Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain Blog

Our next weekday meeting in the JGSGB Virtual Meeting Programme is a specialist talk from the Chilterns Regional Group by Zoom. • Date: Tuesday 5 October 2021 • Time: 19.30 London, 14:30 New York, 11:30 San Francisco, 21:30 Jerusalem • Title: Jews of Bletchley Park: intelligence & code-breaking and their contribution to the downfall of Nazi-occupied Europe. • Speaker: Martin Sugarman • Description: Martin Sugarman, co-author with Michael Kushner, will talk about their book which pieced together a fascinating but little-known period of hidden Anglo-Jewish history. It tells the astonishing story of some of the Jewish staff, mathematicians, linguists and intellectuals at Bletchley Park, the British wartime code-breaking centre, who helped shorten the Second World War by months and perhaps years. About Martin Sugarman =================== Born in Hackney, educated at Shacklewell Lane and Upton House schools, and Barmitzvah at Dalston Talmud Torah, Martin was then at Bristol University (...

Our next meeting in the JGSGB Virtual Meeting Programme is a General Meeting by Zoom. • Date 3 October 2021 • Time 14:00 London; 09:00 New York; 16:00 Jerusalem; 07:00 Salt Lake City • Title: European Days of Jewish Heritage and Culture 2020 - Family Research Workshop • Experts: JGSGB Mentors will be on hand • Description: JGSGB invites newcomers to genealogy and seasoned Society members who may need a brush-up or have come up against brick walls to a free Zoom workshop. Expert JGSGB Mentors will be on hand at this research meeting covering multiple locations and regions – you may find it useful to listen to the queries and answers of others to inspire your own research. If you would like to ask a question, please let us know the theme of your query (e.g. region and/or time period) in advance by email to workshop@jgsgb.org.uk . Each attendee will have around 5 minutes to receive suggestions/advice from mentors in the workshop. For more information please email: workshop@jgsgb.org.uk ...

Our next Sunday meeting in the JGSGB Virtual Meeting Programme is a specialist talk on an adoption theme by Zoom. • Date: Sunday 26 September 2021 • Time: 14:00 London; 09:00 New York; 16:00 Jerusalem; 07:00 Salt Lake City • Title: "Searching for Ancestors when you’re Adopted" • Speaker: Dr. Penny Walters • Description: Some girls or women feel unable to look after their baby, or feel forced to give the baby up. Some babies were given to relatives to look after, others were fostered or adopted, or abandoned. Subsequently, people have gaps in their personal history and may want to find out about their biological family. This session will discuss the practical realities, and the excitement and pain of researching a ‘new’ family. Some relatives don’t want to be ‘found,’ others have been desperately searching for years. Most people can ask family for information about their relatives, whereas adopted people often can’t. We will look at the invaluable information that can be revea...

Our next meeting in the JGSGB Virtual Meeting Programme is from the JGSGB Dutch & Sephardi Special Interest Group (D&S SIG) by Zoom. • Date: Sunday 19 September 2021 • Time 14:00 London; 09:00 New York; 16:00 Jerusalem; 07:00 Salt Lake City • Title: Sephardic-Nordic-Noir – Part 2 • Speaker: Bernard Miller • Description: For most people, Scandinavia is still not a geographical region in which we expect to find Sephardic relatives. Even after finding many, since Bernard first introduced us to some of his Scandinavian Sephardic family finds last year, more have appeared and continue to surprise him. Their origins, the paths by which they ended up in Scandinavia, the subsequent history of the Jews there and their geographical spread are just as amazing, as is the fact that when Jews were initially allowed to settle in Denmark, Sephardim were admitted and Ashkenazim were specifically excluded. If you enjoy Nordic Noir mysteries, join us again for the second episode. The plot is defi...

Our next meeting in the JGSGB Virtual Meeting Programme is a German Special Interest Group Meeting by Zoom. • Date: Sunday 5 Sep 2021 • Time: 14:00 London; 09:00 New York; 16:00 Jerusalem; 07:00 Salt Lake City • Title: “The Lost Café Schindler: One family, two wars and the search for truth” • Speaker: Meriel Schindler • Description: JGSGB German SIG is delighted to welcome our guest speaker, Meriel Schindler, who will be speaking to us about her recently published book. After Meriel’s talk, you will be able to ask her questions about it. About Meriel Schindler London-based lawyer Meriel Schindler is the author of The Lost Café Schindler: One family, two wars and the search for truth . In her book, she talks about her family’s Jewish origins in Austria and explores the places where her late father and his family lived and visited, as well as the people they interacted with. Schindler’s book covers WWI, WWII, and the times in between. Hopefully after the talk we will also have time t...