IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:

Sometime ago, the Michigan JGS committed to host the 2002 IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy. Those of you who attended the July, 2000 conference in Salt Lake City saw a very impressive booth attesting to that commitment. Since then the Michigan JGS has decided not to host the 2002 conference.

The Toronto, Canada JGS decided to fill the breech and host the 2002
Conference. They have not made a definite commitment as yet because of a
delay in an agreement with the conference hotel. I am confident an agreement will be worked out and the 2002 conference will be held in Toronto - a beautiful city and a wonderful place to have a conference.

Yesterday, a private commercial conference planning company announced an
"International Jewish Roots Conference" to be held 14-19 July, 2002 in
Dearborn, Michigan. THIS PROPOSED CONFERENCE HAS NO CONNECTION WITH IAJGS OR WITH THE IAJGS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TO BE HELD IN 2002. In fact, the
representatives of this company made a presentation to the IAJGS Board at the IAJGS Board meeting this past October and was turned down by the Board as not in the best interests of Jewish Genealogy.

I hope this announcement clarifies a somewhat unfortunate, and muddled
situation. Please do not send me email messages asking for further
information as there is nothing more I can add at this time.

Howard Margol
President, IAJGS

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:

Sometime ago, the Michigan JGS committed to host the 2002 IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy. Those of you who attended the July, 2000 conference in Salt Lake City saw a very impressive booth attesting to that commitment. Since then the Michigan JGS has decided not to host the 2002 conference.

The Toronto, Canada JGS decided to fill the breech and host the 2002
Conference. They have not made a definite commitment as yet because of a
delay in an agreement with the conference hotel. I am confident an agreement will be worked out and the 2002 conference will be held in Toronto - a beautiful city and a wonderful place to have a conference.

Yesterday, a private commercial conference planning company announced an
"International Jewish Roots Conference" to be held 14-19 July, 2002 in
Dearborn, Michigan. THIS PROPOSED CONFERENCE HAS NO CONNECTION WITH IAJGS OR WITH THE IAJGS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TO BE HELD IN 2002. In fact, the
representatives of this company made a presentation to the IAJGS Board at the IAJGS Board meeting this past October and was turned down by the Board as not in the best interests of Jewish Genealogy.

I hope this announcement clarifies a somewhat unfortunate, and muddled
situation. Please do not send me email messages asking for further
information as there is nothing more I can add at this time.

Howard Margol
President, IAJGS

Various records on the inheritance of property are in the fonds of
three courts of the Kaunas Guberniya in the Kaunas Regional Archives.

Many contain copies of actual wills, written in Hebrew with Russian
translations of what are probably abstracts of the key information. At the
least they provide: the name of the deceased (including patronymic), date of death, often age at death, place of residence, and also names of heirs,
information about the property, age at death of any named heirs who had died, etc.

Of particular importance are the cases where the wife's maiden name is
provided, and where people are listed as first and second spouses (or
children of first or second spouses.) These indexes also provide quite a bit of information about where the deceased came from, where he/she owned
property, etc.

The Ariogala shtetl research group initiated an experimental project with
Vitalija Gircyte to create an index of the Russian translations of a sample
of these wills for Kaunas Guberniya. The sample received covers the court
files between 1872 and 1883, but includes wills drawn up as far back as 1851. Many of the oldest people who died in the 1850s, '60s and '70s, were born in the 1700s. Older fonds go as far back to wills drawn up in the early 1800s.

The index will be added to the ALD and it will be possible for researchers to order a copy >from the Kaunas Regional Archives, and have a translation made >from the original Hebrew document.

Unfortunately, the records of the majority of uyezd courts (for 1800 - 1872) have only a few wills for Jews, but even these are very poorly organized. Rather than being inventoried and organized with titles, they are simply bound together in large fonds with titles such as, "numbers 1- 50 - various legal documents, 1856 - 1860." There are over 55,000 such legal and official correspondence files, >from which extracting the wills is difficult and quite time consuming.

The first 121 wills that Vitalija has translated list 1254 names. We expect
that many more wills or their equivalent will be indexed over the next few
months. The wills are approximately equally distributed among the seven
districts of the Kaunas Guberniya. No Vilnius Guberniya districts nor towns are included in the records of the Kaunas Guberniya courts but we are excited to announce the decision to share the project with the 7 uyezd (district) research groups within the Guberniya - Kaunas, Panevezys, Raseiniai, Siauliai, Telsiai, Ukmerge and Zarasai.

These indexes are valuable for another reason. Vital records are missing >from many parts of the Kaunas Guberniya. Finding an ancestor's family on one of these inheritance indexes will allow you to know or estimate the dates of birth, and provide you with sufficient information to find your family on earlier 18th century censuses and tax lists >from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania when Jews did not have surnames.

There is probably one important limitation to these inheritance files - only people rich enough to own property probably had formal wills, especially important enough to have registered with the courts.

Here are some interesting examples:

MARKIR, Morkhel, son of Orel, died on September 6, 1874; will in Russian and Hebrew; made in Guare. 1874, Jubarkas, Kaunas uyezd, court file on
inheritance, number 10, KRA /I/78/2/530.

MARKIR, Mera, daughter of Mikhel, widow, beneficiary

LEYZEROV, Leyzer, son of Mendel; Rabbi, witness, died in Taurag on October
20, 1864.

DAVIDOVICH, Iosel, son of David; cantor, witness.

DVINAYTSKY, Abram, Yankel; witness,

GRODNIK, Nakhaman, son of Shlioma; Witness

PULEREVICH, Yankel, son of Itsko; Witness

ARESHTEYN, Notel, son of Leyzer; wrote application for Mera Markir

GINTSBURG, Lev, son of Fayvel; signed application for Mera Markir

Example #2 demonstrates how much our ancestors got around (and why you have
to search for them throughout at least a District, if not a Guberniya) and
how these records can provide the maiden names of wives or daughters-in-law
who were beneficiaries:

BAROVSKY, Bentsel, son of Eliash; died on December 12, 1876. Will filed 1877, >from Cekiske, Kaunas Uyezd, etc.

BAROVSKY, Chana; widow, maiden name SHEFTEL, beneficiary.

PEYSAKHOVICH, Matis, Son of Vulf; executor of the will.

BLOKH, Zelma, daughter of Girsh; witness, >from Sakiai community in Suvalki
Guberniya.

GORDON, Abram, son of Shmuyla; witness.

STRASHUNSKY, Borukh Bendet, son of Mihkel; witness >from Vievis community,
Trakia Uyezd, Vilnius Guberniya.

DVORKOVICH, Yakov, son of Moisey; witness >from Ariogala community, lives
in Raseiniai.

If this tidbit of information has sufficiently whetted your appetite, be sure that you are a contributor to at least one of the district research groups mentioned above. Information about how to send your donation is at the end of the digest.

Happy New Year!

David Hoffman
Coordinator, Raseiniai District Research Group
Coordinator, Ariogala Shtetl Research Group
DBH12345@aol.com

Various records on the inheritance of property are in the fonds of
three courts of the Kaunas Guberniya in the Kaunas Regional Archives.

Many contain copies of actual wills, written in Hebrew with Russian
translations of what are probably abstracts of the key information. At the
least they provide: the name of the deceased (including patronymic), date of death, often age at death, place of residence, and also names of heirs,
information about the property, age at death of any named heirs who had died, etc.

Of particular importance are the cases where the wife's maiden name is
provided, and where people are listed as first and second spouses (or
children of first or second spouses.) These indexes also provide quite a bit of information about where the deceased came from, where he/she owned
property, etc.

The Ariogala shtetl research group initiated an experimental project with
Vitalija Gircyte to create an index of the Russian translations of a sample
of these wills for Kaunas Guberniya. The sample received covers the court
files between 1872 and 1883, but includes wills drawn up as far back as 1851. Many of the oldest people who died in the 1850s, '60s and '70s, were born in the 1700s. Older fonds go as far back to wills drawn up in the early 1800s.

The index will be added to the ALD and it will be possible for researchers to order a copy >from the Kaunas Regional Archives, and have a translation made >from the original Hebrew document.

Unfortunately, the records of the majority of uyezd courts (for 1800 - 1872) have only a few wills for Jews, but even these are very poorly organized. Rather than being inventoried and organized with titles, they are simply bound together in large fonds with titles such as, "numbers 1- 50 - various legal documents, 1856 - 1860." There are over 55,000 such legal and official correspondence files, >from which extracting the wills is difficult and quite time consuming.

The first 121 wills that Vitalija has translated list 1254 names. We expect
that many more wills or their equivalent will be indexed over the next few
months. The wills are approximately equally distributed among the seven
districts of the Kaunas Guberniya. No Vilnius Guberniya districts nor towns are included in the records of the Kaunas Guberniya courts but we are excited to announce the decision to share the project with the 7 uyezd (district) research groups within the Guberniya - Kaunas, Panevezys, Raseiniai, Siauliai, Telsiai, Ukmerge and Zarasai.

These indexes are valuable for another reason. Vital records are missing >from many parts of the Kaunas Guberniya. Finding an ancestor's family on one of these inheritance indexes will allow you to know or estimate the dates of birth, and provide you with sufficient information to find your family on earlier 18th century censuses and tax lists >from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania when Jews did not have surnames.

There is probably one important limitation to these inheritance files - only people rich enough to own property probably had formal wills, especially important enough to have registered with the courts.

Here are some interesting examples:

MARKIR, Morkhel, son of Orel, died on September 6, 1874; will in Russian and Hebrew; made in Guare. 1874, Jubarkas, Kaunas uyezd, court file on
inheritance, number 10, KRA /I/78/2/530.

MARKIR, Mera, daughter of Mikhel, widow, beneficiary

LEYZEROV, Leyzer, son of Mendel; Rabbi, witness, died in Taurag on October
20, 1864.

DAVIDOVICH, Iosel, son of David; cantor, witness.

DVINAYTSKY, Abram, Yankel; witness,

GRODNIK, Nakhaman, son of Shlioma; Witness

PULEREVICH, Yankel, son of Itsko; Witness

ARESHTEYN, Notel, son of Leyzer; wrote application for Mera Markir

GINTSBURG, Lev, son of Fayvel; signed application for Mera Markir

Example #2 demonstrates how much our ancestors got around (and why you have
to search for them throughout at least a District, if not a Guberniya) and
how these records can provide the maiden names of wives or daughters-in-law
who were beneficiaries:

BAROVSKY, Bentsel, son of Eliash; died on December 12, 1876. Will filed 1877, >from Cekiske, Kaunas Uyezd, etc.

BAROVSKY, Chana; widow, maiden name SHEFTEL, beneficiary.

PEYSAKHOVICH, Matis, Son of Vulf; executor of the will.

BLOKH, Zelma, daughter of Girsh; witness, >from Sakiai community in Suvalki
Guberniya.

GORDON, Abram, son of Shmuyla; witness.

STRASHUNSKY, Borukh Bendet, son of Mihkel; witness >from Vievis community,
Trakia Uyezd, Vilnius Guberniya.

DVORKOVICH, Yakov, son of Moisey; witness >from Ariogala community, lives
in Raseiniai.

If this tidbit of information has sufficiently whetted your appetite, be sure that you are a contributor to at least one of the district research groups mentioned above. Information about how to send your donation is at the end of the digest.

Happy New Year!

David Hoffman
Coordinator, Raseiniai District Research Group
Coordinator, Ariogala Shtetl Research Group
DBH12345@aol.com

In a message dated 1/3/01 9:50:33 AM Eastern Standard Time,
chaimjan@zahav.net.il writes:

<< Rabbi Barukh Bendet and his son Yoel bore the surname GRAD. In this case
BENDET was a personal name and had nothing to do with a surname BENDET or
BENDETSON. >>

Bendet was a personal name, a corruption of Benedict, i.e. Barukh in
Hebrew. Many, but not all, of the BNT names (e.g. Bernard) were variations
on Benedict. It was common for such names to be used as kinuyim and
coupled with Barukh.

Michael Bernet, New York

WOLFF (Pfungstadt, Frankfurt/M, Koenigsberg, Amsterdam, N.Carolina); BERNET,
BERNERT, JONDORF(Frensdorf, Bamberg, Nurnberg); FEUCHTWANGER
(Schwabach, Hagenbach & Fuerth); KONIGSHOFER (anywhere); BERG, WOLF(F),
(Demmelsdorf & Zeckendorf); Shim`on GUTENSTEIN (Bad Homburg ca 1760);
FRENSDORF/ER (anywhere); MAINZER (Lorsch); anyone in Ermreuth or Floss;
GOLDSCHMIDT (B. Homburg, Hessdorf). ALTMANN (Silesia); TIMMENDORFER

In a message dated 1/3/01 9:50:33 AM Eastern Standard Time,
chaimjan@zahav.net.il writes:

<< Rabbi Barukh Bendet and his son Yoel bore the surname GRAD. In this case
BENDET was a personal name and had nothing to do with a surname BENDET or
BENDETSON. >>

Bendet was a personal name, a corruption of Benedict, i.e. Barukh in
Hebrew. Many, but not all, of the BNT names (e.g. Bernard) were variations
on Benedict. It was common for such names to be used as kinuyim and
coupled with Barukh.

Michael Bernet, New York

WOLFF (Pfungstadt, Frankfurt/M, Koenigsberg, Amsterdam, N.Carolina); BERNET,
BERNERT, JONDORF(Frensdorf, Bamberg, Nurnberg); FEUCHTWANGER
(Schwabach, Hagenbach & Fuerth); KONIGSHOFER (anywhere); BERG, WOLF(F),
(Demmelsdorf & Zeckendorf); Shim`on GUTENSTEIN (Bad Homburg ca 1760);
FRENSDORF/ER (anywhere); MAINZER (Lorsch); anyone in Ermreuth or Floss;
GOLDSCHMIDT (B. Homburg, Hessdorf). ALTMANN (Silesia); TIMMENDORFER

I am pleased to announce the debut of the Kremenets, Ukraine website on
JewishGen’s ShtetLinks site. The website is a project of the Kremenets
Shtetl CO-OP which operates under the auspices of JRI-Poland. At this
time, the site contains some general information about Kremenets,
information about Kremenets records, materials donated by Kremenets
researchers, as well as updates on the progress of the Kremenets Shtetl
CO-OP. The site will be updated regularly so visit us often. You can
find the site at: http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlinks/Kremenets/

Sheree Roth
Co-coordinator Kremenets Shtetl CO-OP

I am pleased to announce the debut of the Kremenets, Ukraine website on
JewishGen’s ShtetLinks site. The website is a project of the Kremenets
Shtetl CO-OP which operates under the auspices of JRI-Poland. At this
time, the site contains some general information about Kremenets,
information about Kremenets records, materials donated by Kremenets
researchers, as well as updates on the progress of the Kremenets Shtetl
CO-OP. The site will be updated regularly so visit us often. You can
find the site at: http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlinks/Kremenets/

Sheree Roth
Co-coordinator Kremenets Shtetl CO-OP

Yizkor Book Update, December 2000 and Year 2000

As we enter 2001, it is the time to reflect on the accomplishments of
the Yizkor Book Project for the year, and they are considerable,
because of all the people who translated and donated material to us
and because of the dedicated volunteers on the html group under John
Berman.

We now have 255 entries and there were updates to 122 books during
the year. They are available at
http://www.JewishGen.org/yizkor/translations.html. One of our notable
achievements was announced last week--the Necrology Index at
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/yizkor/. This project was
implemented by Ernie Fine, project manager, and his talented
volunteers; Michael Tobias, the JewishGen database guru; Warren
Blatt, who coordinated the myriad of technical details to get the
index online; and John Berman, who worked on the yizkor book
database. Another remarkable achievement, although invisible, is the
tune up that Michael Tobias has done on the yizkor book database.
Complex projects such as the necrology index are always a team effort
and we are indeed fortunate to have talented people working on these
projects.

New Entries for December 2000

-Galician Jewish Celebrities (check under Regions)
-Borislav, Ukraine
-Gorodek Jagiellonski, Ukraine
-Kobylnik, Belarus
-Wysockie-Mazowieckie, Poland
-Zareby Koscielne, Poland

Updates for December 2000

-Gorodets, Belarus
-Oswiecim, Poland
-Pochayev, Ukraine
-Pushelat, Lithuania
-Rokiskis, Lithuania
-Rozniatow, Ukraine
-Stawiski, Poland
-Tarnobrzeg, Poland

The list of yizkor book fundraising projects keeps growing. Please
consider a tax-deductible contribution to one or more of these
projects at
http://www.JewishGen.org/JewishGen-erosity/YizkorTrans.html

Bolekhov, Ukraine
Brzeziny, Poland
Buchach, Ukraine
Chelm, Poland
Czyzew, Poland
Dokshitsy, Belarus
Drogichin, Belarus
Gargzdai, Lithuania
Goniadz, Poland
Gorodenka, Ukraine
Gorodok, Ukraine
Grodno, Belarus
Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine
Kremenets, Ukraine
Krynki, Poland
Lancut, Poland
Maramures Region
Moravia
Przemysl, Poland
Pulawy, Poland
Rozhnyatov, Ukraine
Rzeszow, Poland
Slutsk, Belarus
Sochaczew, Poland
Stawiski, Poland
Telekhany, Belarus
Wolbrom, Poland
Yedintsy, Moldova
Zgierz, Poland

We now are looking forward to another busy year. Our queue is long
but we are always accepting new translations. Please be sure to
check our web site at
http://www.JewishGen.org/yizkor/translations.html for new and updated
entries.

Joyce Field
Yizkor Book Project Manager
jfield@jewishgen.org

Yizkor Book Update, December 2000 and Year 2000

As we enter 2001, it is the time to reflect on the accomplishments of
the Yizkor Book Project for the year, and they are considerable,
because of all the people who translated and donated material to us
and because of the dedicated volunteers on the html group under John
Berman.

We now have 255 entries and there were updates to 122 books during
the year. They are available at
http://www.JewishGen.org/yizkor/translations.html. One of our notable
achievements was announced last week--the Necrology Index at
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/yizkor/. This project was
implemented by Ernie Fine, project manager, and his talented
volunteers; Michael Tobias, the JewishGen database guru; Warren
Blatt, who coordinated the myriad of technical details to get the
index online; and John Berman, who worked on the yizkor book
database. Another remarkable achievement, although invisible, is the
tune up that Michael Tobias has done on the yizkor book database.
Complex projects such as the necrology index are always a team effort
and we are indeed fortunate to have talented people working on these
projects.

New Entries for December 2000

-Galician Jewish Celebrities (check under Regions)
-Borislav, Ukraine
-Gorodek Jagiellonski, Ukraine
-Kobylnik, Belarus
-Wysockie-Mazowieckie, Poland
-Zareby Koscielne, Poland

Updates for December 2000

-Gorodets, Belarus
-Oswiecim, Poland
-Pochayev, Ukraine
-Pushelat, Lithuania
-Rokiskis, Lithuania
-Rozniatow, Ukraine
-Stawiski, Poland
-Tarnobrzeg, Poland

The list of yizkor book fundraising projects keeps growing. Please
consider a tax-deductible contribution to one or more of these
projects at
http://www.JewishGen.org/JewishGen-erosity/YizkorTrans.html

Bolekhov, Ukraine
Brzeziny, Poland
Buchach, Ukraine
Chelm, Poland
Czyzew, Poland
Dokshitsy, Belarus
Drogichin, Belarus
Gargzdai, Lithuania
Goniadz, Poland
Gorodenka, Ukraine
Gorodok, Ukraine
Grodno, Belarus
Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine
Kremenets, Ukraine
Krynki, Poland
Lancut, Poland
Maramures Region
Moravia
Przemysl, Poland
Pulawy, Poland
Rozhnyatov, Ukraine
Rzeszow, Poland
Slutsk, Belarus
Sochaczew, Poland
Stawiski, Poland
Telekhany, Belarus
Wolbrom, Poland
Yedintsy, Moldova
Zgierz, Poland

We now are looking forward to another busy year. Our queue is long
but we are always accepting new translations. Please be sure to
check our web site at
http://www.JewishGen.org/yizkor/translations.html for new and updated
entries.

Joyce Field
Yizkor Book Project Manager
jfield@jewishgen.org

First, let me emphasize that the acceptable JewishGen
nomenclature for the research of a specific shtetl is now
Research Group (RG), rather than SIG. The latter term is
now reserved for the research of larger areas such as
countries or provinces.

Actually, there are three Prilukis. The one covered by the
Priluki RG is located about 85 miles east of Kiev. Please
see our Web Site at

www.jewishgen.org/shtetlinks/priluki/priluki.html

Another Priluki is located about 12 miles east of Vinnitsa
and is also near Berdichev in the Ukraine. Miriam Weiner, the
noted author, genealogist and member of the Priluki RG has
been to this shtetl and photographs and archive inventories
of this shtetl are described in her book, "Jewish Roots in
Ukraine & Moldova".

The third Priluki is located near Ovruch in the Ukraine, about
89 miles NW of Kiev.

Len Markowitz priluki@voicenet.com
Coordinator,
Priluki RG

Subject: Re: New Priluki SIG
From: Sonyaskter@aol.com
Hi,

Which Priluki will this SIG cover? I understand there are two or three
Priluki's in the Ukraine. I'm interested in the one that is closest to
Vinnitsa. Thanks

Sonia Pasis
Rockville, MD

First, let me emphasize that the acceptable JewishGen
nomenclature for the research of a specific shtetl is now
Research Group (RG), rather than SIG. The latter term is
now reserved for the research of larger areas such as
countries or provinces.

Actually, there are three Prilukis. The one covered by the
Priluki RG is located about 85 miles east of Kiev. Please
see our Web Site at

www.jewishgen.org/shtetlinks/priluki/priluki.html

Another Priluki is located about 12 miles east of Vinnitsa
and is also near Berdichev in the Ukraine. Miriam Weiner, the
noted author, genealogist and member of the Priluki RG has
been to this shtetl and photographs and archive inventories
of this shtetl are described in her book, "Jewish Roots in
Ukraine & Moldova".

The third Priluki is located near Ovruch in the Ukraine, about
89 miles NW of Kiev.

Len Markowitz priluki@voicenet.com
Coordinator,
Priluki RG

Subject: Re: New Priluki SIG
From: Sonyaskter@aol.com
Hi,

Which Priluki will this SIG cover? I understand there are two or three
Priluki's in the Ukraine. I'm interested in the one that is closest to
Vinnitsa. Thanks

Sonia Pasis
Rockville, MD

The numbers are in... and by the looks of it... the year 2000 has
been another banner year for JewishGen, once again, no exception.

- Over 42,000 submitters in the JGFF and over 3.3 million
searches performed in 2000
- Over 1457 submitters to the Family Tree of the Jewish People
representing nearly 2,000,000 names
- Over 32,000 messages posted to JewishGen and the SIG and
Research Group mailing lists in the year 2000
- Over 36 million hits this past year to the JewishGen site with
an additional 5 million searches executed on nearly 5 million
records all powered by JewishGen's servers
- 255 Yizkor Book Translations Online up >from 155 this time last
year for a total of 100 new translations
- 422 ShtetLinks pages (up >from 319 last year) with nearly 1193
localities spoken for

Truely, an impressive set of statistics!

One has only to look at the accomplishments of this organization
over the last year to realize what can really happen when diverse

people >from all corners of this earth--numbering in the
thousands-- come together with a common mission and purpose,
participating and sharing in what we believe is one of the
largest grass roots efforts ever undertaken to preserve our
history for future generations.

And what's in store for 2001? Here are some highlights...

Data collection and indexing:

1) Through our ongoing partnerships with Yad Vashem and the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum there are over 55 million
records awaiting us all.

2) Through JewishGen's OWBR Project, effort is well underway to
index and record millions of burials in Jewish cemeteries
throughout the world.

3) JewishGen is busily engaged in establishing and solidifying
contacts and partnerships with other organizations, institutions,
museums and with our counterparts currently living in the Eastern
European Jewish communities.

4) JewishGen has developed a plan for our database infrastructure
(All Country, All Topic, All Holocaust) which is going to take an
effort far beyond the capabilities of our current database team's
volunteer time. This means the pressing need for both full time
professional technical staff and volunteers with technical
skills.

5) JewishGen will be continuing to pursue avenues and costs for
implementing a document management and retrieval system to link
to our award winning website.

Education:

1) JewishGen has been recognized throughout the world for the
educational value of so many of our projects, including the
Yizkor Book Translation Project, ShtetLinks, ShtetlSchleppers, to
name a few. These projects are being expanded as we speak and we
look forward to everyone's participation.

2) We are developing a host of Youth Projects to educate the
younger generation and bring them into our grass roots efforts.
You'll be hearing a lot more on this throughout the new year.

3.) JewishGen has software to offer real time Chat Rooms where we
can hold ongoing lectures and classroom instruction on a host of
topics of interest to us all.

Fundraising:

1) JewishGen is in final preparations of both a strategic plan
and fundraising outline to present to funding organizations all
over the world.

2) JewishGen has just launched the JewishGenMall and is
continuing to expand the products and resource materials
available.

3) JewishGen must increase the number of financial supporters
among the tens of thousands who use our services. We improved
this year and are now up to 2,146 contributors which is progress,
but still represents only a very tiny fraction of those who use
JewishGen daily.

We do want to thank all of you who have come forward this past
year in sharing your knowledge, your skills and your financial
resources.

To insure this is a 2001 Odyssey for all of us, we can only lay the
groundwork to achieve the project goals and to just maintain the
current level of usage. We must all begin to ask some very
serious questions of ourselves:

Where can I best get involved?

What skills can I bring to this table?

What project is most interesting to me so that I can feel a
part of this worthy effort?

How can I help, individually and through contacts, to assist
JewishGen reach the financial level it must to properly staff and
manage all these projects for me and my family, today and into
the future?

Please let us know your interests by reading and answering the
requests we will be making for volunteers in the near future.
Please share your ideas and your skills so we can find a place
for you on this team. And please, help us get a jump start into
the new millennium with a tax deductible contribution so we can
all begin to concentrate on these invaluable projects rather than
on "Imagining the World..."! <grin>

So, despite the continuing growth and despite the day to day
challenges of the year 2000, here we go! We are off into 2001,
into a new millennium...sharing all the thrills and joys of
connecting and re-connecting family...of educating and bringing
new meaning to our Jewish heritage, one we hope you will share
with us... in peace, in health and with a new prosperity.

Below you will find a message that came into JewishGen's Yizkor
Book Project which verbalizes some of the meaning of the work
everyone is doing to preserve our history for future generations.
Perhaps, after the first reading it will give us all better
insight into why JewishGen is engaged in the projects we hold so
dear to our hearts. Knowledge of our history can indeed
bridge gaps towards better understanding and mutual respect...
and these qualities are indeed a precursor for PEACE! Please take
a few moments to read it, to feel it and to look beyond the words
to perhaps a new meaning and dimension to what we are all doing
together in one of the greatest grass roots effort ever!

from all of us at JewishGen, we wish you and your families a very

happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Susan

Susan E. King
President
JewishGen, Inc.

The numbers are in... and by the looks of it... the year 2000 has
been another banner year for JewishGen, once again, no exception.

- Over 42,000 submitters in the JGFF and over 3.3 million
searches performed in 2000
- Over 1457 submitters to the Family Tree of the Jewish People
representing nearly 2,000,000 names
- Over 32,000 messages posted to JewishGen and the SIG and
Research Group mailing lists in the year 2000
- Over 36 million hits this past year to the JewishGen site with
an additional 5 million searches executed on nearly 5 million
records all powered by JewishGen's servers
- 255 Yizkor Book Translations Online up >from 155 this time last
year for a total of 100 new translations
- 422 ShtetLinks pages (up >from 319 last year) with nearly 1193
localities spoken for

Truely, an impressive set of statistics!

One has only to look at the accomplishments of this organization
over the last year to realize what can really happen when diverse

people >from all corners of this earth--numbering in the
thousands-- come together with a common mission and purpose,
participating and sharing in what we believe is one of the
largest grass roots efforts ever undertaken to preserve our
history for future generations.

And what's in store for 2001? Here are some highlights...

Data collection and indexing:

1) Through our ongoing partnerships with Yad Vashem and the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum there are over 55 million
records awaiting us all.

2) Through JewishGen's OWBR Project, effort is well underway to
index and record millions of burials in Jewish cemeteries
throughout the world.

3) JewishGen is busily engaged in establishing and solidifying
contacts and partnerships with other organizations, institutions,
museums and with our counterparts currently living in the Eastern
European Jewish communities.

4) JewishGen has developed a plan for our database infrastructure
(All Country, All Topic, All Holocaust) which is going to take an
effort far beyond the capabilities of our current database team's
volunteer time. This means the pressing need for both full time
professional technical staff and volunteers with technical
skills.

5) JewishGen will be continuing to pursue avenues and costs for
implementing a document management and retrieval system to link
to our award winning website.

Education:

1) JewishGen has been recognized throughout the world for the
educational value of so many of our projects, including the
Yizkor Book Translation Project, ShtetLinks, ShtetlSchleppers, to
name a few. These projects are being expanded as we speak and we
look forward to everyone's participation.

2) We are developing a host of Youth Projects to educate the
younger generation and bring them into our grass roots efforts.
You'll be hearing a lot more on this throughout the new year.

3.) JewishGen has software to offer real time Chat Rooms where we
can hold ongoing lectures and classroom instruction on a host of
topics of interest to us all.

Fundraising:

1) JewishGen is in final preparations of both a strategic plan
and fundraising outline to present to funding organizations all
over the world.

2) JewishGen has just launched the JewishGenMall and is
continuing to expand the products and resource materials
available.

3) JewishGen must increase the number of financial supporters
among the tens of thousands who use our services. We improved
this year and are now up to 2,146 contributors which is progress,
but still represents only a very tiny fraction of those who use
JewishGen daily.

We do want to thank all of you who have come forward this past
year in sharing your knowledge, your skills and your financial
resources.

To insure this is a 2001 Odyssey for all of us, we can only lay the
groundwork to achieve the project goals and to just maintain the
current level of usage. We must all begin to ask some very
serious questions of ourselves:

Where can I best get involved?

What skills can I bring to this table?

What project is most interesting to me so that I can feel a
part of this worthy effort?

How can I help, individually and through contacts, to assist
JewishGen reach the financial level it must to properly staff and
manage all these projects for me and my family, today and into
the future?

Please let us know your interests by reading and answering the
requests we will be making for volunteers in the near future.
Please share your ideas and your skills so we can find a place
for you on this team. And please, help us get a jump start into
the new millennium with a tax deductible contribution so we can
all begin to concentrate on these invaluable projects rather than
on "Imagining the World..."! <grin>

So, despite the continuing growth and despite the day to day
challenges of the year 2000, here we go! We are off into 2001,
into a new millennium...sharing all the thrills and joys of
connecting and re-connecting family...of educating and bringing
new meaning to our Jewish heritage, one we hope you will share
with us... in peace, in health and with a new prosperity.

Below you will find a message that came into JewishGen's Yizkor
Book Project which verbalizes some of the meaning of the work
everyone is doing to preserve our history for future generations.
Perhaps, after the first reading it will give us all better
insight into why JewishGen is engaged in the projects we hold so
dear to our hearts. Knowledge of our history can indeed
bridge gaps towards better understanding and mutual respect...
and these qualities are indeed a precursor for PEACE! Please take
a few moments to read it, to feel it and to look beyond the words
to perhaps a new meaning and dimension to what we are all doing
together in one of the greatest grass roots effort ever!

from all of us at JewishGen, we wish you and your families a very

happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Susan

Susan E. King
President
JewishGen, Inc.

If it helps, all three cemeteries are now classed as being in Metropolitan
Essex, although they also come under Greater London!
Daniel Gleek

Does anyone know if there is a list posted online of persons
(surname, given name) buried in Jewish cemeteries in Philadelphia,
PA, USA?


Vicki Ina Friedman
Acworth, GA, USA
ctf-vif@mindspring.com

I know of women whose name is Zaltah.

Nancy Dobrin your mail bounced. Please resend correct email address
Lili Susser

If it helps, all three cemeteries are now classed as being in Metropolitan
Essex, although they also come under Greater London!
Daniel Gleek

Does anyone know if there is a list posted online of persons
(surname, given name) buried in Jewish cemeteries in Philadelphia,
PA, USA?


Vicki Ina Friedman
Acworth, GA, USA
ctf-vif@mindspring.com