ABOUT JEWISHGEN JewishGen is committed to ensuring Jewish continuity for present generations and the generations yet to come. To this end, JewishGen became a part the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York City, signaling a new era for Jewish genealogy and Jewish heritage. Each program, each shtetl, each yizkor book, each search engine added to the list of offerings MAKING brings us closer and closer to uniting families separated by the horrors of the Holocaust. This work is conducted by SUCCESS volunteers from New York City to Tel Aviv to Sydney, CONNECTIONS Australia, and all points in between. Through their relationships with archives and depositories, more and Since signing up for this basic genealogy class more records are unearthed and made accessible. The STORIES I have been on an amazing journey which I JewishGen community continues to expand into a social Read just some of the many success stories would like to share with you. When I made my network with a shared goal: to preserve our history for of families reconnected through JewishGen future generations. The commitment of JewishGen users first post to the forum to see if there was any is unparalleled. Said one JewishGen volunteer, “It’s not a information about my grandparents, Harry hobby, it’s a mission.” Karen Franklin, a genealogist, has been on a and Gussie Schrieber, I was hopeful but did mission since Congregation Ohav Sholaum in not expect an immediate response from Inwood, NY shut its doors in January 2006. She Annette Stolberg who is on the JewishGen Help preserve our history rescued more than 100 prayer books from the Index team. synagogue, and an additional 30 were snatched for future generations from burial in the basement of Hirsch & Sons She responded that she knew my grandparents! ___ YES, I WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION Funeral Home in the Bronx. ABOUT JEWISHGEN. We compared information. I had the 1920 and The siddurim, which dated back to 1832 and were 1930 census data and their naturalization ___ YES, I WOULD LIKE TO VOLUNTEER collected from the pews of the closed shul, are papers. Since she grew up in Rochester, where FOR JEWISHGEN. inscribed with the names of the original owners, my grandparents settled, she was able to give ___ YES, I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE and many include the village of the German- me amazing leads. We spoke on the phone. A DONATION TO JEWISHGEN. Jewish immigrants who transplanted them here. She did detective work for me, calling cousins AMOUNT: $______Using JewishGen’s German discussion group to I did not know I had. She was able to give me I PREFER TO BE CONTACTED BY: list the books’ owners, Franklin was able to phone numbers (with their permission) and I Helping preserve our history ___ PHONE ___ EMAIL ___ MAIL reunite the prayer books with over 30 living spoke to my first cousin who told me where - relatives. my grandparents are buried but most for future generations CHECKS SHOULD BE MADE PAYABLE TO JEWISHGEN. importantly she told me I have a half-sister I CC #: ______EXP: ____ Sheila Adler of Ohio is thankful to have the had no idea about! My half-sister Susan has been searching for me her whole life. When SIGNATURE: ______recovered prayer books that belonged to her WWW.JEWISHGEN.ORG Uncle Julius. “Julius is the reason our Adler side we talked it was the best and happiest NAME: ______of the family survived the Holocaust,” she wrote moment. We are planning a visit soon. ADDRESS: ______to Karen. Since listing the names on JewishGen, Franklin has received numerous e-mails, some of Trudi Di Trolio, Gainesville, FL CITY: ______STATE: ___ ZIP: ______them from as far away as Mexico, Israel, Canada COUNTRY: ______and Germany. EMAIL: ______Among her finds, Franklin was particularly PHONE: ______moved by the prayer book belonging to Carl Schaumberger. She discovered it just hours PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM TO: before Passover, and made it her priority to JewishGen return the holy text to his son, Norman, WWW.JEWISHGEN.ORG • 646.437.4326 • [email protected] Edmond J. Safra Plaza of Tappan, NY, just in time for the Passover EDMOND J. SAFRA PLAZA • 36 BATTERY PLACE • NEW YORK, NY 10280 36 Battery Place celebration. New York, NY 10280 JewishGen is an affiliate of the Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust VOLUNTEERS LEAD THE WAY So much of JewishGen’s programs and databases involve the painstaking research compiled by a vast network of volunteers from around the globe. Teams of volunteers are formed not through physical proximity, but THE JEWISHGEN PHILOSOPHY through a common interest in a project, knowledge of the field, and individual JewishGen is the premier site for Jewish Find Long Lost Relatives Get Help Translating Documents technical skills. JewishGen projects are open genealogical research and offers a wealth of The JewishGen Family Finder is an interactive The JewishGen ViewMate Tool allows users to to all who are interested. Participation resources and information for everyone, from database which allows users to post family post photographs and documents, and ask for abounds as more and more new information is the novice to the advanced researcher. surnames and ancestral towns, and find other help in translating or identifying information. made available through major grassroots researchers with similar interests. Thousands of efforts worldwide. Join us. JewishGen is the ideal place to start a journey users have found long lost relatives, and hidden Locate Burial Records into the history of your own family, with access branches of their family trees. The JGFF contains The JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial In the past 20 years, information technology, to millions of personal records and information nearly half-a-million entries, and is continually Registry (JOWBR) allows users to search more global communication, and the availability of on thousands of ancestral towns. updated. than one million Jewish burial records throughout newly opened records has allowed great the world, many accompanied by photographs. strides in Jewish genealogy. During that time, There are extensive resources for beginners. Search Family Trees of Over 4 Million People JewishGen has grown from a 150-user bulletin JewishGen offers a number of educational The Family Tree of the Jewish People is a JewishGen Databases board system to become the primary Internet resources, including Frequently Asked searchable compilation of family trees JewishGen allows users to search more than 14 source connecting researchers of Jewish Questions (FAQ), and online courses that teach submitted by individuals, and is searchable by a million online records, in databases for Poland, genealogy users worldwide, with more than participants how to conduct research, interpret variety of methods. It contains more than four Belarus, Ukraine, Germany, Lithuania, the USA, 300,000 people registered. information, and plan further research. million records, and is continually updated. and other regions. JewishGen also has a search- able database of two million Holocaust records, HOW TO GET STARTED For advanced researchers and seasoned Get Help From Researchers All Over the World which includes registrations from ghettos, • Talk to family and relatives genealogists, JewishGen offers databases with The JewishGen Discussion Groups provide transport lists, concentration camp records, and millions of records, discussion groups, and thousands of researchers throughout the world survivor lists. • Visit JewishGen.org research tools. JewishGen serves a broad base the opportunity to connect, ask questions, • Take the online JewishGen of users, spanning all continents. exchange information, and learn from others. Yizkor Book Project Basic Genealogy class JewishGen has many Discussion Groups, both Yizkor Books are Holocaust remembrance books • Register for the JewishGen for general interest, and groups focusing on published as a tribute to Jewish communities Family Finder (JGFF) Whether you want to find your ancestral and their residents who were murdered during specific areas of interest such as Poland, • Register for the Discussion Groups town, connect or reconnect with family, Germany, Lithuania, Rabbinic genealogy, and the Holocaust. Yizkor Books contain a wealth of many others. These discussions are archived information, including names of victims, • Search the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR) participate in a project to preserve and searchable by specific word or topic. survivors, and emigrants; history, descriptions, • Search the Databases records, or are simply interested in and photographs of Jewish life. The JewishGen Find the Town Where Your Family Came From Yizkor Book Project is an ongoing effort to • Keep coming back to JewishGen learning more about Jewish history, The JewishGen Communities Database allows translate and digitize this information into a as new information is continually added searches for ancestral towns, regardless of searchable online resource. There are currently JewishGen can help. spelling or current location, including Yiddish partial translations of hundreds of Yizkor books nicknames, as well as by geographic location on JewishGen. PHOTO CREDITS: (e.g. “near Minsk”). The database provides inter- COVER (TOP) AND INSIDE (CENTER): Misha Scharf Czaban and her These resources are available online active maps and links to a wealth of information children Faiga and Leizer, courtesy Susana Leistner Bloch COVER (BOTTOM): The Heller - Scharf Family of Suchostaw, Galicia, as a public service. about Jewish communities, including JewishGen now Ukraine, courtesy Susana Leistner Bloch ShtetLinks, web pages devoted to specific INSIDE (TOP RIGHT) AND BACK (PANEL 3): Group of friends on an outing in the country, 1931, Sadkowa Gora, near Mielec, Galicia, now Poland, Jewish communities. courtesy Susana Leistner Bloch INSIDE (TOP LEFT): Members of the Hitsradut Movement Chorostków. Photo taken in Chorostków, Galicia, now Ukraine, courtesy Susana Leistner Bloch WWW.JEWISHGEN.ORG READ OUR BLOG AT JEWISHGEN.BLOGSPOT.COM FIND US ON FACEBOOK BACK (PANEL 2): Prayer books, photo courtesy JewishGen