Northern California: Hungarian research, June 20

Hungry to learn about researching your Hungarian roots?

If so, the next meeting of the Los Altos branch of the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society on Monday, June 20, should answer many questions.

Doors open at 7pm and the program starts at 7.30pm at Congregation Beth Am, 26790 Arastradero Road (room 5/6) in Los Altos Hills. There is no admission fee.

"Family Research in Greater Hungary" will be presented by Vivian Kahn.

Kahn will provide an overview of the history of Hungary's Jewish community and discuss resources available to those researching roots from the current and former territory of Hungary,including archival records in Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine, and Hungary and sources such as burial and military records.

She will describe and provide tips for searching JewishGen's All Hungary Database - with close to a million records about individuals living in areas today in present-day Hungary as well as Slovakia, Croatia, northern Serbia, northwestern Romania, and subcarpathian Ukraine.

In addition to describing the resources incorporated in that database, she will discuss some of the Hungarian SIG's current projects and identify other online resources.

Coordinator of JewishGen's Hungarian Special Interest Group (H-SIG), Kahn also moderates its discussion group. Her 18-year investigation of ancestral roots in pre-Trianon Hungary has taken her to Hungary, Slovakia, Israel and Salt Lake City.

Along the way, she has helped others investigate their roots, and become familiar with the wide range of resources available for learning about Jewish families from present-day Hungary as well as Slovakia, Romania and Trans-Carpathian Ukraine.

She also serves as JewishGen's Vice President for SIG Affairs.

Enjoy brainstorming about genealogical questions before and after the program. Light kosher refreshments will be served.

For more information on SFBAJGS and directions, click here.

JewishGen: Sarina Roffé elected to board of governors

The Board of Governors of JewishGen announced that Sarina Roffé has been elected to the board.

A family historian and journalist, Sarina is a member of Brooklyn's Syrian Jewish community and an active member of the Jewish Genealogical Society, Inc. (JGSNY).

She has published widely on themes connected with Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewish genealogy and is a recognized authority on the history and culture of Aleppan Jewry.

She is executive director of New York's non-profit Shehebar Sephardic Center, which fundraises for its rabbinical training program in Israel, and support for schools and outreach centers in more than 60 cities worldwide.

According to Rand Fishbein, PhD, a board member: "We will be looking to her for fresh ideas on how to expand our programming and online resources in Sephardic genealogy. Her knowledge and experience are sure to prove invaluable as we look to expand our outreach activities.”

Tracing the Tribe congratulates Sarina on this election!

Przemysl: Blog, new forum

Even if you can't pronounce it, Przemysl researchers have set up a forum to compare notes and supplement resources found on JewishGen, JRI-Poland and Gesher Galicia.

Find the blog here and the forum here and see the list of topics being discussed.

The blog's title is "The Jewish Przemysl Blog - Sons and daughters of Jewish Przemysl, researching and remembering 700 years of Jewish life in our town."

The grassroots effort wil enable researchers to access context and history, while sharing information and collaboration among those with shared roots.

Participants will be able to compare notes, research and family stories. The blog is written by David Semme.

According to a report, some 55 people are aready registered for the forum, which is providing lively discussions, research breakthroughts and more.

Organizers are asking members to make suggestions as to improving he forum structure and functionality.

Go to the blog above and the forum link, click on the registration link.

Check out the new forum if your ancestors came from the town or environs.

JewishGen: ShtetLinks update, December 2010

JewishGen's ShtetLinks Project has issued its report for December 2010 on updates and new sites.

Updated:

Ruzhany, Belarus

New sites:

Cotopaxi, Colorado, USA (Jen Lowe)

Chop (Csap, Cop) (S-C), Ukraine (Marshall J. Katz)

Kezmarok (Kesmark), Slovakia (Madeleine Isenberg)

Park Hills (Flat River), Missouri, USA (Ross DeHovitz)

Some shtetlpages were created by those who can no longer maintain them. Here are some orphan pages up for adoption:

Borisov, Belarus

Krnov (Jaegerndorf), Czech Republic

Lask, Poland

Rozdol, Ukraine

Contact Susanna Leistner Bloch if you wish to create a new webpage for your ancestral shtetl or adopt an orphan page.

JewishGen: Hungarian census updated

The Other Hungarian Census 1770-1850 database has been updated with 14,000 new entries for a current total of 70,000 records.

Click here to search the database.

The transcribing team has competed about 99% of the Hungarian 1771-1775 Conscriptio Judaeorum (Jewish Census) records. 

Records from this time used patronymics; surnames were not yet required. The project recommends that researchers conduct a town search. If a name of interest is located, do check the microfilmed record as not all the information has been transcribed. Don't forget that these original records are in Latin! Other data includes occupation, assets and economic condition of the person.

The following countries are represented in the updated data: Bereg, Bihar, Csanad, Esztergom, Lipto, Maramaros, Nyitra, Pest-Pilis-Solt, Saros, Somogy, Szatmar, Szepes, Tolna, Torna, Trencsen, Turocz, Ugocsa, Ung, Veszprem, Zala, and Zemplen (this last county includes an 1806 list for Sztropko District, 1814 Tolerance Tax list and 1821-22 Census of Jewish Arendators).

The project, according to the project coordinator Eric M. Bloch, hopes to obtain more 19th century census records to include in the database.

Colorado: Create a ShtetLink website, Nov. 14

You've thought about creating a ShtetLinks website to memorialize your ancestral community but don't really know how to do it.

Regardless of your technological skills, you can do it!

Learn all about JewishGen ShtetLinks at the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado on Sunday, November 14.

The program runs from 10am-noon at Congregation Har HaShem, Boulder.

Judy Petersen will present "What are, why use, and how to create a ShtetLinks website."

A JGSCO member, Judy wanted to do more than just keep files of family trees.

She wanted to share the information and place her family in an historical and geographical context. Collaboration with other researchers of the same area was also on her agenda.

Using ShtetLinks on JewishGen, volunteers create individual web pages for their ancestral towns.

Judy will share how she overcame her "technologically-challenged" status and how anyone can develop a site, increase their computer skills and make progress by networking with others researching the same towns.

She began researching her family after her father told about being an orphan after his parents and brother died. She contacted her paternal first cousins and this developed into a quest to find out as much about her extended family.

All she knew was that they came from Russia and her mother's family from Hungary. Today she has determined the towns of origin for all but one of her great-grandparents, constructed an extensive family tree and located living relatives in California, New York, Canada, Argentina, Israel and Denver.

Judy is also active in JewishGen's Hungarian SIG. 

In real life, she is a physical therapist and library director for Congregation Har Shalom, Fort Collins.

For more information and directions, visit the JGSCO website.

San Francisco: South African Jewish research, Sept. 26

Roy Ogus will present "Jewish Genealogical Research in South Africa," at the next meeting of the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society on Sunday, September 26.

The program starts at 1pm, at Congregation Beth Israel Judea, 625 Brotherhood Way, San Francisco. The meeting is free, there is free parking and doors open at 12.30pm.

Many researchers have South African connections as our ancestors, siblings or cousins emigrated there. During the great wave of migration from Eastern Europe (1881-1930s), many Jews - especially Lithuanians - left for the economic opportunity and freedom of South Africa.

The presentation is a summary of key sources of documentation and information of genealogical value to be found in South Africa, and how these materials can be accessed and researched. It also provides an overview of South African history as a backdrop for the discussion of Jewish migration to that remote area.

Additionally, more recent political changes in South Africa mean that many Jews from the region have now resettled in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Israel and elsewhere.

Born in South Africa, Roy has been researching his family history since 1985 and has traced his ancestors to Lithuania and Belarus in the early 18th century. He's been living in the Bay area since the 1970s and is a computer engineer. He's the vice-president of the Jewish Gen Southern Africa SIG (SA-SIG) and has been a SFBAJGS member for more than 15 years.

For more information and directions, click here.

JewishGen: ShtetLinks, recent updates

JewishGen's ShtetLinks Project provides a way for genealogists and family historians to memorialize the communities of our ancestors, and provide resources for others who discover their roots.

Here are the newest ones as provided by Susana Leistner Bloch, who is in charge of the project.

-- Berehove (Beregszasz), Ukraine
-- Dzikow Stary (Dzikhev)
-- Kamennyy Brod, Ukraine
-- Klykoliai (Klikol), Lithuania
-- Philippson JCA Colony (Itaara), Brazil
-- Raducaneni, Romania
-- Szczercow (Shtchertzov, Stertzev)
-- Velke Kapusany (Nagykapos), Slovakia

Some pages were started by individuals who can no longer maintain them. One page in this category has now been adopted:

-- Leova, Moldova

Orphaned webpages available for adoption:

-- Borisov, Belarus
-- Krnov (Jaegerndorf), Czech Republic
-- Lask, Poland
-- Rozdol, Ukraine

ShtetLinks webpages recently updated:

-- Raducaneni, Romania
-- Tarnobrzeg, Poland

If you would like to create a webpage for your ancestral shtetl or adopt an orphaned page, send an email to Susana Leistner Bloch. Volunteers are available to help you create your page.

Oregon: A visit to Portland

Portland, Oregon is a great city.

I've spoken to the Jewish genealogical societies in both Portland and Willmette Valley, met the recently-retired Portland Jewish Federation head Charlie Schiffman several times over the years.

The first time I met Charlie was when our daughter attended a Middle East Studies summer program at Portland State University during her university years. We still talk about the wonderful lunch we had with him so long ago.

Daniel Horowitz also stopped this summer in Portland. The MyHeritage.com genealogy and translation manager was the subject of an article by Paul Haist in the Oregon Jewish Review.

The story touched on Daniel's life in Venezuela, the family's transplantation to Israel and his early involvement in Jewish genealogy, although the main focus was his work at MyHeritage.com, which helps make family connections possible, as well as company partnerships with Beit Hatfutsot (the Museum of the Jewish People) and JewishGen to help grow Jewish family trees online.

He came to professional work in genealogy out of a personal interest in genealogical research and after he wrote a curriculum in Hebrew history that called on his students to research their own family histories.

He called the curriculum and the classroom project “Searching for My Roots.”

“The kids researched their own family. We studied—in effect—Jewish history for the last 100 years in a multicultural community.”

The Venezuelan community was richly diverse with strong representation in both Sephardic and Ashkenazi traditions.

Read the complete article at the story link above.

Interested in learning more about Oregon's Jewish community?

Click here to read the 60-page Shalom Oregon Guide.

Breaking News: JewishGen & MyHeritage

Breaking news at the IAJGS 2010 conference: JewishGen and MyHeritage.com are partnering to grow the Family Tree of the Jewish People project.

The following is on JewishGen now. Go to JewishGen.org ->databases->Family Tree (FTJP) or click here.

NEW in 2010: JewishGen is launching a new initiative to grow the Family Tree of the Jewish People, and invites you to participate. We have partnered with MyHeritage.com to provide a special facility for Jewish genealogists to create their family tree on MyHeritage.com, or import their GEDCOM there, and automatically share the tree with JewishGen's Family Tree of the Jewish People.

This partnership provides Jewish genealogists with a highly capable family tree system supporting English, Hebrew and 34 additional languages, with photos, Smart Matches and a host of additional features, with the added benefit of synchronization with JewishGen. By participating, you will help grow the Family Tree of the Jewish People, while keeping its contents constantly up-to-date, and you may be rewarded by being discovered and contacted by Jewish genealogists who can add to your family tree. Learn more here.

Here's the press release:

Tel Aviv, Israel; London, UK and Los Angeles, US – July 10, 2010 – MyHeritage.com and JewishGen.org are now working together to invigorate the Family Tree of the Jewish People (FTJP) project.

Under this collaboration, family trees built with a special version of MyHeritage.com available at http://www.myheritage.com/jewishgen, with the consent of the tree creators, will be transferred periodically to the FTJP for digital safekeeping. Privacy controls, using the MyHeritage.com tools, can be set according to the wishes of the tree creator. Data of existing MyHeritage.com users will not be transferred.

JewishGen is a non-profit organization created to help researchers interested in Jewish genealogy around the world connect to each other, research their families and ancestral geographic locations, participate in research projects and store Jewish family trees safely. The mission of JewishGen is to obtain records and information that will be valuable to those with Jewish ancestry and place them on the JewishGen website, at no cost, in an easy to understand and searchable format.

The Family Tree of the Jewish People is a project of JewishGen to bring together family historians around the world who research Jewish family branches. The project offers a central resource for Jewish family trees and helps re-connect Jewish families.

MyHeritage.com is a genealogical social networking site with more than 50 million members and 590 million profiles worldwide. It currently holds some 15 million family trees. It operates in 36 languages including English and Hebrew, making it ideal for Jewish families around the world to connect, as it offers easy and fun tools to enable sharing of information, photos, documents and videos among far-flung relatives, with complete and secure privacy controls that can be set by tree creators.

“JewishGen is committed to ensuring Jewish continuity for present generations and generations yet to come,” says JewishGen managing director Warren Blatt. “Our free, easy-to-use website features thousands of databases, research tools and other resources to help those with Jewish ancestry research and find family members. The vision of JewishGen is to connect Jews throughout the world with their relatives and provide them with the ability to learn about their family history and heritage.”

“MyHeritage.com – a site used all over the world and by all religions – is among the most popular genealogy websites in the Jewish world, making it a natural partner for JewishGen”, said Blatt. “The benefit of this partnership is to offer the free website tools from MyHeritage.com to create and research family trees, with the option to share those trees with the thousands of JewishGen users via the FTJP. Under the new partnership, the FTJP will be invigorated and constantly updated, resulting in an accurate, up-to-date and constantly growing Jewish family tree database for JewishGen.”

“We are excited to join forces with JewishGen,” said Gilad Japhet, founder and CEO of MyHeritage.com, himself an avid genealogist and a member of JewishGen since August 2000. “We see it as a privilege to cooperate with JewishGen and help it preserve family trees of people who wish to discover, and be discovered by, fellow researchers and relatives," Japhet added. "Our Smart Matching technology will provide genealogists the added benefit of discovering additional relatives through the large databases on MyHeritage.com. This will fulfill the mutual objective of MyHeritage.com and JewishGen to reunite families whose ties have been lost through time and fate."

About MyHeritage.com:

MyHeritage.com was founded by a team of people who combine their passion for family history with the development of innovative technology. Since launching in November 2005 MyHeritage.com has become the world’s leading international online network for families and the second largest family history website. The fastest growth rates in the industry combined with the acquisitions of Pearl Street Software (2007), Kindo.com (2008) and OSN (2009) have made MyHeritage.com the home for 50 million family members and 590 million profiles. The company has offices in London, UK; Hamburg, Germany; Boulder, Colorado, USA and Tel Aviv, Israel. MyHeritage.com has received funding by Accel Partners and Index Ventures. For more information, visit http://www.myheritage.com/jewishgen.

About JewishGen:

JewishGen, a non-profit organization affiliated with the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, was founded in 1987 as a bulletin board with only 150 users who were interested in Jewish genealogy. Primarily driven by volunteers, there are over 700 active volunteers throughout the world who actively contribute to its ever growing collection of databases, resources and search tools. Currently, JewishGen hosts more than 14 million records, and provides a myriad of resources and search tools designed to assist those researching their Jewish ancestry. JewishGen provides its resources online as a public service.

JewishGen: ShtetLink pages updated

The creators and webmasters of ShtetLinks at JewishGen strive to preserve the memory of their ancestral towns and villages.

An update sent by Susana Leistner Bloch indicated the following new and updated links:

Here are the new ones:

-- Belozerka, Ukraine
-- Dzialoszyn (Zaloshin), Poland
-- Eger (Erlau), Hungary
-- Mattersburg (Nagymarton,Mattersdorf) , Austria
-- Osjaków (Shakev), Poland
-- Volodymyrets (Vladimirets), Ukraine
-- Wloclawek (Vloatzlavek, Leslau)
-- Zhuravno (Zurawno, Zuravna) (G)

Some shtetlpages were created by individuals who can no longer maintain them. Those sites are considered "orphaned" and are available for "adoption." Here they are:

-- Borisov, Belarus
-- Craiova (Belkiralymezo, Canalu) / Dolj County, Romania
-- Kamiensk (Kaminsk), Poland
-- Krnov (Jaegerndorf), Czech Republic
-- Lask, Poland
-- Rozdil (Rozdol), Ukraine

Pages recently updated:

-- Berdichev/Berdychiv, Ukraine
-- Bodrogkeresztur (Keresztur)
-- Podgaytsy (Podhajce) (G)
-- Radom, Poland
-- Yurovshchina (Labun)

If you wish to create a ShtetLinks webpage for your ancestral shtetl or adopt an existing "orphaned" shtetlpage, contact the project.

There are even people to help you creat a webpage for your ancestral home. Contact Susana Leistner Bloch for more information.

Eastern Europe: Need a researcher?

Are you looking to hire a professional researcher in Eastern Europe? Not quite sure whom to ask?

JewishGen has come to the rescue following input from special-interest group members who have had good experiences dealing with Eastern European genealogists and researchers.

The goal was to provide JewishGen users with an option to find help.

Not everyone has the patience, experience or language skills to do it on their own, so this list may be of interest to those who wish to engage professionals to help.

See the list here.

Disclaimer: JewishGen has not independently checked these individuals. They are listed because other researchers had good experiences. Determine what you want a professional researcher to do for you and do understand the costs involved.

For more information on working with professional genealogists or researchers, click here.

If you have information to share on those listed or wish to add additional individuals, contact the project coordinator Peter Haas.

Lithuania: Vilna research group success

The Vilna District Research Group has translated a large number of records and set up a new website to disseminate the data to contributors.

These records, such as the 1897 Vilna Merchants Directory, provide a rich resource of genealogical information not available elsewhere. Here's one original entry and the English translation:

The new site is here. Data files are not at that site, but it does contain accessible content to those who have contributed financially to the project.

Joel Ratner, who heads this group, provided the illustrations for this post. He taught the Lithuanian/Latvian session at the recent Jewish genealogy course at Boston's Hebrew College.

Another illlustration lists individuals with the KAGAN surname in a 1903 business directory:

Vilna District Research Group (VDRG):

The VDRG is concerned with the acquisition, translation and dissemination of non-vital records from the towns of the Vilna uyezd (or district), which was one of seven districts within the province of Vilna.

Towns in the Vilna district during Imperial times were: Antokol, Boguslavishok, Bezdonys, Ciobiskis, Gelvan, Gedrovitz, Inturik, Jasiunai, Laibiskis, Maisiagala, Mikhalishok, Malat, Musnik, Naujoji Vilna, Nemenchin, Novygorod, Podberezhe, Rudamina, Salcininkai, Sheshol, Shirvint, Snipishok, Stundishki, Turgeliai, Vilna (Vilna City), and Yakubantse.

Projects so far include these important collections:

Revision Lists (census)

Antokol - 1858
Boguslavishok - 1858
Ciobiskis - 1858
Gelvan - 1858
Mikhalishok - 1858
Moletai - 1834 and 1858
Musnik - 1858
Novygorod - 1858
Paberze - 1858
Snipishok - 1858
Vilna City - 1858

Family Lists

Boguslavishok - 1907 (underway)
Vilna City - 1875 (underway)

Merchants Lists

Vilna 1877 - 1890

Duma Electors Lists

Vilna City 1st-4th uchastok - 1906
Vilna City 6th uchastok - 1906
Vilna City - 1912 (underway)

Vilna City Directories

Vsia Vilna 1911
Vsia Vilna 1912
Vsia Vilna 1913
Vsia Vilna 1914
Vsia Vilna 1915

Business Directories

1903 Vsia Rossia
Vilner Informator

Other Censuses

1942 Vilna Ghetto Census

Vilna Community Records:

1894, 1897 Vilna Talmud Torah Donors Lists
1909, 1910 Vilna Technicum Donors Lists (ORT)
1902 - 1916 Vilna Free Kitchens Board - List of children given assistance
WWI - Soldiers wives receiving assistance from the Vilna Community

LitvakSIG Vital Records Translation Project:

The LitvakSIG Vital Records Translation Project has produced translations of birth, death, marriage and divorce records for the city of Vilna.

Records exist for other Vilna district towns and Vilna gubernia. The Vital Records Translation Project (VRT) is not directly connected to the Vilna District Research Group, as it raises its own funds. It has already translated more than 159,000 vital records for Vilna gubernia towns. Just over 125,000 of those records are for Vilna city. Some 70,000 additional vital records remain to be translated for Vilna proper, and there are more for other towns.

Vilna gubernia towns with extant vital records include:

Alytus, Antokol, Boguslavishok, Butrimantz, Chabishky, Darshunishok, Daug, Eishishok, Gelvan, Jieznas, Malat, Merech, Mikhalishok, Musnik, Nemencine,
Nemunaitz, Novodvor, Novygorod, Olkenik, Oran, Podberezhe, Punia, Radun,
Shchuchin, Shirvint, Shnipishok, Stoklishok, Troki, Veviya, Vilna, Zaskevichi,
Zhusli and Zhezmir.

Readers interested in either the Vilna District Research Group or the LitvakSIG Vital Records Translation Project, may click here or contact Joel Ratner.

Lithuania: More internal passport records availabe

Lithuania researchers now have more records to search in the Internal Passport Records database.

The addition of 1,635 records is searchable and includes records from Panevezys (177), Telsiai (843), Birzai (265) and Ukmerge (351). Although many additional records have been translated, they will not appear in the database for 18 months.

However, researchers who wish to receive them without waiting can contribute $100 to Jewishgen for each town of interest (listed below).

For more information, click here to read about the passports and their importance. To contribute to this project (and receive records as they become available), click here and make sure to designate the project and town of interest.

Currently, the database includes 62,075 translated internal passport records:

Alytus City: Fond 399, 192 records (underway)
Alytus District: Fond 1569, 149 (underway)
Birzai: 2,739 (complete)
Jonava: 840 (complete)
Kaunas (City): 27,656 (complete)
Kaunas Uyezd: 3,846 (complete)
Kretinga Uyezd: 131 (complete)
Marijampole: 2,694 (underway)
Naujamiestis: 261 (complete)
Panevezys: 8,993 (underway)
Pumpenai: 245 (complete)
Rokiskis: 187 (complete)
Rozalimas: 67 (complete)
Seinai Uyezd (inc. Kapciamiestis and Lazdijai): 453 (complete)
Siauliai Uyezd: 5,594 records (complete)
Taurage District (Raseiniai): 1,026 (underway)
Telsiai Uyezd: 1,623 (complete)
Troskunai: 504 (complete)
Ukmerge: 5,570 (underway)
Vandziogala and environs: 694 (completed)

Towns and districts still to be translated: Trakai District, Vilnius City, Klaipedai City, Zarasiai City and Utena City (and District).

For more information, click the links above.

JewishGen: Yizkor Book Necrology Database updated

Yizkor books are helpful resources when dealing with Holocaust-era Jewish genealogy research.

What are these books? These memorial books were written by survivors of communities across Europe detailing the history of the community, what happened there during the Holocaust, and often contain photos of the community and its residents.

Importantly, they contain the names of residents who lived throughout the history of the community and those who perished. The Necrology Database indexes the names of individuals who perished. It's an important database as few Yizkor Books incorporated name indexes, making it difficult for linguistically-challenged researchers to find names of interest.

Few of these volumes were written in English, and most were in Yiddish, some with sections in Polish, German, Russian and other languages. Survivors from around the world often contributed chapters and information. The Yizkor Book section at JewishGen provides translations of these books or chapters, with the work done by volunteers or funded by contributions for professional translations.

The necrology database is only a name index, and shows researchers in what yizkor book the information was discovered. Checking the books may provide more details about the individuals.

The database was updated with 8,800 entries from 17 books, and the complete current total is more than 225,000 names from 258 books.

Here are the updates:

-- Hungary: Mad (292 entries), Mezokovesd (749 entries).

-- Poland: Bilgoraj (37 entries), Chmielnik (1,231), Dabrowa Bialostocka (183), Jaroslaw (179), Jedrzejow (1,975), Krasnystaw (281), Leczyca (468), Przedborz (526), Raciaz (693), Warka (92) and Zambrow (106).

-- Romania: Gherla (Szamosujvar) (372 entries).

-- Slovakia: Sahy (Ipolysag) (1,060 entries).

-- Ukraine: Rava-Ruska (530 entries), and Stavishche (95).

Search the necrology database here.

JewishGen: ViewMate feature improved

Have a letter in an unknown language? Need help in deciphering a tombstone inscription? Require assistance in analyzing difficult handwriting?

Over the years, many researchers have used JewishGen's ViewMate feature with great success, uploading an image of their particular problem, and posting a message - detailing the required assistance - on the appropriate discussion group list.

The concept was created by Tracing the Tribe's friend Bernard Israelite Kouchel.

Users may upload letters, documents and photos for translation as well as to identify people, clothing, artifacts, and many other items. Images remain visible for seven days or 168 hours. They may be reposted after that time expires.

Click here to see archived images. As of today, there are 579 pages (20 images per page) of images, totalling  10,975 items. The first item in the archive was posted 14 October 2002. Set the archive to reveal 10-50 items on each page.

See the current gallery here, which includes requests for tombstone inscription translation as well as language translation for Yiddish, Russian, Polish, Hungarian.

Current images may be organized in chronological order, reverse chrono, grouped by category, new images and other parameters. Categories include: "Do you recognize," "Interpretation," "Photo Identification," "Tombstone," "Translation-Hungarian," "Translation-Polish," "Translation-Russian," and "Translation-Yiddish."

Please note that to post a translation or comment, you must be logged into JewishGen. But any visitor may see the Archive or the Gallery. To register (free) at JewishGen, click here.

On May 1, the ViewMate team, headed by administrator Sam Eneman and webmaster Gary Sandler, made enhancements to its look and use:

-- Changed to new JewishGen colors and page layout.

-- New, easier-to-understand navigation menu.

-- Support for new image types TIFF, PNG and GIF, in addition to JPEG.

-- Bookmark and share images and pages with more than 200 Web 2.0 tools - Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, Digg, Email and more.

-- Filter and sort images on the Gallery page - new ways to organize and view posted images

-- Rotate a full-sized image while translating - easier to read words in margins

-- Display time remaining for each image on the Gallery page

-- Updated FAQs for managing and editing submissions

Contact Enemean and Sandler with comments or questions.

Yizkor Book Project: Additions and updates during April

The dedicated volunteers at the Yizkor Book Project at JewishGen were busy in April. See below for the complete list of additions, new projects, updates and more.

Four new Translation Fund Projects have been organized for Debica and Grajewo (Poland), Leova (Romania) and Olkeniki (Lithuania). These projects collect funds to hire professional translators so these books can be made accessible online. Readers with roots in these geographical locations (and others) are invited to contribute to the Translation Fund.

The list, with links to each community, is organized by country:
(NP=New Project; N=New Entry; U=Updated)

AUSTRIA

NP -- Neunkirchen (The Holy Community of Neunkirchen: A story of Jews in their native land)

BELARUS

NP -- Disna (Disna; memorial book of the community)
U -- Antopol (Shards of Memory: Messages from the Lost Shtetl of Antopol)
U -- Ruzhany (Rozana; a memorial book to the Jewish community)
U -- Smarhon (Smorgon) (Smorgonie, District Vilna; memorial book and testimony)
U -- Voronovo (Voronovo: Memorial Book to the Martyrs of Voronovo)

LITHUANIA

N -- Backininkeliai (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Balsiai (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Baltiskis  (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Baltmiskis  (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Baltusova (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Baranas (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Bariunai (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Barova (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Barsenai (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Barstyciai (Pinkas Lita)
N -- Bartininkai (Pinkas Lita)

POLAND

NP -- Grojec (Grizer Scroll)
NP -- Grudki (Horodok; in memory of the Jewish community)
NP - Serock (The book of Serock)
N -- Baligrod (Memorial book; dedicated to the Jews of Linsk, Istrik and vicinity)
N -- Lutowiska (Memorial book; dedicated to the Jews of Linsk, Istrik and vicinity)
N -- Ustrzyki Dolne (Memorial book; dedicated to the Jews of Linsk, Istrik and vicinity)
U -- Bedzin (A Memorial to the Jewish Community of Bendin)
U -- Bialystok (The chronicle of Bialystok)
U -- Brzeziny (Brzeziny memorial book)
U -- Chelm (Commemoration book Chelm)
U -- Czyzew-Osada (Czyzewo Memorial Book)
U -- Dabrowa Gornicza (Book of the Jewish Community of Dabrowa Gornicza and its Destruction)
U -- Debica (The Book of Dembitz) - additions to Polish section
U -- Kaluszyn (The Memorial Book of Kaluszyn) - necrology
U -- Katowice (Katowice: the Rise and Decline of the Jewish community; Memorial Book)
U -- Kutno (Kutno and Surroundings Book)
U -- Lesko (Memorial book; dedicated to the Jews of Linsk, Istrik and vicinity)
U -- Miedzyrzec Podlaski (Mezritsh book, in memory of the martyrs of our city)
U -- Opoczno (The Book of Opoczno: memorial for the destroyed community)
U -- Piotrkow Trybunalski (A Tale of One City: Piotrkow Trybunalski)
U -- Ryki (A memorial to the community of Ryki, Poland) - additions to Polish section
U -- Zelechow (Memorial Book of the Community of Zelechow ) - added pictures to Polish section

UKRAINE

N -- Skhodnitsa (Memorial to the Jews of Drohobycz, Boryslaw and surroundings)
U -- Kolomyya (Memorial book of Kolomey and surroundings)
U -- Ivano-Frankivsk (Towns and Mother-cities in Israel: Memorial of the Jewish Communities which Perished)
U -- Vystosk (Our town, Visotsk; Memorial Book)

See all additions and updates flagged here.

Lithuania: Vilnius project info

Researching ancestors who lived in Lithuania? There are some ongoing projects right now at the Historical Archive in Vilnius.

Readers interested in any of these records may make a qualifying contribution to the LitvakSIG District Research Group and will receive records soon after they are translated. It will take about 18 months before they will be added to JewishGen's All Lithuania Database.

Remember to cast a wider net. Your ancestors may have lived in more than one nearby village.

Contributions help to get more records translated, so if your interests lie in these locations, you might hit gold.

These are projects currently being translated:

Translator 1
Balbieriskis (Suwalki) marriages - 1858-1870
Balbieriskis (Suwalki) deaths - 1858-1870
Balbieriskis (Suwalki) births, marriage, deaths, 1808-1857.

Translator 2
Stakliskes (Trakai) 1850s
Varena (Trakai) 1850s
Zasliai (Trakai) 1850s
Ziezmariai (Trakai)1850s
Merkine (Trakai)1850s

Translator 3
Plunge (Telsiai) divorces 1839, 1844-46, 1854-1860
Plunge deaths 1842, 1844, 1854-1855.

Translator 4
Vilnius (Vilna) 1875 Family List Book 1 is done, ow working on Book 2. Book 3 no longer exists. Book 4 will be translated if enough funds are
contributed.

Translator 5
Kaunas births 1907-1914 ( total 2,777 records)

Translator 6
Kaunas deaths 1898, 1899, 1901-1906

Translator 7
Kaunas deaths 1907, 1913

To contribute, click here. For more information on records available and projects underway, visit LitvakSIG.

JewishGen: Yizkor Books report for March

The Yizkor Book team at JewishGen has been keeping busy during March. As the Jewish calendar edges towards Yom HaShoah, this project becomes even more relevant to researchers around the world.

In addition to new books, updates to existing books, the Necrology Database continues to be updated. Key: Unless indicated by (N)=New Project, all listed below are updates:

BELARUS:
Antopol, Belarus
(Shards of Memory: Messages from the Lost Shtetl of Antopol)
David Gorodok, Belarus
(Memorial book of Davidgrodek)
Jasionówka, Belarus (N)
(Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities in Poland, Volume VIII)
Lakhva, Belarus
(First ghetto to revolt, Lachwa)
Ruzhany, Belarus
(Rozana; a memorial book to the Jewish community)
Smarhon (Smorgon), Belarus
(Smorgonie, District Vilna; memorial book and testimony)

LITHUANIA:
Skuodas, Lithuania
(Memorial Book of Skuodas)
Skuodas, Lithuania (N)
(Testimony on the murder of the Jews of Shkud, Lithuania)
Svencionys, Lithuania
(Svintzian region: memorial book of 23 communities)

MOLDOVA:
Tighina, Moldova
(Bendery Community Yizkor Book)

POLAND:
Bedzin, Poland
(A Memorial to the Jewish Community of Bendin)
Brody, Poland
(An Eternal Light: Brody in Memoriam)
Kaluszyn, Poland
(The Memorial Book of Kaluszyn) - necrology
Kolo, Poland
(Book of Kolo; 500 Years of Yiddish Kolo)
Krasnik, Poland
(Book of Krasnik)
Kutno, Poland
(Kutno and Surroundings Book)
Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland
(A Tale of One City: Piotrkow Trybunalski)
Pultusk, Poland
(Pultusk Memorial Book)
Siemiatycze, Poland (N)
(The Community of Semyatitch)
Warka, Poland
(Vurka memorial book)
Wieliczka, Poland
(The Jewish community of Wieliczka; a memorial book)
Zelechow, Poland
(Memorial Book of the Community of Zelechow) - pictures added to Polish section
Zhovkva, Ukraine (N)
(Memorial book of Zolkiew) - necrology)

ROMANIA:
Marghita, Romania
(Memorial book of the community of Margareten and the surrounding region)
Oradea, Romania
(A city and yesterday; memorial book to the Jews of Grosswardein)

UKRAINE:
Bil'che-Zolote, Ukraine (N)
(A Time to Speak - The story of My Life) -necrology
Demidovka, Ukraine (N)
(The Town of Demidovka) - necrology
Kamyanets Podilskyy, Ukraine
(Kamenets-Podolsk and its surroundings)
Kolomyya, Ukraine
(Memorial book of Kolomey and its surroundings)
Kovel', Ukraine
(Kowel; Testimony and Memorial Book of Our Destroyed Community)

Readers who wish to financially assist Translation Fund projects should click here.

UK: Manchester conference, May 9

The Eighth Northern Conference of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain is set for Sunday, May 9, in Manchester.

Organized by the JGSGB's Manchester Regional Group, it will take place at the Greater Manchester Police Training College (Prestwich).

In addition to the excellent roster of expert speakers, there will be a display of some outstanding family history research and family trees produced by group members.

See complete details - including detailed speaker bios and topic abstracts - of this year's program in the event newsletter here, including registration form, venue directions and more.

Speakers are:

Anthony Joseph
JGSGB President
-- "In Search of Jewish Ancestry"

Petra Laidlaw
Architect of the 1851 Anglo-Jewry Database
-- "1851 and Manchester"

Elizabeth Wilburn
Greater Manchester Police Museum and Archives
-- "Alien Registration Books"

David Lewis
Assisted with reorganisation/cataloguing, Hull Jewish Archives
-- "Treasures of the Hull Jewish Archives"

John Cowell
Manchester Regional Group committee member
-- "Researching the Preston Jewish Community - surprises and discoveries"

Michael Tobias
JewishGen vice president
-- "JewishGen: Overview of main databases, and how lesser sources can lead to major breakthroughs"

Tickets are £20 for the full day, including refreshments and buffet lunch. The registration form is included in the newsletter. Tracing the Tribe readers who live in or near Manchester should enjoy this full-day event.