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JewishGen launches redesigned site
From the Museum of Jewish Heritage: JewishGen and the Museum of Jewish Heritage have launched a redesigned version of the JewishGen platform. Marking the website's 40th anniversary, the refreshed interface delivers a modern, intuitive experience, making it easier than ever for people around the world to explore their Jewish ancestry, uncover family connections, and preserve their heritage for future generations. It also features improved navigation and enhanced tools so that
1 day ago
New site has millions of records from Lwów, Kraków, Vienna and the towns of Galicia and central Poland
Tracing the Tribe -- Jewish Genealogy Facebook group member Luke Rothman has created a new website, archival.name "that has well over half a million Lwów records (including over 150k Jewish vital records) that are not indexed or searchable anywhere else. It also includes Kraków censuses and vital records, and covers much of Galicia and other regions, with over 7 million names... The vast majority of records have direct links to the originals. There's an option to sign in wit
Oct 9
AI Special Interest Group forms
The Northeast Indiana Jewish Genealogical Society (NEIJGS) and the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center has launched a new AI Special Interest Group (AI SIG) and will hold its first meeting via Zoom on Wednesday, Oct. 21. From the announcement: The group’s first virtual meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. The program, “Your Family History Starts Here with AI,” will offer an informal introduction to the group and to the possibilities — and limitations — of artificial
Oct 6
RootsTech 2027 registration opens
RootsTech 2027 by FamilySearch, an in-person and online genealogy conference, runs from March 4-6. Held in Salt Lake City, the conference includes more than 225 sessions on varying topics. Currently, in-person registration is $99 for a 3-day pass (regular price is $129) and $69 for a one-day pass (regular, $79). While some sessions are only in-person, there are plenty of sessions that are also held online. Online registration is free. You can see a preview of sessions here.
Sep 28
JewishGen Ukraine Research Division adds 101,224 new records
From JewishGen: Some Towns included: Koligarka, Chigirin, Berezyanka, Yakubov, Snitkov, Yampol and many more · Monthly details: http://tinyurl.com/ywk456pn · Complete database: https://tinyurl.com/5sdtzu5z (all records since 2022) How to search: · Use JewishGen.org with your family surnames · Check results from "Ukraine Group 2," "Ukraine Group 3," or ungrouped records · Each entry links to original documents · Note: Some Cyrillic text r
Sep 20
Gesher Galicia offers two-part free course
From Gesher Galicia: The Gesher Galicia Cheder is proud to present a new two-part online learning experience Getting the Most Out of Gesher Galicia, hosted by Kaye Prince-Hollenberg, Gesher Galicia’s Director of Education. Part 1: 11 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 18: Will cover the areas of the Gesher Galicia website that are accessible to all users such as the All Galicia Database, Database Inventories, and Map Room. This first half of the series is intended as a walkthrough of the m
Sep 20
JewishGen updates Memorials & Plaques Database
From JewishGen: The site added approximately 8,500 records and 7,300 photos from 61 new organizations / memorials and updated sets. The database includes the data from memorial plaques and Yizkor lists from synagogues and other memorials and lists. The information available from these sources vary from source to source. This mid-year update brings the memorial plaques holdings to more than 368,000 records and 250,000 photos from 950 synagogues, institutions and memorials re
Sep 7
Newspapers.com adds 189 titles
Read here to see the list of newspapers added to Newspapers.com, including papers from England, the Netherlands, Canada and several states in the U.S.
Aug 29
The new GEDmatch is open
From GEDmatch: The new GEDmatch is open at https://beta.gedmatch.com You'll notice left-hand navigation, a searchable catalog of every tool, and "I want to…" cards on the dashboard. You can pick your language and the site updates in real time. GEDmatch has been English-only until now. Also new: My Clipboard (Tier 1) lets you build a working set of kits once and use it in every tool, instead of retyping kit numbers. It replaces multi-kit analysis. Folders (Tier 1), favorit
Aug 26
IGRA Updates its Database Search Tool
The Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA) has updated its All Israel Database search tool to show the number of potential matching records found on JewishGen and Gesher Galicia websites. IGRA's release explains: This update utilizes an API (Application Programming Interface) connection to display record counts across platforms, allowing researchers to see if additional relevant data exists on the other sites, without transferring or sharing records between the organiza
Aug 18
JewishGen adds thousands of new burial records and photos
JewishGen's Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR) database has added approximately 214,000 new records and 30,000 new photos. The database is adding and/or updating 251 cemeteries. That brings JOWBR’s holdings to more than 7.2 million records and 2.6 million photos from approximately 12,500 cemeteries/ cemetery sections representing 150 countries. You can access the database here. JewishGen recommends new database users to first watch brief informational videos here.
Aug 4
IAJGS gives update on 2027 virtual conference
From the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies conference team: The 46th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy will be held virtually, April 4–6, 2027. This fully global virtual conference is being designed with the same spirit you know from past conferences, just in a new format. Live sessions will run from 5:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. ET, with 90 days of on-demand access to every recorded session, so you can join live or catch up on your own tim
Jul 30
Jewish genealogy Special Interest Groups hold summer Zoom meet-ups
From the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies: "The IAJGS recognizes that Special Interest Groups, JewishGen Research Districts, Birds of a Feather, and Research Groups are all important parts of the Jewish genealogical community. With members scattered throughout the world, our annual conference has been a logical and convenient place for these groups to hold annual meetings and to organize programming of interest to their members. "Because our next con
Jul 7
Miriam Weiner donates entire archives to Jewish museum in Tulsa
Miriam Weiner, founder of the Routes to Roots Foundation website, which includes Jewish and civil records in Eastern Europe, has announced that she will be donating her entire archives to the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art in Tulsa, Okla. which hosts the Jewish Genealogical Society of Tulsa, the only JGS in the state. Read more about her donation and why she chose Tulsa here. There will be no changes to her website except the usual updates and additions.
Jun 29
IGRA adds 2 new databases, updates 5 others
The Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA) has added two new databases and updated another five, for a total of over 26,620 new listings, many of them with images. That brings the association's searchable databases to over 4 million unique records. Those databases: Burials Sepharadim Jerusalem – (images available) update Gdud Haavodah (Labour Battalion) 1921-1927 – images available Marriages and Divorces 1921-1948 Palestine British – (images available) updated Freemason
Jun 19
JewishGen offers free talk on June 3 about Jewish ethics and genealogy
Genealogist Ellen Shindelman Kowitt, director of JewishGen's USA Research Division and cousin of JGSTB member Scott Mandel, will interview Arthur Kurzweil, a leading voice in Jewish genealogy, on Jewish ethics and genealogy. The virtual interview will take place at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3. From the JewishGen announcement: "Genealogy in Judaism is more than a historical account; it connects individuals to a collective story, reinforcing duties toward family, community, and
May 31
Tips on finding and searching Jewish records on Ancestry
A member of Philadelphia's Jewish genealogical society passed along these search tips from Crista Cowan on finding and searching Jewish records on Ancestry: Go to: Ancestry.com/Jewish Don't fill out search fields yet. Scroll down to the bottom past the search fields to see a list of available records. You can click on a specific database to search only that one. Or, When searching all collections, consider using the asterisk (*) for first or last name to increase your chance
May 20
Three links added to Research Resources page
Three resources have been added to the Members Only Research Resources page. To access, go to Members Only, input the 2026 password and select Research Resources. Look for the blue label "NEW!" to find the recently added resources.
May 15
Cousin of JGSTB member presents JewishGen talk on U.S. Jewish records
Genealogist Ellen Shindelman Kowitt, cousin of JGSTB member Scott Mandel, recently gave a presentation sponsored by JewishGen on Jewish institutional records and other resources available to aid in genealogical research. Kowitt, director of JewishGen's USA Research Division, spoke about how to trace Jews in the United States using Jewish community and institutional records such as Jewish newspapers, synagogues, Jewish hospitals and orphanages, and where to find them. You can
Apr 28
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