cubagenweb only has Havana disembarking passenger lists from ships prior to 1900s. I've also looked at collections of Cuban newspapers, most notably the major publication El Diario de la Marina, which is digitized but not indexed so that one cannot search within the collection nor within each edition. 

If disembarkation lists are lost, I have to believe that embarkation lists still exist somewhere. However, it's been like searching for a needle in a haystack. I wish some of the scholars or leaders of the Jewish community could take up the search for the 1920s. Many of those Jews immigrated twice in their lifetimes (1) out of Europe in the early 20th century and (2) out of Cuba in the 1960s mostly into the U.S.

Eugenia Bachert

We recently at two Birds of a Feather (BOF) sessions of the International Jewish Genealogy Seminar described through a 3-minute video the need to initiate new Jewish Cemetery Restoration Projects in Poland to save abandoned, neglected, or desecrated cemeteries, and supporting and getting involved in, existing projects.

The video can be downloaded or shared. Note that in some cases, the link below may not work using Chrome/Windows 10, but it does work in Firefox or Edge. As there a several formats from which to choose, please select the size that works best for you. The link is:

vimeo.com/739469003/fa4186bc6a. In the event you are prompted for a password, use FJCP (all caps).

Warmest Regards,

Jeff Miller

Please join us for our next JGASGP meeting and lecture.  We are meeting in person and encourage everyone to bring a friend.   All are welcome to attend free of charge.  Refreshments will be served. CDC guidelines will be followed. Hybrid link information will be announced on our website the week before the meeting.

Date: Sunday, September 18, 2022
Time: 1:00 PM check in, chat, and schmooze (Optional) Official program starts promptly at 1:30

Speaker: Sharon Taylor

Topic: Bootleggers and Bawdy Houses: Jews and Crime in Early 20th Century Philadelphia

Location: Main Line Reform Temple 410 Montgomery Ave, Wynnewood, PA 19096

Check our website for the Zoom link www.jgasgp.org on Friday Sept., 16th. 

When Taylor went looking for the criminals on her own family tree, she discovered the colorful history of the Jewish Mob in early twentieth century Philadelphia. Particularly during Prohibition, organized crime among Philadelphia’s Jews flourished. Taylor’s talk walks participants through the clues that Taylor followed including the U.S. Census, collections at the Philadelphia City Archives, and Newspapers.com. Some of Philadelphia’s most notorious Jewish gangsters will also be profiled.

       Sharon is a writer, researcher, and speaker with a lifelong interest in Jewish genealogy. She graduated from Cornell University with a BS degree in Industrial and Labor Relations. She is a member of Gesher Galicia and the Jewish Genealogical and Archival Society of Greater Philadelphia and is included in their Speakers Bureau. Her articles have been published in both organizations’ journals, on The National Library of Israel Blog, and in Jewish newspapers in Philadelphia and Arizona.

We will be thanking those members who worked on our new Resource Guide.  Join us for refreshments as we have our first in person meeting after the IAJGS Conference!