JewishGen Weekly News Nosh February 5, 2023 #JewishGenUpdates
 The Weekly News Nosh JewishGen Weekly E-Newsletter Phil Goldfarb Tulsa, Oklahoma USA, Editor Date: February 5, 2023
“A Family Without The Understanding Of Their Past History, Foundation And Ethnicity Is Like A Tree Without Roots”
This News Nosh is a little longer than usual as it is two weeks’ worth of stories as I was on vacation last week!
Enjoy this week’s Nosh! Regards, Phil 1. The JewishGen "Neshama" Trip to Poland. This "immersive" exploration of Jewish Poland has been developed by JewishGen, Friends of Jewish Heritage in Poland, and The Matzevah Foundation. Based on feedback from the JewishGen Future Scholar Fellows, JewishGen is pleased to offer this program in 2023. To see the itinerary and to read more, go to: JewishGen Neshama Travel and Preservation Program
2. Ukraine Research Division Uploads 103,078 Revision List Records in January. Each record has a link to the page of the original document where you find your ancestor's listing. You may find additional information in the original record. To explore, go to their database: JewishGen Ukraine Database
3. Holocaust ‘Book of Names’ to be inaugurated at the UN underscores the individual identities of the 6 million. To mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, Yad Vashem inaugurated its Book of Names, a monumental installation containing the names of 4,800,000 victims of the Shoah at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The Book of Names will be on display at the United Nations for a month. Afterward it will be transferred to its permanent location at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, in Jerusalem, where it will be open to public viewing in time for Yom HaShoah, the Israeli and Jewish Holocaust remembrance day, in April. Read more from JTA: Holocaust ‘Book of Names’ to be inaugurated at the UN underscores the individual identities of the 6 million - Jewish Telegraphic Agency (jta.org)
4. JewishGen Press publishes 157th title: Memorial Book of Jezierna (Ozerna, Ukraine) and 158th title: Yad l'Yedinitz; memorial book for the Jewish community of Yedintzi, Bessarabia (Edineţ, Moldova). For more information, to see all JewishGen Press publications, and to order please visit: https://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/ybip.html
5. Have a genealogy “Success Story?” How about sharing it with others on JewishGen! Go to: Tell Your Story – Success! Stories of Connection (jewishgen.org) to get the process started.
6. In honor of Australia Day, MyHeritage is offering free access to all 95 million Australian records from across 288 historical record collections. Read more from their blog: Australia Day Free Records: Access 95 Million Records from Australia for Free! - MyHeritage Blog
7. New Genealogy Website From Belgium State Archives. The new website holds about 38.6 million official documents which includes 28,527 parish registers and 36,780 civil registers, which have a total of 2.2 million pages. The website is in French, Dutch, German and English. The documents have been digitized and include birth, baptism, marriage, death or burial certificates, as well as all the registers (called decennial tables) that list these documents. To access the website, go to: https://genealogie.arch.be/search/ You will need to login which requires an e-mail address, username and password. Thank you to Jan Meisels Allen, Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee for this story.
8. Findmypast (U.K.) Adds Thousands of New and Exclusive Military Records as well as Northumberland Records. Read the specific additions from Dick Eastman’s EOGN: https://eogn.com/page-18080/13074931 and https://eogn.com/page-18080/13083473
9. Shocking! AJC survey: Half of Americans don’t know how many Jews died in the Holocaust. Those with more years of school tend to know more about the Shoah. Only 53% of Americans over the age of 18 answered correctly that approximately six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, according to an American Jewish Committee public opinion survey released ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Read the story from JNS: AJC survey: Half of Americans don’t know how many Jews died in the Holocaust - JNS.org
10. Israelis now eligible for German and Austrian citizenship based on family heritage. New laws passed in Germany and Austria regarding the victims of the Nazi persecution simplifies the threshold conditions for obtaining citizenship and passports of these countries. Read more from The Times of Israel: Israelis now eligible for German and Austrian citizenship based on family heritage - Sponsored Content | The Times of Israel
11. 22% increase in antisemitism on U.K. campus in the last two years – Community Security Trust report. 150-university-related antisemitic incidents, have been reported to the Community Security Trust, in the last two academic years across 30 universities in the United Kingdom. Read the story from The Jerusalem Post: 22% increase in antisemitism on campus in the last two years - CST report - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)
12. Heirs of Jewish couple who fled Nazis sue Guggenheim for Picasso. A Pablo Picasso painting valued today at up to $200 million was sold for a song by a Jewish couple desperate to flee the Nazis in 1938 — and now the heirs want it back from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. The 1904 piece called “Woman Ironing” (La repasseuse) was gifted to the Guggenheim decades ago by the art dealer who paid a desperate Karl and Rosi Adler a measly $1,552 for it as they escaped the Holocaust. Read the story from the NY Post: Guggenheim Foundation 'refuses' to return Picasso to Holocaust survivor heirs: lawsuit (nypost.com)
13. The Jewish Superman. In his day, Zishe Breitbart rivaled Houdini as he awed audiences with feats of strength. A century ago, in 1923, a Jewish strongman named Zishe Breitbart was having a very good year. He starred in an Austrian silent film called The Iron King, but spent much of the year touring the United States—en route to becoming an American citizen. Read the story from Tablet Magazine: Why Have We Forgotten Zishe Breitbart, the Legendary Prewar Jewish Strongman, Showman, and Zionist? - Tablet Magazine
14. Christie's Launches Year-Long Global Program of Events Spotlighting History on Work of Restitution. Christie’s Auction House announced 2023 is the 25th anniversary of the Washington Principles – an international agreement that opened a new era of transparency with respect to art lost or stolen during the Nazi period between 1933 and 1945. Throughout the year, Christie’s Restitution Department will honor this landmark moment with Reflecting on Restitution, a global program of events. To read more and see the dates in Europe and USA for “Reflecting on Restitution” go to: https://www.christies.com/about-us/press-archive/details?PressReleaseID=10773 Thanks to Jan Meisels Allen, Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee for this story.
15. Mysterious handprint found in 1,000-year-old Jerusalem defensive moat. Archaeologists baffled as they uncover new elements of Old City fortifications, including parts of a huge rock-hewn trench; discoveries made during infrastructure work. Does it symbolize something or is it just a prank? Read the story and see the picture from The Times of Israel: Mysterious handprint found in 1,000-year-old Jerusalem defensive moat | The Times of Israel
16. The Museum of Family History Comes to Brooklyn. A special wing of this virtual museum has been built, which is dedicated to the people of Brooklyn, New York (Kings County). Here you will find a series of exhibits about its neighborhoods, its people, which will take you back in time to the Brooklyn of years ago, so that you may imagine the way life used to be here. To see more, go to: https://www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/brooklyn/fp.htm. Thanks to Steve Laskey for bringing this to our attention.
17. Israelis, Germans collaborate to bring Yad Vashem museum to Minecrat. Among the sites that have already been built in the game are the Old City of Jerusalem, Masada, Rabin Square, Dizengoff Street and the Knesset of Israel. Israeli engineers participating in the popular online game Minecraft’s initiative to build a scale model of the entire world in the game have joined forces with German gamers to create an accurate model of the Yad Vashem Museum and an educational exhibition in the game. Read the story from The Jerusalem Post: Israelis, Germans collaborate to bring Yad Vashem museum to Minecraft - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)
18. Jewish Federations grant nearly $5.5 million for Holocaust survivor care. The grants will assist dozens of agencies—Jewish and non-Jewish—that deliver social services to tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors along with older adults with a history of trauma, and the caregivers that help them. The grant amount totals $5.4 million over two years. Approximately one-third of the Holocaust survivors in the U.S. are estimated to be living in poverty, subject to increased risk of depression and social isolation, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more from JNS: Jewish Federations grant nearly $5.5 million for Holocaust survivor care - JNS.org
19. UAE museum unveils Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust. In a tolerance push, this is the latest sign of what Israel and its new Arab allies describe as a new approach to understanding Jewish history in the Middle East. Read the story from Reuters: UAE museum unveils Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust in tolerance push | Reuters
20. Germany returns 16th-century statuette sold off by Nazis to Jewish banker’s heirs. Sculpture of Mary and infant Jesus had belonged to Jakob Goldschmidt, a prominent businessman persecuted by the Nazis and forced to flee Germany in 1933. Read the story from the Times of Israel: Germany returns 16th-century statuette sold off by Nazis to Jewish banker's heirs | The Times of Israel
21. Yet another… Christie’s Ordered to Return 18th Century Painting That Was Confiscated During World War II to Proust Heirs. The painting at the center of the dispute, The Penitent Magdalene, was produced in 1707 by the Dutch artist Adriaen Van Der Werff. It was part of a collection owned by Lionel Hauser, a cousin of Marcel Proust who was known to have helped aided the author with his finances until 1920. Read the story from ARTNews: Christie’s Ordered to Return Dutch Painting to Proust Heirs – ARTnews.com
22. The Alliance Heritage Center to Preserve Jewish Farming History Receives Grant. The Alliance Heritage Center will use a new grant to create a public digital database of its collection documenting the history of Jewish farming in southern New Jersey. The goal of the Alliance Heritage Center is to preserve the history of the first successful Jewish farming village in the United States, the Alliance Colony in Pittsgrove Township, Salem County. Read more from Dick Eastman’s EOGN: https://www.eogn.com/page-18080/13081801
23. The secret centennial of the demise of Japan's first synagogue. Today, Jews from every part of the globe are scattered throughout Japan, with hundreds centered in each of the big cities of Tokyo, Kyoto and Kobe, where thriving Chabad Houses are located. The Nagasaki Jewish community arose out of a historic treaty with US naval commander Commodore Mathew C. Perry in 1853. This led to five Japanese port cities, including Nagasaki and Yokohama, to be opened for foreign trade and foreign settlement. Read more from The Jerusalem Post: The secret centennial of the demise of Japan's first synagogue - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)
24. Germany celebrates UNESCO listing for birthplaces of Yiddish, Ashkenazi culture. Sites recognized include the oldest known in-situ Jewish burial ground in Europe; German president: Jewish history in Germany, both good and bad, goes far beyond Holocaust. The sites in the upper part of the Rhine River valley are known as the origin point of Ashkenazi culture and where the Yiddish language first began to develop over 1,000 years ago. Read the story from The Times of Israel: Germany celebrates UNESCO listing for birthplaces of Yiddish, Ashkenazi culture | The Times of Israel
25. US National Archives Digitized 1938-1945 Target Dossiers to the British Isles. It is made up of over 1,100 images and is available for viewing and downloading through the National Archives Catalog. The dossiers, which are aerial photographs and maps of German identified bombing targets, are arranged by country and by location. Coordinates, scale, date, locations, and dossier number are printed on each and every sheet making this series incredibly easy to work with even if you do not speak German! To read more see: https://unwritten-record.blogs.archives.gov/2023/01/17/rg-242-target-dossiers-pertaining-to-the-british-isles-1938-1945-now-fully-digitized/ Thanks to Jan Meisels Allen, Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee for this story
26. A rabbi went down with his torpedoed warship in 1943. Today, his cousin ensures his story is not forgotten. The sinking of the Dorchester is considered one of the country’s worst World War II-era sea disasters: Of the 902 men on board, only 203 survived. The four clergy, all relatively new soldiers who had befriended one another at the Army Chaplains School at Harvard University, stood out for their calming presence throughout the pandemonium that occurred during the 18 minutes it took for the ship to go under. As the tragedy rapidly unfolded, survivors reported that the chaplains offered prayers, helped distribute lifejackets and, once those ran out, they selflessly gave up their own. If you don’t know this story, you should read about it from JTA: A rabbi went down with his torpedoed warship in 1943. Today, his cousin ensures his story is not forgotten. - Jewish Telegraphic Agency (jta.org)
27. Minnesota synagogue builds an ice rink — and inaugurates it with a klezmer skate. Temple of Aaron invites families to dress warm and enjoy the cold in what rabbi believes is the first-ever skating rink on a synagogue property. A forecasted low of -16 degrees Fahrenheit (-9 Celsius) in the Twin Cities had the stage set perfectly for two frozen Jewish firsts — a Klezmer on Ice festival and a synagogue-run skating rink. Read the story from the Times of Israel: Minnesota synagogue builds an ice rink — and inaugurates it with a klezmer skate | The Times of Israel
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