Remember just one thing as you
do your family research - we were all there once.
Before you get too deeply
involved in researching your Jewish roots, I would suggest
reading up on both this subject and about the countries you
will be working with. Just by reading beforehand you
should be able to pick up a great deal of information.
Click on my link to Amazon.com >
Jewish Genealogy
where you will find at least 180+ titles to work with in
your personal quest.
Why this page ...
This page should be of great value to the first time genealogist and even to some of the more experienced researchers. What this page represents are some of the questions and answers about a genealogical subject. Researching one's genealogy can be hard work, but seeing how historical events have affected generations or individuals in your family, and how it all resulted in your birth, will make history come alive for you and for future generations.
Q. What if the library doesn't have the family history books or documents you need for your research?
A. Most major university libraries subscribe to The Research Libraries Information Network, an international shared information resource. Most libraries also help patrons use the service for a small charge. Here is a link to more information http://www.rlg.org/rlin.html
Q. How do I find my ancestral shtetl?
ShtetLinks - a JewishGen web site that was developed to give genealogists who are interested in a particular shtetl in
Belarus; Bessarabia; Latvia; L; Galicia; Moldova; Poland; Romania; Slovakia; Ukraine
and elsewhere that Jews have lived in the past http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/
List all of the towns within a
certain distance of given latitude/longitude coordinates
You can choose to list all
towns/Shtetlach up to 30 miles from the central
reference. Enter the coordinates you have (your
note's format will be 12345678, you must enter 12 34 56 78).
You will obtain a list of towns/Shtetlach including present
names, variant names, native names.
5. If the place you are
searching for is not in the list, displace the center of the
search in the direction of the "suspected areas", and repeat
a 30 mile distance search. New names of the locations
now within reach will appear in the results. From a
posting by Carlos Glickson
Q. How do I enter town
names?
The JewishGen Family Finder
uses the modern contemporary name of each town. Many
cities and towns, especially in Eastern Europe, have
alternative town names or spellings, due to
political-linguistic changes over time, and various
transliteration methods. The JGFF uses the name of the
locality as it is known today.
Q. If I know what ship my ancestors came by, will that tell me what city they lived in?
" If the immigrant was naturalized, the INS will be able to get you records which would include a lot of information about where they came from. Similarly, if the immigrant had a Social Security account, Social Security might be able to help.
For further information, please read the JewishGen FAQ
or a genealogy book-either will give you lots of good information. Posted by Sally Bruckheimersallybruc@yahoo.com
Q. How Can I Trace a
person from the U S Social Security Records
A. "Several approaches:
1. If Zip codes are listed in
the Social Security Death Index entry, try looking up persons with the
same surname in that and surrounding Zip Codes on a
telephone CD or online system.
2. If you know the locality
(or have the Zip code), try to get a death certificate.
The funeral home listed there may have info gathered for an
obituary or funeral notice, which often lists survivors, or
at least have the name of the person who paid the bill.
The person providing the personal information for the death
certificate is usually named and is likely to be a relative.
The cemetery will often have the name and address of the
current owner of the plot.
If no zip code is listed, you
can try to get the death certificate from the vital records
agency in the state where the SS number was issued, but
remember the person may have lived in a different state whey
they died. (Note: you can't get a death certificate in
NY State outside NY City, unless you are a direct descendent
of the decedent or the person died more than 50 years ago.)
3. Depending on the locality,
you may be able to have someone do a lookup in the local
newspapers for an obituary or funeral notice." From a
posting by Charles Sullivan.
Q. When I write the name of a place or of some event, which city and country name should I be using. The one that it is currently known by or the one or ones it was known before?
"For countries, I would be as specific as possible. Just writing "Russia" is meaningless if the person was born in
Belarus or Ukraine, and won't help others who might not know exactly where the town was.
Naming towns is a bit more complicated because it is more helpful to have both the name at the time the relative was born and that which is in use now. But I don't think it matters which you put first, and you can put the other in parentheses next to it.
"Just as it is today, it was fairly common for people from smaller towns to identify the more well-known region or
Guberniya as their place or area of residence. For many of us living today in suburban areas, we will often reference the larger well-known urban area as our residence."
From a posting by Jerry Schneider to JewishGen
Q. Trying to find out something really specific about
a shtetl, town or city? Here are some ideas for
locating region-specific info online.
A. Online directories, Yahoo!
http://www.yahoo.com for
example, have sections devoted to local information.
Many newspapers have their own Web sites with information
about their service areas.
Most states and many cities in the US have extensive Web
sites. You can guess the URL (universal address
locator) for almost any city or state by using one of these
templates: (The XX in the following URLs is where you
need to supply the appropriate two-letter postal code)
Q. My relatives has 2 names - the Jewish one and the 'Soviet' - for example Vulf and Vladimir. Which one should I write as 'Name' and which one as 'Also Known As"? There is also a third name - 'short' name which was used by most people - for example: 'official name' -
Lyubov, but most people use Lyuba or even Lyubochka.
A. With the possibility of three names things get even more complicated, but I think it's your choice. All I would say, is be consistent if at all possible. I have tended to put the 'official' (in my case) English name first, if there is one; many of my relatives have chosen not to give their children an English equivalent name. My program doesn't show more than one name in the 'name' field, so I have to put any others in as separate notes.
What's important for genealogists is that you get the Hebrew/Yiddish name in somewhere to help in tracing family members back.
Q. Many immigration records state that the person came from 'Russia' or 'Russian Empire'.
A. Jews were recorded as coming from Russia because the
U.S. and other authorities used the terms "Russia" and "Russian Empire" as synonyms. The Jews from "Russia" were subjects of the Czar, and had to foreswear that allegiance to become U.S. citizens.
The fact that there was a region within the
Russian Empire that was seen by some as "Russia Proper" is irrelevant to the issue of why Jews were recorded as coming from "Russia'.
Nevertheless, "Russia" was a very large place, Jews were restricted as to the parts of the
Russian Empire they could inhabit, and this too, is important to understand if one wants to effectively search out ancestral origins. Peter Zavon
pzavon@worldnet.att.net discussed the above question in a posting on JewishGen
EIDB Question
I wrote in recently asking for assistance finding my grandfather in EIDB.
I received a lot of good advice, and one nice lady even spent a fair
amount of time looking through NARA passenger lists. Alas it was all to
no avail but I thought the least I could do beside thank all the kind
people who helped me (I did so individually) was to share some of the good
points with the discussion group. Here they are:
1. Passenger manifests may be missing and if so you may be out of luck.
2. Search EIDB using varying spellings of both names, or Soundex, maiden
names for males and females, and the local spelling of names, like Szapira,
for Shapiro, Sjapiro, Schapiro, etc.
3. Do a full search of any one town for all comers on Morse 1 step, with
and without Soundex.
4. Your relatives may have come through another port.
5. Try to access naturalization documents which will give you origins,
exact dates of immigration, family names, etc.
6. Search EIDB around 6:30 AM EDT, & you'll find the searches much faster
due to little traffic. The West Coasters are definitely in dreamland, and
the Easterners are getting ready for work.
I hope this helps someone. Barry Sieger, Winter Park, Florida
bsieger@cfl.rr.com
Original Documents - Never, ever travel or carry around and original document! Make copies right away and store the original in an archival safe box
Regarding the message below: Nearly every town has a USC. There really
should be no reason to add a street address. The mail deliverer certainly
knows where it is. Dan Kazez Ohio, USA http://www.kazez.com/~dan/0203.Power/Attny.html
Subject: Need address for USC, Hrubieszow
From: "Yaacov Slizak" yslizak@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 19:58:47 -0000
Dear Friends,
Can anybody help with the exact address for the USC (Urzad
Stanu Cywilnego) in Hrubieszow, Poland? I haven't been able to find it.
Sincerely, Yaacov Slizak Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland
Do I assume that a possible relative is also Jewish?
"I've discovered that families who converted from Judaism a few generations ago, are often uncomfortable when I appear to assume they're Jewish. Accordingly, when I write to someone who may be descended from someone on my family list, I always write "My ancestor was [Name] of [town]; the family at that time was Jewish."
From a posting by Michael Bernet mbernet@aol.com
How do I determine the specific birthplaces of my ancestors?
Check first their arrival records (aka immigration records). The U S National Archives. You can also obtain copies of arrival records through the LDS Family History Library, but it is somewhat more cumbersome to obtain arrival records from the LDS Library. Also, documents such as naturalization papers, alien registration forms, etc. may provide birthplace.
A good source for learning more about 'the Jewish world' is to read the many fine articles written by Schelly Talalay Dardashti in the On-Line Edition of the Jerusalem Post http://www.jpost.com/
Good Advice
"I'd like to thank the 60+ people who responded to my question concerning an initial Family Finder contact: I called a family "mine," when actually it was my ex-husbands, my children's and grandchildren's family."
"What I've learned from your answers:"
"1. I did nothing improper or uncommon, however it would have been better to clearly state that I was researching my children's ancestry in my initial email to the "Family Finder" listee."
"2. Good Advise: It is better not to reveal too much personal information in an initial contact with a fellow researcher; it's not necessary and can come back to haunt you if you find you are dealing with a "nut." Use the same precautionary measures you would take in any email "transaction," and remember you are dealing with a total stranger, Jewish Genner or not!"
"3. Many other people reported having had experiences with unpleasant, rude, or seemingly "crazy" researchers. A number of people told of finding a family connection, sending their family information and getting no information in return and not even a thank you. One Genner reported a
threat of a lawsuit from a father whose son had sent family information. These kinds of things clearly are the exception to the usual way such
contacts go."
"4. Most contacts with other Genners are friendly exchanges whether or not a family connection is made; this has been my experience also."
"My sincere thanks to the wonderful group of people who chose to offer comfort to an obviously distressed fellow researcher, and I appreciate
the kindness, the warmth, and the stories so freely shared with me!"
From a posting by Roberta Rosen Long Beach, CA
Email
researching
email search at MyFreeEmailSearch.com. It contains the world’s largest publicly available directory of email addresses, which can be used to locate old friends and classmates, find current information related to email, address, and phone, and access to profiles from over 20 social networking sites.
When you are trying to
identify people in old photos, don't write on the back of
the original. The ink can sometimes soak through and
damage the image. Instead, make copies of the photos
and, if you can, scan them into a computer. Then use
the copies to ask relatives and friends: who is in the photo?
where was it taken? and when was it taken?
Then write the results on
the back of the copies. Even if your other
genealogical results are lost, some of these copies can
survive to help others in future genealogical searches.
Postage
"I usually enclose a couple of
dollar bills to cover return postage. Almost anyone
can find a use for them, especially in impoverished
countries, and can be passed on very much like international
reply coupons without the 85% fee." If you need to
send more money (e.g. a set of archival records, or a book)
a Paypal account in the US allows you to send small sums to
almost any country in the world." From a posting by
Michael Bernet.
What To Do When You Receive Wrong Certificates
...
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Remember just one thing as you
do your family research - we were all there once.
where you will find at least 180+ titles to work with in
your personal quest.
