I have the estate inventory of an ancestor who died in 1832 in a small village in Hessen-Nassau. The inventory lists several obviously Jewish books (eg. "ein Judisches Gesetzbuch"). It also lists "2

Thank you to Phil Shapiro for letting me know about an online discussion of the fate and writings of Matilda Olkinaite, a young Litvak poet whose life was cut short by the Holocaust. The event is

I found relatives who got pregnant before they were married in 1934. They put the baby up for adoption then married 3 months later. I can't imagine anyone doing that today. -- Phil Karlin Hartford,

It was a frequent practice. It was this in my family. It was a childless relative. I don’t know anything more about him. It is necessary to look for documents about adoption.

I do not know any of the particulars regarding your interactions with Pilgrim Psychiatric Center (formerly Pilgrim State Hospital), but note the following New York's Freedom of Information Law

HIPPA has changed everything. Many years ago I researched a family member in a facility and got a copy of their diagnosis and lots of other information. I am certain they wouldn't give me that

This may not help you at all but at the Kehillath Israel (Brookline MA) Hebrew School, several years ago, we had a third grade teacher named Avraham Gomborow and he was also a survivor. In fact half

I have some thoughts for you if you would like to connect privately. I am not sure how to contact you however.

Itka is a diminutive for Ita

Hi, this subject is close to my heart! A story I have told before and am happy to share again .... My ggrandfather Mordechai KASSEMOFF was born in Rezekne in Latvia. On his papers that I had

All telephone books are on the web Esther

I have the same for my grandfather in the Ukraine. Rose Feldman Israel Genealogy Research Association Winner of 2017 IAJGS Award for Volunteer of the Year

Yes, I have an example of adoption to avoid the Tsar’s army, which I've told in a family story on the Byerazino/Pahost KehilaLink. The details are reported here:

We were told that my husband's surname "Madnick" was not the original family name, that when the Russians recruited boys to their army by force, if you were an only son, you could avoid the military.

I'd like to request a translation of the Polish/Russian text of a birth record from Warsaw in ~1913. It is on ViewMate at the following

Dear Genners I have found a close relative living in the same house, with the same surname who appears as witness in the birth act of a boy (by the way my grandfather) I think he was his

DOES THIS STORY SOUND FAMILIAR? a branch of my family had 5 sons around the mid-late 1800s. In order to avoid the military, 4 of the sons were "adopted" by families which had no sons. Thus, this

On behalf of the Board of the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society, I would like to heartily endorse the election of our long-time society member, Robinn Magid, to the position of

A digitized database of Turkish cemeteries has been launched online and made available to the public by the Goldstein Goren Diaspora Research Center at Tel Aviv University. It is called A World

My family, the Meirovitz/Meerovitz/Meirivitch family was from Smorgon, and I have records from Vilna and Kovno confirming the connection. However, I've contributed/joined the Oshmiany group and