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.

Southern California: Gurs concentration camp, May 1

Holocaust Memorial Day will be commemorated by the Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley (JGSCV) on Sunday, May 1.

Speaker Werner Frank will speak on this little-known first massive Jewish deportation to Camp de Gurs in 1940.

The meeting - co-sponsored with Temple Adat Elohim - runs from 1.30-3.30pm, at 2420 E. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks. There is no admission fee.

Gauleiters Robert Wagner and Joseph Bürckel, administrative heads of the States of Baden and the Pfalz/Saar, sought to be the first among their Nazi cohorts to make their territories Judenrein (free of Jews). They had engineered a massive expulsion of over 6,500 Jews to Camp de Gurs, located in unoccupied Vichy France. The event became known as the Wagner-Bürckel Aktion and was offered by the Gauleiters as their gift to the Führer on October 23, 1940.

The relocation of Jews to the Gurs concentration camp became only an intermediate step prior to the infamous "Final Solution" which was pronounced in January 1942. This Nazi inspired annihilation program triggered yet a second round of transports that would move the incarcerated from Gurs to the Parisian suburb of Drancy, an assembly point where the victims faced a final deportation to the death camp of Auschwitz.

Frank will delve into the background of the historical events that led to the Aktion, and recount the impact of this cataclysm on his hometown of Eppingen, as he relates the tribulations and ultimate fate encountered by his widely located family in the State of Baden.

He is a founding member, former board member, former JGSCV newsletter, and a member of JGSLA. He was one of the founders of GERSIG (the German Special Interest Group of JewishGen) and has written articles for ROOTS, Maajan, Avotaynu and Stammbaum.

He has been researching his family’s history, amassing a genealogical database of more than 33,000 names, and published his family history ("Legacy: The Saga of a German-Jewish Family over Time and Circumstance," Avotaynu 2003).

For more information and directions, click here.

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.

JRI-Poland: New FAQ, online contributions

Jewish Records Indexing-Poland executive director Stanley Diamond of Montreal advises readers that two additions have been made to the site.

There's a completely new FAQ and online credit card contributions will now be accepted.

Friends and supporters can make credit card contributions online and designate the town indexing projector projects to support at the same time.

See the JRI-Poland website, and the direct link to the contributions page.

The new FAQ has been rewritten by JRI-Poland Board Member Susan Stone and includes considerable additional information and detail.

Check JRI-Poland frequently for updated town information.

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.

JGSLA 2010: What you will find!

Don't bother getting vaccinated for the genealogy bug - it won't help! Just be prepared for an amazing genealogy immersion experience this year.

From gold-rush pioneers to goniffs, from geo-tagging to gazetteers, and many other exciting topics, JGSLA 2010 has gathered experts, archivists, professors and authors from around the world to share their knowledge of a diverse range of fascinating topics with you and your fellow conference attendees.

These experts will bring genealogy - and possibly your personal genealogy - to life and present a new world of possibilities.

Regardless of whether you identify as a mind-mapper, Google geek, PC-pusher, Mac-Maven, Litvak, Galitzianer or "somewhere in Russia," JGSLA 2010 is for you!

In fact, you don't even need to be Jewish or researching your Jewish heritage - many programs provide general information, no matter what you are personally researching.

You'll never know whom you'll connect with at lunch, having a cup of coffee or taking a workshop. A long lost cousin? Descendants of your ancestral village? Someone investigating your family?

Will this be the year you find someone to share your research, to collaborate with others, to design a website for your research interests? Will a new resource or database provide that all-important clue enabling a major breakthrough?

You won't know unless you come to this year's conference!

A few tidbits:

-- Ancestry will provide classes and a free (by-appointment) digital scanning service for attendees.

-- JewishGen's Warren Blatt and Michael Tobias will present "JewishGen LIVE at L.A. LIVE” on their latest databases and search capabilities.

-- Steve Morse, a household genealogy name, will present a series on his website's resources, but his new program, presented with daughter Megan, will be "DNA and the Animal Kingdom: Evolution and Genealogy in the Natural World."

Stay tuned for news on workshops, special interest groups, birds-of-a-feather groups, films, breakfasts and tours. Everything you need to know is at JGSLA 2010.

JGSLA 2010: 'Priest's Grotto,' July 12

Many special interest groups hold luncheons during the annual conference, set for July 11-16, in Los Angeles.

Announcements are beginning to come through, such as Gesher Galicia's program for this event, which will take place Monday, July 12.

Christos Nicola will speak on "The Secret of Priest's Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story."

In 1942, as the Nazis intensified their hold on Eastern Europe several Galician Jewish families disappeared into the vast underground labyrinths of western Ukraine. The group ranged from grandmothers to toddlers and for the next 18 months, they lived, worked, ate and slept in caves under the feet of the Nazis.

One of history's most remarkable survival epics, it was almost forgotten until an American caver found the remnants of the underground hideout and set out to find the survivors of Priest's Grotto.

Hear the story from caver Christos Nicola as he presents the story, which combines natural history, family history and genealogical research come together.

In 2003, while exploring a remote cluster of caves near Korolowka, a team of experienced cavers and adventurers, including Nicola, unexpectedly uncovered artifacts indicating that the caves had once been inhabited.

Following the clues, they discovered an astonishing and poignant story of Jews who endured a perilous life and survived to tell the story.

Nicola located six survivors, most from the extended Stermer family. It turned out to be an more extensive story, covering two cave sites and nearly two years underground.

"There may not be another story like this," explains Michlean Amir, USHMM reference archivist. "Such a large group of people avoided digging their own graves or being shipped off to concentration camps by successfully utilizing a natural phenomenon."

Nicola has devoted more than 30 years to the study and exploration of caves in the FSU, Caribbean, Europe, and the Americas. He is founder of the Ukrainian American Youth Caver Exchange Foundation - a student exchange program dedicated to fostering the exchange of information between young cavers in America and Ukraine.

In addition to the luncheon presentation, Nicola will also be speaking during the conference about the July 2009 reunion trip of Korolowka survivors and his work with the Borschev (Borszczow), Ukraine Museum, along with a book sale and signing.

The luncheon requires an added fee. Only conference attendees may attend and you must be registered to add on this luncheon. Click here to add the event if you have already registered. Click here if you have not yet registered.

For all conference details, click here.

The complete conference program will be posted at the end of March or early April.

San Francisco: Hungarian research, Feb. 21

"Family Research in Greater Hungary" will be presented by Vivian Kahn, at the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society's next meeting on Sunday, February 21.

The program begins at 1pm, at the Oakland Regional Family History Center.

Vivian 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.

The session will describe and provide tips for searching JewishGen's All Hungary Database, - one of JewishGen's largest all-country databases with nearly a million records -with information on individuals living in areas in present-day Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, northern Serbia, northwestern Romania, and subcarpathian Ukraine.

Vivian will discuss some of the SIG's current projects and demonstrate additional online resources.

The Hungarian SIG coordinator, she moderates its discussion group.

An experienced researcher, Vivian has presented workshops on Jewish genealogy and, in particular, Hungarian Jewish family research at the annual international Jewish genealogy conferences and for other groups.

She's been investigating her ancestral roots in pre-Trianon Hungary for some 18 years, and has traveled to Hungary, Slovakia, Israel and Salt Lake City. Additionally, she is familiar with the wide range of resources for information on Jewish families in her areas of interest. See her family website here.

JewishGen vice president for SIG Affairs, Vivian is coordinator for SIG and Research Group participation for JGSLA 2010.

For more information, click here.

Romania, Hungary, Ukraine: New index project

Is your research focused on historic Hungary's Maramaros county? Today it is Maramures county, Romania and sub-Carpathian Ukraine.

This announcement should encourage researchers of these areas to jump for joy!

It also supports that old adage: If you want something done, ask a busy person or a group of busy persons!

Brooke Schreier Ganz is definitely one of those people, as are Sandy Malek, Vivian Kahn and others. Despite their considerable personal and professional responsibilities - not the least those connected to JGSLA 2010 - this is what they and other volunteers are working on right now.

She has asked Tracing the Tribe to inform its readers about this broad project that should assist so many more researchers to find out more about their families.

There's a new project underway to index Jewish vital records for towns that were located in the former Hungarian county of Maramaros. Today, these towns are split between Maramures county in northern Romania and the Zakarpattya (sub-Carpathian) region of southwestern Ukraine, so this project will be valuable for researchers of all three areas.

Brooke has completed a first-ever inventory database of all of the specifically-Jewish vital records (pre-1896) known to be held in the Romanian National Archives branch in Baia Mare, Romania, which is where most of the Maramaros towns' records are stored today. She has put it online on the project's website (see below).

Both modern town names and many former/alternate/Hungarian names are listed, and all are searchable. Using that new inventory database as a guide, and with the help of a great researcher in Romania, the group has started to obtain high quality digital photographs, page by page, of many of the old Jewish register books stored in Baia Mare, encompassing thousands of Jewish records. They hope to acquire more in the future.


Above find a birth register page from Sacel, Romania.

This project will index these records, placing data into spreadsheets, and submitting all the spreadsheets for inclusion into the various free JewishGen databases (All-Hungary,All-Romania, All-Ukraine, etc.), so that they will be available to everybody. These register books have NOT been microfilmed by the Mormons.

Here's a guide to the project:

1) Which towns from Maramaros county are known to have surviving Jewish vital records stored in the Baia Mare archives?

Towns now located in Romania, known to have surviving Jewish vital records in the Baia Mare archives:

Baia Mare (Nagybana), Berbesti (Bardfalva), Birsana (Barczanfalu), Bistra (Petrovabisztra), Bocicoel (Kisbocsko), Bocicoiu Mare (NagyBocsko), Bogdan Voda (Konyha), Borsa, Botiza (Batiza), Breb, Budesti (Budfalu), Calinesti (Felsokalinfalva), Campulung la Tisa (Hosszumezo), Cornesti (Somfalu), Craciunesti (Karacsonfalva), Desesti (Desze), Dragomiresti (Dragomerfalva), Dragos Voda, Feresti (Fejerfalu), Giulesti (Gyulafalu), Glod, Harnicesti (Hernecs), Hotinka (Hoteni), Iapa (Kabola-Patak), Ieud (Jood), Kabalacsarda (Kabola Csarda), Leordina (Lerdene), Lunca la Tisa (Lonka), Mara (Kracsfalva), Moisei (Mojszin), Nanesti (Nanfalu), Ocna Sugatag (Akna-Sugatag), Oncesti (Vancsfalva), Petrova, Poienile de sub Munte (Ruszpolyana), Poienile Izei (Sajo-Polyana), Remeti (Remete), Rona de Jos (Alsorona), Rona de Sus (Felsorona), Rozavlea (Rozalia), Ruscova (Ruszkova), Sacel (Szacsal), Salistea de Sus (Felsoszelistye), Sapinta (Szaploncza), Sarasau (Szarvaszo), Sarbi (Sirbi), Satu Sugatag (Falusugatag), Seini(Szinervaralja), Sieu (Sajo), Sighetu Marmatiei (Szighet), Stramtura(Szurdok), Tirgu Lapus (Magyarlapos), Vadu Izei (Farkasrev), ValeaStejarului (Disznopatak), Valeni (Mikolapatak), Viseu de Jos (Alsovisso), Viseu de Mijloc (Kozepviso), Viseu de Sus (Felsovisso).

- Towns now located in sub-Carpathian Ukraine, known to have surviving Jewish vital records in the Baia Mare archives:

Bedevlya (Bedohaza), Bila Tserkva (Feheregyhaza), Bilovartsi (Kiskirva), Bushtyno (Falu-Bustyahaza), Chumalovo (Csomanfalva), Dobryanskoye (Nyagova), Drahovo (Kovesliget), Dubove (Dombo), Dulovo (Dulfalva), Hanychi (Ganya), Hrushovo (Kortvelyes), Kalyny (Alsokalinfalva), Kolodne (Darva), Komsomol's'k(Nemetmokra), Kosivs'ka Poliana (Kaszopolyana), Krasna (Taraczkraszna), Kryve(Nagykirva), Lopukhiv (Brusztura), Neresnytsia (Nyereshaza), Nizhneye Selishche (Alsoszelistye), Novobarovo (Ujbard), Novoselytsia (Felsoneresznice), Nyzhnya Apsha (Alsoapsa), Okruhla (Kerekhegy), Pidplesha (Pudplesa), Pryborzhavs'ke (Zadnya), Rus'ka Mokra (Oroszmokra), Rus'ke Pole (Urmezo), Shyrokyy Luh (Szeles-Lonka), Solotvyno (Slatina), Sredneye Vodyanoye (Kozepapsa), Tereblya(Talaborfalu), Teresva (Tarackoz), Ternovo (Kokenyes), Tyachiv (Tecso), Uhlia (Uglya), Ust'-Chorna (Kiralymezo), Velykyy Bychkiv (Kisbocsko), Verkhnie Vodiane (Felso-Apsa), Vil'khivtsi (Irhocz), Vodytsia (Apsita), Volovec (Bordfalva), Vonihove (Vajnag), Vynohradiv(Csamato), Yasinya (Korosmezo).

2) What years do the records cover?

Jewish birth, marriage, and death records exist for almost every one of the "Romanian" towns listed above for the period of 1886-1895.

About two thirds of those towns also have birth and death records for the 1870s-1886. A few towns have earlier coverage; one has a tiny number of birth records back to 1772! "Ukrainian" towns' records coverage is more uneven, but for some of the little towns north of Szighet, some record books have survived (with a few gaps) back to 1851. See the website for a full listing of all known record types and years for each town. That database will be continually updated and corrected as we learn more.

3) What are the records like?

They are nearly all in Hungarian (some old ones in German and, for one town, in Hebrew) and are generally very easy to understand, even if researchers don't know Hungarian. Handwriting ranges from decent to excellent. Sample photos of some records are on the website.

What information might a record contain? Birth records, for example, generally offer these fields [NOTE: Not every record contains every field] :

Child: Given name, date of birth, gender.
Father: Surname, given name, hometown, occupation.
Mother: Maiden name, given name, hometown.
Town of birth.
Town of birth registration.
Notes (may include Godfather's name [often a relative, such as a grandfather], other information).
Other surnames mentioned in this record.
Other towns mentioned in this record.

Casting a wider net is important when working with Eastern European records. According to this project, birth records for one town showed that 99% of children born in that town in the 1880s had at least one (and sometimes both) parents born in other nearby towns. This means that your family of interest may be found in more towns than you might know about.

4) How can I help?

Readers and researchers of these areas can help the Maramaros/Maramures indexing project: Volunteer to help transcribe the old records, and/or make a donation (tax-deductible in the US!) to JewishGen to help acquire photographs of more old record books. See additional details on the website.

The project is also looking for people with records indexing experience to help manage all of this! Please e-mail if you might be interested.

5) What's the website address?

http://www.MaramarosJewishRecords.com/

Special thanks go to Dan Jurca, Beth Long, Sam Schleiman, Vivian Kahn and Sandy Malek for helping to get this project off the ground.

Readers with questions may email Brooke.

Lithuania: Joining a SIG is a good idea!

Special interest groups are valuable resources for all researchers of a particular place or topic.

While some are free and require no membership fee, others do have a nominal charge to join. Those fees are generally used to acquire more resources.

SIGs with membership fees generally have free public pages as well as member-only pages. These groups also accept contributions earmarked for specific projects to assist members with their research.

As one example, the entirely volunteer-run LitvakSIG is the primary internet resource for Lithuanian-Jewish genealogy research worldwide.

Tracing the Tribe's maternal great-grandmother, Riva bat Tsalel BANK, was born in a small village outside Kaunas (Kovno) and other branches lived in different Lithuanian towns, so we have a personal link to this SIG.

Although its free site offers many extensive resources, its member-only site ($36 per year) offers additional information such as growing supplemental material including selected archive catalogs, detailed articles, presentation transcriptions, private discussion forums, LitvakSIG board minutes and more.

Among the free pages are links to databases, photographs, maps, books, an online journal and much more.

Just added to its member-only site:

The first version of an Excel file has been prepared and uploaded to the members-only site. It provides hyperlinks to various foreign language resources in Russian, Polish, Yiddish and Hebrew:

-- Links to the Internet Archive - these links are for all uploaded resources in Russian, Polish, Yiddish and Hebrew. There are separate links by language as well as year of publication.

-- Links to electronic resources in the Russian State Library (RGB)

-- Links to the entire Yiddish collection on the Internet Archive from the Steven Spielberg collection housed at the Natl. Yiddish Book Center.

-- Links to electronic resources (Vilnensia specifically) from the Kujawsko-Pomorska library in Poland

-- Links to Russian language resources from GoogleBooks

-- Links to electronic resources found on the Russian website Tsarskoe Selo

-- Links to books on the Russian site Runivers

-- Links to more directories from a Russian website

-- Links to files from the site Bibliotechka genealoga

-- Links to the U. library of Frankfurt AM - Yiddish book collection

This information comes from Joel Ratner of LitvakSIG. He is district research coordinator for Vilnius (Vilna) and vital records coordinator for both Suwalki and Vilnius/Vilna Gubernia.

While he notes that this file is a work in progress, not everything listed deals with the Pale of Settlement or even with Jews. Individual researchers may decide what is of interest to them.

Joel also asks readers to notify him of additional collections which may be of interest. Find his email on the LitvakSIG leadership contact list. He is now working on an update to allow the download of more than 100 Passover Haggadot, all originally printed in Vilna.

For more information on LitvakSIG, click here for the free site or here for the members site.

JGSLA 2010: Breaking news!

The news is flowing from the JGSLA 2010 committee.

The 30th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy takes place July 11-16, 2010 at the new JW Marriott at LA Live, in Los Angeles.

The opening day - Sunday, July 11 - will feature a Market Square Fair. All special interest groups (SIG) and birds-of-a-feather (BOF) groups will display information, and these marvelous mavens will provide one-on-one help to conference-goers.

The Fair will include booths manned by genealogically-related non-profit and educational groups, along with craft guilds, historical map info, book signings and more.

Sunday will also feature beginners' workshops, the vendor/exhibit room will be open, book signings and more to be announced later.

The resource room will have Family History Library (LDS) microfilms, along with Shoah Foundation and USHMM databases.

Because Sunday will be such an action-packed day from the morning on, you'll want to be there for the entire day, so think about checking in early to the hotel.

Those who arrive early will enjoy a Shabbat-friendly pre-conference learning experience on Saturday, July 10 and, for services, there's a Chabad House within walking distance.

Evening programs are a big part of the conference program. This year, attendees will enjoy two theatrical presentations - "literary cabarets," as the committee calls them - including an adaptation of Mimi Sheraton's book, "The Bialy Eaters: The Story of a Bread and a Lost World."

"The Bialy Eaters" is a tribute to the endurance and power of memory and how the search for a perfect "chewy crusty roll"represents a deeper longing for a vanished way of life. Don't know what a bialy is? You'll have to come to the conference to find out.

If you're a SIG or BOF leader, watch for information from Vivian Kahn, the SIG/BOF coordinator, who will be providing information on how SIGs can co-sponsor a professor, archivist or recognized expert to speak at the event, with JGSLA 2010's support.

As always, there are options for these geographic and topic-focused groups to meet during the conference - such as a luncheon, business meeting or other format -, so if Vivian hasn't contacted you in the next 10 days, write to her with questions or requests.

So many BOFs are created on an ongoing basis, and if you want your group to included at this year's event, let Vivian know.

JGSLA 2010 will have a special free PowerPoint presentation on CD available in January 2010, offering conference news, previews and film clips, for any JGS or Jewish community group requesting one. It even comes with a great JGSLA2010 T-shirt to give away as a doorprize.

The Call for Papers is open until January 15, and registration for the conference opens on that date as well.

Go to the JGSLA 2010 site and sign up for the announcements, newsletter and blog, so you won't miss any of the exciting news.

Tracing the Tribe will see you in Los Angeles!

Gesher Galicia: Lviv Photo Project

For many researchers around the world, traveling back to the homes of our ancestors may an impossible dream.

Wouldn't it be great to see the house our great-great-grandparents lived in? Or, to bring it forward to more contemporary times, perhaps the house you or your parents lived in?

Thanks to volunteers around the world, it is becoming possible. Now it is a reality for some whose families came from Lviv/Lvov/Lemberg (was Galicia, now Ukraine), thanks to Gesher Galicia's "Lviv House and Street Photography Project." See it here.

When a Dutch-born teacher, now working in Germany, volunteered to do work during his summer in Lviv, the project took off. For four weeks in July, Dick Koops covered the city in search of the streets, lanes and pathways our ancestors once walked, enabling many Gesher Galicia members to have photos of the places where they or their ancestors once lived.

When Koops sent the photographs to Pam, he wrote:

I very much hope that my work in Lviv, will be meaningful for the Jewish grand-grandchildren of those who were victims of the Nazi-regime and those who supported it or allowed it to exist. We cannot change history; at least to learn from it is already very difficult.

Many street names have changed during the past 70 years. Thanks to the Henri Nouwen Foundation, one worker researched the street names, and the brother of the Foundation's local head, Petrov Kokor, served as Koops' guide and translator. Read more at the link above.

When you click on the site link, photos are listed in alphabetical order according to street name and number. In some cases, there are interior/courtyard and street views and more than one house is included.

Feel free to download the photos for personal use only as Koops holds the copyrights to these images. Email him to obtain permission for another purpose.

Visitors to the site are invited to add comments about the house (the age of the building, the identity of residents and when they lived there) by emailing (see below) the details to Pam Weisberger. Viewers may also add comments on Flickr via the provided link.

Eventually, says Pam, the details will be in a searchable database. Gesher Galicia also plans to create an interactive Lviv map, overlaying old maps onto contemporary ones, with photo links and resident details.

Many readers actually lived in these buildings before and after the war, and those personal stories are very important to the project; make sure to contact Pam if you have stories to share.

For more information about Gesher Galicia, click here. Email Pamela Weisberger if you have additional information for a photo or personal story. Credit where credit is due: Special thanks to Brooke Schreier Ganz for formatting the photos for the Internet.