24:3-4 Spring-Summer 2003 - Jewish Genealogical Society

The Journal of the Jewish Genealogical Society
DOROT
Volume 24, Number 3-4 Spring-Summer 2003
How the JGS Anniversary Luncheon Changed Jewish New York
by Ira Wolfman
When I sat down next to Long Island JGS member
Muriel Borin at the JGS’s 25th anniversary luncheon in
November 2002, I never imagined that her great-uncle
and I would become acquainted–or that he would end up
prominently featured in a new book that I was writing.
For one thing, Philip Frankel has been dead for 60 years.
For another, Muriel and I had never met before, and after
a short bout of “Jewish Geography,” we established that
we were not related.
But while we ate and listened to speakers, Muriel told me
that her grandfather, Meyer Frankel, had come to New
York from Poland in 1865 at age 20, and had been
married on the Lower East Side’s Division Street in
1873. She said she had a copy of the invitation to her
grandparents’ wedding, and to their 50th anniversary
celebration, held in Harlem in (naturally) 1923.
That interested me: I was writing a small, illustrated
book that looked at the history of Jews in New York City
from 1654 to the current day, and was searching for
In this issue...
How the JGS Anniversary Luncheon Changed Jewish New York ....... 1
JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry Launched .................... 2
JGS New York Programs: 2003–2004 .............................................. 3
Genealogical Resources in New York .............................................. 4
Genealogical Resources in New York Order Form ............................ 5
Book Review: The Enemy at His Pleasure ........................................ 6
Book Review: Sephardic Genealogy: Discovering Your Sephardic
Ancestors and Their World ......................................................... 7
JRI–Poland Expands Shopping Basket Order Systen ......................... 8
Washington DC 2003: A Capital Conference ..................................... 9
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies ............. 11
“Only in New York” ........................................................................ 12
Genealogical Projects of the Israel Genealogical Society ................. 15
Next-Gen Genealogy ...................................................................... 18
Genealogy 101: The 12-Step Approach .......................................... 20
Book Review - Family History Writ Large
From Sulwalki to St. Ignace: A History of the Rosenthal,
Reinhertz, Blumrosen, Winkelman and Related Families ........... 22
Center for Jewish History Acquires Jewish Bibliographical Archive 23
NY & NJ Repository Round-up ....................................................... 24
JGS Thanks its Supporters ............................................................ 25
JGS Friends ................................................................................... 27
information about the Jewish community in Harlem.
Muriel said she’d be happy to send me copies of the
invitations–and mentioned in passing that she also had
the invitation to her great-uncle’s bar mitzvah, which
took place at Congregation B’nai Sholom on Lexington
Avenue in Harlem in 1887.
I was excited when the invitations arrived. Here, I
thought, was a great way to personalize the Jewish
presence in Harlem, showing that it went back as far as
the 1880s! (In fact, in the early 1900s Harlem was briefly
the third largest Jewish community in the world, after
Warsaw and the Lower East Side.) When Muriel told me
that she also had a photo of the bar mitzvah boy, I urged
her to send that along, too.
As I put together the book–Jewish New York: Notable
Neighborhoods and Memorable Moments, published by
Rizzoli/Universe–I felt that the story of the Frankel
family, accompanied by the bar mitzvah invitation and
photo, added a lot. With Muriel’s consent (and a better
copy of the photo, courtesy of her cousin Martin J.
Frankel–Philip’s son!), I featured a bit of this family’s
saga in the book.
And so, when Jewish New York was published in
October 2003, it included the Frankels’ bar mitzvah
invitation and the round, sepia photo of Phillip, dressed
in a dark suit (with short, knicker-like pants) and highbutton
shoes, leaning against a rather abstract stool in a
photo studio.
I couldn’t help but think, as I looked at that 116-year-old
photo of Philip, that it might never have seen the light of
day if, on that November afternoon, I had taken a seat at
another table.
Many thanks to Muriel, and to the JGS, for enabling me
to add this lovely piece of New York Jewish family
history to my book.
✡

DOROT
The Journal of the
Jewish Genealogical Society
Acting Editor ................................ Steven W. Siegel
Layout & Design .............................. Maralyn Steeg
Contributing Writers ..................................................
Randall C. Belinfante
Hal Bookbinder
Tina B. Carver
Linda Cantor
Michael Halpern
© 2003 Jewish Genealogical Society, Inc.
DOROT (ISSN 0886-2796) is published quarterly
as Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer issues.
Subscription is by membership only.
ADVERTISING RATES FOR DISPLAY ADS
Full page $150 • Half page $80
Quarter page $45 • Eighth page $25
JGS, Inc. is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization.
Address all correspondence to:
JGS, Inc.,
15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011
JGS Phone: 212-294-8326
E-mail info: info@jgsny.org
Web site: www.jgsny.org
JGS EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Alex Friedlander, President
Gloria Freund, Vice President–Program
Lucille Gudis, Vice President–Membership
Paul H. Silverstone, Treasurer
Linda Cantor, Secretary
Estelle M. Guzik, Past President (1997-2001)
Wendy Ameleh
Valery Bazarov
Adam Bronstein
Stewart Driller
Gerald Dunsky
Susan E. King
Arthur S. Leonard
Paul Siverstone
Mathilde A. Tagger
Ira Wolfman
Claus W. Hirsch
Michael L. Levine
Hadassah Lipsius
Steven W. Siegel
Maralyn Steeg
Founding President:
Dr. Neil Rosenstein (1977-79)
We apologize for the continuing
delays in the publication of Dorot.
Although this double issue (volume
24, number 3-4) is dated
Spring-Summer 2003, it is being
mailed in Winter 2003-04.
JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial
Registry Launched
by Susan E. King
As part of its presentation at the 2003 International Conference
on Jewish Genealogy, JewishGen launched the JewishGen Online
Worldwide Burial Registry database (JOWBR), a compilation of
burial records, photographs and information about the individual
cemeteries. To help accumulate data, JewishGen initiated an
“adopt a cemetery” program to encourage local genealogy societies,
synagogue youth groups, Jewish federations, and other interested
parties worldwide to index cemetery or landsmanschaft
plot records for submission to the JOWBR project.
The JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry database is
one of the largest and most sophisticated efforts undertaken by
JewishGen to date. Jewish cemeteries throughout the world are
threatened with vandalism and even extinction. It is vitally important
to preserve information on existing Jewish cemeteries so
future generations will have the benefit of this aspect of cultural
heritage.
The database features 643 cemeteries, 314,778 burial records,
and 11,461 tombstone photographs representing cemeteries in
25 countries. In the coming year, JewishGen intends to include
information for an additional 242 cemeteries, 150,461 burial
records and 22,400 tombstone images from 36 cemeteries in Eastern
Europe.
We expect to see the database grow quickly as those researching
their family history contribute information about the cemeteries
of their ancestral towns and also through our partnerships with
cemetery associations throughout the world to include the Jewish
Cemetery Association of Massachusetts, the Johannesburg
Jewish Helping Hand & Burial Society (Chevra Kadisha), and
the Texas Jewish Historical Society have already provided thousands
of records.
The database is now live and located at www.jewishgen.org/databases/jowbr.
Susan E. King is Managing Director, JewishGen Inc. ✡
E-mail Address
All e-mail to the JGS should be sent
to info@jgsny.org. The address
jgsny@aol.com is no longer being
used.
-2- Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003

JGS New York Programs: 2003–2004
September 21, 2003:
“The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society:
What’s There for the Jewish Genealogist?” Many
of us become familiar with the New York Genealogical
and Biographical Society as a link to access the back
issues of The New York Times on-line. Joy Rich, NYGBS
Library Director and JGSNY member, discusses the resources
of the Society’s library for the Jewish family
history researcher. Postscript: Adam Bronstein, JGSNY
Executive Council member and webmaster, presents
“Genealogical Genetics: A Brief Overview and Personal
Experience.”
October 26, 2003:
“Jewish Given Names: Why is Mordecai, Mortka and
also Max?” Warren Blatt, JewishGen webmaster and the
author of its FAQ, presents an introduction to Jewish
given names, focusing on practical issues for genealogical
research. Our ancestors each had many different given
names and nicknames, in various languages and alphabets,
which can make Jewish genealogical research difficult.
This presentation teaches the history and patterns
of Jewish first names, and how to recognize your ancestors’
names in genealogical sources.
October 30 and November 13, 2003:
“Researching Your Family History” – Introductory
course co-sponsored by JGS and the 92nd Street YM-
YWHA, taught by Linda Cantor and Lucille Gudis.
November 16, 2003:
“Understanding Your Galician Vital Records.” Mark
Halpern, coordinator of Jewish Records Indexing
Poland’s AGAD Archive, presents an historical perspective
for what researchers will and will not find in the
AGAD, Przemysl and Rzeszow Archives. His talk includes
an explanation of the information that can be found
in the Galician records and an identification of the records
of most genealogical value. He also discusses the issue
of Jewish religious/civil marriages and the status of the
children born of these marriages.
December 28, 2003:
“Surprises from the Collections of the American Jewish
Historical Society.” The American Jewish Historical
Society collections include many surprises and many
resources unfamiliar to most Jewish genealogists. Lyn
Slome, AJHS Director of Library and Archives, tells us
about these treasures.
January 18, 2004:
Preview of the 24th IAJGS International Conference on
Jewish Genealogy, to be held July 4-9, 2004 in Jerusalem.
Hadassah Lipsius and Jeffrey Cymbler preview the research
opportunities available in Israel, and Lucille Gudis illustrates
the value of Yad Vashem Pages of Testimony for
genealogical research.
February 15, 2004:
Gary Mokotoff speaks about the newly-published
Avotaynu Guide to Jewish Genealogy.
March 28, 2004:
Rabbi Michael Schudrich presents “Return to Ozarow–
Mending a Broken Link,” a video on the Poland Jewish
Cemeteries Restoration Project.
April 18, 2004:
Bob Friedman, Genealogy Institute director at the Center
for Jewish History, discusses the new CJH Catalog
of library and archival holdings held by all the CJH partner
institutions.
May 16, 2004:
“Beyond the Basics” Genealogy Seminar, followed by
Stephen Morse. Note: This day’s events are held at Hebrew
Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, 1 West
4th Street.
May 20, 2004:
Yale Reisner talks about the Jewish Historical Institute
in Warsaw.
June 20, 2004:
Program to be announced.
Unless noted otherwise, JGS monthly programs are held at 2:00 PM at the Center for
Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street (between Fifth and Sixth Avenues), New York
City. Members should bring their membership cards. Admission for non-members is
$3. The Center Genealogy Institute is open from 12:30 to 2:00 for networking with
other researchers and access to resource materials and computers
Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003 -3-

Genealogical Resources in New York
Do you own a copy of the Jewish Genealogical Society’s
recent publication, Genealogical Resources in New York,
edited by Estelle M. Guzik? Then you understand its great
value in pointing the way to genealogical treasures in more
than 80 research facilities in New York City and Albany.
You still don’t have this book in your home library? Read
what others say, then order your own copy!
“Given the huge number of genealogists everywhere who
have roots in this city, it goes without saying that every
genealogical library should have a copy of Genealogical
Resources in New York on its shelves. Anyone who is doing
research in the city will want to consult this guide on a
regular basis, and anyone who is working on a New York
City family will find the guide invaluable for understanding
what is available, even if they cannot utilize the resources in
person. Estelle Guzik and the Jewish Genealogical Society
have once again come through with an indispensable tool
for all of us. We congratulate them, and give their
publication our highest recommendation.” The New York
Genealogical and Biographical Record, July 2003
“This valuable book makes research easier for those of us
who live west of the Mississippi.” H.W., Denver
“In a word: Fabulous! You have done an incredible job
gathering and documenting all the information for New
York City (and Albany) available to researchers, be it for
genealogical or biographical purposes. The book is now
probably the most comprehensive source available in the
field. It will serve as a wonderful reference tool for all of us.
The Center for Jewish History together with its partners
forms a nice portion of the resources listed. Thanks for your
diligent work and major contribution.” Diane R.
Spielmann, Ph.D., Director of Public Services, Center for
Jewish History, New York.
“It is one of those books that is better to purchase instead of
trying to obtain all this information from the Internet. I say
this as a great exponent of genealogical research via the
Internet...This is an excellent resource.” Sharsharet
Hadorot (Israel Genealogical Society), October 2003.
“Ownership of this book is a must for those of us with an
interest in New York genealogy.” J.G., New York City
Genealogical Resources in New York is $49.95 plus
shipping (and tax where applicable) and may be ordered
on-line, by phone, fax, or mail. Orders may be placed by
phone at 1-800-247-6553. The book is also available at the
Center for Jewish History Book Store, 15 West 16th Street,
New York. Complete ordering information and additional
details are at www.jgsny.org/newbook.htm.
When I received Genealogical Resources in New
York, I was reminded of how difficult and frustrating
it is to extract information from archival resources and
present it in a useful and logical format, based upon my
own experiences working in the Eastern European
archives. This book anticipates the needs and
questions of its readers and will save anyone countless
hours and days in trying to determine where to look for
particular information. Even for experienced researchers,
there are so many possibilities for new
discoveries.
During the ten+ years that editor Estelle Guzik
has researched the genealogical resources in New
York, she has established close ties with the
administrators, archivists, librarians and employees of
these facilities. Not only has she extracted information
for this book (and the earlier edition), but she has
increased the awareness of the staff in these
repositories about the importance and wide-spread
interest in genealogy research. As a result, many of
these facilities have increased their genealogical
collections and/or made them more accessible with
finding aids.
Any genealogist or family historian who had
roots in New York or whose family members
immigrated through New York (which includes most
of us), should have this book! And every library must
have this book!
Miriam Weiner
Special Ordering Information for JGS-NY members
Current members of JGS-NY may purchase the book at
a member’s discount of 15% off the list price – $42.50
per copy. To obtain the discount, members must order
directly by mail from the JGS – not through our
distribution service in Ashland OH. Complete the order
form on the opposite page–but please note that:
• The member’s price is $42.50.
• Shipping rates are as shown on the form.
• NY residents pay sales tax of 8.625% on book and
shipping.
• Orders must be mailed–with payment by
check or credit card–to:
Book Orders, JGS
P.O. Box 286398 • New York NY 10128-0004
Do not mail to Ashland OH.
JGS-NY members may purchase the book at the discounted
price at the Center for Jewish History Book
Store. You must show your current JGS membership card
to receive the 15% discount. ✡
-4- Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003

Book Review
by Linda Cantor
The Enemy at His Pleasure by S. Ansky, translated by
Joachim Neugroschel. New York: Metropolitan Books,
2003.
This newly-translated edition of The Enemy at His Pleasure,
originally published posthumously in Yiddish as
The Destruction of Galicia in Warsaw in 1925, is the
memoir of S. Ansky as he traveled through the Pale of
Settlement and Galicia, along the Eastern front of the
fighting between Germany, Austria and Russia from 1914
through 1917.
Ansky, born Shloime Zanvel Rappaport, is best known
as a journalist, the editor of the Russian-Jewish monthly
publication Evreski Mir, the author of the play The
Dybbuk, as well as for his ethnographic expeditions
through the Russian Pale of Settlement (studies of Yiddish
culture, including song, photos, stories, and customs)
just prior to World War I. When the outbreak of
World War I in 1914 put an end to his ethnographic travels,
he decided to continue to travel the region in order
to investigate the reports of massacres, pogroms, and
mass deportations of the Jews.
The book is a first-person account of his travels, with
detailed descriptions of the fighting and destruction he
saw, as well as his meetings and encounters with Russian
officials–civil and military, local residents, religious
leaders, leaders of local relief organizations, and medical
personnel, all as part of his effort to bring relief supplies
to those Jews still in the areas of fighting and to
record the events for the rest of the world.
His recounting of the fighting that he witnessed, along
with a long list of incidents of rape and looting, torture
and massacres, virulent anti-Semitism on the part of the
Russians, and food shortages and starvation, is both fascinating
and repelling to read. He described in great detail
his conversations and difficulties with Russian generals
as well as local rabbis, the politics of indigenous
relief organizations even in the midst of the horrors of
war, and the terror and violence caused by the constant
stories spread by both military and civilian sources that
the Jews were spying for the Germans against the Russians.
As genealogists interested in this area of Europe, we are
familiar with the towns but many of us are unfamiliar
with the degree of suffering that took place during World
War I. This is a must-read book for all interested in Jewish
history and genealogy. However, it is tough reading,
both because the author assumes that we are familiar
-6- Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003
with the names and places that he is discussing, and because
it is an extremely depressing story. I would recommend
reading a general history of the Eastern front
in World War I before starting The Enemy at His Pleasure,
as this will enable you to better appreciate what
you are reading.
Linda Cantor is a member of the JGS-NY Executive Council.
Book Review: Sephardic Genealogy
(continued from page 7)
“Tombstone Inscriptions from Small Egyptian Towns.”
Some of this latter material has appeared previously on the
Internet, and yet, drawn together in book form it provides
for some researchers a much more manageable medium
with which to work. The alphabetic material enables the
genealogist to at least decipher a few names on documents
that would otherwise have been illegible, while the many
lists of names make it possible to identify families who
lived long ago. Nevertheless, one finds here too that it is
difficult to be totally comprehensive, particularly with all
the various permutations and combinations of names found
among the Sephardim. Finally, Malka provides forms
which, presumably, one may photocopy and use for personal
family history research. They are a tremendous boon
to the genealogist who is just starting out and doesn’t know
how to organize his or her material.
Malka’s work, Sephardic Genealogy, represents a major
advance in the field of family history research. Many
Sephardim have long taken pride in their own personal family
histories. However, it has been all but impossible to find
a “how to” manual which would enable the researcher to
navigate the special linguistic requirements and the unique
resources available to the Sephardic family historian.
Malka’s work not only introduces the basic tools needed
for genealogy, but it shows how to apply these tools in the
pursuit of Sephardic family history research.
1
See Marc Angel’s view as expressed in the article by Sarina
Roffe, “The Term Sephardic Jew” at www.jewishgen.org/
sefardsig/Sephardic_roffe.htm.
Randall C. Belinfante is Librarian/Archivist at the American
Sephardi Federation. He has an extensive Sephardic family genealogy
which extends back to Joseph Cohen Belinfante, who
departed Portugal for Belgrade and later Holland in 1526.
The American Sephardi Federation is trying to build a database
of family histories from Sephardi families of all backgrounds,
from all parts of the world, and welcomes your submissions.
Visit the ASF website at www.asfonline.org and examine newlyadded
Istanbul marriage and burial records.
✡
✡

Book Review
by Randall C. Belinfante
Sephardic Genealogy: Discovering Your Sephardic Ancestors
and Their World by Jeffrey S. Malka. Bergenfield,
NJ: Avotaynu, Inc., 2002.
Jeffrey Malka has taken on a monumental task in his new
work entitled Sephardic Genealogy and attempts to create
a resource that will be of use to all genealogists. The result
is a ground-breaking work which seeks to accomplish three
objectives: it seeks to describe the history of the Sephardim
from the time of the expulsion from Babylon down to
present time; it attempts to explain the fundamentals for
doing genealogical research, and it describes a number of
the resources available for researchers investigating the
various countries around the world possessing Sephardic
descendants.
From the first, the author is confronted with an extremely
difficult issue: that of defining Sephardim. As Malka explains,
there is a wide variety of definitions: from the strict
view that Sephardic Jews derive purely from descendants
of those Jews who were departed from Spain at the time of
the expulsion in 1492 to the much more inclusive view that
holds that the Sephardim include “…almost any Jew who
is not Ashkenazic. 1 Malka concludes that the distinctions
have become cemented based on the traditions observed:
“Sephardim follow the Babylonian Jewish customs and
Caro’s Shulchan Arukh, while Ashkenazim follow the Palestinian
tradition” (p.7) and the interpretation of the
Shulchan Arukh passed down to us through Moses Isserles.
After sorting through this quagmire, Malka then proceeds
to render a short history of the various groups of Sephardim,
including the descendants of those expelled from Spain,
those who lived under Islamic rule in North Africa and the
East, and those who were descendants of the famous
Geonim of Babylonia. He adds to this sections dealing with
the Sephardic languages and with Sephardic names. In the
former section he describes the various languages used by
the Sephardim and the manner in which they have evolved
over time, while in the latter he describes how Sephardic
names have changed and evolved over time, with special
conventions used in certain areas. All of these elements are
extremely useful for the novice genealogist who is trying
to get some grasp of the Sephardim and their multi-faceted
culture.
Yet, Malka is not satisfied with this introduction, but he
expresses an interest in offering assistance to the beginner
by describing a series of genealogy basics. Here he explains
what to do to get started, how to organize and document
one’s records, how to utilize calendars and date conversions,
some of the important periodicals useful to the
genealogist, and some tips about employing computers
and the Internet. He also provides a brief review of some
of the genealogy software that is available, and describes
some of the unique resources available for doing
Sephardic genealogy.
In the third section of the book, Malka proceeds to elaborate
on the various resources that are available for research
in Sephardic genealogy. He wends his way through each
of the countries of the Sephardic world (from Iran to the
Caribbean), giving a brief history of each region (as far as
the information is relevant to the genealogist), and then
describing some of the resources available for doing family
history research in each country. Those available differed
significantly from place to place. In some countries
one finds archives, vital records, and cemetery records,
while in such other regions as the Balkans, information is
much more meager. For each place Malka makes suggestions
for further reading, and he even suggests research
strategies in a few instances for dealing with regions that
have a complex organization to their records. One of
Malka’s areas of real expertise is Turkey and the Ottoman
Empire, and for this reason, he offers a number of additional
tools to assist the researcher. He offers an introduction
to Turkish as well as insights into the Turkish calendar.
This is in addition to discussions of Turkish civil, cemetery,
and genealogical records. Malka thus attempts to offer
some guidance to researchers by probing all regions of
the Sephardi world.
Even with all this information, Malka is not satisfied, and
so he supplements his extensive resources with a discussion
of the Internet. A general description of the topic is
offered earlier in the book, but in this section Malka proceeds
to examine and evaluate the Internet resources available
in individual countries of the Sephardic world. Looking
first at such elements as the Crypto-Jews and Sephardic
family pages, Malka tries to include in his survey as many
websites about as many topics as he can muster. Unfortunately,
on this point, Malka’s work falls victim to the rapid
advances and changes of Internet technology. Indeed, new
websites are popping up every day, and those that exist are
prone to change. Although Malka has made a valiant effort,
it is apparent that the World Wide Web has seen some
changes in the short time since his book’s release.
Yet, there is still more to Malka’s work, in the form of a
series of highly informative appendixes. This information
includes a diverse group of topics, ranging from “Etymology
of selected Sephardic names” and the “Arabic Alphabet”
to “Inquisition Tribunals in Spain” and a list of
(continued on page 6)
Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003 -7-

JRI – Poland Expands Shopping Basket Order Sytem
by Mark Halpern
Jewish Records Indexing - Poland has reached an agreement
with the Polish State Archives (PSA) to extend its
new online order processing system, the “Shopping Basket
System,” to 13 additional archives and their branches
effective November 4, 2003.
Since late last year, the JRI-Poland Order Processing Center
has worked with the State Archives in Bialystok and its
Lomza branch testing a shopping basket system for ordering
copies of vital records indexed by JRI-Poland/PSA
Projects. This pilot project has been very successful and
the system will now be expanded to the following Archives
and their branches: AGAD - Central Archive of Historical
Records; Bialystok, Lomza Branch; Czestochowa; Kalisz;
Krakow; Lublin; Lodz; Poznan; Przemysl; Rzeszow;
Siedlce; Suwalki; Warsaw, Grodzisk Mazowiecki Branch,
Gora Kalwaria Branch, Lowicz Branch, Mlawa Branch,
and Pultusk Branch; and Zamosc.
We expect that the remaining archives and branches not
part of the shopping basket system as of November 4, 2003,
will be added in early 2004. This includes Kielce and its
Pinczow, Sandomierz and Starachowice branches, Piotrkow
Trybunalski and its Tomaszow Mazowiecki branch, Plock
and its Leczycz branch, Radom, and Torun and its
Wloclawek branch.
The system allows researchers to create a “shopping basket”
for copies of records to order by clicking on index
entries in the results webpage of a JRI-Poland database
search. Orders can be saved and subsequently amended,
modified, or deleted. When a researcher is ready to order,
payment can be made by credit card (Visa or MasterCard)
or check or money order in U.S. dollars. There is absolutely
no danger that an order can be mistakenly placed
while online. At this time, researchers must mail in their
order and payment for the order to become official.
For a step-by-step tutorial of the system, go to
www.jewishgen.org/jri-pl/psa/psabasketinst.htm.
Each record ordered will cost the researcher $10. However,
there is a minimum charge per branch of $15. (Therefore,
if you order one record from Lodz and one from
Pultusk, the total charge will be $30.) JRI-Poland will receive
researcher payments and arrange for periodic bank
transfers in Polish currency to each Polish Archive branch.
The current “Request for Quotation” system will be eliminated
as of November 4. We suggest that researchers cease
use of the Request for Quotation system immediately. The
objective of JRI-Poland and PSA is to have only one ordering
system that works efficiently for researchers.
We at JRI-Poland are excited to introduce this user-friendly
system and we thank the management of the Polish State
Archives and their branches for their cooperation and their
enthusiastic role in the development of this system.
Mark Halpern is Director, Polish State Archives Order Processing
Center, and President, Jewish Genealogical Society of
Greater Philadelphia.
✡
National and International Events
May 19-22, 2004:
Sacramento: A Golden Prospect – Annual National Genealogical
Society Conference in the States, Sacramento,
California. www.eshow2000.com/ngs
July 4-9, 2004:
24th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy,
Jerusalem–sponsored by the Israel Genealogical
Society. English will be the official language of the conference;
a number of lectures will be presented in Hebrew
with simultaneous translation into English.
www.ortra.com/jgen2004
July 11-17, 2004:
National Institute on Genealogical Research, Washington,
DC. An intensive study opportunity for experienced
genealogists, and for archivists, historians and librarians
interested in using federal records for genealogical
research. www.rootsweb.com/~natgenin
September 8-11, 2004:
Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference, Austin,
Texas. www.fgs.org
July 10-15, 2005:
25th IAJGS International Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Summer 2006:
26th IAJGS International Conference, New York City. ✡
-8- Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003

Washington DC 2003: A Capital Conference
23rd IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy
The Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington
hosted an outstanding conference July 20-25, 2003, attended
by more than 1,200 people, at the JW Marriott
Hotel in downtown Washington. Over one hundred attendees
were from New York alone.
If you attended the conference, or attended it
but missed an important presentation, over
130 lectures are available in audio cassette
format from Repeat Performances
at $8.50 each plus shipping. Details are
available at www.audiotapes.com/
conf.asp?ProductCon=92.
The following recollections were prepared
by two JGS-NY Executive Council
members.
Linda Cantor–
This was the twelfth conference on
Jewish genealogy that I have attended.
Since I am not a novice genealogist and
have heard some of the speakers before, I set out to find
talks that would be new and challenging. This was not
an easy task but it did turn out to be a rewarding one.
Archives,” Stephen Morse’s “Playing Hide and Seek in
the 1930 Census,” and several talks on one of my areas of
interest, Litvak and South African genealogy–Ann
Rabinowitz on “Researching Your South African Jewish
Roots on the Internet” and Vitalija Gircyte’s “Jewish
Records in the Kaunas Archives: Tracing Human Lives in
Official Records.”
But as always, I found the most valuable
part of an annual conference is the
chance to network with my fellow researchers.
I attended as many SIG
(Special Interest Group) meetings as
time would allow, several SIG luncheons,
and the rather popular New
York dinner. We had over 60 JGS
members join us in a lovely dinner at
Stacks, a kosher restaurant several
blocks from the hotel. We actually had
to turn people away as we had run out
of seats and space. It was a great opportunity
to chat with people that we
don’t ordinarily have a chance to talk with. Isn’t that
what genealogy is about–learning about the past from
the living, not just from records?
The best talk that I attended–no contest–was our own Valery
Bazarov and Marian Smith on “Doing the Immigration
Dance: HIAS and INS Case Files.” Valery and Marian used
several examples of immigrants who were assisted by HIAS
(Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) and then followed up with
the INS (Immigration
and Naturalization
Service) case
files, providing
some interesting stories
of the troubles
faced by these
people. They were a
good team–humorous
and excellent
speakers. And it is
amazing how much
material is sitting in these two institutions. Of course, if
your ancestor was the ordinary Joe who came in without
any extraordinary headaches, then you will not find them
in these resources. But it’s worth a look.
I learned some new tips and ideas from Claire Prechtel-
Kluskens’ talk on “Passport Applications in the National
Paul Silverstone–
I spent five enjoyable days in Washington attending the
23rd Conference. My enjoyment came from being there
with hundreds of others who share my interest in genealogical
research, a moment that does not occur often.
How pleasurable
it is to be able to
share one’s discoveries
and
problems with
others who understand
the difficulty
and excitement
of success.
A group of conference attendees from New York at the banquet
The lecture by
Claire Prechtel-Kluskens on “Passport Applications in
the National Archives” inspired me to go and have a
look, and I discovered my uncle’s application from 1921
(earlier than I anticipated). This provided a hint on finding
my grandfather on a passenger manifest, something
which had so far eluded me. Eventually using the specific
information found in the application (that his father
Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003 -9-

Washington DC 2003: A Capital Conference
arrived in July 1888 from Holland), I checked only those
manifests and found an entry I consider 90% the right
one.
Also on Monday I attended a fascinating lecture on “Moscow
Police Records of the Tsarist Period” by George
Bolotenko. It was called “Genealogical Gold” and it appears
that one day, if and when these records are
indexed and scanned, many people will find
new and exciting information. The police
built up large files on people they considered
to be seditious, many of whom
were Jewish. These files include pictures
and information on their families.
It is estimated there may be about
two million names in the files.
Monday evening we were provided
with a private opening of the U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum followed
by a well-provisioned reception. Although
one may have seen the exhibit
before, there is always some new thing
to focus on.
Sharon Carmack’s talk on “Finding your Female Ancestors”
delineated the problems in tracing women who upon
marrying changed their surnames. These women then
seemingly disappear unless one can
find their husbands’ names. She
described some of the techniques
to pierce this barrier.
so popular the capacity of the room was reached before
all who wanted to come had signed up.
Harold Rhode gave a talk with slides on the “Rescue of
Jewish Records in Baghdad,” an episode I did not know
about (although mentioned in The New York Times days
later). A large cache of Jewish books were discovered in
the flooded basement of the main Iraqi intelligence
agency which had been bombed. Rhode was
instrumental in helping to save these
books, many of which were very old,
on his own initiative, an action very
much to his credit. I stayed to see his
interesting pictures but his talk was
too long, repetitious and tendentious.
Valery Bazarov and Marian Smith
spoke on HIAS and INS case files.
This presentation was interesting and
different. Bazarov would give details
of a HIAS case file showing an immigrant
with a problem. Marian Smith
produced INS files of the same case
showing the background of the problem and its outcome.
In one case an individual was enabled to stay in the country
by using political influence including a letter from
the White House. Years later deportation proceedings
were started; it turned out that he had been admitted only
temporarily. This method of using
files of two agencies on the
same case gave us a view of the
case from opposing sides.
Stephen Morse, who has done so
much to help us break through the
complexities of computer technology
to actually find the information
wanted, is a good speaker who
holds his audience’s attention. He
explained in non-technical language
with clear illustrations how
to navigate the Ellis Island Database
and the 1930 census.
Miriam Weiner, always a popular speaker, brought us
up to date on “Ukraine Archival Holdings,” including
the recent disastrous fire at Kamenets-Podolsk.
Once again a dinner was held for New Yorkers at the
Conference. It took place at a local kosher deli and proved
Marian Smith and Valery Bazarov
The banquet was considerably
enhanced by the remarks given
by Hadassah Lieberman, wife of
the senator. She recounted her
own interesting family history
and also provided a good discussion
of why our research into the
past is useful and important.
There were a lot of films shown but I was able to see
only one, “Desperate Hours,” about Turkey and the Jews
during the war. This documentary illustrated some interesting
but little-known episodes of World War II, including
an influx of Jewish intellectuals who took up residence
in Turkey and the rescue of many Jews in France
who had Turkish nationality. ✡
-10- Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003

International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies
Hal Bookbinder, IAJGS President, provided the following
report:
The 23rd IAJGS International Conference on Jewish
Genealogy in Washington DC was great. Hats are off to
Sheri Meisel, Ben Okner, and Eli Savada (along with
scores of volunteers) who put on a great conference.
Next year in Jerusalem! The 24th Conference
will be July 4-9, 2004, presented by the Israel
Genealogical Society. The 25th Conference
will be July 10-15, 2005, in Las Vegas, Nevada,
and the 26th Conference will be in New
York City in summer 2006.
IAJGS Achievement Awards went to:
• Lifetime Achievement to Miriam Weiner.
• Outstanding Contribution to Stephen Morse for his
one-step web pages.
• Outstanding Project to the JGS of Montreal for Quebec
vital records indexing.
• Outstanding Publication to the JGS of Palm Beach
County for their Beginners and Intermediate Genealogical
Workbook.
Write-ups with additional background are available at
www.iajgs.org.
IAJGS Malcolm H. Stern Award went to the University
of Denver, Ira M. Beck Memorial Archives to support
their effort to index about 25,000 tuberculosis patient
files, 1904-1920, of the Jewish Consumptives’ Relief
Society. For more information see www.iajgs.org.
Financials: The IAJGS balance sheet remained flat, with
income of $9,700 and expenditures of $9,800 for 2002.
Dues provide about half the income with the remainder
being donations (primarily Stern Fund) and sales of CD/
ROMs. Costs are kept down through the generosity of
the IAJGS board members, who absorb much of the cost
of their participation.
Membership: IAJGS welcomed two new societies this
year, Western Massachusetts JGS and Utah JGS.
IAJGS Cruise: The December 2003 trip has been cancelled
due to insufficient interest.
IAJGS Cemetery Project: The IAJGS Cemetery Project–
cataloging Jewish cemeteries around the world–continues
under the leadership of Ellen Sadove Renck and is
available at www.jewishgen.org/cemetery. The cataloging
of Jewish burials is now being done as separate
JewishGen project.
Miriam Weiner
IAJGS Chat Site: IAJGS has created a Chat Site with
plans for its use to facilitate live discussions with experts
and for less formal birds-of-a-feather sessions. The
Chat Site can be found at www.iajgs.org.
Film Lending Agreement: IAJGS and the Jewish Community
Library of Los Angeles have signed an agreement
to allow representatives of IAJGS member
societies to borrow from the extensive
(1000+) film library of the JCLLA. The only
cost will be for shipping the film back to the
JCLLA, so long as it is returned on time and
undamaged. A list of about 35 films available
under the agreement specifically geared to Jewish
genealogy or culture is available at
www.iajgs.org.
Legislative/Records Update:
• IAJGS intervened in California, lobbying against a bill
that would severely restrict access to vital records statewide.
As a result of coordinated lobbying by several
interest groups, the bill was substantially loosened
before final passage.
• IAJGS contacted the German Minister of the Interior,
lobbying for loosening access to German vital records.
For all intents and purposes, they are now closed forever.
Assurance was provided by the Minister’s office
that a bill to allow genealogical access will become
law in 2005. The leaders of the JGS of Hamburg were
most pleased with this result.
• IAJGS is beginning a campaign to lobby the entities
that provide oversight to the International Tracing Service
to open these records, so that individuals can better
achieve closure regarding those who perished in
the Holocaust.
IAJGS Bylaws were amended to remove term limits on
IAJGS board members–except the president, who will
continue to be limited to two consecutive terms.
IAJGS Board Elections: The recommendation of the
nominating committee was approved by the membership,
resulting in Hal Bookbinder (Los Angeles) being
re-elected as President, Michael Brenner (Las Vegas) as
Vice-President, Joel Spector (Cherry Hill, NJ) as Secretary,
and Michael Posnick (Minneapolis) as Treasurer.
The Board selected Ellen Shindelman Kowitt (Denver)
to complete the one-year term of a vacant director’s position.
Continuing board members are Judith Frazin
(Northbrook, IL), Anthony Joseph (Birmingham, England),
Martha Lev-Zion (Omer, Israel), Howard Margol
(Atlanta), Daniel Schlyter (Salt Lake City), and Arnold
Tolkin (Palm Beach Gardens, FL).
✡
Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003 -11-

“Only in New York”
by Linda Cantor
Based on a talk by Lucille Gudis and Linda Cantor at
the 23rd IAJGS International Conference on Jewish
Genealogy, Washington, DC, July 22, 2003
Do you have roots in New York City? Did your ancestors
spend their lifetime in New York or only a few years there?
Either way, their American paper trail starts in New York.
You can do some genealogical research at home, on the
Internet, at the local library, or at the Family History Center
of LDS. But there is some research that you can do only if
you come to New York City and visit some Archives with
special collections. There are far too many possibilities to
cover all of them. This article will just touch upon several
of these collections and, hopefully, make you want to come
to New York to do your genealogical research.
local–are to be found “only in New York.” NARA holds
the records for U.S. District Courts in New York State,
New Jersey, and Puerto Rico, for civil and criminal cases,
as well as an index to criminal and civil cases, 1865-1968,
for the Southern District. Court records can contain much
genealogically relevant information but vary from case to
case.
You can find the records of many New York State court
cases at the County Clerk’s Office, Division of Old Records
(31 Chambers Street, 7th floor, New York, NY 10007, 212-
374-4376) for New York County. There are several alphabetical
card indexes that cover 1765-1940 and a computerized
index that covers some records group. 2
Let’s start out at the National Archives, Northeast Region
(201 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, 212-401-1620).
NARA holds declarations of intention and naturalization
petitions for several New York, New Jersey, and Puerto
Rico courts including U.S. District Court New York Southern
and Eastern Districts, several New York state and city courts,
and U.S. District Court New Jersey and Puerto Rico. 1
Declarations and petitions can provide much valuable genealogical
information, including place and date of birth,
names and ages of family members, and date and method
of immigration. A declaration of intention or a petition for
naturalization can be viewed on microfilm in many locations
but, if it was issued in New York City, you can view
the original and hold it in your hand, “only in New York.”
There is nothing to compare to seeing and holding an actual
document that was completed and signed by your ancestor.
NARA also holds the World War II draft registration cards
for the 4th registration, for men born between April 28,
1877 and February 16, 1897, the so-called “old man’s registration.”
While the Family History Library is in the process
of microfilming these World War II draft registration
cards for New York City and New Jersey, you can look at
and handle the original cards “only in New York.” New
Jersey cards are arranged alphabetically within each county.
New York City cards are arranged alphabetically within
each borough. You can check to see which of your family
members are included. Cards contain name, age, address
of registrant, name and address of nearest relative, and a
physical description of the registrant.
Has your family ever been to court in New York for name
changes, business contracts and dealings, or civil and criminal
actions? Records for all these cases–federal, state, and
-12- Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003
Sample index card to New York State court cases at the
County Clerk’s Office, Division of Old Records
Other records that you can access at the County Clerk’s
Office, Division of Old Records, include name changes
from 1874-1934 and business names, including papers of
incorporation, partnerships, registration of business names
(varying years) as well as some synagogues and
landsmanshaftn. There is a printout of a computerized index
for registered business names for 1812-1986. Again,
the information that you can obtain from these records varies
greatly from record to record.
Go down to the first floor at 31 Chambers Street and you
come to the Municipal Archives (Room 103, 212-788-
8580). Here you will discover a treasure trove of documents
including several that can be found “only in New
York.” Among these are Coroner’s records for 1823- 1918
and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s records for
1918-1939. These records exist if there was an inquest into
a death. Access is limited and you must provide both a
death certificate and a reason for use.
The Municipal Archives also holds the City Clerk’s marriage
records for 1908-1929 and indexes for 1908-1951.
These records are independent of the Health Department

“Only in New York” continued
marriage records for 1866-1937 and contain somewhat
different information. The microfilmed City Clerk’s indexes
are arranged by borough, month, and the first two letters of
the surname and include both a grooms and brides index.
Another unique collection at the Municipal Archives is the
Tax photograph collection of all buildings in New York
City, photographed in 1939-1940. If you have either the
address or block and lot number, you can access these blackand-white
photos. You can make a copy from the microfilm
or order a photographic print for $25. You might be
surprised at what you find in these photos.
From the Tax photograph collection at the Municipal Archives.
Much to the surprise of the author, she discovered
that her grandfather Samuel Cantor is in the photograph,
standing in front of his grocery store.
Wills can provide valuable information for the genealogist.
If your ancestor lived in New York, they might have a
will on file. “Only in New York” can you see those documents,
which may include death certificates as well as names
and addresses of family members, at Surrogate’s Court,
Record Room ( 31 Chambers St, 4th floor, New York, NY
10007, 212-374-8287) for New York County.
Many records that chronicle our ancestors’ European and
immigration history can be found at the Center for Jewish
History (15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011). Two
of the collections that are housed at the American Jewish
Historical Society (212- 294-6160) are unique and found
“only in New York”–the Industrial Removal Office records
and 20th-century Jewish servicemen’s records. (See
www.ajhs.org/research/Gene_RelevantC.cfm for more information
about these and other AJHS collections.)
The Industrial Removal Office records include over 40,000
records of immigrants who were relocated mostly from New
York to the rest of the U.S. and Canada from 1899 to 1922.
The ledgers, arranged chronologically, contain the names
of the immigrants, their address, age, number of family
members, occupation, and how long they have been in the
U.S. You can access this collection via an on-line index at
www.cjh.org/academic/findingaids/AJHS/searchtools/
search_iro_form.cfm. Once you have the reference, you
can locate the actual record at the AJHS archives at the
Center for Jewish History.
Did you know that you can access birth records by address at
the Municipal Archives? If you have an address for your family,
you can check for birth records, which are indexed not only
by name but also by year and then address. Listed is the birth
certificate number, which will enable you to access the birth
certificate for a family member. This collection covers varying
years for the five boroughs for1880-1917.
From the ledgers of the Industrial Removal Office (AJHS,
Center for Jewish History)
Sample index card for births by address (New York City
Municipal Archives)
AJHS also has a large collection of records that provide
details about the lives and service records of Jewish servicemen
who served in most of the wars of the 20th century.
Among these are the records of the American Jewish
Committee, Office of War Records, 1918-1921, including
thousands of questionnaires completed by servicemen;
National Jewish Welfare Board, Bureau of War Records,
1940-1969, including thousands of data cards on individual
soldiers, and the National Jewish Welfare Board, Military
Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003 -13-

Only in New York” continued
Chaplaincy records, 1917-1984, which include biographical
questionnaires completed by chaplains. There is an online
index for the World War I records at www.cjh.org/
academic/findingaids/AJHS/searchtools/
search_ajc.form.cfm. You must visit AJHS in person to
access the actual documents. All these records can provide
genealogically valuable information such as date and place
of birth, age, names of parents and siblings, and educational
data. Military information such as serial number
and units served, injuries, and date and place of death
for soldiers killed in action are often provided.
The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, also housed at
the Center for Jewish History (212-294-6080), has a large
number of unique collections to be found “only in New
York.” One of the most fascinating for genealogists is
the Landsmanshaftn Archive, including information on
more than a thousand different landsmanshaftn. You can
use their published finding aids 3 to identify the material
they have on the towns in which you are interested. The
materials vary greatly from group to group, but you can
find such items as the names, addresses, and ages of
members, information about people left in old country,
financial records, minutes of meetings, information about
social events, burial records, photographs, and correspondence.
YIVO also has an interesting collection of European
Community records, including Holocaust records, Displaced
Persons Camp records, Bund records, and community
records for towns in Eastern Europe. This can
include such diverse records as registers of vital records,
minutes of town council meetings, tax records, election
records, voters’ lists, and school records. You have to
examine each set of records to determine what is there
and, of course, most are in the language of the community,
most often Yiddish. Use YIVO’s published finding
aid to help locate your town’s holdings. 4
Example of European Community records at YIVO:
Rokiskis, Lithuania Jewish community tax document
If you wish to access HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid
Society) records, you must use the resources at both
HIAS (333 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10001, 212-613-
1409) and YIVO. You can search the HIAS Arrival Index
cards at HIAS, which cover immigrants who were
assisted by HIAS and arrived at U.S. and Canadian ports
from 1909 to 1985. There is a card file index covering
the early years and arranged by year of arrival. For 1980
to the present, there is a computerized index. The cards
provide the name of all family members traveling together,
date of arrival, name of ship or plane, port, dates
and places of birth, marital status, occupation, and information
about sponsor. If there is a case file number on
the card, mostly after 1940, you will find that file at
YIVO. These files can contain additional information
about the cases, including correspondence.
1
See Genealogical Resources in New York, revised and edited
by Estelle M. Guzik, Jewish Genealogical Society, 2003, pp.
100-102, for a complete list of naturalization records at NARA.
2
Ibid, pp. 72-73.
3
A Guide to YIVO’s Landsmanshaftn Archive, by Rosaline
Schwartz and Susan Milamed, YIVO,1986; Guide to the YIVO
Archives, compiled and edited by Fruma Mohrer and Marek
Web, M.E. Sharpe, 1997.
4
Guide to the YIVO Archives.
Linda Cantor is a JGS-NY Executive Council member.
✡
-14- Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003

Genealogical Projects of the Israel Genealogical Society
Prepared for the 24th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy
Jerusalem, July 4-9, 2004
by Mathilde A. Tagger
The conference organizing committee has decided to
undertake several projects of indexing sources, to be
ready for the IAJGS conference. It is hoped that these
projects will constitute an important addition to the existing
genealogical resources that are found in Israel in
general and in her capital Jerusalem in particular. I hope
with all my heart that the present summary of these special
activities will prompt you to want to come to Jerusalem
even more and to participate in this fabulous conference.
The Memorials to the Vanished Communities
Prepared by Ellen Stepak, Chana Furman, Rose Feldman
and other Volunteers
Memorials to the Vanished Communities
are found primarily in the cemeteries
of Israel, particularly in that of
Holon (near Tel Aviv), which contains
some 300 monuments. Although they
are generally grouped in certain areas,
one also finds them scattered
throughout. These monuments commemorate
one or several communities,
sometimes of an entire region or country,
such as the Memorial to Hungary on
which the names of all the Jewish communities
of that country are engraved. The names
of tiny villages, otherwise forgotten by history, are sometimes
found in the inscriptions. The most impressive
monument is certainly the one dedicated to the memory
of the community of Wlodawa (Poland) and the surrounding
localities, in memory of victims of the death
camp of Sobibor. The memorial may appear as a forest
planted in memory of the victims. This is the theme chosen
for Belgium, Estonia, France and Latvia.
These memorials were erected with profound
affection in memory of loved ones who disappeared during
the Shoah, martyrs–victims of pogroms who found
their deaths without the right to even the simplest grave.
Numerous monuments are superlative. Moved by intense
emotions, the architects were able to transfer them into a
remarkable creation. There is one common feature–they
all possess an urn containing ashes brought back from
the collective killing fields or from the death camps scattered
throughout Eastern Europe. On some monuments,
one can find a list of names of the victims engraved. The
majority of these memorials is dedicated to the communities
of Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus.
The Israeli associations of people from a same
community or region, known by their Yiddish name of
landsmanschaftn, each year organize commemorative
ceremonies at their respective memorials. However, the
number of survivors originating in these communities is
diminishing year by year, so that over the past several
years these annual commemorations have become more
and more rare.
The database will be published on a CD-ROM
in time for the International Conference of July 2004,
and for each memorial it will include: one or several
color photographs; the names of the communities such
as they are inscribed in Hebrew letters with a transliteration
in Latin letters; the modern names based
upon Where Once We Walked* and upon
ancient maps accompanied by the name
of the province or gubernia and of the
country according to actual boundaries;
date of the annual commemorations;
exact coordinates to the
memorial (name of the cemetery,
zone and section), and finally a comments
column. At this time, a list of
some 1,300 indexed communities can
be found on the Internet site of our
Association: www.isragen.org/ROS/
mvc-1.html. Thanks to the details noted,
those who wish to gather at one of these memorials
will be able to find it easily.
*Where Once We Walked. By Sallyann Amdur Sack and
Gary Mokotoff. Avotaynu, 2003. 2nd edition.
The last population census ordered by Sir
Moses Montefiore in 1875
Prepared by Meriam Haringman and Jean-Pierre Stroweis
The population census of the Jews residing in
the Holy Land in 1875 is the last of a series of five censuses
ordered by Sir Moses Montefiore and carried out
in the course of the 19th century, starting in 1839. This
is the first time in history that one of these censuses has
been entirely deciphered, transcribed, translated, indexed
and computerized.
For the Ashkenazi part of the population, the
census was done according to Kolel (Talmudic school).
These Kolelim (plural of Kolel) carry the names of the
communities where the students originally came from,
Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003 -15-

Genealogical Projects of the Israel Genealogical Society continued
such as Minsk, Volhynia, Vilna, Karlin, Zamut-Courland,
Germany-Holland, Austria–but also according to specific
groups such as Prushim* and Habad.** The
Sephardic and Oriental population were enumerated en
bloc without any distinction or subdivision. There are
also lists of community leaders, widows and orphans. It
is interesting to note that some students worked at the
same time as they studied.
The personal details included: family name, first
name, age, date of immigration (aliyah), place of birth
(Eastern Europe for the Ashkenazi community; for the
Sephardic Jews, North Africa, Ottoman Empire, Iraq,
Georgia and other countries of the Orient), family status,
first name of spouse, number of children and their
ages, profession, financial state. An additional “Notes”
column included details that were not covered under the
other headings.
This project, in the form of an easily
searchable database, will be ready in July 2004
and published on the Conference CD-
ROM.
* Prushim also known as Mitnagdim
is the sect opposed to Hasidism.
** Habad is another term used for the
Lubavitch Hasidim.
Helkat Mehokek – Translation
and index of 8,000 inscriptions
from tombstones in Hebrew from
the Cemetery of the Mount of Olives
in Jerusalem for the period 1740 to 1906
Prepared by Mathilde Tagger
Helkat Mehokek (Deut. 33:21) is the title of four
booklets published in Jerusalem between 1906 and 1913
by Rabbi Asher Leib Brisk, a Yeshiva student. In 1913
these booklets were bound into a single volume containing
the Hebrew tombstone inscriptions of 8,000 graves
of the Mount of Olives Cemetery in Jerusalem, the most
ancient Jewish cemetery in the world. This work has been
entirely translated, transcribed, indexed and computerized
in a searchable and easily useable database, which
will be published on CD-ROM.
The 8,000 inscriptions cover the period between
1740 and 1906, and are classified by parcels and rows,
with certain parcels being reserved for the tombs of the
sages. These tombstone inscriptions include those of men,
women and children, of whom 1,500 are Sephardim and
6,500 Ashkenazim. In addition to family names, first
names, father’s first names, dates of death and burial,
this database is enriched by the places of origin or birth.
The latter especially mention the communities of the
Ottoman Empire and North Africa for Sephardic Jews,
and the communities of Eastern Europe for Ashkenazic
Jews.
Index of names researched by the late Dr. Paul
Jacobi, which are found in the numerous monographs
published by the author
Prepared by Dr. Chanan Rapaport, Esther Ramon and Dr.
Yehuda Klausner
An International Center of Jewish Genealogy in
the memory of Dr. Paul Jacobi z”l is part of the Jewish
National and University Library in Jerusalem.
The Center contains the printed monographs and
many of Jacobi’s manuscripts, works covering
nearly fifty years of genealogical and historical
research. There are also excellent
works by other authors who specialized
in the genealogy of all the regions
of the Ashkenazi world. The
rich library, of which numerous
books deal with genealogy, was
collected by Paul Jacobi during his
long years of work and it also forms
a part of the Center. The Center was
created to give the public access to the
collections of Dr. Jacobi, to foster an interest
in genealogic and historic research
in a university milieu, and to promote teaching
programs in the primary and secondary schools.
The present project is to index all the names of
the people appearing on the 400 genealogical trees prepared
and published by Paul Jacobi. This index will allow
direct access to these precious monographs.
Update of the list of archives of Israel which
contain documents related to genealogy
Prepared by Meriam Haringman and other volunteers
Ten years have passed since the publication of
the book A Guide to Jewish Genealogical Research in
Israel by Sallyann Amdur Sack and the Israel Genealogical
Society. An update of this document has become
urgent for those who wish to proceed with deeper genealogical
research in Israel.
A committee of volunteers has thus been created
to this end. Aside from updating practical informa-
-16- Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003

Genealogical Projects of the Israel Genealogical Society continued
tion (addresses, hours, telephone, Internet) and the description
of new collections available in each archive,
the committee has equally undertaken to cover the archives
formerly not listed in the older book. Each member
of the committee has been assigned a museum or
archives. He is responsible for suggesting which resources
and collections are the most useful to index and
database, in order to make them available to the participants
of the Conference. The work is presently in
progress at many archives in Jerusalem. Research also
continues in archives outside the capital.
All the information will be the object of a special
database.
A guide for Sephardic and Oriental research in
Israel
Prepared by Yitzchak Kerem and Mathilde
Tagger
The aim of this project is to
cover all the information available
in Israel on Sephardic and Oriental
Jews–those originating in Arab and
Muslim countries and countries of
the Far East.
The research institutes, archives,
libraries, museums, associations
for new immigrants (olim),
Sephardic Communal Councils, funeral
societies of ethnic non-Ashkenazim
(Hevrot Kadisha), kibbutzim and community
villages (moshavim) founded by groups of Sephardic and/
or Oriental immigrants are carefully inventoried.
Documents relative to Sephardic and Oriental
Jews are found in the following archives, which will be
the object of a meticulously detailed compilation: Jewish
National and University Library, Ben Zvi Institute,
Central Archives of the History of the Jewish People,
Municipal Archives of the City of Jerusalem, Yad
Tabenkin and the Research Center for Italian Judaism.
This study will also treat various aspects of genealogical
research in Israel, for example, Sephardic and
Oriental Jews in the Shoah.
The facts will be grouped by country and will
cover the entire Mediterranean Basin, the Balkans,
Bukhara (Uzbekistan), Georgia (Asia), Afghanistan, Iran,
India, Northern Europe and the Caribbean region. Finally,
the alphabets in Hebrew, Arabic, Ottoman Turk,
Greek, Cyrillic, Judeo-Arab and Judeo-Spanish will be
added to facilitate the work of the researcher. A general
index will aid the reader to find easily that which he
searches. This innovative project will supply material in
addition to that found in books, articles, discussion groups
and Internet sites.
Index of families and personal archives found
in the Central Archives of the History of the Jewish
People (CAHJP) in Jerusalem
Prepared by Suzanne Solomon and Mathilde Tagger
This project is, in fact, the result of the detailed
analysis of diverse collections making up the
Central Archives, analysis executed by the
Archives Committee mentioned above.
The Central Archives of the
History of the Jewish People holds
some two thousand private and family
archives. The detailed computerized
index of this rich collection will
furnish all the important genealogical
information such as names of family,
first names, places of origin, periods
covered, types of archives, genealogical
tree included, language of the documents,
etc. This index will also be put onto the CD-
ROM
Conclusion
All of these works are being done by numerous
volunteers, members of the Israel Genealogical Society,
who trek through the country to photograph the memorials
in all the cemeteries, or to discover the archives not
yet indexed, or else they are slaving during countless
hours in front of their computers. All are moved by one
sole motivation: the success of this Conference. Your
presence among us will be your way of thanking them.
The Internet site of the Conference is
www.ortra.com/jgen2004. ✡
Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003 -17-

Next-Gen Genealogy
The Bar Mitzvah Connection
Using Genealogy to Enrich the Bar Mitzvah Experience–and Vice Versa
by Ira Wolfman
“Today, I am a link between the generations.”
No, it’s not as catchy as “Today, I am a fountain pen.”
But instead of a joke with an outdated punchline, that
sentence suggests a way for us to excite our children
about genealogy–by making it a part of the bar and bat
mitzvah process. And if we can do that, I believe, we
will also deepen and enrich the bar mitzvah experience
for the entire family.
As someone who writes about young people and genealogy,
I’d long been mulling a possible bar mitzvah-family
history connection. Then, last summer, I discovered
that radio producer David Isay had done more than think
about it: He’s outlined the beginnings of an program that
uses family history interviews to, in his words, “address
the crisis of meaning in the contemporary bar mitzvah.”
Isay’s concepts–family-history projects called “Story
Corps” and “Zakhor”–are exciting, and of great interest
to genealogists. But before addressing the specifics of
those programs, I want to explore how family trees and
b’nai mitzvah can enrich each other.
Tradition and Consumerism
The bar mitzvah marks the entrance of a Jewish child
into the adult Jewish community. Traditionally, 13-yearold
boys (only) were called to the Torah to say a blessing,
and read the weekly Haftarah (writings of the Prophets
or other Jewish texts). Many b’nai mitvah also gave
a d’var torah, a short talk about the meaning of the week’s
Torah portion. It was a simple event: no caterers, no dance
bands, no expensive presents.
Then this rite-of-passage collided with America…and
affluence. First came the bat mitzvah, a way to expand
the tradition to include girls. Then, starting in the 1970s,
the scale of bar/bat mitzvah celebrations exploded into
huge parties, expensive venues, paid disk jockeys, professional
dancers–and secular, pop culture “themes.” (A
“Star Wars” bar mitzvah? A “Basketball” bar mitzvah?)
Simplicity disappeared. Meaning was overwhelmed by
consumerism. Whatever your opinion of the appropriateness
or esthetic merit of these celebrations, the extravagance
and pop-culture focus clearly diluted the traditional,
ethical, and religious meanings of the day.
Adding Meaning
Happily, some families today have taken another path.
I’ve been to a number of bar and bat mitzvahs recently
where the young people spoke warmly, and at length,
about their family history. Often they focused on an immigrant
ancestor or a relative touched by the Holocaust.
Sometimes a family artifact was the centerpiece of the
celebration. In every case, the child’s appreciation of the
family’s history, and how it intersected with Jewish history,
brought deeper meaning and emotion to the service.
This kind of intimate connection is what David Isay is
hoping to encourage. For him, the key element is the
family-history interview.
Isay, who is known for his NPR radio specials “The Yiddish
Radio Project” and “The Execution Project,” has
long been interested in how the process of being interviewed–and
really listened to–affects people. But then
Isay produced a program in which young people, newly
released from prison, interviewed their parents and siblings.
He was struck by the enormous impact of the experience
on the families: “The interviews created lines
of communication with the kids that would otherwise
never have been opened.” That realization sparked his
desire to bring the experience to many more Americans.
This fall, Isay launches an initiative called StoryCorps,
which will “celebrate the stories of everybody.” He hopes
to set up StoryCorps booths across the United States
where older and younger relatives will come to conduct
family interviews. A facilitator will be there to help prepare
and guide the conversation, when necessary. The
interviews will be recorded and at the end, a complete
CD recording will be given to the family, for a minimal
fee.
While a copy of the interview will also be retained by
the StoryCorps volunteer–and a small portion of a few
of the interviews may appear on NPR–Isay says that the
project was not launched to make radio, but to make
connections. “Having someone sit and really listen to
you can be a profound act,” he comments. “It’s also nice
to be in a setting where you get to ask questions you
really don’t normally ask because you have the microphone
there.”
-18- Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003

Next-Gen Genealogy continued
The first StoryCorps booth is scheduled to open in October
in Grand Central Terminal. Isay hopes to have a
second NYC booth at the Eldridge Street Synagogue on
the Lower East Side, where he would expect Jewish families
to be particularly inspired to participate. From this
idea, Isay spins off into a discussion of the bar mitzvah
project, which he calls Zakhor (Hebrew for “Remember”).
In Zakhor, boys or girls would do a StoryCorps-style
interview with an older family member, prior to their
bar mitzvah. Here, too, a permanent record would be
made, and a copy sent to Isay’s company, Sound Portraits,
where he hopes it would become part of an archive
of the American Jewish experience.
“Then, when they hit 18, the children could revisit the
recording,” Isay suggests. With the benefit of five years
of maturing, the18-year-olds would glean more from their
initial conversation. He or she could then go on to do
another family interview or train other children for their
bar mitzvah interviews. This aspect of the project–which
Isay calls Chai (Hebrew for 18)–is, he says “A matter of
keeping a long-range view to the process, and adds a
sense of giving back something to the community.”
Dave Isay’s own bar mitzvah, which took place in 1979,
didn’t have the emotional resonance he hopes Zakhor will
add. “It’s a big blur,” he says today. “The rabbi was a perfectly
nice guy, but it didn’t mean a lot.” However, he recalls,
“It was around that time that I interviewed my grandparents.
But I have never found that tape, and it’s physically
painful to think about the loss of those voices.” He
pauses, then adds, “This is something that Story Corps will
take care of. We’ll have an archive, a place where the memories
will be preserved for generations.”
Isay is interested in attracting support for Zakhor. The
National Foundation for Jewish Culture has shown interest,
and Swarthmore professor of religion Nathaniel
Deutsch has agreed to serve as project consultant. But
Zakhor is stalled at the moment because Isay has not
been able to raise sufficient funding. He hopes that the
launch of StoryCorps will attract attention and perhaps
help get Zakhor moving.
A Role for Jewish Genealogists
In my conversation with Isay, I suggested that the Jewish
genealogical world would be very interested in
Zakhor. The program’s tag line–“Building the Jewish
future by preserving its past”–is, of course, precisely what
our genealogical research is about. Isay expressed interest
in seeing how we might, in fact, work together, and I
expect a number of genealogical and Jewish organizations
to follow up on this opportunity.
Individually, however, we don’t have to wait. Every one
of us can take Zakhor’s core–marrying family-history
interviews and genealogical research with the bar mitzvah
process–and spread it to our friends and family. In the
end, everyone will win.
For additional information on StoryCorps, visit the
website http://storycorps.net.
Ira Wolfman is a longstanding JGS member and the author of
Climbing Your Family Tree: Online and Offline Genealogy
for Kids (Workman Publishing, 2002). Please send comments
and suggestions for future “Next-Gen Genealogy” columns
to iwolfman@poecom.com. ✡
Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003 -19-

Genealogy 101: The 12-Step Approach
A Primer for the Novice Genealogist
by Tina B. Carver
How little we know about ourselves. For as long as we can
remember, shrouded in whispers, half-truths and folklore
from our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and stretching
back to the mystique of the “old countries,” the whole
panorama of our past seems so beyond our grasp. Yet the
mysteries surrounding our personal histories are just waiting
to be discovered. Once we set off on that trail, we can
follow different paths, all leading to unending treasures of
discoveries that plumb the very core of who we are.
It is a journey fraught with intense emotional feelings–connections
with people whose names we have heard our whole
lives, whose stories have been told at family gatherings,
whose faded, torn photographs we have seen since childhood.
But the details and the documents, the “papers”–the
proof that they were there–that they were here–are reachable
with just the right mix of planning and research.
Perhaps outlining my experiences over the last year will
help you move forward quickly and efficiently, especially
if you are dealing with slow progress, frustration of dead
ends and misinformation. I started with nothing and hit brick
wall after brick wall. But I was determined–and lucky. I
am blessed with a growing circle of friends who support
my efforts and are willing to answer my interminable questions
and share their experiences and wisdom. I was heartened
when I was disheartened, encouraged when I was
discouraged, and constantly reminded that this process is
exactly that–a process– limited only in scope by one’s time
and determination.
So with a great deal of humble gratitude to the “experts,” I
offer these twelve steps to you, the novice genealogist:
1. Make friends and re-acquaint yourself with your
family. Aside from the value of new acquaintances with
similar interests and renewed family connections, you will
find another dimension in your circle of life. Talk to everyone,
from cousins and friends, to the person behind the
counter at any one of the many resource centers. My life
has become so much richer from this experience. One example:
the moderator on the JewishGen Belarus SIG turned
out to be my next-door neighbor in our college dorm so
many years ago. Write to or call your aunts, uncles and
cousins. Develop pen pal relationships, especially with oldsters.
They remember events with amazing details and they
will be thrilled to talk about their youthful memories. Ask
everything you can; follow up their responses with more
questions. I’ve developed an on-going letter relationship
with an 89-year-old cousin of my father’s who remembers
great stories about their lives growing up in the Crotona
Park area of the Bronx.
2. Install a family tree program and keep it updated.
Learn the program bit by bit. Start with what you know–
your family and your generation. Each time you work on
the program, pull down the “Help” menu and add to what
you know, even if it is a tidbit. Enter data as you obtain it.
Always keep a backup file. Print out the tree at various
intervals. Send it to relatives to check its accuracy. Pin it up
on your wall; it will inspire you! I have each of my family
trees taped on the walls in my office and make notes on
them as I work, then I update the electronic version every
so often.
3. Invent a filing system that works for you. Be current
and neat. I use different color file folders for each branch
of my family tree. Be dogged about keeping your files in
order. As you get more and more information, expand your
system. Keep everything together, using your own personal
sense of organization. Attach copies of old photos (with
notations on the back) to the files; the names and events
come alive when you can visually associate them with a
person.
4. Write down your goals every time you forge into a
research task. Decide what you are setting out to accomplish
and use that as a header for your notes. Break your
goals into manageable chunks. Research one thing at a time.
When you are done for that session, review and record your
findings. This will organize your tasks and give you a sense
of accomplishment. During the December ‘02 snowstorm
in New York, I went to the Municipal Archives to look specifically
for my grandmother’s death certificate, which had
been eluding me for months–and bingo! First try! The rest
of what I found was “gravy” for the day.
5. Take copious notes and cite sources. Keep a running
research journal with details. Include your emotions upon
each discovery. Each resource, whether it be a library,
archive, website, or another, has its quirkiness, and you
will have to learn how to cope! Note the process you use to
obtain information. Make friends everywhere you go. Mine
each place for whatever you need, then move to the next.
Chances are you will return over and over as your research
deepens, but you will have learned the steps involved. If
you forget, refer back to your notes. By frequenting each
resource center–even if just for a couple of hours per visit–
you will start to see the same faces and start to feel comfortable
with the sometimes-complicated and old-fashioned
-20- Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003

Genealogy 101: The 12-Step Approach continued
filing systems. Every time I use the microfiche machine,
I am reminded of college days and researching my thesis
on the cranky old wind-up machines. But I never experienced
the emotions then that I did when I first saw
the passenger records of my father’s trip to New York
from Bessarabia, or the death certificate of a greatgrandfather
who died on the steps of the doctor’s office
on the Lower East Side.
6. Keep everything, even dubious information. When
you find information that you think may not be useful,
follow it up anyway; make copies of the documents; note
the source and date; file them away. I noted several names
on the grooms’ register in the Municipal Archives while
looking for my grandfather’s marriage records. Although
I didn’t see his name as I knew it, months later, I discovered
he had used his Yiddish name for this application,
and I had obtained the information the first time; it had
been sitting in my files for months.
7. Be active. Join a genealogy group and attend the
meetings; make more friends. You can glean so much
information and broaden your knowledge base through
others’ experiences; if nothing else, you will realize that
no one has done this without frustration and determination.
You will be in awe of what obstacles some folks
have surmounted. And you will continue to develop a
social and working circle of people with similar interests.
The IAJGS conference in Toronto was a highlight
of my summer of 2002. The meeting in Washington, D.C.
this year would be even better!
8. Help out your genealogy buddies. It will help you.
If you live near a resource, offer to be a “research buddy”
for someone who may not have access. One of my first
contacts was an experienced genealogist searching for
his grandfather’s documents. My brother-in-law’s colleague
at Wellesley College, he was looking for a New
York-based researcher to look up something for him! So
I did that task, with great trepidation, not really thinking
of myself as a researcher. But I didn’t know how to say
no, so I quickly learned about finding naturalization
papers. The subsequent quest for my own family’s
naturalization documents was then a simple repeat of
the steps involved.
9. Surf the Web. The JewishGen website holds a
plethora of information, links and opportunities. Play
around, stumble, get up and try again. Through this trial
and error, you will learn to navigate. This website will
lead you to seemingly endless worlds of information and
articles, maps, and other touchstones. I found links to
museum exhibits in Minsk, background histories to my
grandmother’s very small town in Moldova, driving instructions
and so much more!
10. Develop a passion. Attend relevant movies, lectures,
concerts, and museums. Visit Ellis Island (perhaps
again–but with a new frame of reference) and such sites
as the Mormon Family History Centers. Read, read, read.
Start with Arthur Kurzweil’s From Generation to Generation
as an inspirational foundation, then broaden your
library. By focusing your reading about your ancestral
countries, your own family story will fall into place.
Kurzweil was just the beginning. I’ve read scores of books
about immigration, pogroms, life on the Lower East Side,
biographies, autobiographies, fictionalized accounts,
magazine articles. Each one has broadened the scope of
my understanding of the panoply of events leading to my
grandparents’ emigration to New York and what their
life was like when they arrived.
11. Don’t trust family stories alone; find the documentation
to prove the lore. Begin with what you know
and work backwards. Use any clues and any information
you remember or come across. Then go out to prove
or disprove what you think you know. At least, get documentation.
For years, my family believed that my greatgrandfather
was shot and killed, then buried as a John
Doe in a pauper’s grave. When I found his death certificate,
I discovered he died of tuberculosis and is buried
in Silver Lake Cemetery in Staten Island. From there,
with the help of the gatekeeper, I discovered where he
has reposed, unvisited and unknown, since 1908: section
5, row 8, grave 2.
12. Don’t constantly be thinking about the next steps:
Plan on Genealogy 102. Take stock after a year by rereading
your journals and notes. Where did you start?
How much have you accomplished? What do you want
to know next? Look over your files, your photos, your
family tree. How enriched your life has become from
the past year in so many ways! Now forge ahead: How
can you reach back and find those mysterious souls who
were the parents of your grandparents’ grandparents?
Who were they? What did they do? What did they face
in their lives? And what about the “old country”? What
is it like now? What resources are there for you? Do the
ghosts of your past still lurk there? Ah, but that is the
next step and the mysteries continue to unravel…
Tina Carver, a member of the Jewish Genealogical Society,
is an editorial director at a major publishing house.
✡
Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003 -21-

Book Review - Family History Writ Large
by Arthur S. Leonard
From Suwalki to St. Ignace: A History of the Rosenthal,
Reinhertz, Blumrosen, Winkelman and Related Families
(2 vols., 1696 pages) by Alex E. Friedlander. Brooklyn,
NY: Breakaway Productions, 2003. Ordering information
follows the review.
When these two enormous volumes landed on my doorstep,
I was stunned, even though I had been forewarned.
My interest in genealogy is personal and non-professional,
and I had never before actually seen a commissioned family
history executed by an expert genealogist with the
urge and incentive to uncover anything that could be
uncovered about the subject family, so I have no basis
for comparison to what Alex Friedlander has achieved. I
was asked to review this volume both because I am President
of the Suwalker Association and because the editors
thought my own roots in Suvalk (as the landsmen
call it) would make this assignment interesting to me.
It was not just interesting, it was overwhelming. Viewed
in absolute terms, with no comparisons intended, I could
not believe that anybody setting out to document a Jewish
family from Eastern Europe could produce something
as complete and compelling as Friedlander has produced
here, even though he would be the first to admit
that it is incomplete and that given more years and more
luck, he could perhaps have uncovered even more in tracing
the tangled roots and the ever-widening branches of
these fascinating families, each of whom can trace their
ancestry back to the northeastern Polish province of
Suwalki, where my own paternal grandparents were born
(and where Friedlander himself has family roots). Perhaps
the only frustration I had in working my way
through this book was in noting the numerous family
lines that disappear without a trace, paralleling my own
frustrations when I devoted several years to researching
my family history during the 1980s and unhappily lost
the thread of various relatives who emigrated from
Suwalki and whose new surnames were unknown to me
thereafter.
While the work will be of primary interest to members
of the named families, it should be of interest to all those
with family roots in 19th century Poland, for the simple
reason that through migration and intermarriage, these
people seem to be related to just about everybody. A casual
perusal of the index showed that somebody from my own
family tree intermarried with a Winkelman offspring, one
Nochman Perlsztein of Jeleniewo, who married Dobka
Abramajtyz in Suwalki in 1849, Dobka being a native of
Przersosl, a tiny shtetl in the area where my great-grandfather
Abram Isaac Abramajtyz was born less than twenty
years later. So there must be a tie there, and Dobka and I
undoubtedly have some common ancestors. And here
the frustration I mentioned above settles in, since my
Dobka married into a branch of the family that Friedlander
did not follow further. This book does not tell me
whether Dobka had children, what their names were, and
where their descendants, if any, might be. Given the thousands
of Suwalki-area Jews whose names surface in this
book, I imagine few from that part of the world will fail
to find a relative in here somewhere.
But finding one’s own relatives is lagniappe, not the main
reason to read this. Friedlander has incorporated much
that will be interesting and informative to the Jewish history
fan and the Suwalki-area researcher even if they
find no family members. Using the Yiddish-language
Yizkor book written by Berl Kagan and published by
my Association around 1960 [Yisker-bukh Suvalk un di
arumike shtetlekh], a later Hebrew-language book published
in Israel [Sefer kehilat Suvalk u-venotehah], and
primary sources including the exuberant Yiddish press
that flourished in Suwalki during the 19th century, and
drawing from recent attempts to translate these sources
into English, Friedlander has put together a detailed and
eminently readable history of the region and its Jewish
community, as well as engrossing narratives about the
struggles and triumphs of the four families whose stories
provide the motivation for producing this work.
Those who have been frustrated in their general research
by the unavailability of sources in English now have
someplace to start.
He has gone beyond work in Eastern European sources,
however, tracing the migrations of the families to Canada
and the U.S. and other parts of the globe, using census
materials, old newspapers and family records to capture
the four families in depth and breadth through the more
recent generations. As a law professor, I was happily
surprised to spot several prominent members of my profession
among the current generations of the families
(and have since written to them with friendly greetings
from an Eastern European landsman). There are judges,
lawyers, professors, scientists, politicians, musicians,
writers (including the author of the book for the hit Broadway
musical “Pippin”), Jewish communal leaders, educators,
merchants (from peddlers to corporate magnates)–
just about anything you would expect to find in a farflung
Jewish family grouping.
-22- Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003

Book Review – Family History Writ
Large continued
Friedlander has organized this mountain of material in a
variety of ways to make it accessible and comprehensible,
with charts, tables, biographical sketches, illustrations
of documents and reproductions of fascinating old
photographs, indexes, and a section with translations of
letters between the old country and the new that gives
vivid personalities to the writers. A list of all the living
descendants with towns/cities of residence is fascinating
all by itself (how many acquaintances can you spot?).
I spent several days immersed in the material, never tiring,
always making new and interesting discoveries. Perhaps,
having obtained the book, members of the families living
in the U.S. would like to rent a football stadium and have a
family reunion. (Well, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit there,
but my, what a big family!)
The book is also likely to prove quite useful to those
plotting their own family research strategies if only because
of the extraordinary care in documentation that
Friedlander has undertaken. These volumes have all the
scholarly apparatus one could desire to document every
factual assertion and help the new researcher imagine
how she might be able to uncover information about her
own family. No observant reader could come away from
a perusal of these volumes without a significantly enhanced
sense of what kind of information is available
and where it is likely to be found.
This is certainly a work that should be in every serious
Jewish library collection, every serious genealogical library,
and on the shelves of anybody with eastern European
Jewish roots and an interest in knowing more about
the world of our 19th and 20th century forebears. I imagine
that Friedlander, a retired public servant who is now
serving as president of the Jewish Genealogical Society
of New York, will be much in demand as a speaker to
describe “how he did it” and to tell what are sure to be
fascinating stories about tracing down various branches
of this family forest of trees.
Center for Jewish History
Acquires Jewish Biographical
Archive
Thanks to a generous donation from the Jewish Genealogical
Society, the Center for Jewish History (CJH) has
acquired the Jewish Biographical Archive. This important
biographical reference resource was purchased on
recommendation of the CJH Collection Development
Committee. Additional funding was provided by the five
partner organizations.
The Jewish Biographical Archive is a compendium of
hundreds of the most important biographical reference
works covering ca. 300,000 Jewish individuals. The full
text entries from these sources have been arranged alphabetically
on microfiche. Due to the nature of Jewish
history and the accomplishments of Jewish individuals
throughout the world over time, the Jewish Biographical
Archive has no national, geographical or chronological
limits. It presents a comprehensive picture of the international
role played by Jews in religion, culture, economics
and politics throughout the ages.
A four-volume printed Jewish Biographical Index offers
quick access to the biographical and bibliographical
information of the microfiche archive. The printed index
is available in the Reading Room reference collection,
call number DS 115 J84. The reference staff in the
Reading Room provides access to the microfiche archive.
CJH is grateful for this wonderful gift which enhances
its Reading Room reference resources. CJH is also
pleased that this significant and meaningful donation of
the Jewish Genealogical Society made possible the first
shared purchase of reference works among the five partner
organizations.
✡
Arthur S. Leonard is professor at New York Law School
and president of the Independent Suwalk & Vicinity Benevolent
Association.
The cost of this two-volume book is $80 plus $12 shipping
(and 6% sales tax in Florida). Checks only, payable
to Shirley Mersky. Mail to Ms. Mersky, Sarasota Bay
Club, 1301 N. Tamiami Trail, Apt. 1110, Sarasota FL
34236.
✡
Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003 -23-

NY & NJ Repository Round-up
New York City Municipal Archives
The Municipal Archives has a new webpage:
www.nyc.gov/html/records/home.html
Fees for copies of New York City vital records at the
Municipal Archives have gone up:
• Search of birth, death, or marriage record, in one year,
and in one Borough, for one name and issuance of one
certified copy, or “not found” statement: $15.00
• Per additional year to be searched in one Borough for
the same name: $2.00
• Per additional Borough to be searched in one year for
the same name: $2.00
• Per additional copy of record: $6.00
• Issuance of certified copy, when certificate number is
provided: $6.00
To order by mail: Make check or money order payable
to NYC Department of Records. Enclose a stamped, selfaddressed
envelope. Mail to: NYC Municipal Archives,
31 Chambers Street, New York NY 10007. Allow between
four to six weeks to process a vital record request.
As part of its effort to market some of its one million
photos, the Municipal Archives is offering prints from
its collection over the Internet. Prices range from $25 to
$75. For additional information, check the webpage
www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/gallery/home.html.
The NYC Board of Education archives, 1843-1971–formerly
held at Teachers College, Milbank Memorial Library,
Special Collections–have been transferred to the
Municipal Archives as of June 2003. This collection
consists of historical and administrative records, not
school records of students.
National Archives–New York City
The NYC branch of NARA has acquired additional
microfilms of Canada-to-U.S. border crossings. Manifests
of Alien Arrivals at Buffalo, Lewiston, Niagara Falls,
and Rochester, New York, 1902-1954, document more
than one million alien arrivals during that period. They
primarily consist of aliens returning from a visit abroad,
although there are a large number of aliens apparently
entering the U.S. for the first time.
The contents of each index card is as extensive as a ship’s
manifest. Information includes the person’s name, age,
sex, marital status, place of birth, physical description,
occupation, citizenship (nationality), race, ability to read
and write and in what language, place of last permanent
residence, port and date of arrival, destination, purpose
for entering U.S., intention of becoming a U.S. citizen
or of returning to country of previous residence, head
tax status, and previous citizenships. It also includes the
name and address of the alien’s nearest relative or friend
in the country from which he or she came.
Microfilm copies are available also at National Archives
locations in Washington DC and Pittsfield MA. There is
additional information, including sample cards from the
collection, posted at www.archives.gov/research_room/
genealogy/immigrant_arrivals/northern_ny_state_arrivals.html.
New York State Department of Health
On September 22, 2003, the Vital Records Office located
on the Concourse level of the Empire State Plaza
in Albany closed and relocated to 800 North Pearl Street,
2nd floor, Menands NY 12204. The Vital Records Office
provides eligible applicants with copies of birth and
death certificates for births and deaths in New York State
outside of New York City (1881-present), marriage licenses
obtained in New York State outside of New York
City (1880-present) and dissolution of marriage certificates
for all of New York State (1963-present). Hours of
operation are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday.
Genealogists using the Vital Records indexes at the New
York State Archives, located on the 3rd floor of the Cultural
Education Center (Museum Building), may submit
completed applications with required check or money
order (no cash) at the designated drop-off point on the
3rd floor. Applications will be delivered by interagency
mail to the Vital Records processing center at 800 North
Pearl Street. Alternatively, genealogists may hand-deliver
applications to 800 North Pearl Street.
Fees for copies of New York State vital records have
gone up. The standard fee for a genealogy copy is now
$22.00. This includes a copy of the certificate, a threeyear
search of the index, the retrieval and re-filing of the
microfilm/microfiche, and either a copy of the record or
a no record report. When more than a three-year search
is requested, the fee is higher. The fee applies separately
to each record requested. Processing a genealogy request
-24- Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003

NY & NJ Repository Round-up continued
may take from four to six months. If the municipality
where the event took place is known, submitting your
request directly to the local registrar or municipal clerk
may save considerable time. Completed applications
should be mailed to: Genealogy Unit, Vital Records Section,
P.O. Box 2602, Albany, NY 12220-2602. Fees for
certified copies of vital records have also increased. Birth,
death, marriage and divorce certificates are now each
$30.00. Application forms and additional information
about genealogy and certified copies are available at
www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/consumer/vr.htm.
New Jersey State Archives
The NJ State Archives has a new online browsable catalog
at www.njarchives.org/links/catalog.html. With over
200 new webpages, this expansion of the site represents
a milestone in terms of public access to the 27,000 cubic
feet and 25,000 reels of historical and genealogical treasures
held by the Archives. From the catalog main page,
select any number of pathways to find series-level listings
relating to numerous topics, holdings for specific
state agencies and counties, etc. The listings also provide
contact information and links for more recent records
still held by the agency or by local government.
These 200+ pages provide the researching public with
powerful new tools to enhance remote use of the State
Archives collections and allow for considerable research
planning in advance of a visit to Trenton. Moreover, the
series-level catalog provides a framework onto which
the Archives will link finding aids and guides, box- and
reel-contents data, imaged collections, and searchable
databases (including key-word searching of the catalog).
The NJ State Archives announced a major expansion of
its holdings of estate records when it accessioned the
wills, 1901-1952, formerly on file with the Superior Court
of New Jersey. Consisting of 2,239 reels of microfilm
and 371 drawers of index cards, the collection is fully
accessible for in-person use in the Archives public research
rooms. Mail reference service is also available
for $5 per will packet. Researchers should note that estate
inventories are rare for the post-1900 period.
The NJ State Archives has also accessioned later records
of the Prerogative Court (up to 1848) and the Chancery
Court (up to 1886). Copies of specific court case files
can be requested by mail; the charge is $1 per page. Send
requests to New Jersey State Archives, P.O. Box 307,
225 West State St., Trenton NJ 08625-0307. Payment
should be made to New Jersey General Treasury. The
State Archives regular public hours are Monday-Friday,
8:30-4:30, except state holidays.
New Jersey Historical Society
With the launch of The New Jersey Historical Society’s
website www.jerseyhistory.org, access has been upgraded
to special collections, manuscript, map, and secondary
sources. All available finding aids for manuscript
collections are available through the website’s full-text
search function at www.jerseyhistory.org/
archives_browse.html. Browsing may also be done by
collection number, geographic place, chronological time
periods, creator’s profession, and some subject areas. In
addition, separate guides are available for the library’s
image and ephemera collections. The Historical Society
does not have fully-developed, archival-standard finding
aids for every collection, but there is some level of
access through a finding guide for nearly all manuscript
collections.
For published material, other guides to holdings are available
including:
• Newspapers: complete list of film and hard copy, alphabetical
by municipality
• Vertical file collection: includes biographical files, family
files, and subject files
• Inventory of genealogy microfilm pertaining to New
Jersey families and sources
• Inventory of microfiche collections of published books
and pamphlets on local New Jersey history
See the website www.jerseyhistory.org/lib_findingguide.html
for additional information.
Thanks to foundation support, conversion to electronic
format was undertaken on card catalogs for books/pamphlets,
maps, broadsides, microfiche, and manuscripts.
The Newark Public Library (NPL) partnered with the
Historical Society to provide access to the converted
records through the Library’s online catalog at
www.npl.org/Pages/Catalog/index.html. Along with the
library of the Newark Museum, which also partnered
with NPL, a tremendous union catalog of art, history
and literature is being developed for researchers.
The New Jersey Historical Society is located at 52 Park
Place, Newark NJ 07102. Phone: 973-596-8500.
✡
Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003 -25-

JGS Thanks Its Supporters
In the 2003 membership year, the following members donated above the basic dues level. Their extra support is
gratefully appreciated.
Patron
Peggy Danziger
Robert Kern
Sandra Priest Rose
Howard Rothman
Judith & Jerald Weinstein
Bruce Zatz
Supporting
Harold Atkins
Linda Collins
Robert Friedman
Lawrence & Yvette Gralla
Dan Hedges
Joan & Sanford Krotenberg
David Lebovitz
Michael Levine
Zanvel & Sylvia Liff
John Paul Lowens
Sheila Robbins
Robert Roth
Caroline Ruda
Steven Siegel & Rob Selden
Paul Silverstone
Maralyn & Frank Steeg
Robert & Irene Walters
Kenneth Weiner
Barbara Wright
Alayne Zatulove &
Reuben Feierman
Jane Zweifler
Sustaining
Brenda Aaronson
George Alexander
Mila Begun
Debra Braverman &
David Rosensaft
Syd & Lillian Chazanov
Jeffrey Cymbler
Robert & Marsha Saron Dennis
Gerald & Sylvia Dunsky
Dean Feldman
Larry & Gloria Freund
Alex Friedlander
Ada Greenblatt
Linda Greenman
Lucille Gudis
Sheila Heitner & Robert Search
D. Jaffe
Eden Joachim
Susannah Juni
Calvin & Lenore Kramer
Dorothy Kreiselman
Harvey Krueger
Roni & Jerome Liebowitz
Robert & Sally Lipsey
Robin Newman
Judi & Kal Noselson
Gertrude Singer Ogushwitz
Albert Phiebig
Eileen Polakoff
Nancy Polevoy
Steven Rauch
Aaron Rosenberg
Muriel & Bernard Rosenberg
Lawrence & Peggy Scherr
Louise Schultz
Doug Seidman
Miriam Silverman
Gloria Smith
Eric Soslowitz
Marion Stone
Arthur & Ruth Sugerman
Shepard Van Gelder
Kathryn & Paul Wallach
Deborah Waroff
Randall Winn
Paula & Jerry Zieselman
JGS Welcomes New Members in 2003
Louis Aronowitz --------------------New York NY
David Belgray-----------------------New York NY
Shulamith Berger -------------------New York NY
Suzy Boshwit -----------------------New York NY
Sally Bruckheimer-------------------- Harrison NY
Henry Carrey ------------------------New York NY
Mark Cohen -------------------------New York NY
Shelley Davis --------------------------- Alamo CA
James Garrity ----------------------- Woodside NY
Grace Glatzkin ----------------------New York NY
Marjorie Goldman --------------------Stamford CT
Sally Goodman ------------------------ Tarzana CA
Edward Greenberg ---------------- Glen Cove NY
Eve Heimberg -----------------------New York NY
Barbara Jacobs ---------------Jackson Heights NY
Dan Justman-------------------------New York NY
Harry Kaufman ---------------------Kissimmee FL
Karen Kintner ------------------------- Doswell VA
Vincent Koenig ----------------------- Flushing NY
Renee Miller ------------------------New York NY
Marjorie Phillips ------------------ Woodhaven NY
Isaac Putterman ---------------------New York NY
Jane Rothstein----------------------- Jersey City NJ
Lynne Schubert ----------------- Silver Spring MD
Jerome Seligsohn -------------------New York NY
Adam Smith -------------------------New York NY
Nancy Smith ---------------------- Chula Vista CA
Roslyn Snow ---------------------- Great Neck NY
Murray & Claire Stadtmauer---------Bayside NY
Chuck Weinstein ------------------- Commack NY
Zina Zimmerman ------------------ Briarwood NY
-26- Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003

JGS Friends
JGS members are encouraged to patronize our “friends” listed below. Make use of your current JGS membership card and
take advantage of the special offers we have arranged for you. If you have suggestions for new partners, please let us know.
CENTER FOR JEWISH HISTORY
FANYA GOTTESFELD HELLER BOOK STORE
15 West 16th Street
917-606-8220 • www.cjh.org/facilities/shop.html
JGS members receive a 10% discount for purchases of
books and gifts at the Center’s shop. The shop carries
many books of genealogical interest as well as Judaica.
Hours
Sun., 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Mon. - Thurs., 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
and prior to all evening events
MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE: A LIVING
MEMORIAL TO THE HOLOCAUST
18 First Place, Battery Park City
646-437-4200 • www.mjhnyc.org
JGS members receive a $2 discount on the regular
admission price – $7 adults and $5 students/seniors.
Hours
Sun.- Tues., Thurs., 10:00 AM - 5:45 PM
Wed., 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Fri. and the eve of Jewish holidays, 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
THE JEWISH MUSEUM
1109 Fifth Avenue (at 92nd Street)
212-423-3200
www.TheJewishMuseum.org
JGS members receive free admission for a companion
on presentation of a signed membership card (2-for-1).
$10 adults, $7.50 students and seniors.
Hours
Sun.- Wed., 11:00 AM - 5:45 PM
Thurs., 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM (“Pay What You Wish”
after 5:00 PM)
Fri., 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM.
JUDAICA TREASURES
226 West 72nd Street (west of Broadway)
212-724-2424
JGS members are entitled to a 5% discount in the JT
Café and a 5% discount on the purchase of books and
gifts of Jewish interest.
Ketubot • Mezuzot • Talitim • Chupah Rental • Silver
Benchers & Kipot • Books & Tapes • Invitations
Hours
Sun.- Thurs., 10:30 AM - 9:00 PM
Fri., 10:30 AM - 2:00 PM
THE NEW YORK
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY
122 East 58th Street
(between Park and Lexington Avenues)
212-755-8532 • www.nygbs.org
JGS members get a 30% discount on the daily fee requested
for use of the Library. For $7, you have access to
tens of thousands of genealogies, histories, biographies,
bibliographies, newsletters, indexes, compiled records and
journals, many useful to the Jewish genealogist. (Note:
The manuscript, microform and CD-ROM collections may
only be used by NYG&BS members.)
Hours: Tues. - Sat., 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM
97 Orchard Street
(between Broome and Delancey Streets)
Call for special events: 212-431-0233
www.tenement.org
JGS members receive a 25% discount on admission and
tours, and 10% on purchases. Tours include the tenement
house, the Confino family apartment, and the neighborhood
walking tour. Purchase tickets at the Visitor Center,
90 Orchard Street. Free parking.
Hours
Visitor Center: Mon. - Sun., 11:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Check with the Museum for the tour schedule.
Dorot • Spring-Summer 2003 -27-

Jewish Genealogical Society
P.O. Box 286398
New York, NY 10128-0004
www.jgsny.org
Address Service Requested
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Hanover, PA
Permit No. 4
That you might recount it to a
future generation, Psalms 48:14