JewishGen: Message from Warren Blatt

Warren Blatt has been named JewishGen's managing director following the departure of founder Susan King. Here is his message to the JewishGen community:

As you are aware, Susan King has stepped down as the Managing Director of JewishGen, after 20 years of dedicated service. In addition to founding JewishGen, Susan has been an inspiration and motivating force for all of us, and will be greatly missed. We at JewishGen and the Museum of Jewish Heritage wish Susan all the best, and will continue to embrace her spirit and dream as we move forward.

As I assume the post of Managing Director, I want to send greetings to those who already know me, and introduce myself to what I hope will be new friends and colleagues. I have been part of JewishGen since 1990, and been its Editor-in-Chief for many years.

As JewishGen moves into this new phase, we will be integrating more fully with our parent organization, the Museum of Jewish Heritage. As of April 1, 2008, the offices of JewishGen have been relocated from League City, Texas to the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, located in Manhattan's Battery Park. JewishGen has been an affiliate of the Museum since 2003, and this move was initiated in order to better integrate JewishGen's functions with Museum programs and provide a seamless delivery of services to the JewishGen community.

The mailing address of JewishGen is now: JewishGen, Inc., Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, New York, NY 10280. Phone: (646) 437-4326 . Fax: (646) 437-4328.

One of the unfortunate consequences of this transition is that two of our dedicated employees were not able to join us in the new location. The entire JewishGen community joins to acknowledge the work of Joanna Fletcher and Becky Rogers, who have served JewishGen for over 8 years.

Over the next few months, in addition to becoming more fully integrated with the Museum, we will be announcing several new projects, as well as giving you a glimpse into our plans for the future of JewishGen.

Michael Tobias and I continue Susan's tradition, by striving to grow JewishGen and take it to the next level. But be assured that we will not venture too far from our roots; we are built on our volunteers. JewishGen's volunteers are our wealth and strength, and that will always remain. We are always looking for enthusiastic volunteers to join our family. Both Michael and I hope to see many of you at the IAJGS Conference in Chicago this summer.

I look forward to working with all of you over the months and years ahead, as JewishGen continues to be the leading internet resource for Jewish genealogy.

Again, I wish to greet all of you, and as we move into this holiday season, wish you and your family a Chag Sameach and Happy Pesach, from me and my family.

Warren Blatt
Managing Director
JewishGen