Yizkor Book Project: January 2011 update

The JewishGen Yizkor Book Project reports that six new projects, 17 new entries and 19 updated projects were added during January 2011.

Additionally, two books (Ruzhany, Belarus; Daugavplis/Dvinsk, Latvia) have been completely translated and are on the site.

New projects have been added to the growing list of those requiring translation fund contributions; they are. Kurow, Poland; Lowicz, Poland; and Volodymyr Volynskyy (Ludmir), Ukraine. To donate funds, click here.

Brian Reiser, coordinator of the Kolki, Ukraine Yizkor Book, has prepared helpful notes on using a Facebook "Cause" to raise money for the Yizkor Book Translation Funds.

The project needs translators, necrology transliterators and HTMLers to help with a large volume of material to be placed online.

Six new projects:
- Bivolari, Romania (Our town Bivolari)
- Daugavpils, Latvia (In Memory of the Community of Dvinsk)
- Derecske, Hungary (Memorial book to the Jews of Derecske and its environs)
- Tarnogrod, Poland (Book of Tarnogrod; in memory of the destroyed Jewish community)
- Tuchin, Ukraine (Tuczin-Kripa, Wolyn; in Memory of the Jewish Community)
- Zborov, Ukraine (Memorial book of the community of Zborow)

17 new entries:
- Blaszki, Poland (Pinkas Poland)
- Gadunavas, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Garliava, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Gastynai, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Geguzine, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Geleziai, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Gelgaudiskis, Lithuania(Pinkas Lita)
- Giedraiciai, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Gintaliske, Lithuania(Pinkas Lita)
- Girkalnis, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Givyai Skrudziai, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Gudeliai, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Gudiniskiai, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Gudziunai, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)
- Jezow, Poland (Pinkas Poland)
- Ujazd, Poland (Pinkas Poland)
- Ukmerge, Lithuania (Pinkas Lita)

19 updates to existing projects:
- Bedzin, Poland (A Memorial to the Jewish Community of Bendin)
- Dabrowa Gornicza, Poland (Book of the Jewish community of Dabrowa Gornicza and its destruction)
- Dieveniskes, Lithuania (Devenishki book; memorial book)
- Fehergyarmat, Hungary (Our Former City Fehergyarmat)
- Gorodets, Belarus (Horodetz; history of a town, 1142-1942)
- Kovel', Ukraine(Kowel; Testimony and Memorial Book of Our Destroyed Community)
- Lowicz, Poland (Lowicz; a town in Mazovia, memorial book)
- Merkine, Lithuania (Meretch; a Jewish Town in Lithuania)
- Ostrow-Mazowiecka, Poland (Memorial Book of the Community of Ostrow-Mazowiecka)
- Rafalovka, Ukraine (Memorial book for the towns of Old Rafalowka, New Rafalowka, Olizarka, Zoludzk and vicinity)
- Ruzhany, Belarus (Rozana; a memorial book to the Jewish community)
- Sanok, Poland (Memorial Book of Sanok and Vicinity)
- Serock, Poland (The book of Serock)
- Siedlce, Poland (On the ruins of my home; the destruction of Siedlce)
- Skuodas, Lithuania (Memorial Book of Skuodas)
- Slutsk, Belarus(Slutsk and vicinity memorial book)
- Turka, Ukraine (Memorial Book of the Community of Turka on the Stryj and Vicinity)
- Volodymyr Volynskyy, Ukraine (Wladimir Wolynsk; in memory of the Jewish community)
- Zelechow, Poland (Memorial Book of the Community of Zelechow)

The Yizkor Book Master Name Index (YBMNI) has also been updated with some 13,000 records added since July 2010; currently, it has some 18,000 records covering Poland, Ukraine, Greece and Lithuania.

Questions on the project, on specific books, on contributing or volunteering? Contact project manager Lance Ackerfeld.

For more, check the Project's translations page.

Latvia: 100 tombstones desecrated

Latvia's president condemned an attack on a Riga cemetery Wednesday.

President Vadis Zalters urged police to find the perpetrators - who desecrated some 100 tombstones with Nazi symbols - quickly, according to the European Jewish Press website. Other officials, including the prime minister and foreign minister, also blasted the attack.

Earlier Wednesday, state police spokeswoman Ieva Reksna told AFP that police officers had found around 100 tombstones spattered with white-paint swastikas.
   

A guard at the cemetery -- the only working Jewish burial ground in Riga -- spotted the defiled tombstones on Wednesday morning, Reksna said.  

Officials from Riga city council headed to the cemetery after news of the attack emerged, and mayor Nils Usakovs, who is on a visit to Russia, issued a statement condemning it.
   

Municipal police have now been ordered to boost patrols at the site.

The cemetery was also attacked in September 2003, following which five teens were sentenced to prison terms of from six months to three years.
   

Today, the Latvian Jewish community numbers less than 10,000 individuals in the general population of 2.2 million.

Prior to WWII, some 85,000 Jews lived there; 70,000 were murdered in Latvia or perished after deportation to concentration camps.     

Latvia: Riga Ghetto Museum opens, Sept. 21

The Riga (Latvia) Ghetto Museum opens September 21.

More than 70 000 local Jews and nearly 20 000 Jews deported from Western Europe were executed in Latvia in the World War II. The Museum is located in the historical part of the city near the borders of former ghetto.

The opening of the first exhibit includes the names of more than 70 000 Latvian Jews who faced the Holocaust, with stones from the streets of Riga Ghetto. A photo exhibit includes anti-Semitism propaganda, Holocaust in Latvia, the Resistance and the Righteous Among the Nations.

Jewish history in Latvia dates back some 450 years, and a section of the exhibit documents this history.

According to director Rabbi Menachem Barkahan:

Riga Ghetto Museum is not just a museum. I do hope that it will become the significant memento of the dreadful events that occurred in the history of Latvia and should never ever be repeated again. The Museum is becoming a center of culture and education, a source of tolerance and mutual respect.

Earlier this month - on September 1 - a new Jewish calendar was released and dedicated to the history of Jewish development during Latvia's First Republic.

There is also a database with the names of Jewish children who perished during the Holocaust in Latvia.

Click here for more information about the Jewish Culture Festival 5771 in Riga, with a video and photos.

For more information about the community organization Shamir in Riga, send an email.

JewishGen: Worldwide burial registry updated

The JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR) database has been updated with more than 108,000 new records and some 13,000 additional photos.

There are 170 new cemeteries with updates to another 155 cemeteries in 19 countries. The database now holds more than 1.4 million records from some 2,700 cemeteries or sections in 46 countries.

View JOWBR here. New users should click here for information.

Here are some of the new additions:

-- Iasi, Romania: nearly 32,000 added; database now 65,000.

-- Lodz, Poland: Organization of Former Residents of Lodz in
Israel has given permission to add their burial register names to both JOWBR and JRI-Poland, totalling some 70,000-75,000 records. This update offers the first 12,000 records.

--Lodz, Poland: More than 2,000 burials recorded by the IDF and the Yad LeZehava Holocaust Research Institute in three sections of the Lodz cemetery; database now has 3,400 burials.

-- Louisville, Kentucky: Herman Meyer & Son Funeral Home has compiled extensive information on burials from seven Jewish cemeteries in the city; database totals nearly 11,500 records. Additional information on Kentucky resources and headstone photos.

-- Baltimore, Maryland: Jewish Museum of Maryland and Deb Weiner for 9,900 records from the Belair Road and Berrymans Lane Baltimore Hebrew Cemeteries.

-- Maine: Harris Gleckman of Project Shammas - "Documenting Maine Jewry" - for nearly 6,500 records from 16 Maine cemeteries and sections.

-- American Jewish Archives (AJA): US and Caribbean cemetery records from The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives (AJA), Cincinnati, Ohio; more than 6,000 records from 36 cemeteries.

-- Pennsauken, New Jersey: Rabbi Gary Gans submitted 6,000 records from the Crescent Memorial Park.

-- Liepaja, Latvia: 3,600 records from the town of Liepaja,
Latvia.

-- Bathurst Lawn Memorial Park and Pardes Shalom Cemetery, Ontario: JGS of Canada-Toronto; more than 3,200 records from 122 updated and new sections of these Canadian cemeteries.

-- South Carolina Cemeteries: Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina; 2,200 burial records and 365 photos from five South Carolina cemeteries.

-- Petach Tikvah, Israel: TSegulah Cemetery; some 2,200 additional photos.

-- Sacramento, California: 2,200 records from the Home of Peace Cemetery.

-- Various US States: More than 2,100 records from 25 cemeteries in nine states, by Julian Preisler.

-- Colma, California: San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society, nearly 2,100 records from the second book of burial records from Home of
Peace Cemetery & Emanu-El Mausoleum.

-- New Jersey: Jewish Historical Society of North Jersey; more than 1,000 records from
five cemeteries.

-- Bavarian Cemeteries: JewishGen and the Bavarian State Ministry of Science, Research and Arts/Center of Bavarian History. ; nearly 700 translations from seven cemeteries, and other civil document data.

-- German Cemeteries: 650 records from 21 small German cemeteries.

-- South Africa: 450 records and 550 photos from 13 cemeteries. For more information, click here.

Many donors - individuals and societies - have submitted information. To see how you can help, visit JOWBR at JewishGen.

Pennsylvania Dutch: Ashkenazi, German encounters

Matt Singer has an interesting idea.

He's writing an independent project on the encounter between Ashkenazi Jews and Pennsylvania Germans in Pennsylvania Dutch Country as a material culture analysis.

A Penn State American studies doctoral student, his project should be of interest to Tracing the Tribe's readers. Matt was happy to share additional information with me.

He plans to document and analyze material culture reflecting the encounter between Pennsylvania Germans and Yiddish- and German-speaking (Ashkenazi) Jews from Central and Eastern Europe who settled in the so-called Pennsylvania Dutch Country from the 18th through early-20th centuries. The area is centered in Lancaster, Lebanon, and Berks counties but encompasses most of southeastern and central Pennsylvania.

While Pennsylvania Germans and American Jews have both been the subjects of extensive scholarly research, this particular history - which focuses on the interaction and influence between two Germanic people whose separate diasporas brought them to Southeastern and Central Pennsylvania - has not been studied, he says.

Matt also plans to incorporate and focus on fraktur (example left), a text-based Pennsylvania-German art-form, as part of this study.

Fraktur (example left) is the decoration of paper with calligraphic texts and related designs, figures and symbols, using pen and ink and/or watercolors. Click here (a gallery of examples and many other articles) or here for another article. The first link has many examples of this vibrant folk-art that was used for many types of documents.

Says Matt, a small but significant number of Jews worked as itinerant fraktur artists and scriveners. They functioned much like countless Jews who - typically in their earliest years in the US - earned their livelihoods as peddlers. However, traveling fraktur artists and scriveners, unlike most peddlers, left surviving evidence of their work.

A Google search for "jewish fraktur" turned up a mention in Irwin Richman's book "the Pennsylvania Dutch Country." Pages 57-58 offer information on this variety and mentions two artists, Martin Wetzler who drew a Star of David on his creations and signed his name in Hebrew, as well as Justus I.H. Epstein who lived and worked in Reading.

Fraktur incorporating Hebrew words and phrases was created by Christian Hebraists, and at least one example was made by a Pennsylvania German artist for a Jewish patron.

Finally, through the examination of fraktur in relation to traditional Ashkenazi-Jewish forms such as the ketubah (marriage contract), wimpel (Torah binder), illustrated prayer-books, and mizrachim (a wall-hanging that indicates the direction for prayer - East, mizrach), Matt will search for artistic motifs, approaches, and intentions shared (or not shared) by Pennsylvania Germans and Ashkenazi Jews and their continuity (or discontinuity) as the two distinct yet geographically and culturally related groups established new lives, communities, and cultures in the New World.

Matt, like many of us first became interested in genealogy after watching "Roots" in 1977, as a young teenager. Later, the emergence of JewishGen in the 1990s "turned this interest into a passion."

His paternal SINGER line was from the Ponevezh (Panevezys) area in Kovno Gubernia, Lithuania.

Says Matt, according to a distant cousin (now deceased) who was equally obsessed with genealogy and family history, the family moved from East Prussia to Lithuania around 1840.

"Such a migration pattern is slightly counterintuitive," he says, "and I’ve never been able to document it.

What I do know is that my great-grandfather David Singer immigrated from Neustadt Ponevezh, Lithuania, in 1886 and seemed to have moved directly to Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, a small Pennsylvania-German town outside of Harrisburg (where much of the family eventually settled).

His primary maternal line - the KLEINMAN/N) - were from the Kurland/Courland region (now southwestern Latvia) which, though absorbed by Russia in the Partition of Poland in 1795, was German in language and culture and not part of (although not far from) the Pale of Settlement.

My great-great-grandfather Abraham Kleinman immigrated from Friedrichstadt (now Jaunjelgava), Kurland, in 1887 and first settled in Lancaster, the heart of “Pennsylvania Dutch Country,” and later lived in several smaller towns in the region before ultimately settling in Harrisburg.

Counting my older brother’s children, five generations of my Jewish family (I’m also one-quarter Austrian and German Catholic by descent) have been born in “Pennsylvania Dutch Country,” and seven have lived in it (my great-great-great grandparents Elias and Sarah Rachel Kleinman—Abraham’s parents—followed their son, immigrating here in 1891).

All of Matt's Jewish ancestors were Litvaks, although he adds:

The Kleinmans represented a sort of German-Litvak hybrid, as did the Singers, I suppose, if they really did move from East Prussia to Lithuania ), as seems to be the norm in the vicinity of Harrisburg (of course, the Litvaks were preceded by Jews from southern Germany ). I believe the same is true of all of Pennsylvania Dutch Country—but that’s a matter for research far from completed!

Matt's geographical locations and names of interest include East Prussia, Singer; Courland, Kleinman, Toor, Tuch, Singer; and Lithuania, Singer, Tuch, Gerber, Garonzik, Ringer and Blau.

Do you have any written memoirs inherited from immigrant ancestors who settled in the area?

Would you share them with Matt? Readers are welcome to contact him.

Latvia: Riga's Jewish community, Sept. 10

Sorry for the last-minute timing of this announcement, but Tracing the Tribe just received the notice.

If your research interests involve Riga, Latvia, this afternoon's event at the YIVO Institute (located at the Center for Jewish Studies) may be good for you.

"Locating Jewishness in Fin-de-siècle Riga: Cultural maps, local politics, and the question of language" begins at 3pm Thursday, September 10, at the CJH. It is co-sponsored by Leo Baeck Institute and the speaker is Felix Heinert.

Heinert will shed light on various issues from his research on Riga's Jewish community. He will negotiate Russian-Jewish and German-Jewish historical and historiographic narratives from their "margins," linking cultural maps (in a metaphorical sense) with local Jewish politics (in a broader sense) and the question of ("imperial" and public) language(s).

Admission is free, but do RSVP to 917-606-8290 or send an email to YIVO.

The Center for Jewish History is located at 15 W. 16th Street in New York City.

Latvia: 'Rumbula's Echo' documentary

Mitch Lieber of Chicago is the driving force behind a website devoted to the Jews of Latvia as well as Holocaust resources and education. Rumbula.org allso became the impetus for a special documentary.

Tracing the Tribe has written about Mitch previously for the Jerusalem Post about how he found his family after several generations of his family searched for relatives left behind and found no one. A few minutes on JewishGen's Family Finder eventually resulted in an email from a cousin now in Israel.

Read Tracing the Tribe's previous posts on Rumbula and Mitch's efforts to commemorate and educate: here (December 2006) and here (November 2007).

In August 2008, we met again in Chicago and Mitch told me about his upcoming project, with its own website, RumbulasEcho.org. The central story is the Shoah in Latvia.

Mitch just provided an update on the film project.

Sheila Curran Bernard has joined as a consultant. Among her credits, she wrote and directed two episodes of the acclaimed historical documentary PBS series, "Eye on the Prize," one received a national Emmy; involved in more than 40-plus hours of documentary film; author, "Documentary Storytelling;" co-author, "Archival Storytelling." Bernard is on the SUNY-Albany faculty.

Rich Pooler is the field sound recordist. His rural Africa work was heard on the Kartemquin Films documentary, "Milking the Rhino," on PBS' Independent Lens in April. For 17 years, his sound has been heard on documentaries on PBS' FrontLine, POV, Nova, HBO and Oprah. He recorded sound on "Out of Faith," about a Skokie Holocaust survivor and her grandchildren. He joins director of photography Sid Lubitsch and Mitch as core crew. In each country where filming will take place, two-to-three local crew will be added.

Principal photography will begin August 25 in Riga, when its 104-year-old recently restored synagogue will again begin holding services. On August 26-27, a rededication ceremony, reception, conference and a concert. These events will be filmed. Other filming will include today's modern community, Jewish institutions and Holocaust memorials. The footage will wrap up a 110-year story of Jews in Latvia. Interviews with Holocaust survivors will also be filmed.

The Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany has awarded $40,000 for production, the first time it has supported documentary film. Other donors include the International Holocaust Task Force (a U.S. foundation) which granted $36,000, family foundations and individuals in supporting the film. Currently, $105,000 has been raised.

The project is raising another $39,000 to meet the $144,000 minimum production budget, and must raise $9,000 by August 20 towards the $19,000 needed for the Riga trip's travel costs for for filming during 2009-2010. and for international film production insurance (covering equipment, liability, auto, etc. for all filming in 2009-10).

The Chicago office of Foley & Lardner is providing pro bono legal services, including crew agreements, interview releases, co-production agreements, rights for archival photos and footage.

Mitch says that the efforts of friends, supporters and everyone interested in Latvian Jewry past and present is necessary to make sure that this important part of Holocaust and communityhistory is recorded and preserved for this and future generations.

Check out both sites for much more information at the links above.

Museum of Family History : New for April

The Museum of Family History's Steve Lasky is always improving the site. Here's his April update covering Latvia, the website redesign, yearbooks and Holocaust memorials.

Jews of Latvia:

Many chapters in this exhibit are now available in French (as well as English) from the Max Kaufmann book "Churbn Lettland: The Destruction of Jews of Latvia." Steve is attempting to make available for non-English speakers and he is hoping to do more in French and other langauges, if he can find more native speakers of other languages to assist him.

Steve would very much like to have the Kaufman chapters made available in Russian and invites someone who is qualified to volunteer to assist. Any language help would be appreciated.

Linked to this exhibit is the second part of "The Young Men and Women of our Town." While the first part was for Lozdzieje, Lithuania, the second is for Riga and includes a number of large group photos. In the section are 1928-1932 photos of the local Gordonia youth group. Can readers identify any of those pictured?

The "Wall of Remembrance" is dedicated to honoring the memory of those
Latvian Jews who died during the Holocaust.

For all the Latvia exhibits, click here and follow the links.

Website redesign:

Steve has redesigned a few dozen pages of his website and hopes readers like the result. Each page has a Google-powered search engine. There are separate webspages listing more than 100 audio clips and more than 60 video clips, including links to each of their pages. The redesign is still in progress. If you'd like a sneak peek at the redesign, email Steve.

Thomas Jefferson High School Yearbook Project:

Steve now includes more than sixty yearbooks, 1927-1987, with some 40,000 names for Thomas Jefferson High School. Search any book online cover to cover, or search (using Steve Morse's One-Step searchable database) the complete database by first name, surname, yearbook year or address.

Steve Morse has a similar database for nearby Samuel Tilden High School. The two databases for Tilden and Jefferson total 95 books with nearly 70,000 names. Seve and Steve hope to add more books to the database when they become available. Both schools are in Brooklyn, NY.

World Holocaust Memorials:

For Zamosc, Poland researchers, the many names inscribed on the Zamosc memorial in Beth El Cemetery (New Jersey) is now available here.

Steve is always looking for more material for the virtual Museum of Family History. If you have material to contribute, contact him - and also receive the Museum e-newsletter.

Latvia: Latvian Jewish Encyclopedia being prepared

Victoria Shaldova, executive director of Shamir, the Jewish community of Riga, Latvia, has written to Tracing the Tribe about a new community project.

My paternal grandfather was born in Riga, and we still have Talalay relatives living in Riga who moved there from Mogilev, Belarus following World War II. Unfortunately, however, I do not hold material to contribute. I'm hoping readers will be able to assist Shaldova.

Activity of "Shamir" is aimed to commemorating the memory of Latvian Jews.

The most significant project of us is Latvian Jewish Encyclopedia, which gathers information about all the Jews, connected to Latvia. It will be a memorial for the Latvian Jews, which do not exist now. We have gathered already more than 2 500 biographic and thematic entries and it is a half of the proposed amount. It covers the period of time from 1561 to 1991.

Now we are looking for Jews originally from Latvia, but living abroad. All the information about Latvian Jews (i.e. biographies, photos, family stories) is appreciated.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon,
thank you in advance,
Victoria Shaldova

Readers who would like to participate may email Shaldova. The website for the Riga Jewish community is Shamir.

Museum of Family History: New this month

There's always something new at Steve Lasky's virtual Museum of Family History. Here's the March update:

- “Churbn Lettland: The Destruction of the Jews of Latvia” – Very important telling of events, written in 1947 by a survivor. More material from the English translation has been added, mainly about the Small Riga Ghetto. Also included, an index of all surnames in the book. Visit the “Wall of Remembrance,” with photos of some who died or were killed in Latvia during WWII. Add your own photos and biographies;

- The the film preview for "Horodok: A Shtetl's Story 1920-1945" is now online. Just scroll down to no. 19 and click. Make sure your speakers are on before you do, as the film clip begins once the page opens. The film is in Hebrew with English subtitles. There are several places named Horodok/Gorodok. This one is north of Minsk in the area between Rakov, Radishkovitz and Moladechna.

-Yiddish Theatre: Morris Axelrad, Yiddish actor; Placards of the Yiddish Theatre.

- Postcards from Home: Budapest, Hungary; Ilza, Poland; Czernowitz, Ukraine.

- World Holocaust Memorials: Lithuania – Kupiskis, Rokiskis.

- Living in America: The Jewish Experience – Thomas Jefferson High School, Brooklyn, New York. Currently, 32 yearbooks (1927-1949) are now online, browsable page-to-page or searchable using the Steve Morse one-step database.

Steve writes that he now has 20 additional books (from 1950) but needs volunteers for simple data entry. Watch for updates on the genealogical importance of yearbooks.

- Steve adds that he's working on a site redesign and would like some opinions. If you'd like to evaluate it, contact him.

He'll also be producing a free periodic Museum e-newsletter (not a blog) for those who have supported his work through contributions of material (photos, text, etc.) - see the “Credits and Acknowledgments” page. Supporters will be the first to receive news of future exhibits, links to previews, hear other ideas, read relevant words of inspiration, and more.

Those who would like to receive it by email, should write to Steve here, including your first and last name, email address and, for statistical purposes only, your country, state and town.

For other questions or information, write to Steve.

Museum of Family History: New in February

Where in the world is Steve Lasky, creator of the Museum of Family History and what has he done now?

He was in Florida and he's always busy improving his cyberspace Museum of Family History.

Steve reminds visitors that he now offers a Google-powered search engine on the site's home page or on a separate Search page. Check the site map page.

- Jewish Philadelphia now has its fourth entry - reading Jack Segal’s story about growing up in Philly in the early-mid1900s.

- Thomas Jefferson High School Database has new information from the January and June 1931 yearbooks. In the next month or so, Steve plans to add data from the 1933-34 and 1938-40 books. Volunteers needed: Steve needs some help with simple database entry for the senior photos. The sooner he gets some help, the sooner the database will be updated.

- Just for Latvia researchers, Steve will be placing online excerpts from the English translation of “Chorbn Lettland: The Destruction of the Jews of Lettland.” This important work was written soon after the war, in 1947, and recently translated to English.

- Read the first excerpt from this book re Simon Dubnow, Jewish historian, writer and activist.

- The Screening Room now offers a film clip of "The Tree of Life." A Los Angeles woman comes to terms with her father's death by traveling to Italy, where he was born, to trace the family tree. Her 82-year-old aunt (her father's sister) helps and she travels from city to city, searching ancient manuscripts and interviewing many quirky scholars to piece together the puzzle and fascinating story of her Italian Jewish ancestors. At the link above, click on number 18 and turn on your speakers.

- New Jersey's Riverside Cemetery now has a searchable database; click on "Genealogy Search."

- The Jewish Museum of Maryland has five PDF files available for download with the cemetery burial listings for Baltimore, Maryland.

For questions or to volunteer to assist with yearbook entries, contact Steve.

San Diego: Lithuania, Latvia roots, May 10

Thanks to my gen blogging colleague Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings, I learned that the San Diego Genealogical Society will have a program focusing on Jewish roots in Lithuania and Latvia, with speaker Dr. Franklin Gaylis.

Dr. Gaylis will share his amazing research experiences from his 2001 travels to retrace his roots to the Baltics. Many records had only recently become accessible with the downfall of the Soviet Union in the areas where his grandparents fled at the turn of the 20th century.

He developed an interest in genealogy in his early 40s when the Soviet Union started unraveling and the countries from which his grandparents had fled at the turn of the 20th century, the Baltics, became more accessible.

According to the announcement, Gaylis has read extensively on the history of the Jews in Lithuania and Latvia as well as the past 3,000-4,000 years.

Born in England, raised and educated in South Africa, Gaylis, a urologist, and his wife Jean immigrated to the US; his practice is in San Diego.

The meeting starts at noon Saturday, May 10, at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church (8350 Lake Murray Blvd (at Jackson Drive), San Diego. Meetings are free and open to the public; beginners are welcome.

The San Diego Genealogical Society was founded in 1946 to promote interest in genealogy and family history; offers a research library, educational and research opportunities. It also collects, preserves and publishes San Diego County, California genealogical and historical records.

Latvia: Rumbula website update

Rumbula.org creator Mitch Lieber of Chicago writes that his educational web site about Jewish Latvia with extensive material about the Holocaust has been updated.

Three generations of his family had unsuccessfully searched for relatives, until Lieber finally connected with his grandfather's brother's family in Israel. He had entered his name and town into JewishGen's Family Finder and his Israeli cousins finally found him. The site grew out of this miraculous reunion several years ago and honors family members massacred in the Rumbula Forest.

Rumbula and Skede 66th Yahrzeits: 27,800 Jews perished at Riga's Rumbula Forest on two days: 10 Kislev (November 29, 1941) was November 20; 18 Kislev (December 8, 1941) is November 28. For those murdered at Skede, near Liepaja, the yahrzeit is 25-27 Kislev (December 15-17, 1941) which will be December 5-7, 2008.

According to Lieber, the names of the majority killed at Rumbula are unknown. There's a link to the database listing names of those killed at Skede and in Liepaja: Liepaja - The Holocaust at Names of Victims and Survivors, which offers the database of victims and survivors of Liepaja, the Liepaja Jewish cemetery burials (1909-1941), a brief history of the Holocaust in Liepaja and how the name list was created.

Fifth World Reunion of Latvian Jewry
The Fifth World Reunion of Latvian Jewry is next week in Israel. It is hosted by the Association of Latvian and Estonian Jews in Israel in co-operation with The Jewish Survivors of Latvia in the U.S. and other organizations.

See What's New for additions to the site, such as:

*Photo: Rauchvarger School Classmates 1937 and their fates in Riga

*Virtual tour: 2006 Rumbula Commemoration Ceremony, Rumbula Forest Memorial.

*Monument to Latvians who sheltered Jews

*Virtual tour: Jews in a Changing World Conference, Riga, September 2006.

*Virtual tour: Jewish Survivors of Latvia annual meeting, New York, November 2006.

For recent books about Latvia Jewry, click Read More About It.

Roots Travel: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia 2008

Want to go home again? Various companies are letting researchers know about summer 2008 roots travel tours.

As with all such trips, prospective participants should carefully investigate companies offering tours, hosts and guides, as well as add-on costs for ancestral shtetl or archive visits with experienced people.

A 14-day heritage tour, "In Search of Jewish Roots in Northern Poland, Lithuania and Latvia," is set for May 19-June 1, 2008, leaving from Toronto.

It starts in Warsaw, through northern Poland, and then into Lithuania (Kaunas, Memel, Vilnius, Trokai, Sauliai) and Latvia (Riga), including visits to Jewish historical and cultural sites, and places associated with the Holocaust and WWII, such as Treblinka, the Wolfs Lair, Paneriai Forest, Ninth Fort and the ghettos of Warsaw, Vilnius and Kaunas.

According to the announcement, participants can also arrange visits to ancestral shtetls or archives in Vilnius and Kaunas.

Tour hosts are research librarian Maureen Price and professor emeritus Dr. Irwin Feuerstein, who has led two previous Jewish roots tours; while guides include Jacques Pauwels and Simon Davidovich (Sugihara Museum director in Kaunas).

For details and the itinerary, look under Cultural Tours at the Pauwels Travel website.

Roots Travel: June trip to Lithuania, Latvia

Are your family roots in Lithuania and environs? A roots travel trip - sponsored by the non-profit American Fund for Lithuanian-Latvia Jews - is set for June 24-July 4, 2008.

Leaders will be Peggy Mosinger Freedman and Howard Margol, who have previously organized annual trips to Lithuania. Although the June 2007 event had more than 40 participants, this year's group is limited to 25 individuals.

Included are archival visits, synagogues, ghettos, Holocaust sites, meetings with Jewish leaders, sight-seeing, guide/interpreters, and two days to visit participants' ancestral towns or villages.

All meals are included (except for one dinner and two lunches), new and modern hotels, modern bus and more.

Both Freedman and Margol are familiar with the archives and archivists, Lithuania and places of Jewish interest.

If there is any profit from the trip, proceeds will go to supporting the Vilnius Jewish community.

For details, full itinerary and references, email litvaktrip@gmail.com

Quest: From Glasgow to Latvian shtetl

Dr. Richard Woolfson's trip "home" takes him from Glasgow, Scotland to Riga, Latvia and the shtetl of Tukums some 70kms inland, on the trail of his maternal grandfather Jack Newman (who arrived in Britain in 1903) and even earlier ancestors.

The story mentions Glasgow genealogist Harvey Kaplan and his assistance in Woolfson's quest, discovering the original family name of NEY, Jack's parents' names Elias and Hannah NEY (in the 1897 All Russia Census) and their street address in Tukums.

The impending arrival of his granddaughter Esther was the impetus for this journey.

Read the the story here.

Looking for Latvian resources?

If Latvia is your interest, here's something for you. The new Latvia SIG (special interest group) Web site is up and running at JewishGen. Estonian information is also included, along with information for those just starting a geographic quest.

SIG editor Barry Shay welcomes all comments and suggestions, and is looking for additional photographs and materials to add to the site.

The Latvian State Historical Archives hold vital records from 1854-1905. The complete inventory of Jewish records is at the Shtetlinks Riga Web site.

JewishGen's Latvia Database has about 95,000 entries and is frequently updated as more information becomes available. Major categories are Latvia, Livland Gubernia, Courland Gubernia and Vitebsk Gubernia, each with various components. Additional information is here.

For the information on Estonia, which utilizes Mark Ryback's site and additional articles, click here.

There's also a history of Jews in Latvia and Courland, a section on shtetl memories, the small "shtetlach" of Latvia, book reviews and links for more information.

For a book on Latvia and Estonia resources, click here
here.

Happy Hunting!

Los Angeles: adventurous genealogists tell their tales

If you have a hankering to visit the old homestead in Eastern Europe, an upcoming program may help you understand how to take the trip of a lifetime.

On March 11, the Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles is hosting four adventurous genealogists as they present multimedia programs about their recent trips to Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Poland and the former Galicia. Each program focuses on a different kind of trip.

"Where Once We Walked: Traveling Back in Time" features Mark Heckman, Lois Rosen, Karen Roekard and Andrea Massion.

Heckman attended a summer 2006 symposium of more than 60 former residents of Czernowitz, Ukraine. Now called Chernivtsi, it was, for hundreds of years, the leading city of North Bukovina and southern Galicia and home to a vibrant Jewish population. Many of its residents survived but most emigrated to Israel and the West. The meeting provided a chance for former residents to reconnect with their home town, and younger generations had an opportunity to see a place they had only known via family stories. Heckman will show pictures and video, highlights of the reunion and visits to other towns including Sadagora, Zastavna, Zaleshchiki, Tluste and Horodenka.

In August 2006, Rosen (researching the Rozinko family) traveled to Latvia. She didn't hire a guide, but planned the trip herself, and visited Riga, Daugavpils and then Pasvalys, Lithuania. She met the researcher who had helped her locate information, met members of the Jewish community, and visited the restored synagogue and active Jewish community center.

Roekard, on her third Ukraine trip in 2006, spent two weeks researching in both the Scientific and State Historical Archives in Lviv (Lvov, Lemberg), which was once in Galicia/Poland. With Natalie Dunai, she studied books, files, maps and lists, and will elaborate on the pleasures, treasures, value and "OY!" of archival research. She will share video of davening and singing in the Zolkiew shul with its amazing acoustics, and explain a planned synagogue restoration project.

In May 2005, Massion traveled with a cousin to Ukraine, accompanied
by researcher/guide Alex Dunai, spending four days in her ancestral shtel of Ananiev, and also visiting Odessa, Balta and Uman. In Kiev, she met a cousin for the first time, discovering the real story of her family as together they searched for the answers to family mysteries.

For more information, click here.

Latvia: Rumbula Forest yahrzeits

A few years ago I wrote a story in the Jerusalem Post on Mitch Lieber of Chicago and his creation of Rumbula.org, a Web site dedicated to those who were massacred by the Nazi regime in the Rumbula Forest in Latvia in 1941.

Mitch, his father and grandfather had been looking for relatives for a very long time, but they assumed all of their relatives had died. Mitch had added his family name and town origin to JewishGen's Family Finder but never had a relevant hit, until the day he received a surprising e-mail from a professor at Hebrew University. The rest is, as they say, history.

He worked on the Web site as a way to honor his ancestors who were murdered, and also as a way to commemorate the discovery of surviving relatives in Israel.

The 65th anniversary of the death of the 25,000 who were killed in the forest takes place on two dates, 10th of Kislev (Nov. 30, 1941) this year was on Friday, Dec. 1, and on the 18th of Kislev (Dec. 8, 1941) will be on Saturday, Dec. 9 this year.

"May the memory of each one be for a blessing," adds Mitch. "The names of a majority of those who were killed at Rumbula Forest are not known. Jews may wish to say Kaddish for family members lost at Rumbula, or for one or more of the un-named who may have no one to say Kaddish for them."

Readers may also visit here to see what is new on the Web site.

The moral of this story: Add your family name and towns of origin to JewishGen's Family Finder. Someone out there may be looking for you right now.

BOOK: Researching Latvia and Estonia

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain has a new addition to its series of guides: A Guide to Jewish Genealogy in Latvia and Estonia by Arlene Beare.

The compact, all-you-need-to-begin, 144-page guide has been updated and expanded from the original 2001 work, with new sections, databases and Web links. Readers will be prepared to tackle follow-up research.

The history section, with maps, offers a focus on where to look, while “Starting Your Research” provides the nitty-gritty on where and how to begin, archives, surnames, patrynomics and international and online resources, associations of former Latvians and Estonians, a good section on Latvian resources, and archives (including those from Lithuania and Belarus, which hold records of interest).

Latvian archives hold vital records -- military registers, census records, family lists, passport and registration books and more. The guide explains the holdings.

In addition to a list of 1891 Jewish firms in Riga (company name, type of business, owner’s name and address), both the Holocaust and Cemeteries sections hold a good overview of available data. Museums and libraries in Riga offer more relevant holdings, while the "Latvia and the Internet" section includes many Web links.

Special interest groups (SIGs) and links provide additional help, and a travel section lists recommended guides. Lists of communities and previous names, archival terms and translations are followed by a FAQ and bibliography. The Estonia section is smaller, but also holds the essentials.

Other guides in the reasonably-priced series (about $11) include genealogical resesource guides to Germany and Austria, the U.K., Lithuania, organizing your family history records, reading Hebrew inscriptions and documents and genealogical resources within the Jewish home and family.

To order, email publications@jgsgb.org.uk