Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain Blog

Coming next in the JGSGB Virtual Meeting Programme is a meeting from the JGSGB Chilterns Regional Group (RG) by Zoom.   Here is the information for this meeting:   Date: Tuesday 6 April 2021 Time: 19:30 London (note, 14:30 New York, 11:30 San Francisco, 21:30 Jerusalem) Title: Invisible Ink: A Family Memoir Speaker: Martha Leigh Description: Martha will talk about her Jewish family on both sides: her mother, a concert pianist, came from Czernowitz, a remote town in Austro-Hungary, and her father, the son of a Jewish immigrant from Vilnius, grew up in the East End of London. Martha has investigated a large family archive which enabled her to discover how several family members survived the war in France, Switzerland and Central Europe. Although Martha herself was not brought up as a Jew, she has come to understand more about what being Jewish means to her.   After the talk, there will be an opportunity for Q&A and discussion on the talk.   About Martha Leigh Martha grew up i

Artists Rick and Laura Brown are not Jewish and not Polish, and yet they set out to rebuild Gwoździec, a magnificent wooden eighteenth century synagogue in Poland that was later destroyed by the Nazis. Their vision inspires hundreds of people to join them, using their hands, old tools and techniques to bring Gwoździec’s history, culture, science, and art back to life.  See https://www.polishsynagogue.com/about-the-film [If you're viewing this post via the summary email and the links don't work, please go to https://jgsgbnews.blogspot.com/]

"Join us in making history as we embark on the second-annual 24-hour genealogy webinar marathon , where you will learn how to trace your ancestors from the world's top genealogists and educators. From creating your own YouTube channel to DNA, from Cherokee ancestry to Canada and England, there's something for everyone... in every time zone. And thanks to FamilyTreeWebinars.com and MyHeritage, the entire event is free! Pop in for a session or two, or stick around for the full 24 hours — it's completely up to you. There will even be time for Q&A and door prizes. If you can't join us in real time, we've got you covered: all recordings will be available absolutely free for a week. Beyond that, you can watch them anytime with a webinar membership to FamilyTreeWebinars.com. If you missed last year's classes, they are each available with a webinar membership."   See https://familytreewebinars.com/intermediate_page.php?diply_nm=24        

We hope you have been enjoying our Zoom events in 2021 and we intend to continue with our virtual meeting programme in the coming months. Please note that on Sunday March 28 and Sunday 4 April we have decided not to have our regular JGSGB Zoom meetings due to the Pesach (Passover) Jewish festival and also because of the proximity of the Good Friday and Easter Monday bank holidays. Our next Zoom session will be Tuesday 6 April 2021 at 7.30pm from the Chilterns Regional Group and I will send details nearer the time. In the meantime, there are a set of videos that you might want to check out - targeted at beginners to Jewish genealogy. Experts may learn a tip or two as well!   From Laurence Harris we have “Tips for Researching Your Jewish Genealogy and Q&A Session”, originally given at Limmud in Dec 2020 at   https://youtu.be/ J96OvUuZ53I   . Daniel Morgan-Thomas and I assist Laurence with the Q&A after the talk.    From Jeanette Rosenberg OBE we have   “An Introductio

From the Galicia Jewish Museum:   Sunday, 21.03.2021 Please note: the times of this event have changed. 6 p.m. (Krakow time) 5 p.m. (London time) 1 p.m. (New York time) 10 a.m. (San Francisco time) “Rememories of Poland: Family Stories and Returns” Meeting with Adam Schorin Online event We would like to invite you to a meeting with Adam Schorin, former co-director of Krakow’s FestivAlt, born in the US, living in Poland. Adam is the grandson of two Holocaust survivors, Richard Ores, from Krakow, and Celia Ores, from Dubienka. This meeting will be devoted to uncovering an unusual family story inscribed in photographs, memories, and the return to places connected with their family history. This event is a preview of an upcoming year-long temporary exhibition at the Galicia Jewish Museum, which will be devoted to three generations of the Ores family and will open at the Galicia Jewish Museum in August 2021. The meeting will be led by Jakub Nowakowski, Galicia Jewish Museum Di

Our next meeting in the JGSGB Virtual Meeting Programme is a speaker meeting from the JGSGB Anglo-Jewish Special Interest Group (Anglo SIG) by Zoom. Here is the information for this meeting: •       Date: Sunday 21 Mar 2021 •       Time: 14:30 London (note, 10:30 New York, 16:30 Jerusalem) •       Title: “Bristol's Jewish Community, 1724–1880” •       Speaker: Caroline Gurney •       Description: Paupers, pariahs or paragons? Bristol's Jewish community, 1724–1880: a microhistory of Anglo-Jewry. Caroline’s research explores the origins, demographic structure, lives and relationships of Bristol's Jewish community during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. After the talk, there will be an opportunity for Q&A and discussion on the talk. Following a quick tea break, we will return for a workshop where we will offer help for any genealogical problems and listen to your genealogical successes. Beginners always welcome. About Caroline Gurney ========

Coming soon in the JGSGB Virtual Meeting Programme is a meeting from the JGSGB Chilterns Regional Group (RG) by Zoom. Please be careful with the links, as there is also a Beginners’ Workshop meeting on the Sunday before. Here is the information for this meeting: •       Date: Tuesday 16th March •       Time: 19:30 London (note, 14:30 New York, 11:30 San Francisco, 21:30 Jerusalem) •       Title: Northern Jewry, Yorkshire and the Humber - Finding Jewish Roots in Yorkshire •       Speaker: Nigel Grizzard •       Description: Nigel helps many people find their Yorkshire Jewish roots, including Americans whose families settled in Leeds after arriving from Eastern Europe and then the next generation moved onto the USA. He was awarded a grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund to explore the story of Bradford Jewry entitled Making Their Mark. He is currently making a film TVINS about the Toczek brothers who arrived in Bradford in 1938 from Germany and were deported to Canada w

The Lithuanian-Jewish Records from LitvakSIG, 1795–1940 collection consists of several million historical records and covers the era from the Russian Empire (1795 to World War I) to the period of independent Lithuania (1919–1940). The majority of records are from places in present-day Lithuania. However, due to various geopolitical changes during the time period covered, the records are not limited to the modern boundaries of Lithuania; they also cover areas located in present-day Poland, Belarus, or other neighboring countries. The records in this compilation include vital records, census records, tax and voter lists, conscription lists, household registers, directories, emigration lists, and more.   [If you're viewing this post via the summary email and the links don't work, please go to https://jgsgbnews.blogspot.com/]

OCHBERG’S LIST The untold story of South Africa’s Jewish Schindler Sunday 14 March 2021 at 19:00 South African Standard Time     Exactly a hundred years ago, in the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Revolution, between 500,000 and one million Jews were killed in rampaging pogroms, famine, and disease in Eastern Europe.  Isaac Ochberg, South Africa’s richest Jew at the time, decided to save them.   This is the miraculous, uplifting, and gripping story of how one man’s efforts saved more than 200 orphans and brought them to South Africa. Join us as we meet Ochberg’s family and some of the more than 4 000 descendants of the Ochberg Orphans. 14 March will mark exactly a hundred years since the dramatic rescue mission. We pay tribute to the idea that each one of us can save the world.   Register at: bit.ly/sajr82

Our next meeting in the JGSGB Virtual Meeting Programme is a General Meeting for Beginners by Zoom. •       Date: Sunday Mar 14th 2021 •       Time: 14:00 London; 09:00 New York; 16:00 Jerusalem •       Title: Finding Your Jewish Genealogical Roots: A Session for Beginners. •       Speaker: Sue Fifer •       Description: in this session, Sue Fifer will lead with a presentation and she and other JGSGB mentors will take you through the best ways to get started on your genealogical journey, find out more about your ancestors’ lives and how to tackle common problems. The session is aimed at members new to family history or returning after a long break. After the presentation there will be a short workshop for any further questions and discussion. About Sue Fifer =============== Sue Fifer has been researching her family history since 1994 when she bought a computer program and starting inputting information about her mother's many cousins. Nearly thirty years later sh

Members of a local Jewish community will share stories of how they made the St Albans area their home, bringing to life universal themes of roots, community and work. They will discuss what their stories bring to bear on modern experiences of migration, and how their backgrounds impact how they live their lives today. The discussion is hosted by St Albans Museums, and linked to the Museum’s upcoming exhibition Arriving and Belonging: Stories from the St Albans Jewish community. The panel discussion will be held via zoom and will be introduced by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, Robert Voss CBE CStJ.  Tickets cost £5.  Advance booking is essential at this link: https://www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/what-does-it-mean-belong The exhibition draws on stories collected by St Albans Masorti Synagogue (SAMS): Mapping SAMS Roots and the preceding Heritage Lottery funded SAMS Roots interviews. The in-person exhibition has been postponed due to Covid; the new date will be ann

Our next meeting in the JGSGB Virtual Meeting Programme is a German Special Interest Group Meeting by Zoom. •       Date: 7 Mar 2021 •       Time: 14:00 London •       Title: “New developments and recent discoveries in German-Jewish genealogy” •       Speaker: Jeanette Rosenberg OBE •       Description: We will discuss new developments and recent discoveries in German-Jewish genealogy.  As ever, the presentation from the meeting will be made available after the meeting. If you have questions about your research that you would have asked in person at the meeting, you will still be able to ask them, but for this meeting, you will need to email them in advance to jeanette.r.rosenberg@googlemai l.com and hopefully either I or others attending our virtual meeting will be able to help you and answer them. For 2021 the future meeting dates are Sundays 6 June, 5 September and 5 December. Please add them to your calendar. Jeanette R Rosenberg OBE Convenor of German SIG The i