Seattle: Russian Jewish genealogy resources, April 13

"Russian Jewish Genealogy: Utilizing early-19th-mid-20th century genealogical documents" with Michael Steinore, is the topic for the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State.

The event begins at 7pm, Monday, April 13, at the Stroum Jewish Community Center on Mercer Island.

Numerous sources of genealogical information exist for those with ancestors who lived in Czarist Russia and/or the Soviet Union. Some are harder to find and translate than others.

This presentation will offer practical advice on how to locate, understand, and utilize some of the important sources of Russian Jewish genealogy.

With one significant exception - Yizkor books - few broad-in-scale historical sources of genealogical information were created for that purpose. To understand how other documents were created (and their contents), Steinore will offer an overview of major Russian history events and how they resulted in documents to be discussed. He'll also provide information on whether such documents are likely to be found for a specific town or region.

The focus will be on sources more easily accessible in the US, such as census documents, metrical books and passports, Duma voter lists. yizkor books. Extraordinary State Commission records, etc.

Michael Steinore is the author of numerous articles and web pages on Jewish genealogy, focusing on the history and genealogy of Jews who lived in Czarist Russia.

He has translated and made available a number ofRussian-language materials on the internet, including maps, Duma voter lists, Holocaust victim lists and Czarist decrees. He has also catalogued the two primary Yizkor book collections in the Pacific Northwest.

Steinore is a software engineer at a well-known software company in Redmond.

For more details, click here. Admission: JGSGW members, no charge; others, $5.