Steve Lasky’s Museum of Family History has a nice New Year’s present for those searching for links to Warsaw.
He’s added a list of more than 16,000 names of passengers from the Ellis Island Database who last resided in Warszawa, Poland. Alphabetical entries include surname, given name, birth year and immigration year.
For more information, you can look up names at the Ellis Island Web site, or use Steve Morse’s One Step Web site.
Variants of that city's name are many, due to misspelling by ship officers, bad transcriptions and simple spelling errors: Varsava, Varsavia, Varsaw, Varschau, Varsevia, Varsevie, Varshaw, Varsovia, Varsovie, Warsaw, Warszawa and Warschau,
Steve’s main Warszawa page is very useful for researchers.
In addition to the list of 16,000 individuals, it includes maps, a unique surnames list from landsmanshten societies in New York/New Jersey, photographs of Warszawa cemetery gates, pre-war photos of families who once lived there, current city photos and Holocaust memorials.
Steve has lists for former residents of other areas, among them Vilnius, Suwalki, Lodz, Krakow, Bialystok and Lomza.
10 October 2006
An Ancestry.com test-drive
Chicago Sun-Times business writer Howard Wolinsky, who has Lithuanian and Latvian roots, met recently with MyFamily.com’s new chief executive Tim Sullivan to review Ancestry.Com’s expanded resources.
Wolinsky wanted to see if there was any new information about his grandfather Henry Wolinsky, born Hillel Sragon in Lithuania, though he believed he had thoroughly shaken the family tree "from the National Archives Regional on the South Side to national and regional archives in Kaunas and Riga."
Click here to read the story, and find out whether he won his bet with Sullivan that Ancestry.com wouldn't discover any new relatives of Wolinsky's.
A true pioneer, Wolinsky was also among the very first individuals to test his Y-DNA with Family Tree DNA in Houston, TX.
The New York Times published (October 9) "Genealogy for the Living, the Dead, the Far Away," an interview with MyFamily.com's chief executive Tim Sullivan, who touched on upcoming new features, including DNA connections.
Wolinsky wanted to see if there was any new information about his grandfather Henry Wolinsky, born Hillel Sragon in Lithuania, though he believed he had thoroughly shaken the family tree "from the National Archives Regional on the South Side to national and regional archives in Kaunas and Riga."
Click here to read the story, and find out whether he won his bet with Sullivan that Ancestry.com wouldn't discover any new relatives of Wolinsky's.
A true pioneer, Wolinsky was also among the very first individuals to test his Y-DNA with Family Tree DNA in Houston, TX.
The New York Times published (October 9) "Genealogy for the Living, the Dead, the Far Away," an interview with MyFamily.com's chief executive Tim Sullivan, who touched on upcoming new features, including DNA connections.
09 October 2006
Gen TV is on right now
Roots Television is a new venture providing free online genealogy videos to the millions of people interested in family history.
I spent some pleasurable moments looking at the index, and while most offerings are about general genealogy topics, some are more targeted.
For a lighter view of family history research, watch New York Jewish Genealogy Society member Jordan Auslander’s “Heir Jordan, Extreme Genealogy.” At the index page, click Roots Living–>Shorts->Heir Jordan Extreme Genealogy.
For a piece on Steven Spielberg’s Holocaust oral history project, click on Ancestors, Season Two->Ancestors, Records at Risk, 4 of 6.
Is DNA your thing? On the top bar, click DNA->DNA Stories->A Tale of Two Fathers, or click on DNA Lectures->DNA and the Jefferson-Hemings case.
The Call to Story section has many moving pieces, such as Syd Lieberman’s “There is a season.”
Take some time and explore the site. If you have suggestions for items or subjects they might be missing or that could be improved, write to info@rootstelevision.com
I spent some pleasurable moments looking at the index, and while most offerings are about general genealogy topics, some are more targeted.
For a lighter view of family history research, watch New York Jewish Genealogy Society member Jordan Auslander’s “Heir Jordan, Extreme Genealogy.” At the index page, click Roots Living–>Shorts->Heir Jordan Extreme Genealogy.
For a piece on Steven Spielberg’s Holocaust oral history project, click on Ancestors, Season Two->Ancestors, Records at Risk, 4 of 6.
Is DNA your thing? On the top bar, click DNA->DNA Stories->A Tale of Two Fathers, or click on DNA Lectures->DNA and the Jefferson-Hemings case.
The Call to Story section has many moving pieces, such as Syd Lieberman’s “There is a season.”
Take some time and explore the site. If you have suggestions for items or subjects they might be missing or that could be improved, write to info@rootstelevision.com
08 October 2006
Crimea: A community with many roots
A current JTA story about the Jewish community in Kerch (Kertch), Crimea – now Ukraine – describes the city’s history and cemetery restoration plans.
The mixed history of the Crimean Peninsula offers the possibility that many of our families may have had a connection to this community, which included Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Mizrahim and indigenous Krymchak Jews.
Ashkenazim lived there in the 10th century, and the indigenous Krymchak Jews assimilated waves of Jewish immigrants: post-Expulsion Sephardim, Ashkenazim, Karaites and Persians, as well as very early Greek-speaking Jews. Also in the early mix were Jews from the Caucasus and from the Crimean Italian colonies settled by Genoa and Venice.
Krymchak surnames, say historians, indicate the community included Jews from all ethnicities. Try this for more information on the Krymchaks. Crimean Jews followed Ashkenazi traditions until the end of the 15th century when a Crimean tradition was created.
In 1650, 300 Chmielnicki pogrom survivors in Ukraine were captured by Crimean Tatar slave traders; the Istanbul Ashkenazi community paid the ransom to free them.
In a twist of history, in 1854, some 400 Ashkenazi Jewish families from Kerch migrated to Istanbul, when the Ottoman Empire began the Crimean war against Russia. They received Ottoman citizenship and formed a synagogue. The still-active cemetery founded for them is today called the Italian Jewish Cemetery, in the Sisli neighborhood. Check JewishGen’s Cemetery Project for information
In the 1920s, major Jewish colonization activities attracted Jews to Crimea from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere, and they eventually formed 30% of the Crimean community. According to my family’s oral tradition, as told by a member of our St. Petersburg branch, a cousin who had migrated from Novogorod Severskiy (Chernigov gubernia, Ukraine) was the leader of the Crimean settlers. We continue to look for Talalay on the colony lists as they become available.
By the late 1920s, there were 29 Jewish rural councils in Crimea – before it became part of Ukraine – and there were two Jewish national regions in Crimea: Freidorf and Larindorf.
Resources on the colonies include:
The mixed history of the Crimean Peninsula offers the possibility that many of our families may have had a connection to this community, which included Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Mizrahim and indigenous Krymchak Jews.
Ashkenazim lived there in the 10th century, and the indigenous Krymchak Jews assimilated waves of Jewish immigrants: post-Expulsion Sephardim, Ashkenazim, Karaites and Persians, as well as very early Greek-speaking Jews. Also in the early mix were Jews from the Caucasus and from the Crimean Italian colonies settled by Genoa and Venice.
Krymchak surnames, say historians, indicate the community included Jews from all ethnicities. Try this for more information on the Krymchaks. Crimean Jews followed Ashkenazi traditions until the end of the 15th century when a Crimean tradition was created.
In 1650, 300 Chmielnicki pogrom survivors in Ukraine were captured by Crimean Tatar slave traders; the Istanbul Ashkenazi community paid the ransom to free them.
In a twist of history, in 1854, some 400 Ashkenazi Jewish families from Kerch migrated to Istanbul, when the Ottoman Empire began the Crimean war against Russia. They received Ottoman citizenship and formed a synagogue. The still-active cemetery founded for them is today called the Italian Jewish Cemetery, in the Sisli neighborhood. Check JewishGen’s Cemetery Project for information
In the 1920s, major Jewish colonization activities attracted Jews to Crimea from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere, and they eventually formed 30% of the Crimean community. According to my family’s oral tradition, as told by a member of our St. Petersburg branch, a cousin who had migrated from Novogorod Severskiy (Chernigov gubernia, Ukraine) was the leader of the Crimean settlers. We continue to look for Talalay on the colony lists as they become available.
By the late 1920s, there were 29 Jewish rural councils in Crimea – before it became part of Ukraine – and there were two Jewish national regions in Crimea: Freidorf and Larindorf.
Resources on the colonies include:
- "Farming the Red Land: Jewish Agricultural Colonization and Local Soviet Power, 1924-1941," by Jonathan L. Dekel-Chen of Hebrew University (available on Amazon)
- Chaim Freedman has documented lists of colonists, maps and photographs here and here
- Yakov Pasik’s site also holds interesting material, some in Russian.
Crimean Jewish microfilmed records are at the Mormon Family History Center. An Avotaynu Journal article (Vol. XII/3/36) describes this source.
07 October 2006
Fixing errors in Yad Vashem Pages of Testimony
A note of caution concerning Yad Vashem Pages of Testimony: After checking online, I've discovered that there are various transcription errors in the forms I submitted.
As my forms were completed in clearly written English, I am a bit puzzled. However, all genealogists know that the more times data is handled by human hands, the higher the error rate.
Among errors noted: Mogilev, Mogilev gubernia, Belarus appears as Mogilev, Mogilev Podolskiy, Vinnetsa, Ukraine. A woman’s first name is clearly written Luba, but this name shows in the record as Lova. In some, I am listed as a survivor, when I clearly circled “is not” a survivor.
I have submitted correction forms for each of these errors. The process is simple.
When a record of interest pops up, hit “more details” and at the bottom of new page, note a line for corrections or comments. Click on that and a form pops up. Select the field where the error occurs (e.g. first name, place of birth, survivor, etc.), note the error, fill in your name, location and e-mail and hit “submit.”
It always pays to double-check on information submitted and note any errors.
Importantly, if you have moved or changed your e-mail address since submitting the Page in question, complete the form to update your location and e-mail address. You may wish to print a copy.
Once you click “submit form,” a message pops up warning that Yad Vashem is inundated with messages, they don’t know when the corrections will be made, but that errors will be addressed. A reference number is on this page, and you may want to print this as well.
If, through your searching in other resources, you have discovered additional relatives who perished and no Pages of Testimony have been filed for those individuals, complete a form and submit it.
As my forms were completed in clearly written English, I am a bit puzzled. However, all genealogists know that the more times data is handled by human hands, the higher the error rate.
Among errors noted: Mogilev, Mogilev gubernia, Belarus appears as Mogilev, Mogilev Podolskiy, Vinnetsa, Ukraine. A woman’s first name is clearly written Luba, but this name shows in the record as Lova. In some, I am listed as a survivor, when I clearly circled “is not” a survivor.
I have submitted correction forms for each of these errors. The process is simple.
When a record of interest pops up, hit “more details” and at the bottom of new page, note a line for corrections or comments. Click on that and a form pops up. Select the field where the error occurs (e.g. first name, place of birth, survivor, etc.), note the error, fill in your name, location and e-mail and hit “submit.”
It always pays to double-check on information submitted and note any errors.
Importantly, if you have moved or changed your e-mail address since submitting the Page in question, complete the form to update your location and e-mail address. You may wish to print a copy.
Once you click “submit form,” a message pops up warning that Yad Vashem is inundated with messages, they don’t know when the corrections will be made, but that errors will be addressed. A reference number is on this page, and you may want to print this as well.
If, through your searching in other resources, you have discovered additional relatives who perished and no Pages of Testimony have been filed for those individuals, complete a form and submit it.
06 October 2006
Sephardic site expects millionth visitor
Harry Stein, founder of www.sephardim.com, is expecting the millionth hit any day on his fascinating site.
If you are searching your family’s Sephardic roots, check out the name search feature, which contains about 35,000 names, derived from indexes of published books, databases and other sources.
Many names are identified by multiple references, “as many as 10-20,” says Stein.
With the knowledge of which books contain their names of interest, researchers can follow up in those sources, which may well provide additional clues.
The Web site offers a very active discussion group with 1,700 forum members worldwide.
If you are searching your family’s Sephardic roots, check out the name search feature, which contains about 35,000 names, derived from indexes of published books, databases and other sources.
Many names are identified by multiple references, “as many as 10-20,” says Stein.
With the knowledge of which books contain their names of interest, researchers can follow up in those sources, which may well provide additional clues.
The Web site offers a very active discussion group with 1,700 forum members worldwide.
04 October 2006
Shaloha from Hawaii
A few decades or more down the line, as our descendants begin to trace their ancestors (us!), they may be looking in some unusual places, including the Jewish section of a cemetery in Hilo, Hawaii.
Shaloha, of course, combines Shalom and Aloha.
The Canadian Jewish News recently had a great story on the Jewish community on Hawaii’s big island, where some 200 members of the Northern Hawaii Chavurah and Kona Beth Shalom (KBS) cover some 100 square miles.
The Big (Jewish) Kahuna is an orthopedic surgeon who arrived 11 years ago from Northern California. He’s the KBS lay leader, performs weddings and entertains with his klezmer band.
The story provides insight in how Jewish "pioneers" organize and provide for their isolated community.
Tracing the Tribe is waiting for the announcement of the Kona Jewish Genealogical Society!
Shaloha, of course, combines Shalom and Aloha.
The Canadian Jewish News recently had a great story on the Jewish community on Hawaii’s big island, where some 200 members of the Northern Hawaii Chavurah and Kona Beth Shalom (KBS) cover some 100 square miles.
The Big (Jewish) Kahuna is an orthopedic surgeon who arrived 11 years ago from Northern California. He’s the KBS lay leader, performs weddings and entertains with his klezmer band.
The story provides insight in how Jewish "pioneers" organize and provide for their isolated community.
Tracing the Tribe is waiting for the announcement of the Kona Jewish Genealogical Society!
Czech it out!
The discovery of the remains of a medieval Jewish cemetery in Pilsen, Czech Republic, was reported today by JTA.
Researchers from the West Bohemian Institute for Heritage Conservation and Documentation said they found city archival documents revealing details of what they believe was one of the largest 15th-century Jewish cemeteries in the region.
Although the burial ground was known to exist, an Institute archeologist said the new documents reveal additional details, and that excavations could provide more information about the cemetery and the Jewish community.
The Prague Monitor provided more details in its September 30 story.
The land for the cemetery was bought by Jews in 1432, and 40 years later, the land was taken from the Jews, who were then expelled in 1504, said Institute archeologist Radek Siroky.
He stressed the importance of medieval Jewish cemeteries in that Jewish burial grounds are usually well-conserved, unlike Christian graves.
For more on Pilsen:
Pilsen's Great Synagogue, built in 1892, is believed to be the second largest in Europe, and the Old Pilsen Synagogue was built in 1859.
Researchers from the West Bohemian Institute for Heritage Conservation and Documentation said they found city archival documents revealing details of what they believe was one of the largest 15th-century Jewish cemeteries in the region.
Although the burial ground was known to exist, an Institute archeologist said the new documents reveal additional details, and that excavations could provide more information about the cemetery and the Jewish community.
The Prague Monitor provided more details in its September 30 story.
The land for the cemetery was bought by Jews in 1432, and 40 years later, the land was taken from the Jews, who were then expelled in 1504, said Institute archeologist Radek Siroky.
He stressed the importance of medieval Jewish cemeteries in that Jewish burial grounds are usually well-conserved, unlike Christian graves.
For more on Pilsen:
Pilsen's Great Synagogue, built in 1892, is believed to be the second largest in Europe, and the Old Pilsen Synagogue was built in 1859.
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