The American Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies
This organization has 40 chapters in major cities and 20 more chapters worldwide. It publishes a quarterly magazine, "Avotaynu" - An International Review of Jewish Genealogy which is the world's leading Jewish genealogical magazine.
(info@avotaynu.com)
Tel: 201-387-7200; Fax: 201-387-2855
155 North Washington Avenue
Bergenfield, NJ 07621
JewishGen
This group also offers information on linking up with others who are researching family history For example, computerized lists offer family names and the names of villages/towns being investigated by others. Thus, one can find out the names and phone numbers of others who are searching similar trails.
Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah
Family History Library
35 N. West Temple Street
Salt Lake City, UTAH 84150
This library was founded in 1894 to gather genealogical records and help people trace family histories. It is the world's largest collection of genealogical records and is open to the public at no charge.
For Poland:
The Church has gathered the Civil Registration, which is the 19th centurysource for genealogical research. If one knows one's family town in Poland, it's relatively easy. When Napolean conquered Europe, he created a civilian system in which all residents of the countryside became subject to secular authorities: Jews, Catholics, Lutherans. This registration started in 1808 and nearly everyone in a village or town registered. The Mormon Church has collected these records from the Polish archives for the period 1808 through the 1870s. It has an extensive microfilm collection of Jewish vital records from Poland especially from the former Russian and German areas of Poland.
What you can do:
1. Obtain the address of the family history center nearest you by writing to the Family History Library at the above address. (More than 2,400 family history centers operate in 62 countries. They are usually located in local Latter-Day Saint churches.)
2. Go to your local family history center and order microfilm photos of the registration books.
3. One can also write directly to the archives in Warsaw.
SPECIAL NOTE: The Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is at work on a Jewish Genealogical Research manual. It will offer a comprehensive outline of strategies and sources for researching Jewish ancestors from eastern and western Europe.
The National Archives, Washington, D.C.
This large collection contains naturalization certificates, and the lists of ships and passengers arriving in the United States in the late 19th and 20th century. It also has Russian Consul records from 1880-1932.
Recommended Books
"Where Once We Walked" by Gary Mokotoff and Sallyann Amdur Sack.(Publisher: Avotaynu)
In this book you will find a listing of all shtetls, towns and villages in Eastern Europe (as well as parts of Russia where Jews lived before World WarII). Included in these lists is the latitude and longitude of each community as well as books which refer to each place (and where to find these books.)
"A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire" by Alexander Beider (publisher: Avotayno). These lists cover Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, Eastern Poland and parts of Romania.
To be published in 1996: "A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames for Poland and the Austrian-Hungarian Empire." (same publisher as above)
"A Translation Guide to 19th Century Polish Language Civil Registration Documents" compiled and edited by Judith R. Frazin (Jewish Geneological Society) This offers a guide to translating, a dictionary, and a guide to writing letters.
"Konin - A Quest" by Theo Richmond (1994-95) This is the author's story of tracing people who lived in his family shtetl and survived. His personaljourney is very moving and eventually becomes a larger and more universal story of this kind of quest.
"The Jews of Poland - A Social History of the Jewish Community in Poland, 1100-1800" by Bernard D. Weinryb (Jewish Publication Society of American Philadelphia, 1972)
This is a classic study of Jewish history in Poland.
For a master bibliography of articles and books on Polish-Jewishrelations (available in academic libraries) consult:"Jewish-Polish Co-Existence (1732-1939) A Topical Bibliography" compiled by George J. Lerski and Halinat Lerski (1986)
Special Thanks: To Roy Cobb of Atlanta, Georgia and Alex Kom of Toronto, Canada who kindly helped FRONTLINE compile this information.
