Summer 2016 Vol. 25 No.2

Making the Most of JewishGen -- Moving Beyond the Basic Searches presented by Garri Regev

JewishGen.org is the go-to website for father's first name, e.g.: “Yaakov ben Jewish genealogists. Basic searches of its Shmuel” (in Hebrew), or “Yaakov Shmulo- many databases, help files, and affiliated vich” (in Russian), both meaning “Yaakov, SIG groups is free, but you may be asked for the son of Shmuel”. Surname adoption for a donation to do more extensive searches. Jews began to be required by the various Garri Regev told us in May how to make governments during the late 18th and early better use of the website. 19th centuries. The years varied by country . She started with some of the “myth- Myth #2: Spelling of surnames is im- busters” we should know, and gave the truth portant — RESPONSE: Spelling is irrelevant to counter those myths. in genealogy, as the consistent spelling of Myth #1: Your family surname can be names is a 20th-century invention and ob- traced to BEFORE the 18th century — RE- session. Names were almost never spelled SPONSE: Most Jews did not have fixed he- in a standard way in earlier records. Trans- reditary surnames until the early 19th centu- literation from one language to another ry. Before that, people were known only by their first name and a patronymic, i.e., their Regev see p. 6

Garri Regev did her un- Central Zionist Archives and also dergraduate work in Education at the National Library of Israel at Lake Erie College. She has Genealogy Center. She was Pres- lived in Israel since 1978 and ident of the Israel Genealogical was an elementary teacher for Society and is currently the Pres- more than 20 years there. She ident of the Israel Genealogy Re- has been doing genealogical re- search Association. Garri serves search for over 20 years, and has on the IAJGS Board of Directors. lectured on genealogy to many She was the Vice-Chair of the adult groups and IAJGS Confer- 2015 IAJGS Conference in Jeru- ences. Garri currently volunteers salem and co-chair of program at the Israel Museum, at the for the Conference.

The Kol Summer 2016 Index p. 33

A message from President Amy Wachs...

The Jewish Genealogy Society of Cleveland Ed Abramson and Ellen Pill, came from is having a very good year! In this column, I’d Wooster, OH, to discuss the experience of Jew- like to highlight some of our new and expanded ish immigrants in Wooster in their presentation services and resources. titled “Where the Horse Died—The History of At our September membership meeting, we Wooster, Ohio’s Jewish Community”. Our July announced the launch of a new “members-only” program was co-sponsored with the Kol Israel section for our website. You can visit our web- Foundation. Henry Bitterman explained site at www. clevelandjgs.org. Members who how to research family lost in the Holocaust in are current with their dues payments will re- his presentation “A Story of Survival: All We ceive a username and password to access the Had Was Hope”. In August, Daniel Horo- password protected files on our website. As we witz, Chief Genealogist of MyHeritage, came build content for our members, we anticipate from Israel to discuss “Israel Genealogy on the that these files will include handouts from our Internet”. At our September meeting, Rabbi programs, as well as research and membership Naphtali Burnstein explained “How to Read resources. Many thanks to our webmaster Paul a Jewish Tombstone”. All of these programs Wolf for creating this new feature for our mem- have been very well-attended. Special thanks to bers. Sylvia Abrams, our First Vice President- We are also growing our library, which is Programs, for organizing such a great variety of located at Fairmount Temple (Beachwood, OH). events with excellent speakers. Earlier this year, we acquired a complete set of We will be welcoming more out-of-town AVOTAYNU and STAMMBAUM journals. I speakers for our October and November meet- invite our members to visit our library—we have ings. In October, Dr. David Kendall will visit many helpful resources available there. Cleveland and discuss “When Descendants We have also expanded our research assis- Become Ancestors: The Flip Side of Genealogy”. tance. In July, Adelle Gloger announced her Be sure to join us for our November meeting, retirement from responding to requests for when author and activist Grant Gochin will research help. Our new research team is com- come from California to discuss “A Genealogical prised of members Paul Klein, Russ Journey to Heritage Citizenship in Lithuania”. Maurer, and Helen Wolf. All are highly Our December meeting will include a re- skilled and experienced researchers. They have port and discussion on the IAJGS 2016 Annual already responded to several research inquiries Conference that was held in Seattle in August. and are now engaged in an exciting new project Our Jewish Genealogy Society was well- involving the Willet Street Cemetery in Cleve- represented at the IAJGS Conference, with nine land. members attending. Our former President, We have also established an on-site “Help Ken Bravo, is Vice President of IAJGS. Ken Desk” at our meetings. Board members are and I were featured speakers at the Conference. available before meetings to answer questions It was an honor to be included among the tal- and provide assistance to members and guests. ented speakers at this year’s IAJGS Conference. You may have noticed that we have also set up a I was very impressed with the breadth and new “Welcome Desk” at meetings, where Board depth of the Conference offerings, and urge members are available to greet members and members to consider attending future events. I guests, provide membership information, and hope you enjoy this edition of the KOL. Many answer questions. thanks to our Editor, Cynthia Spikell, for Our summer programs have been outstand- creating another excellent issue. ing! In May, we welcomed Garri Regev, for- Thank you for your support and member- mer President of the Israel Genealogical Re- ship. Best wishes to you and your families for a search Association, who visited Cleveland and happy, healthy, and peaceful new year. L’Sha- spoke to our group about “Making the Most of na Tovah! JewishGen’s Resources”. Our June speakers, The Kol 2 Amy Summer 2016 Upcoming Meetings

From April through November, meetings are held at Menorah Park’s second floor Miller Boardroom, 27100 Cedar Road, Beachwood, at 7:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month. See our website www.clevelandjgs.org/ .

Wednesday, September 7 -- “How to Read a Jewish Tombstone” -- Rabbi Naphtali Burnstein, Young Israel of Greater Cleveland Wednesday, October 5 -- When Descendants Become Ancestors: The Flip Side of Gen- ealogy -- author Dr. David Kendall Wednesday, November 2 -- “A Genealogical Journey to Heritage Citizenship in Lith- uania” -- Grant Gochin, activist on behalf of Lithuanian Jewry and author of Mal ice, Murder and Manipulation: One Man’s Quest for Truth In December we will resume our winter schedule. We meet the first Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple, 23737 Fairmount Blvd, Beachwood. Sunday, December 4 -- Report from members who attended the 2016 IAJGS Seattle conference. Sunday, January 8, 2017 -- “Tetiev: Documentary Film Project”-– Susan Kirkman Zake, Assistant Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kent State University

Future IAJGS Conferences 2017, July 23 – 28 Orlando, Florida 37th Conference 2018 Eastern Europe (tentative) 38th Conference 2019 Ken Bravo announced at our September meeting that it will be CLEVELAND, OHIO !!

April 26-29, 2017, The Ohio Genealogical Society (OGS) annual conference will be held at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in Sandusky, Ohio. See www.ogs.org for more information.

Can’t get enough of genealogy? If you are looking for more, The Cleve- land District Round Table is a discussion group of the leadership of the genealogi- cal societies in the five-county district which includes Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, and Medina. It has an online calendar of “Activities of Genealogical Interest” -- events sponsored by various groups. See http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohcdrt/ .

The Kol 3 Summer 2016 Local

Webcasting our meetings?

We have been asked if You need the slides with the speaker, but we could do webcasts of our if you both at one, you don't get the other meetings, or video record and if you point at both, you don't get a them for out-of-town mem- good image of either. bers or members who cannot attend “At the IAJGS annual conference we monthly meetings. Ken Bravo wrote a have Family Search doing the video work good explanation of why this is not cur- but they are using broadcast-quality rently possible. equipment. The audio DVDs that we sell “The concept of recording presenta- are prepared by a company that records tions and putting them online is certainly the audio and separately captures the neither new nor novel. How it is done is PowerPoint slides electronically. They the issue and also the problem. then have to manually sync the audio and “First of all, it needs to be high quality the images. or else it looks like someone's bad home “Finally, there is the issue of getting movies of their last vacation. So you need the speaker's permission, both for the au- equipment of the proper quality and a tri- dio and the slides. Some, but not a huge pod to keep it steady. Forget about any- number, refuse. Some fear that they won't one's iPhone. be invited elsewhere to give the same pro- “You also need very good audio and gram and others, I suspect, may be ‘using’ that probably means a lavaliere micro- copyrighted material and would rather phone so that the speaker doesn't move it not have their program easily reviewable away from his/her mouth. Then there's online.” the issue of what you point the camera at.

Editor’s note: Sometimes out-of-town members ask why we do not send the handouts from meetings. Most often they are copyrighted, so we cannot send them. Look at the meeting reports in The Kol to find out what the speakers at the meetings covered.

More opportunities for learning

The Genealogical Committee of the Western Reserve Historical Society presents classes and programs at the WRHS Research Library, 10825 East Blvd., Cleveland. Phone 216-721- 5722. Some that might interest our readers: ˄ September 10 - Noon to 3 p.m. For the beginner. $15 Register at [email protected] . ˄ October 8 - Noon to 3 p.m. Open house with behind-the-scenes tour. [email protected] ˄ November 5 - Noon to 3 p.m. Second half of program is on city directories. $15 Register at [email protected] . ˄ January 7, 2017 - No time listed. Case Studies: Powerful Tools “Early registration is en- couraged, as participants will be sent the research question and instructions the week be fore the session.” $15 Register at [email protected] . ˄ March 11, 2017 - Noon to 3 p.m. DNA: What is it and What Do My Results Mean? $15 Reg- ister at [email protected] .

The Kol 4 Summer 2016 Local

At our May meeting Helen Wolf The deadline for submitting an appli- said that there will be help available at our cation for induction in 2017 is December September and October meetings for fill- 31. ing out the application for the Cuyahoga Next year it is our society’s turn to County Centurions, the lineage society of host the induction ceremony for new people whose ancestors have lived in the members of the society. county for at least 100 years.

President Amy Wachs announced so, Amy told us that we would have greet- our “Help Desk” at the July meeting. ers at the door. Chuck Lissauer and Members will be available before meetings Becky Werman have welcomed people, to provide assistance. Jane Riedel, handled name tags, and kept track of the Stewart Hoicowitz, and Murray Da- sign-in sheet. Amy is looking for volun- vis have volunteered to man the desk. Al- teers for these tasks in the future.

Queries answered

At our July meeting Adelle Gloger MAN. Helen found that they were broth- reported on the queries she had received ers, and founded Chesed Shel Emeth. and had worked on with Paul Klein. A Barbara Thompson in Falls Church, Jacob and Rose SQUIRES were being Virginia, is looking for Hattie PHILLIPPS. sought. They were in Denver in 1930. Rose Hattie’s brother came to Cleveland but died in 1938 and was buried in Denver. Hattie went to Detroit. Adelle referred the searcher to other Dovid Glock in New York City was re- sources. searching Rabbi LEVY/LEVI, buried in Someone else wanted to clear a dis- Mayfield Cemetery. It was not the right crepancy in the religion of their grandpar- man, and Helen referred Glock to Pat ents. Paul Klein found a newspaper article Corrigan, who oversees Willett St. Ceme- that told of an 1888 conversion of a man to tery, where the man might be buried. his wife’s Judaism. Dr. Gerald Weiss was Pat Corrigan told Helen that a donor looking for aunts and uncles from the will pay for a few tombstones a year for 1930’s. There was a relationship to the LE- unmarked graves. Pat needs information NOFSKY family. on the people in those graves. Now a pro- Adelle is retiring from answering re- ject is proposed to document all bur- search requests after some years. ials at Willett St. Cemetery. There may Helen Wolf and new member Russ be as many as 2000 graves there, but only Maurer stepped up to help Paul Klein 800 are online at Findagrave.com . Russ with queries. They handled requests from Maurer is working on a list to document Richard Laufman in California who is this oldest Jewish cemetery in Cleveland. looking for Richard and George LAUF-

The Kol 5 Summer 2016 Regev from p. 1 creates infinite spelling variances, e.g., ords in Israel, those that have been micro- there is no “H” sound in the Russian Cyril- filmed by the Church of the Latter-Day lic alphabet, so Jewish names such as Saints (Mormon) Family History Library, “Hersh” might become “Gersh”, utilizing and many that are available through com- the “G” sound instead. mercial entities. Myth #3: We have the same last name, Myth #6: Our ancestral town no longer so we are probably related — RESPONSE: exists — RESPONSE: Today, your ances- Just because two people have the same tral town may not have a Jewish commu- surname, it does not necessarily mean that nity which has survived, but it most likely they are related. Many Jewish surnames still does exist. It might be in a different (e.g., Cohen, Levine, Katz, Kaplan, Weiss, country, or have a different name. More Klein, most patronymics, etc.) are ex- than 6,000 known Jewish communities tremely common, each perhaps having can be searched in the JewishGen Com- hundreds of separate progenitors. Geo- munities Database. graphic-based matches are often more im- Myth #7: People knew their birthdates — portant than the surname matches. RESPONSE: Wrong, many immigrants Myth #4: Our family surname changed did not know their birthdates. Entering at Ellis Island — RESPONSE: No, it was the U.S. before 1924 required no docu- not. Passenger lists were filled out at the mentation, just a ticket. Many brought no port of embarkation by clerks hired by the identification papers with them. Even if steamship lines, or by the ship's purser, they knew their birthdates, it was usually and then checked by U.S. customs or im- in relation to a Jewish holiday (“the third migration authorities upon arrival. Thus, day of Chanukah”), or a Hebrew date the names on these passenger lists are the (“12th of Adar”). They had no easy way of European, pre-Americanized versions of translating this Jewish calendar date into names. No names were changed at Ellis the secular Gregorian calendar date. Island. Immigrants changed their own Many individuals decided to use American names afterwards, to more easily recog- holidays, such as January 1st or July 4th, nized surnames, those which might match as their birthday. Also, some people ad- their already arrived relatives, or the name justed their ages for various reasons. of someone who sponsored them to come Myth #8: Family Stories (“bubbe meis- to America, or even a name with perceived es”) are absolutely true — RESPONSE: greater “yichus” or renown. While many stories have germs of truth Myth #5: All of the vital and other family and should be investigated, often the sto- records were destroyed in the Holocaust — ries are exaggerated. RESPONSE: Yes, some records were de- Myth #9: DNA Analysis is THE way to stroyed due to wartime conditions, but on find out who is in your family — RE- the whole, the majority of records have SPONSE: DNA analysis is a science in its survived and are available in archives infancy. Autosomal DNA research can ac- throughout Europe and other areas of the curately predict if two people are related Jewish diaspora. Particularly, there are within about 4-5 generations; but without large amounts of records available on Jew- a specific goal, for Jewish genealogists, it ishGen, as well as through a number of presents many “false positives”, and as- organizations that also have collected and sumptions must be investigated before preserved Holocaust-related documents, any conclusions are drawn. For Y-DNA as well as the large accumulations of rec- Regev see p. 7

The Kol 6 Summer 2016 Regev from p. 6

and mt-DNA tests, the results are more bases are the JewishGen Lithuania Data- scientific, but to establish solid relation- base and the All Lithuania Database of the ships assumes that folks can accurately go LitvakSIG. The LitvakSIG database has back at least 4 or 5 generations in order to some material that is only for members. connect via a particular person. In sum- After some time, the material is available mary, DNA testing can prove a connection to all on the database. — even if you can’t find it using historical Another geographic database is Jewish records. Records Indexing-Poland (JRI-Poland). Myth #10: The United States Census Garri said they have a new Name Finder provides the truth about your American Add-In. A distribution map shows where a family — RESPONSE: Sometimes, the particular surname was prevalent. There is census is correct. However, the enumera- a lot of material available online, and you tor came to the door and questioned can see a digitized document in some cas- whomever he found there. It is important es. You can even eliminate any empty col- to compare multiple years of the census umns of information to make viewing easi- and other key records. This part of geneal- er for you. If you find a document that you ogy research is one of the most rewarding want to have translated, you can copy it for the information it can provide on your and put it on ViewMate. (See The Kol , ancestors. Spring 2016, p. 42.) There is also a website To get started on JewishGen.org which www.jri-poland.org, with research tips and hosts more than 20 million records, you guides and they will do an e-mail chat to will see “If you are a beginner: Click here help users. to get started.” There are FAQ’s and a di- The JewishGen Ukraine Database rectory of resources with twenty topics to overlaps a little with the JRI-Poland Data- help you. Also, there is an InfoFile that has base. search topics and information on geo- You can search the Family Finder for graphical areas and DNA. The website surnames you are researching to contact even has a JewishGen Learning Center other researchers, or list your family that offers classes online. For a $100 dona- names. There is no limit on the number of tion you can take one free course a year. names you can list. You can locate the There is a Given Names database, that community that your family lived in. can translate names from English to Yid- It is possible to enter your family in- dish and vice versa. formation into the Family Tree of the Jew- Garri told us about the Jewish com- ish People by uploading a GEDCOM. If munities database which lists latitude and your file contains living people, only their longitude and alternate names for the names are shown, but not other infor- community. Changes in names and coun- mation on them. Garri did warn that the tries are also noted. (Towns had different information is only as good as the infor- names depending on which government mation that people have entered. was in power. It is helpful to know what She also told about other features of government was in power when your rela- JewishGen.org -- Yizkor books, Kehila- tives lived in a town to be able to know Links websites for various communities, where to look for information.) When you Discussion Groups (one general one and click on a town in JewishGen, a map will ones for various SIGs), and Birds of a appear, showing it. Feather (BOF) groups which are smaller, The databases are arranged by geo- and less formal, possibly based on a topic graphical areas. Two big geographic data- or a town.

The Kol 7 Summer 2016 June

Where the Horse Died, the history of Wooster, Ohio’s Jewish community presented by Ed Abramson and Ellen Pill

A group of Jewish Wooster resi- dents came to hear our June speak- ers, Ed Abramson and Ellen Pill. That shows how close-knit the small Jewish community is. Wooster (wʊstər, not woooster) is about 50 miles southwest of Cleveland and is the largest city and the county seat of Wayne County. The town began in 1808. In 1840 -- the start of their book -- there were 1,913 total inhab- itants. By 1930 there were 10,742 total residents; by 1940 there were 11,543; and by 1950 there were Ed explained the significance of “where the 14,005 in total. horse died”. Where Jews settled was often by The speakers’ book is Where the chance, and sometimes it was where the family Horse Died -- An Anecdotal History horse died and there was no money to buy an- of 100 Years of Wayne County, other to continue traveling. Ohio, Jewish Life 1840 - 1940. The first Jew settled in Wayne County in 1840. The Erie Canal (c. 1825) had made it eas- ier for people to get to small towns. Ed and El- len tell this story of settlement and the continu- ing Jewish colony in a mixture of chronological and topical chapters. Ed said that Ohio towns of at least 10,000 population all had Jews and often a congrega- tion, but those days are over. When Abraham Goldfader (who probably came from Cleveland) settled in Wooster in 1841, he placed an ad in the local newspaper. Over his ad, the newspa- per ran “Don’t buy from the Jew.” Mr. and Mrs. Schaffner settled outside of Wooster, where their son Solomon was born. Solomon formed Hart Schaffner & Marx in Chi- cago in 1887 with his cousins. Solomon spon- sored a union in his clothing factory. Another Wooster Jew was Marcus Spiegel, who formed an Army division during the Civil War. He be- came a Lt. Colonel. President Lincoln was go- ing to make him a general, but See Wooster p. 9

The Kol 8 Summer 2016 Wooster from p. 8

Marcus was killed in battle. His brother ding. The ceremony was exotic to its readers. Joseph spent the final few months of the The Botvinick (later Barnett) family set- war in a Confederate prison camp. Then tled in town. One of the family members Joseph went to Chicago, and opened J. changed his name to Lecofsky. The whole Spiegel and Company with his brother-in- family had come from two little towns. Ortho- dox services were held in the Lecofsky house. law’s help. That became the Spiegel cata- The house became too small, so they would log and clothing company. hold services in a public space. The newspa- About 1870 the pace picked up a bit and a pers covered the holiday services. few stores opened, run by Jewish bachelors. In the 1890’s twenty-eight Jewish chil- The Weixelbaum brothers (Max and Adolph) dren were born in town. By 1954 there were came to town to start a foreign language 55 children who were 18 or younger in newspaper. The Wooster Journal billed itself Wooster. Two of those children still live in as the only German paper in Wayne, Holmes, Wooster. The last Jewish child born in and Ashland counties. Max later became a Wooster was seven years ago. Democrat politician. Both brothers left At one time there were more than twenty Wooster. David L. Friedlander came to stores in downtown Wooster that were Jewish Wooster in 1884 from Boston and opened -owned. Ed Abramson had an auto parts “The one price store” downtown. store. In 2016 there are no Jewish-owned The Wooster Republican newspaper ran stores in town. a column of “Jewish jokes”, and there was Questions from the audience followed the generally disparaging coverage of Jewish resi- talk. Did Wooster ever have a full-time rabbi? dents in the newspaper. Slowly there began to Yes, from 1930 until about fifteen years ago. be social news of the new Jewish families in In 1950 a temple was built, and then expand- the newspaper. Then something happened, ed. Jane Riedel remembers the rabbi from and an article appeared in the paper which when she attended the College of Wooster in treated Jewish ceremonies as something the 1970’s. The College did not seek Jewish unique. In 1897 the nearby Dalton newspaper students, but has about one hundred Jewish carried a story about a Canton Jewish wed- students now.

We have a book in our library collection at Fairmount Temple’s library -- Jews in Small Towns: Legends and Legacies, by Howard V. Epstein. Call #: 973.04 E9. There are also books about Jews in other localities.

Edwin Abramson was 88 when he pub- lished his first book to celebrate the 175th an- niversary of the first Jewish settler in Wooster. Our website says, “Ed Abramson was born in Wooster, Ohio in 1926. He gradu- ated from Northwestern University in 1948, and is married to Carolyn. They have three children. Ed's relatives have been in Wooster since 1884. “Ellen Pill, Ph.D., has worked for 35 years as a freelance writer, with numerous publica- Knesseth Israel Temple in tions. She was born in Ft. Dodge, Iowa.” She Wooster, now affiliated with the also has taught dance classes and has been a Reconstructionist movement. flash mob organizer.

The Kol 9 Summer 2016 July

A Story of Survival: All We Had Was Hope presented by Henry Bitterman

Henry Bitterman became interested in carrying large slabs of genealogy because his father was a Holo- rock up a long stair- caust survivor from Poland, and Henry’s way carved in the grandparents, uncle, and many relatives earth. were murdered by the Nazis in World War After the war II. He has identified over a hundred fami- Mayer lived in a dis- ly members on his father's side. From his placed person’s camp genealogy research he has uncovered where he witnessed Henry Bitterman events from the lives of his grandparents, the trials and sentenc- earned a Master's uncle, and father. ing of 60 defendants degree in Reha- Henry showed a video interview of his guilty of war crimes at bilitation Counsel- father from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Mauthausen. He came ing from Kent Museum, and photographs of concentra- to Cleveland in 1949 State University tion camps and displaced person camps. where he lived with a and his under- He told us ways to research lost family, local family at first. graduate degree explore different methods to recover After the war Mayer in Blind Rehabili- World War II documents, and find web worked with Simon tation. He worked sites and contacts. He also showed how he Wiesenthal to find war for the Cleveland had saved extensive material on the indi- criminals. More than a Society for the vidual histories of victims of the Holo- thousand Nazi crimi- Blind as an Orien- caust. nals were identified. tation and Mobility Mayer Bitterman, his father, was born When Henry Specialist. He re- 9 Aug 1920, and died 8 Apr 1989. He told started his research, cently retired from Henry of his personal experiences that he he contacted the In- the Cuyahoga had in Krakow, Poland, during the Holo- ternational Red Cross, County Board of caust. For instance, because of poor nutri- which helps people Developmental tion, cuts took a long time to heal. Jews find missing family. Disabilities after were forbidden to use public transporta- The Red Cross helped 35 years of ser- tion and Jewish children could not go to him find information vice as a Habilita- school. Mayer worked at Oskar Schindler’s such as which camps tion Supervisor . factory in Plaszow, Poland. He said he his father had been in, worked for a bowl of soup. Poles also and when he was liberated. He also used worked at the factories, so the Jews had the Yad Vashem (www.yadvashem.org) some contact with them. Mayer had online list of Holocaust victims -- the Cen- learned to weld in a Hermann Goering tral Database of Shoah Victims. There are factory that made Tiger tanks. When the three million people listed in the database. Russians approached the area, the Schind- A “Page of Testimony” can be found which ler factory closed. Henry also showed was filled out by someone who remem- some of the extremely harsh conditions bered the victim. There was also a “List of the prisoners had to work under, like the Persecuted”. when his father had to work at the Mau- thausen camp quarry’s “Stairs of Death”, Survival see p. 11

The Kol 10 Summer 2016 Survival from p. 10

Morris Bitterman, Mayer’s cousin, tional Tracing Service Archives (“Bad Arol- knew about the family and could give Hen- sen Archives”). It consists of cards of infor- ry some help. Morris had been on the mation on Holocaust victims and survi- “Exodus”, the only other survivor from the vors. There may be multiple cards for family. He became a cantor in Canada. some people. The USHMM is the only His presentation was co-sponsored by place in the United States that has a copy. the Kol Israel Foundation, an organization The contact information on the form is: of survivors and their descendants. United States Holocaust Memorial Muse- Henry distributed handouts. One was um, Holocaust Survivors and Victims Re- instructions on filling out a Page of Testi- source Center, 100 Raoul Wallenberg mony. The forms are available online at Place SS, Washington, DC 20024-2126. www.yadvashem.org. A Survivor Registra- Telephone 202-314-7820. tion form is also available from the site for The American Red Cross originated victims of anti-Jewish persecution during the International Tracing Service, and still the war. helps families reunite. The website is He also gave us a form to request re- www.redcross.org/reconnectingfamilies search from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial and the telephone is 202-303-1600. Museum, which has a copy of the Interna-

Henry also gave a list of resources. We are printing the ones that have significant Holo- caust content:

» www.yadvashem.org/ (Yad Vashem) A museum in Israel for Holocaust research and a place to record the victims of Shoah. This site is a wonderful web site to search for Shoah victims and survivors of the Holocaust. If you have a family member who was murdered in the Holocaust, you should fill out a form online at this site so it can be put in the database. This will keep the memory of all the people who were victims of the Holocaust. Forms can also be mailed to Yad Vashem. Searchable online, Yad Vashem's Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names contains approximately 3 million names of Jewish victims comprised of Pages of Testimony, historical documentation and other sources. For more information, contact Yad Vashem at www.vadvashem.org.iI . » www.ancestry.com (Ancestry) This is a paid service but it is free from many public libraries. » www.cyndislist.com/ (Cyndi's list) This site has many links to help in your research. » www.ics.uci.edu/Ndan/genealogy/Krakow/family.htmi This is an early family finder for Kra- kow, Poland. This site has family trees from families who are from Krakow. The site has many family trees going back centuries. Just look for your family name in the database. Dan Hirschberg is the individual who put this database together. » www.ushmm.org/ (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) This is a wonderful site to find information about the Holocaust and a resource for finding family information. The site has video histories of Holocaust survivors. » www.clevelandjgs.org/ (Jewish Genealogy Society of Cleveland) The group has month meet- ing regarding Jewish Genealogy. The web site is a good place to facilitate your research.

Survival p. 12

The Kol 11 Summer 2016 Survival from p. 11

» www.redcross.org/news/press-release/Red-Cross-Tracing- Services-Help-Holocaust - Survi- vors-Find-Loved-Ones (Red Cross Tracing Service) This is a free service from the Red Cross to help find information about Holocaust survivors and victims of the Shoah. » International Tracing Service /ITS -- Located in Bad Arolsen, Germany, the ITS is the single largest repository of original Nazi documents in the world. The ITS is governed by an eleven- country commission as codified in the Bonn Accords and is administered by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Since the end of the war, the ITS has been providing humanitari- an tracing to survivors and their families. Requests can be submitted online through their site; at: www.its-aroisen.org/ . The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has a digital copy of the records from Arolsen, Germany, and they can do the tracing. Michean Amir (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum contact), phone 202-488-6113 [email protected] . » The Registry of Holocaust Survivors -- U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) Searchable name database at www.ushmm.org/remember. » JewishGen: The Home of Jewish Genealogy -- Online searchable databases containing infor- mation about Holocaust victims and survivors. Also provides extensive research tools for Jew- ish genealogy. For the Holocaust database see www.jewishgen.org/databases/Holocaust/. Obtain additional information at www.jewishgen.org » Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW) www.doew.at/ » Mauthausen Memorial (Austria) www.mauthausen-memorial.at/index open.php » Memorial de la Shoah Museum (France) www.memoriaidelashoah.org » Terezin Initiative (Czech Republic) www.terezinstudies.cz » The NEVEK Project of the Beate Klarsfeld Foundation (Hungary) www.neve klarsfeld.org/ » State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim (Poland) www.auschwitz.org.pl » German Bundesarchive Gedenkbuch (German Memorial Book) www.bundesarchiv.de/gedenkbuch/intro.html » JRI (Jewish Records Index Poland) www.jri-poland.org/belchatow.htm » Netherlands Institute for War Documentation www.oorlogsdoc.knaw.nl » Central Archives of Historical records in Poland www.archiwa.gov.pI/agad/eng/index.eng.html » National Historical Archives of Belarus in Minsk www.archives.gov/by/eindex.htm » National Historical Archives of Belarus in Grodno www.archives.gov/EArh/erx grodno.htm » Majdanek Museum www.maidanek.pl » Lithuanian State Historical Archives e-mail: [email protected] » Central State Archives of Ukraine in Lviv www.scarch.kiev.ua/Archives/Central/ca04.ua.html » Jessica Tischler -- Regional Director-- Service to the Armed Forces & International Services Programs -- American Red Cross -- Northeast Ohio Region -- 3747 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115 216-426-7525 (office) 216-496-2998 (cell) [email protected] » www.redcross.org/HeroCareNetwork » Dan Hirschberg’s site www.ics.uci.edu/~dan/genealogy/Krakow/famiIy.htmI

The Kol 12 Summer 2016 Local and Ohio

Ohio History Connection has some synagogue records and photographs

The OHC in Columbus was formerly tion Catalog (www.ohistory.org) but will have called the Ohio Historical Society. It has in- to go to the OHC to view items. It is open formation on births, deaths, and marriages, Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to and also photographs, such as a group of stu- 5 p.m. You can e-mail reference@ ohiohisto- dents and teachers in front of a Columbus ry.org or call 614-297-2551 to ask about the synagogue. collection. You can find things in the Online Collec- A search of “Jewish” brought 289 hits.

United States USCIS webinars give detailed information

The webinars cov- erence the application for citizenship, not the er a lot of infor- naturalization itself. (3) A census taker had mation and often no authority to make a person prove that s/he have odd little was naturalized. The enumerator just had to facts included. record what the person said. (4) It was not Some of the fac- until the Alien Registration Act became law in toids mentioned in 1940 that many people found that they were the latest one was (1) There were not citizens, as they had believed. “Professional Witnesses” who made money The “Smith Act” above had criminal pen- testifying that they knew the person applying alties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S. for citizenship, and that the person was of government and required all non-citizen good character, etc. The USCIS has a file of adult residents to register with the federal these witnesses. (2) The numbers written in government next to the name on a passenger manifest ref-

Resources PERSI Gems by Adam Barrone and Mike Hudson

Have you ever found an old clipping, researchers far and wide. The Periodical school souvenir, club membership list, or Source Index (PERSI) can be searched online some other bit of ephemera which you think at: http://search.findmypast.com/search/ might help another researcher? The next time periodical-source-index. you do, consider submitting it to the editor of We are grateful to all who work to publish your local genealogical newsletter or one items of lasting value in society newsletters which focuses on the geographical area associ- and journals. Hats off to those who submitted ated with your found item. When published, these gems for publication. your submission will likely find its way to our -- Republished from “Genealogy Gems” library shelves (Allen County Public Library in from Allen County Public Library Monthly Ft. Wayne, Indiana) and then gain an entry in Newsletter – February 29, 2016 PERSI, so that it can be found more easily by

The Kol 13 Summer 2016 United States

Surname changes -- formal or not

Ira Leviton of New York sent his view zen is also a court order - and often in- on name changes. He said that “a formal cludes a name change. It effectively by- name change is done via a court order” passes the rest of the formal court proce- and that the process in the early 20th cen- dure, but is just as legal. So if the name tury is similar to the process now. Nothing change is mentioned on the petition, it's a kept people from changing their name formal name change.” without any court order. However, he add- When you look at an index to naturali- ed that a “petition for naturalization that is zations, you might see the ‘before” and approved and admits somebody as a citi- “after” names in the index.

Entertaining television

The Learning Channel (TLC) announced on June 9 that “Who Do You Think You Are?” and “Long Lost Family” have been scheduled for another season. The former highlights celebrities in search of family history. The latter tells the stories of people who have their lives separated from other family members. See http://tinyurl.com/z5a67to . Originally: www.shedmedia.com/news/1018/TLC -Renews-Who-Do-You-Think-You-Are-and-Long-Lost-Family.aspx .

Summer 2016 FamilySearch updates for the United States

To access these, go to www.FamilySearch.org, a free comprehensive website that has records from all over the world.

Ohio, County Births 1841 - 2003 California, San Francisco County Records 1824 - 1997 Connecticut, Marriages 1640 - 1939 Florida, Port Everglades Passenger Lists 1932-1951 Georgia, Brunswick Passenger Lists 1904-1939 Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates 1871 - 1940 Illinois, Cook County Deaths 1878 - 1994 Louisiana, Naturalization Records 1831-1906 Massachusetts, Town Clerk Vital and Town Records 1626 - 2001 Michigan, Civil Marriages 1834 - 1974 Minnesota, Baudette Warroad and International Falls Passenger Lists 1910 - 1923 New York, Northern Arrival Manifests 1902 - 1956 Texas, El Paso Alien Arrivals 1924 - 1952 Washington, Birth Records 1869 - 1950

The Kol 14 Summer 2016 August

Researching Genealogical Databases in Israel from Your Couch

Daniel Horowitz, the chief geneal- (IAJGS). He ogist at My Heritage.com, presented our has a deep un- August meeting. He demonstrated how to derstanding of use online access to find genealogical re- the needs of sources and other useful databases avail- today's family able in Israel. Daniel also showed how history enthu- English speakers can overcome the lan- siasts. At guage barrier and sent members hand- MyHerit- outs of how to find information and un- age.com he derstand it if it is in Hebrew. He showed provides key how to search in English on some Hebrew contributions websites. in the areas of Daniel was a teacher and the study product devel- guide editor of the family history project, opment, cus- "Searching for My Roots" for over 15 tomer support years in Venezuela. He lives in Israel and public af- now. He holds board level positions at the fairs. Daniel also heads the company's Israel Genealogy Research Association Translation Department, where he has (IGRA) and at the International Associa- been instrumental in increasing MyHerit- tion of Jewish Genealogical Societies age's global support to 43 languages.

Databases he covered: ~ Israel Genealogy Research Association - IGRA genealogy.org.il There are 810,000 records in their database, organized by timeframe. You can search in English or Hebrew and get results in both. You can click on a link and go to Genealogy Indexer. Material is being added, so check the database every few months. ~ Israel Genealogical Society - IGS www.isragen.org.il You have to be a paid member to access this database fully. It is in English and He- brew. ~ Yad Vashem www.yadvashem.org There are 4.5 million names in this database of Holocaust victims. The search en- gine is being refined. Daniel says to click on the link to the submitter of testimony, as you might find more family information there. He also suggested downloading the im- age of the page, as it might not be available later. ~ JewishGen www.jewishgen.org The website to start with. ~ MyHeritage research (Israel) http://www.myheritage.com/research ** Not on his hand-out: Not just for Israel -- With MyHeritage.com you can specify a country to search. Also, you can type a name in any language and get a result in any language. You can search the research part of the website for free. By the end of 2017, My Heritage wants to have a photo of every tombstone in Israel online through its part- nership with BillionGraves.com. See Horowitz p. 16

The Kol 15 Summer 2016 Horowitz from p. 15

~ Bezeq 144 - Israel phone directory http://www.b144.co.il/Default.aspx This official phone company in Israel is entitled to have all the numbers of all the phones in Israel. You can even get a map online with the address associated with the phone. JANGLO gives you the Israel phone book in English. ~ Israel Phone Directory (non-official) israelpb.com ~ Reverse Phone Lookup www.441il.com This can be helpful, as newer phone numbers can be kept even when the person has moved. Daniel commented that the Hebrew is OK, but that the transliteration is “weird”. ~ Central Zionist Archives www.zionistarchives.org.il It has a history of Zionism and immigration. Their genealogy database only tells what collections they have. The Privacy Law in Israel goes back 70 years, so all that is available is information from the British Mandate, not modern Israel. ~ The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People sites.huji.ac.il/archives/ ~ Jabotinsky Institute in Israel www.jabotinsky.org ~ Museum of the Jewish soldier in WW2 www.jwmww2.org/en Jewish soldiers from all over the world, with photos. ~ Montefiore Census www.montefioreendowment.org.uk/census/ Covers the censuses of the 1800’s. ~ Israel War Veterans League www.veterans.haifa.ac.il ~ Historical Jewish Press www.jpress.org.il ~ Society for preservation of Israel heritage sites www.shimur.org/content.php?id=24 This has contact details for archives, etc., but not online searching. ~ Beit Lohamei Hagetaot www.gfh.org.il/Eng/ ~ Last will www.lastwill.co.il/search Daniel says to use Google translate for this site. ~ Israel State Archives www.archives.gov.il/en/ It has begun putting its entire collection online. The results are in English and He- brew and there might be an image of the record. ~ Atlit Refugee Camp www.en.maapilim.org.il “The Ellis Island of Israel” for legal immigration (much was not legal, as the British did not want to allow unlimited immigration). It covers perhaps 1943 to 1948. There are some photos. When questioned from the audience, Daniel told us about these sites: ~ The Chevra Kadisha of Tel Aviv covers six cemeteries. Only Hebrew searches can be done, but you can use Steve Morse’s One-Step for English. The site is offline during Is- rael’s Sabbath hours. ~ Haifa Cemetery is easy to search in Hebrew with Hebrew results. ~ Petah-Tikva’s cemetery can be searched in Hebrew with results in Hebrew, but sometimes the father’s name is given. ~ The Mount of Olives Cemetery database is not online because it is being rebuilt. What there is online is a form to be filled out to send for information.

Horowitz see p. 17

The Kol 16 Summer 2016 Horowitz from p. 16

Translation Tools: ~ Stephen Morse www.stevemorse.org/hebrew/eng2heb.html ~ Google Translate translate.google.com ~ Hebrew www.rtrfoundation.org/webart/ForeignAlphabets--Hebrew.pdf ~ Yiddish www.rtrfoundation.org/webart/ForeignAlphabets--Yiddish.pdf

from Daniel

Horowitz see p. 18

The Kol 17 Summer 2016 Horowitz from p. 17

Basic Keywords from Daniel

English Phonetic Hebrew

The Kol 18 Summer 2016 United States

USCIS has new versions of two Genealogy Request forms

As of 19 May 2016, the United States must have a valid USCIS File Number. If Citizenship and Immigration Services you do not have such number then you (USCIS) put out new versions of the Gene- need to use G-1041 form first to obtain the alogy Index Search Request (Form G-1041 number) at www.uscis.gov/g-1041a. As of to be used to request a search of USCIS 8 August 2016, those are the forms that historical databases -- not for copies of have to be submitted. records) at www.uscis.gov/g-1041; and the Each form has a fee that is listed. Jan Genealogy Records Request (Form G- Meisels Allen reported a coming fee in- 1041A to be used to obtain copies of USCIS crease. Go to www.uscis.gov/forms- historical records. To use this form you updates for more information.

Get ready for the 1950 census!

An Enumeration District Map showed From the NARA website: the streets that a federal census taker cov- “Enumeration Districts – or “E.D.s” as ered. To make it more fun for us genealo- they are known among genealogists and gists, enumeration districts changed num- other research communities– were estab- bers -- and streets covered -- from census lished to help administer and control data to census. So if “Uncle Max” was in E.D. collection. An enumeration district is gen- 228 in Cleveland on the 1910 census, you erally the area a single enumerator, or cen- cannot just look at the same E. D. for the sus taker, could cover in one census peri- 1900 and 1920 censuses to find him. od, approximately two to four weeks. Be- The 1950 U. S. Census will be made cause the maps do not contain information public in 2022. As part of getting ready, protected under privacy restrictions, they the U. S. National Archives and Records have always been open and available for Administration is putting about 8,000 E. researchers to study. They also provide the D. maps online now. E. D.’s are not confi- primary access to the population sched- dential because they do not contain any ules, which are arranged by enumeration identifying information on individuals, district.” and what is being put online are county See the NARA website at https:// maps and maps with five or more enumer- goo.gl/4YPIjq. ation districts.

So what about Enumeration Districts? I’ll just look at the online index!

We do not have enough room here to tell you why you might need to know an E. D. That would make a good article for the future. Let’s just say for now that there might be times when (for example) you can find a relative’s address, or have a good idea where he might have been living, but cannot find him/her through the index to the census.

The Kol 19 Summer 2016 United States

New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949

The NYC death index on FamilySearch at https://familysearch.org/search/ collection/2240477 says it is the “Index to New York municipal death records. The rec- ords come from the five-borough city. The time period varies by borough (county): New York City (Manhattan) 1795-1949, Bronx 1898-1948, Brooklyn 1847-1949, Queens 1898-1949, and Richmond 1898-1949.” An example result is below:

The Kol 20 Summer 2016 United States / Resources

Why it helps to look in more than one place for the same fact

Gary Mokotoff wrote in “Nu? the list of detained passengers. The actual What's New” (October 25, 2015), “My entry on the passenger list was not in the friends at FamilySearch have confirmed Ancestry index. (I have had this problem that, indeed, their recently published Ellis in the past.) Switching over to the Fami- Island Index (1925–1957) is their own lySearch database provided the passenger creation and not a copy of the Ances- list pages.” try.com index. As noted in the last issue of We have reported a variation of this “Nu? What’s New?”, independently creat- problem in the past. If you use a micro- ed indexes have the advantage that an er- film that is hard to read, use the micro- ror in transcribing information into one film from a different source. It might be database is unlikely to appear in the sec- in better condition. ond database. ------“This was useful for me this past “Nu? What's New” is available by sub- week. Searching for a person in the An- scription for $12 a year at cestry version of the Ellis Island database [email protected] . produced only the name of the person on

Another aspect... Why do indexes to online records differ?

Dick Eastman commented in early This was also true in the past when July 2016 on something we have men- we used microfilms, but it was the quality tioned before: of the images that differed widely. “It is common for two, three, or more “Unfortunately, I have never found online services to offer the same record any of the online services to always be set online. In my opinion, that is a good better than the others at transcriptions. thing. When you start comparing the rec- Quality varies from indexer to indexer, ord sets of two different online services but no one online service is consistently side-by-side, you quickly notice they are better than another. often indexed by different people. I fre- “Then, just to complicate things a bit quently see obvious transcription errors more, occasionally one online service will in the indexes when the original hand- purchase a complete record set from an- writing is difficult to read. I often see one other online service, COMPLETE WITH online service has a particular record TRANSCRIPTIONS AND INDEXES. In transcribed with one spelling while anoth- that case, the indexes on the two online er online service transcribed the same services will be identical. record with a different spelling. “That is true sometimes but not al- “I have seen some records that could ways.” not be found on one online service be- As we have advocated before, look at cause the record was not transcribed the image of the record to get the most properly and therefore is not indexed accuracy. Do not trust the index for accu- properly, yet in another online service the racy. Our favorite example is an Ancestry same record might be instantly found in index that said the actor Al Jolson the indexes because it was transcribed was born in “Kansas”, when it and indexed properly.” clearly said “Russia” on the image.

The Kol 21 Summer 2016 International

Belarus and Bessarabia When we realized we were getting Belarus (also called Byelarus and Byel- many bits of information about Bessarabia orussia among other names) is in Eastern and Belarus, we decided to ask our mem- Europe. Russia lies to the northeast, bers if they were interested in those coun- Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, tries before publishing the information. and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. We received more responses to that ques- Its capital is Minsk and other major cities tion than we had on any other question. are Brest, Hrodna / Grodno, Homiel / Go- Bessarabia was the region where Mol- mel, Mahilioŭ / Mogilev, and Vitsebsk / dova and Ukraine are now. It is in Eastern Vitebsk. Wikipedia says, “Until the 20th Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on century, different states at various times the east and the Prut river on the west. It controlled the lands of modern-day Bela- underwent changes during the time of rus, including the Principality of Polotsk World War I. Part became Romania, but (11th to 14th centuries), the Grand Duchy the Soviet Union did not accept the incor- of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Com- poration of Bessarabia into Romania. monwealth, and the Russian Empire.”

~ Nancy Holden posted an an- in August.” nouncement: “The JewishGen ~ Sherri Venditti reported, Belarus SIG is very pleased to “There is a set of kahal records announce a historic partner- for Minsk and the Minsk Dis- ship with Miriam Weiner and trict at YIVO in NY. When I The Routes to Roots Founda- looked into it a year ago it ap- tion. As a result of this agree- peared nothing was being done ment we have received a large with the material but I see now amount of material collected by that it was recently prepared for Miriam during her 20+ years of digitization. It looks like it working in the archives of Bela- Belarus would be a phenomenal re- rus. source, hopefully digitization “The material includes numerous ar- will be done so at least the records will be chive inventories and copies of archive readily accessible. Here's a link to the find- documents (with summary translations for ing aid: http://tinyurl.com/jnk7kcg.” much of the material) including thousands ~ “Nu? What's New” reported that Gesher of personal names from over 50 towns in Galicia put maps online that include parts Belarus as well as links to/or excerpts from of today’s Belarus. Check the Gesher Gali- Miriam's award-winning website. cia Map Room at http:// “You can read more about Miriam and maps .geshergalicia.org/ . The five new the agreement at: http://www.jewishgen. maps are: • Military Districts Map of Inter- org/Belarus/misc/MiriamWeiner/ war Poland 1921, • Administrative and index.html Transport Map of Interwar Poland ca. “It will take us several months to re- 1927, • Romer & W…sowicz Map of Inter- view and index these materials but we war Poland ca. 1930, • Administrative Map hope to have the names appearing in at of Interwar Poland, 1 April 1939, and • least a few towns indexed and searchable German Topographic, Transport, and Ad- in time for the IAJGS conference in Seattle ministrative Map of Poland 1939.

The Kol 22 Summer 2016 International

Bessarabia news Bessarabia’s boundaries changed so many times that we would have to include multiple maps.

Yefim Kogan, Bessarabia Special In- Hincesti (Gancheshti, Kotovsk) Jewish terest Group Coordinator at Cemetery [email protected], posted messages this Besarabeasca (Romanovka, Romanen- spring on various aspects of Bessarabia ko, Bessarabka) Jewish Cemetery (New research. Below is a consolidated version Section) of his posts. Rashkov Jewish Cemetery - (Please see First, he announced the partnership more at Rashkov Cemetery Report) of the Bessarabia SIG with Miriam Weiner Dombroveni Jewish Cemetery - and The Routes to Roots Foundation. The (Please see more at the Dombroveni SIG received a large amount of material Cemetery Report.) that Miriam Weiner collected over the last Bessarabia Databases -- Revision List Pro- 25 years. He said they will post “Jewish ject update - The two largest sets are com- Roots in Ukraine and Moldova. Pages pleted for Kishinev 1859 and Ataki (more from the Past and Archival Inventories", than 11,000 records!) 1999, YIVO. She also gave unpublished History of Jews in Bessarabia -- New - information collected in Moldova, and the Irina Shikhova published her 2015 book SIG will process it in the following We Will Survive - Jewish History of Mol- months. Look at the first page of the SIG dova in images, maps and pictures on the website www.jewishgen.org/bessarabia website. for more information. Travel to Bessarabia -- New addition: See details at the "What's New" sec- “Vanished World”, blog published by tion of the web site for complete infor- Christian Herrmann at https:// mation on these updates: vanishedworld.wordpress.com/ . “A terrif- Jewish Cemeteries -- Now 36 cemeteries ic collection of photos and travel notes are indexed and/or photographed with a from recent trips to Bessarabia, Transnis- total of 40,616 records tria.” "A vanished world" - documentary about Jewish cemeteries in Moldova

Canada - Free Historical Newspapers for Canada and the US, too Jan Meisels Allen alerted us that Ancestor Hunt has published 17,500 links to Canadian and US free historical newspapers, arranged by province and state. Go to http://tinyurl.com/jlbr7bj. The original address is www.theancestorhunt.com/blog/17500-free-historic-newspaper-links- for-canada-and-the-us#.V3ahJqI-IYk .

The Kol 23 Summer 2016 International

More on Bessarabia

More from Yefim Kogan on Jewish Ceme- of Jews who were buried in that cemetery. teries updates: Please see the overview, maps, photos, and -- Update the list of Jewish Cemeteries in Bes- more at Dombroveni Cemetery Report. sarabia and Moldova. We have now 32 ceme- -- Bessarabia Databases. Updates: teries indexed and/or photographed from total Revision List Project update: our Revision of 73. See all the details, with links to Ceme- Team have finished a number of sets of rec- tery reports, and lists of Unknown Graves. ords, and they will be available at the Jewish- -- Rashkov Jewish Cemetery - Phase 1 of pho- Gen Upload sometime in May-June of this tographing and indexing was done. 45 records year. If anyone wants to get a full set of a rec- with 43 photographs are sent to JewishGen / ords for a town, that is possible with a dona- JOWBR. Also there are 3 photos of unknown tion of $100 to Bessarabia SIG General fund. graves. The next phase with probably include There are new sets of records found among 500+ graves in spring/summer of this year. revision records: petitions, certificates, guar- Please see the overview, maps, photos, access antor letters, etc. I will write a special message to 3 photos of Unknown graves and more at about it. Rashkov Cemetery Report. -- Dombroveni Jewish Cemetery. There are Send your comments, suggestions, critique, only several remaining graves at the cemetery new ideas, proposals of how to and only from one memorial we could read the make our Bessarabia group better. name. Also one person provided 3 other names [email protected]

Canada -- Special appeals to allow immigrants to enter

The JGS of Hamilton newsletter told graph and index the entries from 1930 to 1952. about a new online resource. “About Jewish They plan to extend the index to1954. immigrants to Canada from the 1930’s to the The index is online at 1950’s... Families of thousands of would-be www.orderincouncillists.com. “It contains the Jewish immigrants apparently circumvented names of about 25,000 immigrants, including the restrictions” on immigration with “appeals some 5,000 Jews from 30 countries. The to the Privy Council, an officiating body con- names of about 15,000 sponsoring Canadians sisting of members of the federal cabinet and are also included. Although the lists start in heads of various government departments.” 1930, the information about the sponsors can An appeal would have had the support of a give details of immigrants who arrived in Can- member of Parliament, and could tell of the ada much earlier.“ You may want to search the good prospects of the would-be immigrant, lists for people who were escaping Germany in and the status of the petitioner. the late 1930’s, and for Holocaust survivors. If “The files are now easily accessible, thanks you find a name, you can contact Crandell re- to a former Library and Archives Canada (in questing copies of the photographed pages for Ottawa) reference clerk, Joanna Crandell, and a cost of $20 per name. her sister who worked for three years to photo- www.cjnews.com/living-jewish/jewish-learning/website-offers-details-jewish-immigrants-canada

The Kol 24 Summer 2016 International

KehilaLinks Project Report

Susana Leistner Bloch posted new and updated pages that commemorate these Jewish communities. Go to www.kehilalinks.jewishgen.org to find these.

Poland: Albigowa (G); Ranizow (Ranischau) (G); Wielkie Oczy (Vilkatch) (G) Ukraine: Derazhno (Derazhna, Derazhne); Tarutyne (Tarutino, Antchikrok) (B); Zhashkiv (Zashkov); Grzymalow (Hrymajiliv) (G); Krasnostav; Skala-Podol'skaya (Skala) (G); Ternivka (Ternovka, Ternevke); Berezne (Berezno, Brezhna); Barysh (Barysz) (G); Dashev (Dashiev) Belarus: Rossasna (Rasasna, Rososne); Nyasvizh (Neshviz, Nesvizh); Byerazino (Berezino, Berezin) (including Pahost); Yakovleva (Gutovo) Latvia: Aizpute (Haznpot); Jelgava (Mitau, Mitav) Lithuania: Aukstoji Panemune (Panemon, Poniemon Frentzela); Kedainiai (Keidan); Sven cionys (Shvintzion); Troskunai (Troshkun); Ziezmariai (Zhezmir); Ramygala (Remigole); Ziezmariai (Zhezmir); Seduva (Shadeve); Ukmerge (Vilkomir) Russia: Kaliningrad (Konigsberg, Kenigsberg) South Africa: Cape Town; Johannesburg; Muizenberg; Springs; Benoni; Graaf Reinet;Grahamstown China: Harbin (Manchuria) U. S. A.: Arkansas - Pine Bluff; New Jersey - Hoboken, New Jersey

If you do not see your town listed and have not visited the KehilaLinks page for a while, check it out as we might have missed some updates.

Summer 2016 FamilySearch updates at FamilySearch .org

 Canadian Headstones  Hungary, Jewish Vital Records Index 1800-1945  South Africa, Cape Province Western Cape Archives Records 1792 - 1992

Acquire Lithuanian citizenship

It may be possible soon for Litvaks Because Lithuania is a member of the who emigrated before 1990 and their di- European Union, anyone with that pass- rect descendants to get Lithuanian citi- port can travel and work freely in the EU, zenship while retaining their current citi- which might be an incentive for some to zenship. apply for the passport.

The Kol 25 Summer 2016 International

Lithuanian surnames can be tricky

Someone posted a query about Lithua- DUNN…. I would appreciate information nian name suffixes on the LitvakSIG list. on the significance of the double names He wanted to know why he found DE- included.” NAJTE along with DEN. He said that he The moderator answered, “The suffix saw “that the name DENAJTE (or a vari- "ajte" or "aite" is the Lithuanian suffix for ant spelling) occurs frequently, with a an unmarried female. The All Lithuania shortened form next to it. I am thinking Database often shows both the Lithuanian that DENAJTE may have been an original spelling of a name with suffixes showing family name and sometime in the 19th married ("iene") or unmarried ("aite") fe- century it was shortened to DAN or DEN. males, or males ("is"), and the root name, On the other side of the family, a great- which in this case would be DEN.” great-grandmother was named Dena

Material added to the All Lithuania Database

Eden Joachim, Vice President of the LitvakSIG, posted in June a summary of the new data added to the All Lithuania Database for the second quarter of 2016. She reported that the total lines came to 26,055. » Revision List Template: Plisa, Postavy, Disna District, Jonava, Kaunas District, Ale- ksandrov area of the Lida District, Vishnevo, Panevezys District, Raseiniai District, Si- auliai District, Suwalki Gubernia, Kudirkos Naumiestis Uyezd, Sakiai, Sejny District, Country-Wide (Conscripts and Emigrants). » Tax List Template: Jonava, Oshmiany District, Vabalninkas, Sejny District, Suwalki Gubernia, Plunge » Vital Records: Suwalki Gubernia, Vilnius City » Internal Passports: Seirijai, Siauliai Uyezd, Vilnius City Last fall, other material was added. Types different from above were: Family Lists, Draft Lists, Craftsmen Lists, Evictions, Melamed and Pupil Lists, Elector Lists, Postal and State Savings Bank Lists, Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths. The records added then were for: » Disna District » all towns in Kaunas District » all towns in Lida District » many town in Oshmiany District » many towns in Panevezys District » Jurbarkas in Raseiniai District » The towns of Siauliai, Svencionys, Telsiai, Ukmerge, Vilnius City » most towns and districts in Suwalki Guberniya » several towns in Trakai District » Musninkai » Vilnius District and Vilnius Guberniya » most towns in Zarasai District » several Country-Wide lists » Internal Passports of Jews who originated in Polish lands at that point under Ger- man control. The Kol 26 Summer 2016 International

Ukraine SIG achieved a milestone in membership Ukraine SIG does not require a mem- JewishGen has announced a milestone. bership fee. The way they calculate mem- Their membership now exceeds 3,700 bership is by the subscribers to their SIG members. “ mailing list. They announced, “The You can subscribe to any of the more Ukrainian Special Interest Group (SIG) of than 30 JewishGen SIGs at www.jewishgen.org/ListManager/members_list.asp

More Lithuanian vital records available online Another LitvakSIG authority, Dorothy the original image. These records are not Leivers, the SIG’s Records Acquisitions indexed on FamilySearch. and Translations manager, reported on a Go to https://familysearch.org/ number of digitized records that Family catalog/search . “Type in the town name, Search.org has put online. These include then select Jewish records. If the images the Jewish vital records that the Mormons are now available online, you should see a had microfilmed years ago. However, she little camera symbol which is the link to warned that not all records in the Lithua- the images. nian archives were microfilmed. “These records have been databased She gave directions: “Check the All by LitvakSIG, so use the All Lithuania Da- Lithuania Database www.litvaksig. org/ tabase to help you find the record you are search-ald/ for the (micro)Film number, looking for and the information of genea- which appears on the record for your fami- logical interest which has been extracted ly member, and by using the information from that record.” on the database, you should be able to find

Searching the 1921 - 1911 - 1906 - 1901 - 1891 - 1851 Canadian Census in One Step

The website http://stevemorse.org/#canadian has the above censuses, and also the 1881 and 1901 Canadian Censuses. If $ is shown, you need a paid subscription to Ancestry.com to see all the information.

Family Lists of Jews in small places near Vilna, Lithuania *** Now available to $100 donors, eventu- es in the Vilnius District. One file includes 654 ally available for free. residents of 44 small villages in the district Go to www.litvaksig.org/research/district- many of whom are registered in another com- research/vilnius-district-research-group to see munity. The other file includes 183 residents the Vilnius District Research Group Family of small places, most of whom are applying for Lists from 1875 with people from various plac- registration in another community.

The Kol 27 Summer 2016 Holocaust

Central Database of Shoah Victims Names at Yad Vashem.org has changed The new website is in English, He- You may search, view videos, or get infor- brew, Russian, Spanish and German. It is mation on submitting “A Page of Testimo- improved and easier to use. It now lists ny” for someone you know of who was 4.5 million of the 6 million Jews mur- murdered. Questions about using the dered in the Holocaust. Not only are the Pages of Testimony ca be sent to names listed, but there is also information [email protected] . on each person, in varying amounts from The heads of the Names Recovery “Pages of Testimony” filled out by survi- Project are Sara Berkowitz sara.berkowitz vors, either related or landsleit. @yadvashem.org.il and Olga Litwak ol- Go to http://yvng.yadvashem.org/ . [email protected] .

Yizkor books (written by survivors) online update

Lance Ackerfeld posted an update to unique information that the Yizkor books the project, “…for the most part, the transla- contain about our lost communities.“ Addi- tions of the Yizkor Books are carried out by tions and updates are flagged at professional translators who receive their fees www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/translations.html from our Translation Funds. These funds are to make it easy to find them. set up for specific books and are supported by [email protected] donors wishing to gain the knowledge and New or updated, to be found at www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/(name of town). To save space, we have listed by current country. Lance sent them organized by town name, as countries change.  Belarus -- Minsk  Hungary -- Tab  Lithuania -- Kalvarija; Rokiskis  Moldova -- Bender  Poland -- Biala Podlaska; Bransk; Chelm; Czestochowa; Czyzew-Osada; Goniadz; Kalisz; Miechow, Charsznica and Ksiaz; Miedzyrzec Podlaski; Nowy Dwor Mazowiecki; Pabianice; Soklowa Podlaski; Staszow; Szczebrzeszyn; Tarnow; Ty kocin; Wyszkow; Zabrze; Zelechow  Romania -- Viseu de Mijloc; Viseu de Jos (both from The Marmaros Book; In Memory of 160 Jewish Communities)  Ukraine -- Berezovo; Danylovo; Iza; Lysychovo; Nyzhniy Bystryy, Ukraine ( all from The Marmaros Book; In Memory of 160 Jewish Communities); Brody; Mizoch; Sambir; Sarny; Sosnove; Vysotsk  Slovakia -- Sobrance

Bruce Drake announced, “Every Friday morning (U.S. eastern time), on JewishGen's Fa- cebook page (http://on.fb.me/1P3LFYY), we post a brief spotlight from a Yizkor Book that JewishGen has translated.” If you are not familiar with the JewishGen Yizkor Book Project, please see www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/faq.html .

The Kol 28 Summer 2016 Holocaust

Yizkor-Books-in-Print Project

Joel Alpert coordinates the project for “All work on the JewishGen. Recently he put out a request project is done by vol- for help. “We are looking for Yiddish unteers. Books are sold speakers who are mildly proficient with at very low prices to en- using MS Word and have about 2 to 3 able this unique literature that captures hours a week to devote to a project that the intimate history of the Shtetls to be publishes translations of Memorial Books available to as many people as possible. (Blach Buchs) of destroyed Jewish com- The project is part of JewishGen.org, the munities of Eastern Europe. primary source of Jewish genealogical in- “We need help with translating cap- formation and is not-for-profit. tions of images and placing them into “See http://www.jewishgen.org/ newly translated books using MS Word in yizkor/ybip.html for a listing of all our preparation for publishing. currently available books. “The original books were written in “If you can help in any way please the 1950s-1970s mostly in Yiddish and contact me directly at some in Hebrew. The Yizkor-Books-in- [email protected].” Print Project has already published 46 books.

Query on concentration camp lists that were compiled by a deceased member of our JGS

In July a query came from Dr. Moshe issues, and would scan the articles and Rosenfeld of the London Beth Din. He send them to Dr. Rosenfeld. wanted a digital copy of some old articles You might wonder how Dr. Rosenfeld from The Kol supplied by deceased mem- knew that the old Kol’s had the articles. ber Jacob Hennenberg. They are indexed by the U. S. Holocaust The articles from the October 1995 Memorial Museum, and are in their and Winter 1995/1996 issues had two lists online catalog. of Jewish internees of ZAL Freiburg de- ported to AL Waldenburg on 10/1/44. Jacob’s name was on one of the lists. Of course those issues were produced by Arlene Rich long before we routinely exchanged digital copies over the internet. Helen Wolf replied that she had those

The Kol 29 Summer 2016 International

More data added to JRI-Poland database

The Jewish Records Indexing - Po- It also was announced in April that land (JRI-Poland) database at Jewish- more records would be added before the Gen.org (part of the JewishGen All- IAJGS Conference, and would be made Poland Database) has many, many rec- searchable online as money is collected to ords. Because of border changes, relatives cover the cost of acquiring and putting you thought were not “Polish” might be in online. this database. The JRI- Poland database Researchers interested in the latest had 10,000 Jewish gravestone inscrip- status for their town(s) can e-mail tions added in April by The Foundation (TownName)@jri-poland.org, because for Documentation of Jewish Cemeteries there are 600 towns, too many to list in in Poland. detail. Other additions included records Stanley Diamond, who is on the JRI - from: Biecz, Bobowa, Brzozow, Glogow Poland board, asked, “Please remember Malopolski, Inowlodz, Jaroslaw, Kan- that JRI-Poland is an independent organ- czuga, Karczew, Klobuck, Koniecpol, ization …and that donations to Jewish- Krzepice, Lelow, Lezajsk, Makow, Ma- Gen do not cover the cost of indexing rec- zowieki, Mielec, Niebylec, Pajeczno, ords from Poland. To donate to projects Plawno, Praszka, Rozwadow, Rzeszow, for the extraction of records for your town Szczekociny and Wyszogrod. project, please go to www.jri-poland.org/ Also, additional data and image links support.htm . No donation is too small.” to the LDS Data of five towns on the data- base were added.

Daily life in a Polish shtetl

Virtual Shtetl has an article by Henry that they were putting in the telegraph poles. Gitelman online at http://tinyurl.com/ That is how my mother remembered the event. SlawatyczeMemoirs. It tells of his daily life in a It turns out to have been in the year 1933.” The Polish shtetl. Henry begins, “I was born in a memoir has 74 pages with some photographs, small shtetl called Sławatycze (Slavatytch in and ends with Henry’s return visits in 1998 Yiddish) on the sixth day of Sukkot, in the year and 2008.

Lodz Census Registration Cards 1916-1921 Logan Kleinwaks wrote about scans of about see if any are available. If you click on a group title, 135,000 cards with census-like genealogical infor- an overview page comes up. Click the link to the mation that are now viewable online, organized right of the red tab, “Scans/Skany”. A group of somewhat alphabetically by the surname of the thumbnail images should show up. Click on a head of household. Information can be found at thumbnail to enlarge it, where an icon near the bot- http://tinyurl.com/hbxblbu . To view the scans, tom right that looks like a white rectangle on a first go to the list of groups of scans at: www.szuka black circle can be clicked to display a high- jwarchiwach.pl/39/221/0/4.12/str/1/2000 #tab resolution image. We tried this site, and though it Jednostki . Look at the last column on the right to seems complicated, there is information of value.

The Kol 30 Summer 2016 International

Canadian Naturalization Records Database enhanced

The Library and will also help “researchers having roots Archives Canada at other than British.” And, “The reference www.bac-lac.gc.ca has numbers indicated in the database can be updated its Natural- used to request copies of the original nat- ization Records Data- uralization records, which are held by Cit- base for records, 1915-1951. More than izenship and Immigration Canada,” ac- 68,000 names were added and the index cording to Dick Eastman. The Jewish Ge- now covers 1915 to 1944. They would like nealogical Society of Montreal and its vol- to extend the index to 1951. The database unteers helped greatly with the project.

JGS of Great Britain has books to aid in research

The Jewish Genealogical Society of example is A Guide to Jewish Genealogy Great Britain offers a number of books to in the United Kingdom. There are guides assist people in their family history re- for Lithuania, Latvia/Estonia and Poland search. For a limited time—until the end as well as other books. Complete descrip- of December—the society is offering many tions and ordering information is at of their books for £3.50 plus shipping. An http://www.jgsgb.org.uk/catalog/shop.

Wages in rubles, early 20th century

JewishGen’s file called "Wages and Buying Power 1895-1914", which gives the monthly salaries of various workers in rubles, is at http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/lida -district/wages.htm . The 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia online at www.jewishencyclopedia. com/ also gives wages. Some yizkor books online discuss wages. To find out what items cost back then, try the JewishGen discussion groups archives, or you can Google the phrase and get web- sites such as www.alexanderpalace.org/ palace/travelinfo.html, that has a translation of a 1902 guidebook that lists cost for travel- ers.

100 ruble note -- 1910

South Africa voter indexes

Ancestry.com has South Africa voter indexes from 1719–1996, with 220,000 names or so. Typical information besides name may include place of residence and occupation. It is likely you have to access the index at http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=60671, since it may not come up when you enter a name.

The Kol 31 Summer 2016 Resources

Have you ever wondered how a SIG gets the material that it posts online? Or have you wondered about appeals tors who generally only receive 10 - 20 for donations to get documents translat- pages at a time.” ed? Dr. Janette Silverman, JewishGen It is very difficult to read most of the Ukraine-SIG Coordinator, explained the documents (most in Russian), even for process recently. native speakers. “Translators who can Ukraine SIG usually does not hire re- read and understand the terminology searchers to go into archives to get data, used also need to be adept at using an Ex- unless they know for sure how much data cel spreadsheet which typically has about is there, and what the cost for it will be. 20 columns (many of the spreadsheets Most of the documents the SIG acquires have twice that number) and following come from The Central Archives for the complex instructions for filling out the History of the Jewish People in Jerusa- cells and transcribing the Russian (or lem. The researchers there are in close Polish or Hebrew). Anyone who volun- touch with archivists at various archives teers to translate or offers their paid ser- in Ukraine and they make arrangements vices is carefully screened. We generally to acquire all the documents from a spe- do not hire professional guides and re- cific area that are held at that archive. The searchers. As I said earlier, the documents archivists in Ukraine have to arrange the cannot be shared. But we are also not in digitization of the documents, as only the business of providing JewishGen doc- their own personnel can do it. That takes uments to professionals to use for their time, as the workers have other duties to clients.” do as their daily jobs. Eventually the A translator is hired after enough CAHJP gets the documents and Ukraine money has been raised by a group of peo- SIG pays whatever it cost the CAHJP to ple who are interested in that town/area. get them. The cost is usually 20 to 30 After being translated, they have to be cents per image. Janette wrote, “We can- proofread in several steps and then are not circulate the documents. The digital sent to JewishGen for the Ukraine data- copies are stored in several places and the bases. They are added after final proof- only people who receive them are transla- reading and formatting.

U.S. Jewish historical records online updated

In June Jan Meisels Allen told of an ed after 1980 are not considered “historic” update to the U.S. Jewish historical rec- by The Ancestor Hunt and therefore are ords online at The Ancestor Hunt. See not included. www.theancestorhunt.com. There are a lot When we typed in the web address, we of resources to choose from at the website. got a different result than when we used Some are not free. the old bookmark we had for the site. It Jan said that Jewish newspapers start- was definitely more visually appealing.

The Kol 32 Summer 2016 Resources

New periodicals in our library at Fairmount Temple Library

President Amy Wachs was able to get a complete run of Avotaynu (the journal of Jewish genealogy), so now any gaps in issues should be filled. She also got more issues of Stammbaum, the only English language publication of German Jewish genealogy which was published 1992-2007.

Publications of JGS groups in other cities can help you

We have a collection of newsletters the issues. from other JGS groups in our library. Among the publications we have are You do not have to be searching someone those of the JGS of Boston, Illinois, New from that area to use the newsletter. They York City, and Palm Beach County, Flori- have articles on general Jewish genealogy da. In the past few years we have been research, too. Some of the groups are receiving electronic copies from other quite large, and have well-known speak- JGS groups, and these are forwarded to ers whose presentations are covered in our members.

Index President’s message 2 Calendar 3-4 Our society -- Webcasting our meetings 4; 5, 39 Queries 5 May -- Making the Most of JewishGen 1, 6-7 June -- The history of Wooster, Ohio’s Jewish community 8-9 July / Holocaust -- A Story of Survival (with Holocaust resources) 10-2 August -- Genealogical Databases in Israel 15-8 Local and Ohio -- Ohio synagogue records 13 United States -- USCIS webinars 13, and Genealogy Request forms 19; Surname changes 14; Television 14; FamilySearch updates 14; 1950 census 19; Census Enu meration Districts 19; New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949 20; Index use 21; Jewish historical records 32 International -- Belarus and Bessarabia 22-4, Canada 23-4, 27, 31; KehilaLinks 25; FamilySearch updates 25; Lithuanian citizenship, surnames, and database 25-7; UkraineSIG 27; Poland 30; Great Britain 31; wages in rubles 31; South Africa 31 Holocaust -- 10-2; 28-9 Resources -- Our library 33; other Jewish society publications 33; PERSI 13; SIG databases 32 Technology -- Old photos 34 Techniques -- Back to the Basics: A Beginner’s Guide to Aids and Forms 35-6 Member News -- 37 Ask Tante Jennie -- Efficient searching 38

The Kol 33 Summer 2016 Technology

“How to Preserve Old Photos without Losing Your Mind”

Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy lished ‘How To Preserve Old Photos with- Newsletter published an article in Janu- out Losing Your Mind’ that focuses on ary 2015 with ideas on keeping photo- simplifying the overwhelming process of graphs. turning old family photos into an orga- “Chris Cummins is a professional nized, safe and searchable digital archive photographer who writes a personal blog with tips for how to preserve the film and about photo preservation and a number paper originals.” of other topics as well. He recently pub-

Some of the topics covered are: • Set a Very Reachable Goal • The Four Question Test for Photo Preservation • Warning: Be Careful Placing Too Much Faith in Technology • How To Create Digital Copies of Your Family Photos • Your Scanning Options • Hiring Someone Else to Scan Your Family Photos • What Software Should You Use? • Cloud Storage Services: A Comparison • Use Metadata: Don’t Make a Digital Mess of Your Real World Photo Mess • Often the Actual Prints Themselves Are a Thing of Beauty Too and Are Worth Pre- serving • So How Do We Keep the Original Prints and Negatives Safe? “You can read How To Preserve Old Photos Without Losing Your Mind at www.glowimagery.com/how-to-preserve-old-photos/.”

Which category fits you?

Genealogy in Time magazine had a chart with these levels of interest -- " Person has a general interest in ancestors. Person knows a family member who researches ancestors. Person keeps a copy of the family tree. Person actively conducts ancestral research."

Getty free images The Kol 34 Summer 2016 Techniques

Back to the Basics: A Beginner’s Guide to Aids and Forms by Cynthia Spikell

You may find it daunting to begin your family re- Our JGS offers a search. First of all, it is like eating an elephant. How does Beginner’s Workshop one eat an elephant? One bite at a time. To start there are from time to time for guides and aids and forms that you can use as you begin new and prospective the search for family. members. The work- I found some good suggestions for beginners online. shop is hands-on and When you first start you might be able to keep track of covers sources that can everything in your head, but this will not last for long as be used to get started. you find more information. Also, it is important to keep This article is about re- track of where you find information so if you find conflict- cording and organizing ing “facts” you can judge which is more likely true. what is found. This is not a listing of specific information sources for your relatives, but of techniques you can use. Also, I am not covering computer programs that you can use to save get lucky you will hear the and organize your research. You can consult the Spring name of the town, not just a 2016 Kol pp. 8-18 for ideas of programs to use. If you find country. Even if that name yourself drawn into finding more about your family, you seems garbled, write it probably should get a computer program to record what down, as there are ways of you find. identifying what it is.) Below are some ideas and techniques you can use, 3. Preparing to do research and some online sources for forms. by organizing yourself Indian River County Main Library in Vero Beach, 4. Knowing the basic forms Florida, has a 12-page easy-to-use guide at www.irclib- you will need to record the rary.org/genealogy/kit.pdf . It is a good basic introduc- information you find tion. The site has a pedigree chart and Family Group Rec- 5. Recommended books ord that you can fill out online and print. (A pedigree (some are in our own JGS chart is an organized way of listing you and your parents library in the Fairmount and grandparents. It is created with one person as its fo- Temple Library) 6. Join a cus.) genealogy society (other- At the U. S. National Archives website, www.archives. wise you probably would gov , I found a “Genealogy Tool Kit: Getting Started— not be reading this) to Research Basics” with a step-by-step checklist. This web- share information and re- site emphasized federal records. It walks you through 1. search tips, and hear Recording what you already know, or what family lore knowledgeable presenta- says (you might find later that some of it is incorrect) be- tions 7. Focus on one rela- fore beginning actual research 2. Talking to your older tive at a time 8. Work from relatives to find what they know. (Three things to ask the familiar to the unfamil- about that are especially important for us Jewish re- iar -- start with yourself and searchers is identifying the “original” family name -- what work backwards in time it was in Europe, what it was on arrival in the United States, and where in Europe the family came from. If you See Basics p. 36

The Kol 35 Summer 2016

Techniques Basics from p. 35

9. Look for full names (first, middle, last) and ideas on how to begin is Brigham and any name changes, dates (birth, mar- Young University at www.kbyu. org/ riage/divorce, death, burial), places of im- ancestors. In addition to the usual charts, portant events (city, county, state, coun- this one has Research Questions, How to try), personal facts such as education, oc- Select a Record to Search, and a Timeline cupations, personal stories (review what Page to download in PDF format. You can you have found as you go along to see if fill out online and then print, also. you need to fill in gaps in what you have Also, the website you have seen adver- found.) 10. Look for any family docu- tised so much on television, Ancestry.com ments that the family might still have, like at www.ancestry.com/download/charts, naturalization papers or marriage licens- offers free Census blank forms to 1940; an es. (For instance, a ketubah can give you “Ancestral Chart” (pedigree); a Research names.) 11. Next is looking for public rec- Calendar (for you to give an account of ords, such as in newspapers, legal records, every record source you have searched wills, etc. (We do not want to get too spe- and will serve as a reminder of what you cific here, as that is counter to the one- have already done and where you have bite-at-a-time advice we gave above.) 12. found pertinent information); a Research There are federal records of naturalization Extract to summarize information; a Cor- or immigration. Much, but not all, can be respondence Record; a Family Group found on the internet. Sheet (concerning a pedigree ancestor and A good starter guide is the “Insider’s his/her family); and a Source Summary. Guide to Ohio Genealogy”, a four-page You can also get a free trial to do research laminated publication of the Ohio Genea- on the site, but only do that when you logical Society, It costs $5.00. See have a list of things to look up, because www.ogs.org. the free trial is for a limited time. A reliable source for forms and charts

Tech translator needed

I try to include news about technology nearly always the document title, becomes that our members can use. However, the name of the Notes note. After reading, when I came across this article -- “Note- at leisure, on any device (since Notes taking Alternatives now that Evernote is syncs immediately), I drag to a folder More Expensive” in Dick Eastman's within Notes or delete the note,” I realized Online Genealogy Newsletter, which in- it is time to ask for help. cluded, “After El Capitan was released last So, dear readers, if any of you are tech year, I discovered a new, neat trick. On savvy and have news that our members one part of my screen, I open Apple Notes can benefit from, please send me the news and create a new document. On the other plus a translation into everyday speech. part of the screen, I flip Safari (or other You can send suggestions (or articles) to browsers) into Reader View and do a Se- [email protected]. lect All. I drag the selected item into the ~~ Cynthia Spikell Notes window. The first line, which is

The Kol 36 Summer 2016 Member News

Welcome to more new members and some who are returning

Sharon Goelman Kevin Lee Sain Russ Maurer Rhoda Shapiro

Congratulations to --

Richard Spector on the marriage of his daughter in August.

Chuck Lissauer, whose granddaughter Talia Bassin Lissauer became a bat mitzvah in Minneapolis recently.

Nate and Sue Arnold whose son, Aaron/Andrew, married recently.

Members at Israel Independence Day

This year Israel Independence Day was celebrated at Landerhaven again. There was a huge turnout, as usual. Our group had a table with informational materials and our traveling sign. The table was staffed by Murray Davis, Adelle Gloger, and Cyn- thia Spikell. Paul and Helen Wolf also represented our group.

Members attended the IAJGS Conference in Seattle and will report at our December meeting on what they heard and learned there.

There’s al- ways good conversa- tion at our meetings.

The Kol 37 Summer 2016 Ask Tante Jennie Algee™, the genealogy maven (or at least she thinks so)

Some hints on how to do a better search

Dear Tante Jennie, may give you overwhelming numbers of Are there some big rules I should results, or might cause you to miss some- know before continuing my research? I thing in the results that you want. Use get so frustrated when I cannot find in- the filters on the large websites to help formation. narrow your search by locale or date, for I am hoping you can help, instance. You can use wildcards to vary spelling of the name you are searching. April Lynne Perris Example: K*HN can give you KAHN and KOHN. Wildcard symbols can vary by Dear April Lynne, website. You will have to look for hints in There are some suggestions that the directions for the site. Tante Jennie can give you. Next, you can use Boolean searches First, concentrate on finding one fact by narrowing your search with AND, OR or type of fact at a time. Decide what you or NOT. You would type in a search like are looking for -- like birth/death infor- “Harry Kahn OR Kohn died 1947 NOT mation, naturalization, passenger rec- Kuhn”. ords, or marriage records. Then think Lastly -- take a deep breath, this is a about what you know already that can radical concept. Get up help point you in the right direction. As from the computer. Go to a you search you may find other interesting library, archive, courthouse, information, but do not be sidetracked. historical society or a Fami- Jot that information down to further ex- ly Search Center that has plore later. records that contain the Second, search as many databases as type of information you are you can find that pertain to your search. searching for. Or, stay at the Do not limit yourself to just “the big A” or computer to contact one of the above that other general websites. There are many is out of town to request a copy of a rec- specialized databases out there that are ord that is not online. You might even not included in the big general websites. have to write a paper letter or send a Example: The Cleveland Jewish News check if you are dealing with a smaller archives. library that does not accept requests Next, speaking of the big genealogy online (Yes, some still do exist.) sites, you can use them, but narrow your Good luck searching, search by using only certain records on Tante Jennie Algee the site. Searching all records at once

The Kol 38 Summer 2016 Affiliated with 2016 Officers the President -- Amy Wachs International Association of 1st Vice President – Programs - Jewish Sylvia Abrams Genealogical 2nd Vice President – Membership Societies Cynthia Spikell Secretary -- Jane Riedel Treasurer -- Stuart Schulhof Immediate Past-president -- Membership is by calendar year. Charles Lissauer Annual Single Membership is $25; annual Family Membership is $35. Board of Trustees (Three-year Membership form is on our website. term) (See below.) Send 2016 dues check and Ending December, 2016 -- completed form to: Becky Werman JGS of Cleveland Ending December, 2017 Stuart Schulhof Stewart Hoicowitz 5371 Meadow Wood Blvd. Ending December, 2018 -- Lyndhurst, OH 44124 Murray Davis (Past presidents are also board To contact the President or to members.) send a query, e-mail Editor of The Kol (Appointed) -- [email protected] Cynthia Spikell or send snail mail to:

Webmaster Paul Wolf Jewish Genealogy Society of Cleveland The Kol is published at least three c/o Menorah Park times a year and is sent 27100 Cedar Rd. electronically to members, other Beachwood OH 44122 JGS groups, and libraries. Paper copies are kept in our library. To contact other officers, go to Members may purchase paper our website and click on their e-mail copies by pre-paying. addresses.

www.clevelandjgs.org/

Content not copyrighted by the author is copyrighted by the Jewish Genealogy Society of Cleveland © 2016. All rights reserved.

The Kol 39 Summer 2016

The Kol 40 Summer 2016