Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain Blog

"This timely well-illustrated book examines Cumbria’s response to the refugee crisis of the 1930s and early 1940s.   The author makes use of a wealth of archive material and oral testimony to demonstrate that at that time many Cumbrians welcomed refugee groups from Spain, Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia into their communities.   Central to the narrative are a number of determined women who lead Cumbria’s response to the arrival of these refugee communities.   Foremost amongst these is Catherine Marshall who moved from suffragist activity to internationalism and refugee issues during the 1930s, but other, less familiar names, such as Mary Crewdson, Lady Cecilia Roberts and Clara Boyle are introduced to the reader.   Much was achieved with the support of voluntary organisations which enabled many more people to become involved with meeting the needs of refugees.   To provide context readers are introduced to a number of refugees and the stor...

News from MyHeritage: "E ach day, we will open one of our paid-subscription-only historical record collections to the public, providing full, free access to the collection. On some days, we’ll be opening two or three related collections for free. The collections we’ve chosen for this offer are not the collections you can find anywhere — they are rare and valuable, and many are exclusive to MyHeritage. We’ll be posting regular updates on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram about the collections, so be sure to follow us and stay tuned so you don’t miss anything! In all, a total of 2,043,456,361 records will be made accessible for free during the month of June. This special offer is in the spirit of MyHeritage’s commitment to providing people with more opportunities and resources to further their genealogical research while at home." See https://blog.myheritage.com/each-day-of-june-a-different-record-collection-will-be-free/

From Hazel Atlass: Chilterns Regional Group Meeting Tuesday 19th May 2020   The latest meeting of the Chilterns Group took place on Tuesday 19 th May via Zoom. We had 32 members sign in, not only from the Chilterns Group but from further afield in the UK.   Our speaker was JGSGB’s former Vice-Chair, Dr. Joel Levy, who gave a very interesting and in-depth talk about his current researches. In fact the talk was most up to date as he was finalising the talk on the previous Sunday evening as he had just received more information.   Joel’s talk was titled “Coming full circle: using Israeli sources”. Joel has been working on his Gavenda/Gavendo/Gawenda/ Gawendo family for many years, tracing them from Poland to the USA and to Israel. The first part of his talk concentrated on the roots of the family in Poland and how they then went to South Africa and the United States.   One example of the research is Joel then found a relative that had emigrated to ...

From Anita Benson: Lockdown has brought its challenges. Full of good intentions, I planned to: (a) contact my many DNA matches (very few have ever contacted me); (b) go through my family tree with a fine-tooth comb looking for errors and people who need further research; (c) catch up with my reading; (d) learn some new Yiddish words; (e) brush up my Hebrew reading skills. To be truthful, most of the above did not happen apart from the DNA matches, and of those that did reply we could not manage to work out how we were actually related. I have learnt some new Yiddish words thanks to Facebook and Yiddish word of the day taught by a lady called Rukhl Schaechter. However, as I am fortunate enough to have a garden – albeit a rather messy one – I decided to grow vegetables. So far the potatoes are growing at an amazing rate, as are the runner beans, chard, onions and herbs. By the way, they are all in containers so even if you only have a balcony it can be achieved. Thank...

Having looked at the Pester Lloyd index on Genteam.at I have learned that there are death notices for some of my BREITNER family from Budapest in editions that are held at the Austrian National Library, but that have not yet been digitised on the ANNO database. Does anyone know whether it is possible to request certain pages to be copied and sent to me and if so how to go about it? I have not been able to find this information on their website. Thank you for your help. Jacqueline Szumko jacqueline.szumko@ntlworld.com

MyHeritage have just announced the publication of "three important Greek record collections: Greece, Electoral Rolls (1863–1924), Corfu Vital Records (1841–1932), and Sparta Marriages (1835–1935), comprising 1.8 million historical records. All three collections have been indexed by MyHeritage and for the first time are now searchable in English, as well as in Greek. These are invaluable genealogy resources for anyone with Greek roots. In one of the company’s pro bono initiatives, MyHeritage Founder and CEO Gilad Japhet personally traced the descendants of a Jewish family that was hidden during World War II on the small island of Erikoussa, north of Corfu. The entire population of the island collectively gave refuge to the family, and saved it from death. His genealogical detective work, combined with MyHeritage’s extensive global database of historical records, culminated in recognition for the courageous people of Erikoussa, who were presented with the House of ...

Peter Heilbrunn has sent in this announcement: The British History online (BHO) founded by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust in 2003 with over 1,270 volumes, is a digital collection of key printed primary and secondary sources for the history of Britain and Ireland, with a special focus on the period 1300 to 1800. To 31 July 2020  they're making all transcribed BHO content  freely available for individual users. To start your search go to: https://www.british-history. ac.uk/search To read more about this see: https://blog.history.ac.uk/ 2020/03/british-history- online-makes-all-research- content-free-to-individual- users/

Help request: Someone who is researching past pupils of Salford Grammar is looking for information about Aircraftsman Sidney Binderman of Salford, who was killed in the war on 16th January 1942, and his brother Solomon. If you have any information on this family, please contact blog@jgsgb.org.uk and I will put you in touch. Thank you!

RootsTech 2020 - public access for the keynote sessions, and some classes are available for free. Keynotes and general sessions: https://www.rootstech.org/ category/2020-keynotes- general-session RootsTech sessions: https://www.rootstech.org/ category/2020-rootstech- sessions

From David Mendoza and Ton Tielen, The Sephardi Heritage Project: " A free new online Jewish genealogy and history group is launching on Sunday 3rd May 2020, focused on Sephardim and also including the universal Jewish experience. Enjoy your time at home exploring your family history. Hosted on Zoom by two of the best-known names in Sephardic genealogy, Ton Tielen and David Mendoza. We will be hosting fun and informative seminars, as well as publishing a regular email newsletter. The entire service is free, although we are hoping to find sponsors. Our first conversation on Sunday 3rd May 2020 will explore the Amsterdam archives, including synagogue records dating back to 1615 and other free online resources. Future meetings will cover topics as varied as interviews, family histories and the Inquisition. There will be a weekly broadcast on Sundays (excluding Jewish holidays) at: 21:00 Israel time; 20:00 Paris time; 19:00 London time; 14:00 EST; and 11:00 PT.   P...

The Arolsen Archives are appealing for people to take part in the online project “Every Name Counts”. The Arolsen Archives are building the world’s largest online archive with information on the victims of Nazism. The crowdsourcing project “Every Name Counts” calls for volunteers to enter names found on documents into the online archive to ensure that they will never be forgotten. Bad Arolsen - The COVID-19 pandemic makes it impossible for people to come together as they have done in the past to take part in joint acts of remembrance: It has become necessary to cancel many memorial ceremonies involving the laying of wreaths and visits to memorial sites that were planned long in advance to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps and the end of the Second World War. This is why the Arolsen Archives have chosen this time to offer a new form of remembrance which is open to all. The aim of “Every Name Counts” is to motivate as many people as pos...

Peter Heilbrunn has passed on this announcement from MyHeritage: 
 "We’ve opened up access to our yearbook collection for FREE, through May 23, 2020! Our yearbook collection consists of 290 million names in 36 million pages, from yearbooks across the U.S. from 1890 until 1979. Take this opportunity to reminisce about your own high school years or search for your loved ones in the collection. 
 In addition, following the successful release of MyHeritage In Color™ (10 million photos were colorized in the first 3 months), one of the ideas raised by our team was to apply this technology also to records, in cases where black and white photos are abundant and colors could enhance the records. We focused our attention on the huge U.S. Yearbook collection on MyHeritage, and I’m happy to announce that you can now view our entire collection of U.S. yearbooks in color! 
 Search MyHeritage U.S. Yearbooks for Free Now 
 Ordinarily, accessing the yearbook records on MyHeritage requires...

The April edition of the Jewish Heritage Europe monthly Newsletter is out. A summary of the news, views, and insights published over the last month. In this edition — an online exhibition of remarkable papercuts by the Warsaw-based artist Monika Krajewska; long reads about Jewish cemeteries in Poland and Ecuador, and news reports from Hungary, Lithuania, Italy, the UK, and Germany. There are links to “news you can use” during the Coronavirus stay-at-home measures — virtual tours, online exhibits, lectures, and more. And you can also download a book chapter by JHE coordinator Ruth Ellen Gruber. Go to https://mailchi.mp/jewish-heritage-europe/jewish-heritage-europe-newsletter-april-2020?e=0ce32e7b82

Announcement from the UK National Archives: We are making digital records available on our website free of charge for as long as our Kew site is closed to visitors. Registered users will be able to order and download up to 10 items at no cost, to a maximum of 50 items over 30 days. How can I download documents for free? You will be required to  register for a free account on our website and be logged in to be able to download documents. To find records that are available to download for free, filter your search results in Discovery to include records that are ‘available for download only’. What sort of documents can I download? You will be able to download records digitised by The National Archives and published through Discovery, our online catalogue. These include: First and Second World War records, including medal index cards Military records, including unit war diaries Royal and Merchant Navy records, including Royal Marine service records Wills from the ...

The Society has already cancelled face-to-face meetings through to the end of March and Council has now considered the longer-term implications of Covid-19 and will attempt to mitigate the impact of the virus on the Society’s activities. Sadly we are forced to extend cancellations further. A substantial proportion of our members are in the at-risk category and face-to-face meetings are unlikely to be possible for some time. Council has, therefore, decided to cancel or postpone all face-to-face meetings until the end of May. This means that the AGM scheduled for 10 May will be postponed. Council will review the position when it holds its next virtual meeting at the end of April. Council is exploring the possibility of providing virtual meetings so that groups can still hear from speakers and there can still be direct communication between members. Shemot and the Newsletter will continue to be issued and JGSGB Discuss, the JGSGB Facebook, page and t...

The Memory Map of the Jewish East End is a new digital resource and interactive website that allows users to remotely explore the social and cultural history of the Jewish East End. The project is a collaboration between artist and writer Rachel Lichtenstein and three of The Bartlett’s research units: The Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, The Space Syntax Laboratory and The Survey of London. Covering more than 70 significant sites, the Memory Map aims to become a lasting document of the history and memory traces of this vibrant Jewish community. Users are able to listen to the stories, memories and voices of residents from Rachel Lichtenstein’s substantial archive of audio interviews of this rapidly vanishing landscape, testimony from the collection of Sandys Row Synagogue, the oldest Ashkenazi Synagogue in London, and collaborative research from the Memory Map team, including essays written by the Survey of London. http://www.jewisheastendmemorymap.org/

Our April newsletter is now online and available to members.

"YIVO wants to help keep our spirits lifted and provide content to sustain our minds and soul,” said Jonathan Brent YIVO’s Executive Director & CEO. Delve into the evolution of Yiddish theatre or learn about the rich history of Jewish life in Eastern Europe, Ashkenazi folklore and more. YIVO’s entertaining and enlightening Shine online courses feature an array of leading scholars and include nearly 1,000 archival objects. To register for your free Shine online course, go to yivo.org/shine . Please also take advantage of YIVO’s other free online resources: • Past Public Programs Archives o Watch hundreds of past public programs on our YouTube channel, from lectures and conferences to book talks and concerts, featuring award-winning scholars, writers, and artists. youtube.com/user/yivoinstitute • Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections o Explore YIVO’s prewar library and archival collections. vilnacollections.yivo.org/ • YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Eu...

The April issue of Shemot has now been published online. It contains articles by Leigh Dworkin, Richard Aronowitz, Alan Cohen, Nadia Lipes, Phil Harris and John Minkes. Members can access the issue from the JGSGB website. Log in, then go to the Members tab, and scroll down to Shemot. We hope you enjoy reading it!

Friday 3 January. 10.30–3pm. A Library Session - open for general research. Visitors welcome. (There would be a nominal charge of £5 per person including refreshments, deductible on the day against one year’s membership). Librarians will be on hand to help you use the library. 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA. RSVP : library@jgsgb.org.uk Sunday 5 January. 2.30–5pm. Herts Regional Group. Subject : "Visiting Archives – some members' recent experiences”. Contact : northherts@jgsgb.org.uk for location and further information Thursday 16 January. 7.30–9pm. An Education Evening. “Holocaust Research”. Webinar. For further information, contact Jeanette Rosenberg at education@jgsgb.org.uk Sunday 19 January. 2–5pm. A Library Session. Open for general research. Visitors welcome. Librarians will be on hand to help you use the library.  14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA. RSVP :  library@jgsgb.org.uk Sunday 19...