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

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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-
Page 1 and 2: The Journal of the Jewish Genealogi
Page 3 and 4: JGS New York Programs: 2003-2004 Se
Page 6 and 7: Book Review by Linda Cantor The Ene
Page 8 and 9: JRI - Poland Expands Shopping Baske
Page 12 and 13: “Only in New York” by Linda Can
Page 14 and 15: Only in New York” continued Chapl
Page 16 and 17: Genealogical Projects of the Israel
Page 18 and 19: Next-Gen Genealogy The Bar Mitzvah
Page 20 and 21: Genealogy 101: The 12-Step Approach
Page 22 and 23: Book Review - Family History Writ L
Page 24 and 25: NY & NJ Repository Round-up New Yor
Page 26 and 27: JGS Thanks Its Supporters In the 20
Page 28: Jewish Genealogical Society P.O. Bo

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

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