I have just stumbled upon a website called Jewish Roots which is a Russian website. Is anyone familiar with this website and have they used it? If so, any guidance in using it.

Bonnie Gould
Calabasas, California

Researching:
PEKER-Kopyl,Belarus
PERLIN-Timkovichi,Belarus
RABINOVITZ-Ruzhyn, Ukraine
SIEGEL-Taurge, Lithuania
GOLD/GOLOD-Moyzr, Belarus
JUSTMAN-Warsaw
ALTMAN-Warsaw

Bonnie,

Yes, I have used it almost since its inception. It is a forum where discussion is carried out in Russian. They do have a section devoted to those who want to post a query in a different language. I have posted in whatever section is appropriate to the topic and utilizing Google Translate, I translate the posting into Russian and post that with the English language query. This forum is particularly interesting since you'll find many users in Russia with significant experience working with the various Russian archives. I have posted queries of late from the 1765 Vilna Revision List and although that RL is in Polish, I have been given translations by very helpful forum members.

The forum maintains a library of very useful Russian language resources and does have a database. This database is unlike what Genners are used to, as this forum does not focus on posting record transcriptions but rather guides one to various resources. This is accomplished by listing contents of various inventory books held in the various archives. There is also a cemetery database . Overall, it is quite worthwhile to have this forum available for use in furthering our research. It just takes a bit of work to post appropriately by incorporating Russian language queries along with your native language posting. You can upload images with your posts for translation and you can even hire a researcher through the site. As an example, I know one of the founders of the forum who, besides being a university professor, also conducts research professionally for clients. He travels regularly to the archives in Vilnius and Minsk to conduct research.

All told, the jroots forum can be a worthwhile resource added to ones toolbox, especially in light of the fact they discuss holdings of archives not dealt with here...archives of SPB, Moscow and beyond. This is in addition to all the territories of the Pale of Settlement and any country where Russians have migrated.

Joel Ratner
Newton, MA.

Could you please let us know what the link is for the Jewish roots Russian Website?
Thank you.

--
Avivah R. Z. Pinski ,  near Philadelphia, USA

I’m some researcher! I can’t find the website. Can you post the link, please?

Here's the link:
https://forum.j-roots.info/

I took a look at the site but I'm not sure where to post my query there.  I have a close DNA cousin whose family was from Moscow.  He knows that his grandmother was an Okun, my maternal line, and that her father's name was Gamshei.  This is from his grandmother's marriage certificate.  He believes that both his grandmother and great grandfather were always in Moscow but I have my doubts.  His grandmother married a career military man and I think they might have meet elsewhere and then moved to Moscow since military service was one of the reasons that Jews could live beyond the Pale. I'm looking for any records I can find for her (Ester Gamshieve Okun Kanfel) or her father in Moscow or any other Russian archives. What Forum category would you suggest?

June Genis
Hemet, CA

Near the bottom of the opening page where you see all the forum sections and the topics covered, you'll notice all sections and topics within are described in Russian with one exception. Near the bottom of the list, you'll see a topic described in English. It is titled "My Jewish Ancestry in Russia and USSR". That's the place where you should post your inquiry.

Joel Ratner
Newton, MA

Hello, June!

Okun and Kanfel are popular surname in Moscow synagogue vital records. These records are in the Central Moscow archive. I'm copying these records and want to place them to forum.j-roots.info.
Also there are many folders about Okun and Kanfel Central Moscow archive. You can write me and I will try to find all of these information for you.

Sincerely, Elena
yelena.v.volk@...

A great idea for a webinar:  how to use the jroots forum to search for your ancestors.  I've browsed the website a few times, but it's not obvious (at least not to me!) how to use it.

Just my 2 cents!

Ellen
--
Researching WEISSMAN/VAYSMAN (Ostropol, Ukraine); MOROZ and ESTRIN/ESTERKIN (Shklov & Bykhov, Belarus); LESSER/LESZEROVITZ, MAIMAN, and BARNETT/BEINHART/BERNHART (Lithuania/Latvia); and ROSENSWEIG/ROSENZWEIG, KIRSCHEN, and SCHWARTZ (Botosani, Romania)

Anybody can came to the https://forum.j-roots.info/viewforum.php?f=101
and ask his question in Questions and answers in English and other foreign languages
It is not difficult.
The registration is simple. Type right button (near pencil sign).



Then you can change the language to British Englsh and type your nickname and password.

 

Since about 80% of the world Jewish population lived within the Pale in Russian Empire in the 19th century, and almost every one of you had roots in the Russian Empire, it is surprising that no one  visits Russian-language forums. This is not difficult. I also use Google translate when I can't translate to English.

 

Sincerely, Elena
yelena.v.volk@...

Elena, I followed your link and registered for the site.  I got a confirming email to activate my account  However I still can't seem to post.  I tried to post in "English and other foreign language" and got a message that I wasn't allowed to post there.  I can read the forum but I'm no longer seeing a "New Topic" link.  Do you know what I did, or am doing, wrong?

about 80% of the world Jewish population lived within the Pale in Russian Empire in the 19th century, and almost every one of you had roots in the Russian Empire, it is surprising that no one  visits Russian-language forums

Elena, the percentage with roots anywhere that Russia is still the official language would be much lower.  Most of the Pale was farther west than modern-day Russia.  The "Russian Empire" included not only modern-day Russia, but also most of the rest of the former Soviet Union, and a substantial part of Poland.

Very few of the Jews who emigrated to the United States (or other western countries) 100-140 years ago had roots in what is now Russia.  Most of them were from what is now Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, or Latvia.

There was a small population of elite Jews who were allowed to live east of the Pale, but since they were in an extremely privileged (and somewhat protected) position (and they frequently had substantial wealth that they would not have been permitted to bring with them), they had less incentive to emigrate than poorer Jews in the Pale.

During the Holocaust, many Jews fled from the former Pale into the Russian SSR, but many Jews were not allowed to leave the Soviet Union until its collapse, so Jews over 40 years old who were not born there are relatively unlikely to have roots in the Russian SSR. 

Stephen Weinstein
Camarillo, CA, USA

On Sun, Aug 23, 2020 at 11:56 AM, Stephen Weinstein wrote:

Most of the Pale was farther west than modern-day Russia

Of course, I told about Russian Empire, not about modern-day Russia. Russian Empire included Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and Latvia and Estonua and some other contries too. All vital records in these territories was in Russian. It is a pity that the descendants of emigrants from the Russian Empire do not have the opportunity to read the metric records in the original.

Yelena Volk

To clarify what Yelena Volk wrote

Russian Empire included Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and Latvia and Estonua and some other contries too

The Russian Empire included only part of Poland.  Galicia, for example, was part of the Austrian/Hapsburg Empire (known in the U.S. as Austria-Hungary).  Records from there are in Polish in Napoleonic format.

Stephen Weinstein
Camarillo, CA