Some close friends will be in Krakow next week for a day. can anyone
recommend a guide?

thanks
Debbie wiener, Melbourne
dwiener@tpg.com.au

MODERATOR'S NOTE: Please send any recommendations for guides privately.

Some close friends will be in Krakow next week for a day. can anyone
recommend a guide?

thanks
Debbie wiener, Melbourne
dwiener@tpg.com.au

MODERATOR'S NOTE: Please send any recommendations for guides privately.

Re: Latvian cemetery book

Contact the author Meyer Melers at the Email address of the Museum

ebreji.latvija@apollo.lv

He will let you know what you need to do to purchase the cemetery book.
Arlene Beare
UK

I haven't been participating in this discussion group for long but I have
observed that a substantial number of participants appear unaware of the
Galicia SIG discussion group, part of JewishGen. I would strongly
suggest that those with roots in Galicia, which was part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire >from 1772-1918, consider also joining the Galicia
SIG discussion group, as well as Gesher Galicia, the SIG, itself. The
Galicia SIG discussion group reaches a few thousand people with a specific
interest in Galicia. Folks are likely to find out relevant information about
the town and even find others with information about their families.

Suzan Wynne
Kensington, MD
founder of Gesher Galicia and author of "The Galitzianers: The Jews of
Galicia, 1772-1918"

Re: Latvian cemetery book

Contact the author Meyer Melers at the Email address of the Museum

ebreji.latvija@apollo.lv

He will let you know what you need to do to purchase the cemetery book.
Arlene Beare
UK

I haven't been participating in this discussion group for long but I have
observed that a substantial number of participants appear unaware of the
Galicia SIG discussion group, part of JewishGen. I would strongly
suggest that those with roots in Galicia, which was part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire >from 1772-1918, consider also joining the Galicia
SIG discussion group, as well as Gesher Galicia, the SIG, itself. The
Galicia SIG discussion group reaches a few thousand people with a specific
interest in Galicia. Folks are likely to find out relevant information about
the town and even find others with information about their families.

Suzan Wynne
Kensington, MD
founder of Gesher Galicia and author of "The Galitzianers: The Jews of
Galicia, 1772-1918"

This project is a very exciting one. I see in the
shtetl list the town name of Staszow. Will there be
any of the nearby communities >from that area included
in the project? Namely, Osiek, Klimontow, Bogoria,
and others.

Sharon Brown
sharonb2468@yahoo.com

BRAUM / BRAUN / BROWN /GASSE– Osiek (Oshik)
BLACKSTEIN / BLACKSTONE / BLACHSZTAJN – Staszow (also
Utica and upstate New York)
WACHSMAN – Osiek, Staszow
APPELBAUM / EPELBAUM – Klimontow
TAITELBAUM / TAJTELBAUM – Ostrowiec, Cmielow
GOLDWASER – Klimontow and Bogoria
FLYASHMAN – Ostrowiec, Cmielow
RAICHMAN / SMITH – Osiek, Klimontow
VILLIERS: England (London)
MILLER: England (Willesden)
BLACKSTEIN / SMITH / RICHMAN / LERMAN: Portland, ME,
Boston, MA, New York City and State
WEISMAN / FREEMAN / BARNOY: Israel
APPELBAUM / EPELBAUM / TAITELBAUM / TAJTELBAUM:
Argentina (Buenos Aires), Brazil (Rio de Janiero)

sharonb2468@yahoo.com

This project is a very exciting one. I see in the
shtetl list the town name of Staszow. Will there be
any of the nearby communities >from that area included
in the project? Namely, Osiek, Klimontow, Bogoria,
and others.

Sharon Brown
sharonb2468@yahoo.com

BRAUM / BRAUN / BROWN /GASSE– Osiek (Oshik)
BLACKSTEIN / BLACKSTONE / BLACHSZTAJN – Staszow (also
Utica and upstate New York)
WACHSMAN – Osiek, Staszow
APPELBAUM / EPELBAUM – Klimontow
TAITELBAUM / TAJTELBAUM – Ostrowiec, Cmielow
GOLDWASER – Klimontow and Bogoria
FLYASHMAN – Ostrowiec, Cmielow
RAICHMAN / SMITH – Osiek, Klimontow
VILLIERS: England (London)
MILLER: England (Willesden)
BLACKSTEIN / SMITH / RICHMAN / LERMAN: Portland, ME,
Boston, MA, New York City and State
WEISMAN / FREEMAN / BARNOY: Israel
APPELBAUM / EPELBAUM / TAITELBAUM / TAJTELBAUM:
Argentina (Buenos Aires), Brazil (Rio de Janiero)

sharonb2468@yahoo.com

It was a few days ago that I announced the availability at AGAD of new
registers for 42 eastern Galician towns. At that time, I said: "If you
are interested in the Galician towns of Jaworow, Kosow, Lwow, Tartakow,
Zniesienie, and Zolkiew, please stay tuned to this forum for a message
about the projects to index these records."

Amongst the 42 town registers were 1901-04 B, 1877-1905 M for Jaworow,
1899-1905 M for Kosow, 1904-05 BMD for Lwow, 1904-05 BMD for Tartakow,
1904-05 BMD for Zniesienie, and 1904-05 BMD for Zolkiew.

For these towns, there are still many earlier records that have not been
indexed. This is due to the lack of funding to carry out the indexing.

Jaworow
~~~~~~~
Available records: 1848~1905 B, 1861~1905 M, 1842~1903 D
Indexed and Online: none
Estimated Cost to index: $5,500
Contributions to date: $1,075

Kosow
~~~~~~
Available records: 1868~1900 B, 1877~1905 M, 1877~1903 D
Indexed and Online: none
Estimated Cost to index: $2,600
Contributions to date: $304

Lwow
~~~~~~~
Available records: 1863~1905 B, 1870~1905 M, 1864~1905 D
Indexed and Online: 1877-1899 B, 1870-1899 M
Estimated Cost to index remaining records: $18,000
Contributions to date: $3,510

Tartakow
~~~~~~~
Available records: 1858~1905 B, 1845~1904 M, 1877~1905 D
Indexed and Online: 1858-1897 B, 1845~1876 M
Estimated Cost to index remaining records: $875
Contributions to date: $0

Zniesienie
~~~~~~~
Available records: 1871~1905 B, 1872~1905 M, 1877~1905 D
Indexed and Online: none
Estimated Cost to index remaining records: $3,500
Contributions to date: $225

Zolkiew
~~~~~~~
Available records: 1853~1905 B, 1815~1905 M, 1870~1905 D
Indexed and Online: none
Estimated Cost to index remaining records: $4,300
Contributions to date: $530

These are towns that desperately need your generous support. Lwow should
be especially interesting to all of you, as many family branches from
all over Galicia moved to Lwow at some point in the late 19th Century.
Also, Zniesienie is an interesting town. Only about 2 miles >from Lwow,
all Jewish vital records for smaller towns near Lwow registered their
vital events in Zniesienie.

If you are interested in seeing any of these AGAD town registers indexed
and the resultant indices added to the JRI- Poland database, please give
generously to your town's project. Instructions on how to contribute can
be found at http://www.jri-poland.org/visa.htm. Please just identify
that you contribution is for the AGAD-"your town" project.

If you have any questions, please contact me privately at
mark@halpern.com.

Mark Halpern
AGAD Archive Coordinator

Additional Data to Mary Zucker mail:
1891 Galicia Business Directory at:

http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Poland/galicia1891.htm

Zucker Nuta, Delicatessen owner in Krosno (town near Jaslo, 15 miles
distance)
Zucker Samuel, Majdan Gorny, Brewery
Zajaczkowski Josef, Photography, Jaslo and Rzeszow

Alexander Sharon
Calgary, Canada

It was a few days ago that I announced the availability at AGAD of new
registers for 42 eastern Galician towns. At that time, I said: "If you
are interested in the Galician towns of Jaworow, Kosow, Lwow, Tartakow,
Zniesienie, and Zolkiew, please stay tuned to this forum for a message
about the projects to index these records."

Amongst the 42 town registers were 1901-04 B, 1877-1905 M for Jaworow,
1899-1905 M for Kosow, 1904-05 BMD for Lwow, 1904-05 BMD for Tartakow,
1904-05 BMD for Zniesienie, and 1904-05 BMD for Zolkiew.

For these towns, there are still many earlier records that have not been
indexed. This is due to the lack of funding to carry out the indexing.

Jaworow
~~~~~~~
Available records: 1848~1905 B, 1861~1905 M, 1842~1903 D
Indexed and Online: none
Estimated Cost to index: $5,500
Contributions to date: $1,075

Kosow
~~~~~~
Available records: 1868~1900 B, 1877~1905 M, 1877~1903 D
Indexed and Online: none
Estimated Cost to index: $2,600
Contributions to date: $304

Lwow
~~~~~~~
Available records: 1863~1905 B, 1870~1905 M, 1864~1905 D
Indexed and Online: 1877-1899 B, 1870-1899 M
Estimated Cost to index remaining records: $18,000
Contributions to date: $3,510

Tartakow
~~~~~~~
Available records: 1858~1905 B, 1845~1904 M, 1877~1905 D
Indexed and Online: 1858-1897 B, 1845~1876 M
Estimated Cost to index remaining records: $875
Contributions to date: $0

Zniesienie
~~~~~~~
Available records: 1871~1905 B, 1872~1905 M, 1877~1905 D
Indexed and Online: none
Estimated Cost to index remaining records: $3,500
Contributions to date: $225

Zolkiew
~~~~~~~
Available records: 1853~1905 B, 1815~1905 M, 1870~1905 D
Indexed and Online: none
Estimated Cost to index remaining records: $4,300
Contributions to date: $530

These are towns that desperately need your generous support. Lwow should
be especially interesting to all of you, as many family branches from
all over Galicia moved to Lwow at some point in the late 19th Century.
Also, Zniesienie is an interesting town. Only about 2 miles >from Lwow,
all Jewish vital records for smaller towns near Lwow registered their
vital events in Zniesienie.

If you are interested in seeing any of these AGAD town registers indexed
and the resultant indices added to the JRI- Poland database, please give
generously to your town's project. Instructions on how to contribute can
be found at http://www.jri-poland.org/visa.htm. Please just identify
that you contribution is for the AGAD-"your town" project.

If you have any questions, please contact me privately at
mark@halpern.com.

Mark Halpern
AGAD Archive Coordinator

Additional Data to Mary Zucker mail:
1891 Galicia Business Directory at:

http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Poland/galicia1891.htm

Zucker Nuta, Delicatessen owner in Krosno (town near Jaslo, 15 miles
distance)
Zucker Samuel, Majdan Gorny, Brewery
Zajaczkowski Josef, Photography, Jaslo and Rzeszow

Alexander Sharon
Calgary, Canada

This mystery is related to the records of Tarnow and nearby towns.
We need your help to determine which town some records (indices)
are actually for.

Several years ago, JRI-Poland purchased a large number of index
pages for the town of Tarnow >from the Polish State Archives. These
were >from 'index registers' - not registers with both records and
index pages.

This data was put online about 18 months ago and consisted of:

Sygnatura Quantity Type Years
USC.T.15 3250 Birth 1868-1877
USC.T.16 454 Birth 1850-1888 (plus a small number thru 1897)
USC.T.17 5677 Birth 1877-1888
USC.T.24 3614 Marriage 1877-1899
USC.T.35 2646 Death 1877-1899 (plus a small number thru 1942)
USC.T.36 7293 Death 1877-1899

When orders for copies of records started to arrive (for these
"Tarnow" records) we realized that something was wrong. The records
referred to in the index registers for Sygnaturas 15 and 35 did not
correspond to those in the actual record registers. We immediately
reported the problem to the Tarnow archives.

The Tarnow archives reported that these index volumes were clearly
marked "Miasta Tarnow" (Tarnow Town). At that point we set out to
solve the mystery - which town are these index volumes really for.
There are a very small number of comments in this index file, and
they do refer to Tarnow.

The indices were sent to other nearby branches of the PSA and they
were asked to check them against Jewish record registers >from towns
in their holdings. This has been a slow process, and the
unfortunate result is that none matched.

The records >from Sygnatura 35 have been removed >from our online
database, and we hope to remove those >from Sygnatura 15 soon.

So, we are offering the indices >from these two Sygnaturas to all
researchers without obligation and asking them to help solve the
mystery. Unless the correct town is identified there will be no way
to associate these indices with actual records.

Researchers with an interest in any town in the former western
Galicia, and particularly those in the region of Tarnow, Krakow,
Bochnia, Zabno, Nowy Sacz, etc., are invited to download the Excel
file with all the unknown indices. We hope that one or more
researchers will spot specific records that they know are for their
family and thus identify the town.

The file also contains a list of surnames, sorted both
alphabetically and by frequency. The most frequent surnames in this
file are:
KEMPLER
WOLF
GOLDBERG
KALFUS
GROSS
KATZ
FORSCHER
SCHÖN
TRAURIG
HOROWITZ
APTER
BERKOWICZ
KLAPHOLZ
STEIN
TERKEL
WEISS
FELD
FRIEDMAN
FUCHS
LOWI
MANTEL
NEBENZAHL
OCHS

The Excel file may be downloaded from:
http://www.jri-poland.org/TarnowMystery.xls

Please pass this message to all your co-researchers >from the area.

Thank you,

Howard Fink
Tarnow Archive Coordinator
Jewish Records Indexing - Poland

This mystery is related to the records of Tarnow and nearby towns.
We need your help to determine which town some records (indices)
are actually for.

Several years ago, JRI-Poland purchased a large number of index
pages for the town of Tarnow >from the Polish State Archives. These
were >from 'index registers' - not registers with both records and
index pages.

This data was put online about 18 months ago and consisted of:

Sygnatura Quantity Type Years
USC.T.15 3250 Birth 1868-1877
USC.T.16 454 Birth 1850-1888 (plus a small number thru 1897)
USC.T.17 5677 Birth 1877-1888
USC.T.24 3614 Marriage 1877-1899
USC.T.35 2646 Death 1877-1899 (plus a small number thru 1942)
USC.T.36 7293 Death 1877-1899

When orders for copies of records started to arrive (for these
"Tarnow" records) we realized that something was wrong. The records
referred to in the index registers for Sygnaturas 15 and 35 did not
correspond to those in the actual record registers. We immediately
reported the problem to the Tarnow archives.

The Tarnow archives reported that these index volumes were clearly
marked "Miasta Tarnow" (Tarnow Town). At that point we set out to
solve the mystery - which town are these index volumes really for.
There are a very small number of comments in this index file, and
they do refer to Tarnow.

The indices were sent to other nearby branches of the PSA and they
were asked to check them against Jewish record registers >from towns
in their holdings. This has been a slow process, and the
unfortunate result is that none matched.

The records >from Sygnatura 35 have been removed >from our online
database, and we hope to remove those >from Sygnatura 15 soon.

So, we are offering the indices >from these two Sygnaturas to all
researchers without obligation and asking them to help solve the
mystery. Unless the correct town is identified there will be no way
to associate these indices with actual records.

Researchers with an interest in any town in the former western
Galicia, and particularly those in the region of Tarnow, Krakow,
Bochnia, Zabno, Nowy Sacz, etc., are invited to download the Excel
file with all the unknown indices. We hope that one or more
researchers will spot specific records that they know are for their
family and thus identify the town.

The file also contains a list of surnames, sorted both
alphabetically and by frequency. The most frequent surnames in this
file are:
KEMPLER
WOLF
GOLDBERG
KALFUS
GROSS
KATZ
FORSCHER
SCHÖN
TRAURIG
HOROWITZ
APTER
BERKOWICZ
KLAPHOLZ
STEIN
TERKEL
WEISS
FELD
FRIEDMAN
FUCHS
LOWI
MANTEL
NEBENZAHL
OCHS

The Excel file may be downloaded from:
http://www.jri-poland.org/TarnowMystery.xls

Please pass this message to all your co-researchers >from the area.

Thank you,

Howard Fink
Tarnow Archive Coordinator
Jewish Records Indexing - Poland

Hi, Genners,

The family story I grew up with was that my gfather made it >from Zborow to
England at the very beginning of the 20th century without a passport. Anyone
have any ideas / information as to how he could have managed it? I'm writing a
history of the family, and it's really a very important piece of the story,
so I'd be so grateful for your thoughts on this.

Binnie Yeates
Hove, UK

Hi, Genners,

The family story I grew up with was that my gfather made it >from Zborow to
England at the very beginning of the 20th century without a passport. Anyone
have any ideas / information as to how he could have managed it? I'm writing a
history of the family, and it's really a very important piece of the story,
so I'd be so grateful for your thoughts on this.

Binnie Yeates
Hove, UK

Jewish Record Indexing (JRI)-Poland has great news for those
researching family >from Tarnow and area. Records >from several schools
have been made available at the Tarnow Polish State Archives.
JRI- Poland has arranged for an archivist to enter the data >from these
school registers into a database. The Jewish students are identified
in these records, and only those entries are included.

In most cases these records are comparable to birth records; records
typically include birth date, town and parents' names. Even when the
exact birth year is not present the birth date can be approximated
>from the school year information. Note that it is common to find the
same student entered year after year. Record photocopies (see the
example at the link below) may include even more information, like
subjects and status that are not present in the spreadsheet.

The records for some schools start as early as the 1870's and in some
cases are available up to World War II. For more information about
specific records and years, please contact me privately.

So far almost 14,000 records have been entered, >from five of the schools:

I Gimnazjum im. K. Brodzinskiego w Tarnowie
III Gimnazjum im. A. Mickiewicza w Tarnowie
Szkola Wydzialowa Meska im. M. Kopernika w Tarnowie
Szkola Wydzialowa im. M. Konopnickiej w Tarnowie
Szkola Podstawowa im. J. Slowackiego w Tarnowie

The other schools available are:

II Gimnazjum im. hetm. J. Tarnowskiego w Tarnowie
Szkola Podstawowa im. T Kosciuszki w Tarnowie
Panstwowe Seminarium Nauczycielskie Meskie im. J. Sniadeckiego w Tarnowie
Prywatne Seminarium Nauczycielski Zenskie z prawami publicznymi w Tarnowie
Szkola Ludowa im. K. Brodzinskiego w Tarnowie
Szkola Podstawowa im. T. Czackiego w Tarnowie
Szkola Podstawowa im. K. Hoffmanowej w Tarnowie
Szkola Powszechna im. H. Sienkiewicza w Tarnowi
Szkola Podstawowa im. St. Sztaszica w Tarnowie
Szkola Podstawowa im. St. Konarskiego w Tarnowie
Szkola Powszechna im. Krolowej Jadwigi w Tarnowie
Szkola Podstawowa Nr. 8 w Tarnowie Moscicach

A surname list >from the first schools entered may be viewed at:
http://www.jewishgen.org/jri-pl/psa/TarnowSchools_surn.htm

Students came >from towns and villages all around Tarnow. There are
four hundred different towns of birth listed already; those most
frequently mentioned are:
Tarnow, Krakow, Dabrowa, Rzeszow, Wieden, Tuchow, Lwow, Nowy Sacz,
Brzesko, Mielec, Zabno, Koszyce Wielkie, Jaroslaw, Przemysl,
Radomysl, Rzedzin, Bochnia, Berlin, Pilzno, Tarnobrzeg, Debica,
Drohobycz, Podgorze, Bircza, Nowy Jork, Bobowa, Sambor, Budapeszt,
Palesnica, Siedliszowice, Lodz, Jaslo, Lublin, Sanok, Warszawa,
Zbylitowska Gora, Brzostek, Frauenkirchen, Klikowa, Baranow, Lancut,
Szdziszow, Radlow, Rozwadow, Staszow and Ujscie Solne. Yes, there are
eighteen students listed >from New York!

A sample record >from I Gimnazjum im. K. Brodzinskiego w Tarnowie can be seen at:
http://www.jri-poland.org/TarnowSchoolSample.jpg

When the entry of all schools’ records is complete you will be able
to order photocopies using the JRI-Poland Order Basket system.

Just think of the thrill you will feel as you finally learn where
that strong gene in Math comes from! (Or maybe that problem with
Chemistry) These records provide a little more than the dry vital
statistics that we get >from most of our historical research.

Howard Fink
HowGen@verizon.net
Tarnow Archives Coordinator

Jewish Record Indexing (JRI)-Poland has great news for those
researching family >from Tarnow and area. Records >from several schools
have been made available at the Tarnow Polish State Archives.
JRI- Poland has arranged for an archivist to enter the data >from these
school registers into a database. The Jewish students are identified
in these records, and only those entries are included.

In most cases these records are comparable to birth records; records
typically include birth date, town and parents' names. Even when the
exact birth year is not present the birth date can be approximated
>from the school year information. Note that it is common to find the
same student entered year after year. Record photocopies (see the
example at the link below) may include even more information, like
subjects and status that are not present in the spreadsheet.

The records for some schools start as early as the 1870's and in some
cases are available up to World War II. For more information about
specific records and years, please contact me privately.

So far almost 14,000 records have been entered, >from five of the schools:

I Gimnazjum im. K. Brodzinskiego w Tarnowie
III Gimnazjum im. A. Mickiewicza w Tarnowie
Szkola Wydzialowa Meska im. M. Kopernika w Tarnowie
Szkola Wydzialowa im. M. Konopnickiej w Tarnowie
Szkola Podstawowa im. J. Slowackiego w Tarnowie

The other schools available are:

II Gimnazjum im. hetm. J. Tarnowskiego w Tarnowie
Szkola Podstawowa im. T Kosciuszki w Tarnowie
Panstwowe Seminarium Nauczycielskie Meskie im. J. Sniadeckiego w Tarnowie
Prywatne Seminarium Nauczycielski Zenskie z prawami publicznymi w Tarnowie
Szkola Ludowa im. K. Brodzinskiego w Tarnowie
Szkola Podstawowa im. T. Czackiego w Tarnowie
Szkola Podstawowa im. K. Hoffmanowej w Tarnowie
Szkola Powszechna im. H. Sienkiewicza w Tarnowi
Szkola Podstawowa im. St. Sztaszica w Tarnowie
Szkola Podstawowa im. St. Konarskiego w Tarnowie
Szkola Powszechna im. Krolowej Jadwigi w Tarnowie
Szkola Podstawowa Nr. 8 w Tarnowie Moscicach

A surname list >from the first schools entered may be viewed at:
http://www.jewishgen.org/jri-pl/psa/TarnowSchools_surn.htm

Students came >from towns and villages all around Tarnow. There are
four hundred different towns of birth listed already; those most
frequently mentioned are:
Tarnow, Krakow, Dabrowa, Rzeszow, Wieden, Tuchow, Lwow, Nowy Sacz,
Brzesko, Mielec, Zabno, Koszyce Wielkie, Jaroslaw, Przemysl,
Radomysl, Rzedzin, Bochnia, Berlin, Pilzno, Tarnobrzeg, Debica,
Drohobycz, Podgorze, Bircza, Nowy Jork, Bobowa, Sambor, Budapeszt,
Palesnica, Siedliszowice, Lodz, Jaslo, Lublin, Sanok, Warszawa,
Zbylitowska Gora, Brzostek, Frauenkirchen, Klikowa, Baranow, Lancut,
Szdziszow, Radlow, Rozwadow, Staszow and Ujscie Solne. Yes, there are
eighteen students listed >from New York!

A sample record >from I Gimnazjum im. K. Brodzinskiego w Tarnowie can be seen at:
http://www.jri-poland.org/TarnowSchoolSample.jpg

When the entry of all schools’ records is complete you will be able
to order photocopies using the JRI-Poland Order Basket system.

Just think of the thrill you will feel as you finally learn where
that strong gene in Math comes from! (Or maybe that problem with
Chemistry) These records provide a little more than the dry vital
statistics that we get >from most of our historical research.

Howard Fink
HowGen@verizon.net
Tarnow Archives Coordinator

I am very excited to announce that we are ready to begin indexing Danzig
microfilms >from the Family History Library (FHL). Please read below details
about the contents of these microfilms and how you can participate >from home
(or wherever your computer is).

1) Which microfilms will be indexed, and their contents.

We will begin with microfilms 1184407, 1184408, 1184409, 1184410. The
approximate total number of Danzig records/entries on these microfilms is
9232, ranging in date >from at least 1752 until 1940! I have seen on them
many instances of surnames SIG members are researching. The descriptions of
their contents on www.familysearch.org are not completely accurate, and my
impression of their contents is as follows.

1184407: birth records 1905-1936; birth records for Weinberg 1839-1847;
marriage records for Weinberg 1837-1845, often with places of origin; burial
records for Weinberg 1847-1883; burial records >from at least 1765 to 1883

1184408: death and burial records 1889-1940, often with father's name, and,

from 1934, place and date of birth

1184409: burial records for Altschottland and unified Danzig 1848-1920,
cross-referenced to burial plot purchase records for Altschottland
1848-1883, which are also indexed alphabetically; burial records 1883-1929,
cross-referenced to burial plot purchase records 1883-1900, which are also
indexed alphabetically

1184410: typed transcription of the 1814 surname adoption list already
online, with essay about surname adoption >from 1936; handwritten
citizenship? list (missing first two pages, covering surnames beginning with
"A") sharing much in common with the 1814 surname adoption list, but
differing in substantive ways; burial records >from at least 1752 until at
least 1871

Additional details about these contents appear at the end of this message.

2) How the indexing will proceed.

The indexing will be performed by SIG volunteers, meaning no fundraising
will be required. Volunteers will receive >from me by email batches of
images produced by scanning the microfilms, plus data entry Excel
spreadsheets with instructions about what to transcribe and how. Volunteers
will send me completed spreadsheets before receiving additional images to
index. I will prepare the indices for submission to JewishGen for online
presentation.

In order to volunteer, you must be comfortable entering data into an
existing Excel spreadsheet. The ability to read German, Hebrew print, or
Hebrew cursive is required for some (but not all) parts of the microfilms.
You will also need to know how to zoom in and out of jpeg images.

IF YOU WANT TO VOLUNTEER, please send me an email containing the following
information:

Have you ever worked on a project to index Jewish records? If so, which?
How well can you read 19th century German?
How well can you read Hebrew print?
How well can you read Hebrew cursive?
Of the items mentioned in the description of the contents above, which would
you prefer to work on first?
What version of Excel do you have? (You can determine this >from within
Excel by clicking on Help, then About Microsoft Excel, and reading the top
line.)

I will then send you additional information needed by volunteers. There is
no minimum committment, nor any deadline for indexing. You can work at your
own pace.

All volunteers will need to submit a JewishGen Volunteer Agreement
(http://www.jewishgen.org/jewishgen/agree/volunteer.html) in order to
participate in this project. Please contact me before doing this, though.

3) What will happen to the data produced by indexing.

The indices will be added to the All-Poland and Germany Databases on
JewishGen, freely available to all, and copies will be made available to
JRI-Poland. Burial records will be submitted to the JewishGen Online
Worldwide Burial Registry. So, this information should be accessible to a
very large audience.

4) Further details about the contents of the microfilms.

The ranges of dates I observed are significantly larger, in some cases, than
those indicated in the online FHL catalog. There seem to be two reasons for
this: some entries have dates written only in Hebrew, which the FHL seems to
have ignored, and these are generally the earliest; and some of the records
of burials in family plots list burials over many decades, while the FHL
seems to have used only the earliest burial dates. I did not examine all of
the Hebrew-only dates, so it is possible I missed an earlier or later date.

Many of the records associated with burials (there are several different
formats for burial records) identify the locations of graves according to
section and grave number (and some even by physical dimensions in feet).
There is so much of this information that it might be possible to
reconstruct maps of the two cemeteries, especially if aided by what (little)
survives >from them. In some cases, cross-referencing records by grave
location will also be genealogically useful.

The burial plot purchase records on microfilm 1184409 often include not only
the name of the purchaser and the location of the plot, but also the names
of the people intended to be buried in the plots, and/or their relationships
to the purchaser. This information can be very useful genealogically when
combined with the burial records on this microfilm, which indicate the names
and dates of the people actually buried in these plots (but, often, not
their relationships to the purchaser).

The precise meaning of the burial records on microfilm 1184410 is not clear
to me. Because they are arranged primarily alphabetically by given name and
grouped by section number, and because of the consistency of the handwriting
over many decades of burial dates, perhaps they were not made
contemporaneously with the burials, but are either an inventory of burials,
with the information having been read >from gravestones (which might indicate
why some is only in German, some only in Hebrew, some lacking dates --
perhaps illegible), or an indexing of other burial records.

The citizenship? list on microfilm 1184410 contains many names not on the
surname adoption list (especially people who are not heads of households), a
numbering possibly suggesting location of residency, and some information
that seems to have been accidentally dropped by the compilers of the 1817
printing of the surname adoption list (seemingly, due to the similarity in
appearance of ditto marks " and spacers ..).

Many of the records, especially those >from after the First World War, but
also some of the earliest, indicate places of origin far away >from Danzig.
There are probably many researchers whose relatives are listed in these
records, while they are not aware of any connection to Danzig or even the
surroundings.

5) Relation to other Danzig records.

This material is separate >from and different than what is in the Archives of
the Jewish Community of Danzig at the Central Archives for the History of
the Jewish People (CAHJP), Jerusalem (a link to the CAHJP inventory can be
found in the Resources section of our SIG website). The process involved in
indexing is also different -- for the CAHJP material, fundraising is
necessary to purchase microfilm and xerox copies, and for digitization of
the microfilms. Additional details about the first part of the CAHJP
project, for which we are fundraising, will soon be announced (to proceed
with other parts of the CAHJP's Danzig collection, we need volunteers to
visit CAHJP). Donations can be earmarked for the CAHJP project through our
JewishGen-erosity page
http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen-erosity/v_projectslist.asp?project_cat=31
.

Combining these and other (smaller) sources will provide an expansive and
in-depth genealogical picture of the Danzig Jewish community. Depending on
your particular interests (especially, which of the five "precursor"
communities), you might find information in only some or in all of the
sources. I hope that a high degree of collaboration among SIG members will
enable us to proceed on all fronts.

While there is no requirement that you volunteer in order to make use of the
indices, I hope that you will seriously consider whether you can help with
the indexing even a little, if you expect to benefit >from this project.
Besides, it will give you the opportunities to view original records from
Danzig on your own computer and to help in a major way to preserve the
memory of our destroyed community. If you are unable to participate in the
indexing, please consider instead making a donation to the CAHJP project
above, or contact me to learn about other ways you might be able to help in
this group effort.

Best regards and thank you in advance to all volunteers,

Logan Kleinwaks
Coordinator, JewishGen Danzig/Gdansk SIG
kleinwaks@alumni.princeton.edu
near Washington, D.C.

I am very excited to announce that we are ready to begin indexing Danzig
microfilms >from the Family History Library (FHL). Please read below details
about the contents of these microfilms and how you can participate >from home
(or wherever your computer is).

1) Which microfilms will be indexed, and their contents.

We will begin with microfilms 1184407, 1184408, 1184409, 1184410. The
approximate total number of Danzig records/entries on these microfilms is
9232, ranging in date >from at least 1752 until 1940! I have seen on them
many instances of surnames SIG members are researching. The descriptions of
their contents on www.familysearch.org are not completely accurate, and my
impression of their contents is as follows.

1184407: birth records 1905-1936; birth records for Weinberg 1839-1847;
marriage records for Weinberg 1837-1845, often with places of origin; burial
records for Weinberg 1847-1883; burial records >from at least 1765 to 1883

1184408: death and burial records 1889-1940, often with father's name, and,

from 1934, place and date of birth

1184409: burial records for Altschottland and unified Danzig 1848-1920,
cross-referenced to burial plot purchase records for Altschottland
1848-1883, which are also indexed alphabetically; burial records 1883-1929,
cross-referenced to burial plot purchase records 1883-1900, which are also
indexed alphabetically

1184410: typed transcription of the 1814 surname adoption list already
online, with essay about surname adoption >from 1936; handwritten
citizenship? list (missing first two pages, covering surnames beginning with
"A") sharing much in common with the 1814 surname adoption list, but
differing in substantive ways; burial records >from at least 1752 until at
least 1871

Additional details about these contents appear at the end of this message.

2) How the indexing will proceed.

The indexing will be performed by SIG volunteers, meaning no fundraising
will be required. Volunteers will receive >from me by email batches of
images produced by scanning the microfilms, plus data entry Excel
spreadsheets with instructions about what to transcribe and how. Volunteers
will send me completed spreadsheets before receiving additional images to
index. I will prepare the indices for submission to JewishGen for online
presentation.

In order to volunteer, you must be comfortable entering data into an
existing Excel spreadsheet. The ability to read German, Hebrew print, or
Hebrew cursive is required for some (but not all) parts of the microfilms.
You will also need to know how to zoom in and out of jpeg images.

IF YOU WANT TO VOLUNTEER, please send me an email containing the following
information:

Have you ever worked on a project to index Jewish records? If so, which?
How well can you read 19th century German?
How well can you read Hebrew print?
How well can you read Hebrew cursive?
Of the items mentioned in the description of the contents above, which would
you prefer to work on first?
What version of Excel do you have? (You can determine this >from within
Excel by clicking on Help, then About Microsoft Excel, and reading the top
line.)

I will then send you additional information needed by volunteers. There is
no minimum committment, nor any deadline for indexing. You can work at your
own pace.

All volunteers will need to submit a JewishGen Volunteer Agreement
(http://www.jewishgen.org/jewishgen/agree/volunteer.html) in order to
participate in this project. Please contact me before doing this, though.

3) What will happen to the data produced by indexing.

The indices will be added to the All-Poland and Germany Databases on
JewishGen, freely available to all, and copies will be made available to
JRI-Poland. Burial records will be submitted to the JewishGen Online
Worldwide Burial Registry. So, this information should be accessible to a
very large audience.

4) Further details about the contents of the microfilms.

The ranges of dates I observed are significantly larger, in some cases, than
those indicated in the online FHL catalog. There seem to be two reasons for
this: some entries have dates written only in Hebrew, which the FHL seems to
have ignored, and these are generally the earliest; and some of the records
of burials in family plots list burials over many decades, while the FHL
seems to have used only the earliest burial dates. I did not examine all of
the Hebrew-only dates, so it is possible I missed an earlier or later date.

Many of the records associated with burials (there are several different
formats for burial records) identify the locations of graves according to
section and grave number (and some even by physical dimensions in feet).
There is so much of this information that it might be possible to
reconstruct maps of the two cemeteries, especially if aided by what (little)
survives >from them. In some cases, cross-referencing records by grave
location will also be genealogically useful.

The burial plot purchase records on microfilm 1184409 often include not only
the name of the purchaser and the location of the plot, but also the names
of the people intended to be buried in the plots, and/or their relationships
to the purchaser. This information can be very useful genealogically when
combined with the burial records on this microfilm, which indicate the names
and dates of the people actually buried in these plots (but, often, not
their relationships to the purchaser).

The precise meaning of the burial records on microfilm 1184410 is not clear
to me. Because they are arranged primarily alphabetically by given name and
grouped by section number, and because of the consistency of the handwriting
over many decades of burial dates, perhaps they were not made
contemporaneously with the burials, but are either an inventory of burials,
with the information having been read >from gravestones (which might indicate
why some is only in German, some only in Hebrew, some lacking dates --
perhaps illegible), or an indexing of other burial records.

The citizenship? list on microfilm 1184410 contains many names not on the
surname adoption list (especially people who are not heads of households), a
numbering possibly suggesting location of residency, and some information
that seems to have been accidentally dropped by the compilers of the 1817
printing of the surname adoption list (seemingly, due to the similarity in
appearance of ditto marks " and spacers ..).

Many of the records, especially those >from after the First World War, but
also some of the earliest, indicate places of origin far away >from Danzig.
There are probably many researchers whose relatives are listed in these
records, while they are not aware of any connection to Danzig or even the
surroundings.

5) Relation to other Danzig records.

This material is separate >from and different than what is in the Archives of
the Jewish Community of Danzig at the Central Archives for the History of
the Jewish People (CAHJP), Jerusalem (a link to the CAHJP inventory can be
found in the Resources section of our SIG website). The process involved in
indexing is also different -- for the CAHJP material, fundraising is
necessary to purchase microfilm and xerox copies, and for digitization of
the microfilms. Additional details about the first part of the CAHJP
project, for which we are fundraising, will soon be announced (to proceed
with other parts of the CAHJP's Danzig collection, we need volunteers to
visit CAHJP). Donations can be earmarked for the CAHJP project through our
JewishGen-erosity page
http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen-erosity/v_projectslist.asp?project_cat=31
.

Combining these and other (smaller) sources will provide an expansive and
in-depth genealogical picture of the Danzig Jewish community. Depending on
your particular interests (especially, which of the five "precursor"
communities), you might find information in only some or in all of the
sources. I hope that a high degree of collaboration among SIG members will
enable us to proceed on all fronts.

While there is no requirement that you volunteer in order to make use of the
indices, I hope that you will seriously consider whether you can help with
the indexing even a little, if you expect to benefit >from this project.
Besides, it will give you the opportunities to view original records from
Danzig on your own computer and to help in a major way to preserve the
memory of our destroyed community. If you are unable to participate in the
indexing, please consider instead making a donation to the CAHJP project
above, or contact me to learn about other ways you might be able to help in
this group effort.

Best regards and thank you in advance to all volunteers,

Logan Kleinwaks
Coordinator, JewishGen Danzig/Gdansk SIG
kleinwaks@alumni.princeton.edu
near Washington, D.C.