Shem Tov, Vol. XVII No. 4, 2001-12 - The Jewish Genealogical ...

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ShEM Tov
JEWISH GENEAI-OGICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA (TORONTO)
VOLUME XVll No. 4 December 2001 Kislev 5762
OLD AND NEW SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON HOLOCAUST
VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS
Peter Land€
This is .n edited renia al the krtk itlt. Lantli gae o" lia1.et1lbet ., )001 ut d tpecial "leetn1g
al aur socie\ dxtrls Holocdusl
Edncdlion lfeek. lt r,us prcparel br a r menhet Ruth Chemta
Peler Ldndi )tas bon h Cernun)', ehtigrate.l to thc I'nted
States in t937 dnd ouended the UniE$it)^ al Huntblg a" a
Fulbright tchakftl1ip. h1 !956 he laited the US /ottigh rct1'ke
rhith sent hin 1a nianr'.auntties inchding Cutludd Fat the
past ten ]tdrs he has b.en a |olxnteet at the I' ited Stu e!
Holacalst M6enn )therc he torks on ucieing dala an.t credt
ih? dataha\e:. Hi! nain obiectne k tu.onryil. t! single cdt.1
busc ol dll Holotttust rictins
Vr Lan. hns spken ,t Tttotlto beforc on the dat':tbdse\
d,d lists afHolac.l strlctins anLl sutrira]I. This li ehecane
ta talk dbott )t hat is ke\'.
kno$ one lhing aboul you that 1ou nra,'_ not know aboxt
yourselves. I have information on your relatives I don l
care lvho you a.e. even ifyour relatives canre to Canada ln
I880. even ifyou believe that all your relatives crnle over at ihc
same time. some ofyour relalives died in the Hoiocausl. It is
still possible rc find valuable infbrmation.
I don't speak for an,vone - for the Nluseunr. lbr the Jewish
UercJrug \".ie\ oiu_ea,er $..fin:run - he.e a-e'r L.
views. I may offend someoner just blame me. Don'r blame an,'-'
one else. Ho$ many ol)ou knou what a Yekke is? How man)
oflou know \ahal a Pekke is? No one: well it's nol strrprisins
because the teml doesn't exist. \trhen I firsl \'!ent to lsrael. ther_
called rne a Yekke. I asked whaas a Yekkel They lold me a
Jew ol German background. I said no, l m not a Yekke. I m a
Pekki. Thaas a Prussian Yecki. and that's even worsel
The database we're lvorking on is an attenpt io put togelher
in one compulerized source the names ofall the victims and lhe
survivors of lhe Holocausl. This is prett] large. On one database
$e have 1.5 miluon names. ]f ,rou were al lhe Holocaust
rnuseurn. I could show il to you. Can you get this in Toronlol
No- It's a combination ofseveral people s \ork. Ofien we don't
have permission to share thls, which is annoying. bul we have a
combinatjon of materials fron several govemments and each
|as a proprietar] inlerest. You have to go lo washington to use
it. Let ine stress thal thls is not the Hall of Names as xr Yad
Vashem. There )ou find .oughl,! i million names But that s
te\tilnonial. lt says ljncle Shnluel \r'as depoted ll'om Wa*a$
and died in Auschwitz. Frankl,'- you don't even know if that s
truc. II is useful because it gives people a chance lo put some_
ihrng 10 resi. Bul i1'! not inlbnnation; il s lestimonl. II's useful
for one reason. lf you find lhe name Jacob Cohen. and he was
one of)orr relaiiv"-t. ,vou can find rhe namc ol lhe perso! whc
submitled the name and cau wrire 1o lhat pe|Son. Thafs wh)
it's usclirl. Yad Vashenr has been promising eveq' srx monlhe
for the last two years to p|ll this on the web. Thev want to do lt
but don t )cr have permission io do that. You can submit an e-
ma;l request tbal the\ \lillanswer.
The large$ source is rhe lnlemational Red Cross, somelimes
called Arolsen because that's dre totln in German)' where the"r
have then files. Theif material was frlmed b) Yad Vashenr.
There are 1.1 nrillion cads. I reconmend ir because you can
bro\r.se through it. It's in Yad Vashenr's afchives That was 'n
1955. Ar presenl the Red Cross has,14 million cards. You ma)'
sa) 4.1 million seems like too large a number but il's because rl
includca a card on eveDbody who ever wrole to the intemational
Red Cross. This has beeD computerized brl the lnlema_

UPCOMINGEVENTS
Programs orgonized b! the
Jewish Genealogical Society of Canadd (fotonto)
ot the Shadrei Shomu.,-in Synagogue
'170 Glencai 'Trenue
Doori open at ?:J0. program begins at 8 p m
All member: will receive firflher detail(
either bY e-mail or bY telePhone
Chanukuh ParS'
Electian\ (t Trcaturct and lvlenlbers dt Large
WednesdaY. January 30" 2002 -.8:00 D'm'"
Progrdtll lo bc dnnounced
Fntgran to be announced
.m.
For lifiher inlormotion visi! our website at
wtt)tr.'igstoronl;.ca or \atch lhe "l'hal's ^'lcw"
iolumn in the Canadtan Jewish News
ADVERTISING RA.TES
SHLNI TOV is no\t accepline displat !d\enisine fof Frhlicatiot'
;-..,* . ..r.do rDorr '-lcrdrc'd rr1'lDr"1
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cenearoq,cr SocFr, or Canaoa rTo 0.'or :10 <
d6toLLe; I ee to reabe s c. relt '1d
balt {s-ecre
avarabLe fof ${ Per ssue
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lne lexisn G" ealoar. Socretv or Ctlrd' w:s
ioundeo 11 1985 ad c-ler 'v t ca abol '501e-1b'r
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rJ'iecs
G.esLs are aw'/s 'er'ore
Detars;'e usJll'v pr_leo t fe Cd4ad€' lp'ish ryA !
I ne oods ol lhe Sodelv are to provide a lorLn 'ot r"
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€oister€d as a ron profii charltable orgarzaron
io oan o'lf 5 prolcarc1 nav be eorodued rl a_y
iom wrno-l pemssron n *rrt-g for'he p_blsFE
Vws ano opin ons expressed in articles are ihoselrthe
;l;";,;"
;ot;'
* -' **"*', ' ep.ese.',1ose o'srFM
'"" ,""'r' Ge-eaos -.' socrpr/ o- c'-rd:
(Toronio) ISSN 0843_6924. AL ghis resetoed q
Otficers of the Societyl
MembershiP Co-ordrnaror
lmmediaie Past Presideni
Shem Tov Staff:
Editor
Manaqing Editor
ContribLitoF to this lssue
GARRY STEIN
CAROLYNNE VEFFER
LUCY SADOWSK!
(416) 733_7538
saRA RUDA CA (905) 770-4235
NEIL RTcHLER 1416) 2264444
GERT SOLNIK ROGERS
HENRYWELLLSCH
BlLL GLADSTONE
DR ROLF LEDERER
MYZEL ROBINSON.PAULL
JOAN BASSETT
HENRYWELL!SCH
RUTH CHERNIA
DULCEY HOFFlrraN
STAN ZEIDENBERG
PETER LANDE
YALE J REISNER
(416) 225 9r01
December 2001
Shem Tov

lOId at.l New Sources oflitfonnatiut ca ntual)
tional Red Cross reluses ro make ii a\,ailable bccause some
countries in Europc arc arguing i1's a privac) isstrc.
!!E
Man) have been conpiled b) a loL ofpeople. There are lbr
examplc lists liom the Krakow gheuo. of Auschritz $ork deta'ls.
The Lodz Sheto sufvivors in Jcrusalem cornpjled rhe
Lodz Shetto lisl. We ve gor il bur cannol ptrblish ii. I here !\ere
only si\ copies mrde.
T he.e are several projecrs underua,,- and Irn asking tbr ]our
help. not mone) bul your bodies. Fof erample we havc thc
Sharrit Habayit. It lisrs 55.000 strf!ilors and is ir )our Toronro
libran but is not on the web because we need people lo do data
enlr]- .
Dfogoblch is a smailcity near Lvo\. We ha!c 16.000 pages
on that lo*r. I $,as asked to find more pages so I did somelhjng
that you ma,,- think is either funn) or tragic. Wc nalc a list of
people $ho didn't pa) rheir waler bills because the) had been
taken out and killed but thc torn kept billlng them I chose jl
because it has to be compurcrized. A group ;r California is doins
that ore. There are all kinds off,rojects. You don l have to
be computerliterate. We need proofreadeb 1oo.
Here's some good news. There ir so nruch nore available
no\ than there \ras ten )ears aso. To sonre e\lent lhai is because
oflhe opening of Fasten Europc. Uut there is also more
afiention being paid. For example. thefe was a collection that I
have calalogued. 189.000 pages of caFured cerman records.
Tlrese '!ere
files thal the US military Look in 1S,15 io the tjs.
Ulmcd them and relurned them ten )ear! lat€r. They are largei]
unuscd. The) a.e a!ailable publicly. !ou could buy them if)ou
$- I bu. dJ. l-,rh. l ha. depo-"r,o" i. . corcerrra io.r
camp lists. lt is huge. l,ook ar ji on the web. One pfoblem with
il is lhat il s on film. I doubt that man! o1 lou have filn readers
at home. And ir is awk\\ard to read even atthe library'. Even my
finding aid $ill tell you that there are transport lists from sat
Auschwitz to Buchenwald lionr January to June 1945 or wha.
ever period ol time. \\,lral good {ould thai list do youl You
doD't know if your relatives are on thar tBnsport? M\ findins
aid \,!as a prehninar) finding aid
Nou,we re doing a derajled one. The next slage is ro co -
pulefize that list. When ,vou discounr th€ lisls of\rar criminats
and olhels of no inre.esL io genealogists. ihere are 185_000
pages Jamrned wilh names -i0 per page. i\,lillions of nanes.
Ho$ do you get around to compderizins rhis? You do it
slowl). I ve done a quancr million. I can iell you il s slos. lf
you had it on CD-ROM )ou might be $'illlng to look at ii. You
are certainlr- goins to ilnd a reader easier. ce{ainl) )ou'll find
readers. we staned \\ith one collection. I took an eas]
'nore
onc. It's alphabelized, it s tlped. jt's gor 125.000 nanres, it s
Dachau. It's about 60 percerl oteverybody rvho cnt drere. lt s
the biggest and easiest one to look at. We have laken the film
and converted lt inro CD-ROM. .lewishcen will be marketing ir
in a tew months. Then ),ou could look al ii in Toronlo. you
need a Geman vocabulary of abou! a dozen words sucn as:
gestorben (died). (At thjs poinr Dr. Lande moveo over ro me
screen lo demonstmle r!hat kind ofinformalio. rvould be available
on rhi! dadbase.) For example: Ale\ Rolelberg born such
and sxch a date. a Slovak Jew. le dicd. l-ook ar this one. hc $as
fieed. hc survived and $as liberat.d when rhe allies arriled.
Hcrc a.c the pdsoner numbers. \4hcn ther- came and $hcn tlre.-
{cfe t.aDsfered It s a i:lnlastic source. l1's nor qtilc alphabeli,
cal but rle $ ill ft that and you can use drem. lf ir works it \ill
makc a little mone,v for the compan) thal is doirg ir. Thcn we'll
go on to olhers. We have ihis last source of naterial. Ir }ill
make this material availablc to everlone in Toronro or Sydne).
Coplirg costs a dollar a di!I. h'll be like looknrg through a
The Second Maior Breaklhrcuqh
The bulk of Anrerican le*s carne liom Poland. Lilhuania.
Belarus and Ukaine. I don't kno{ if that's rrue ol To.onto
Jerls ioo. The big problenr has becn the formef Sorier Union-
We |are a fair bit olinformal;on norr and the Jewish Historical
lnstitute h Warsaw is conlputcrizing a list of 125.000 Polish
Jers ryho sur\ived and came back Lo Poland. even temporaril)
alier dre $ar. It s on liln]. 11 s a Polish soundex list. But at lcast
)oLr can read Polish.
But riis nexr onc ls even mofe difficult. At rhe end 01-lhe
$ar the Russians senl teams into ever_a ioNlr io ask a ncgatile
census: \\ho's here? Who diedl lt s better for smaller to$ns_
Ii s orsanizcd b\' town. h the smallef touns people kne$,each
other. One difficult) js rhai it s in C) llic. tf you know thc
rown. we can bok up. for example. the Goldsrenrs in Pinsk and
send thal inlbnnalion to vou. But )ou doD t kno$ ifrhar coldsrein
stayed nr Pinsk. We couldn t afibrd to hife people to enter
Ibe names. There are any\rhere fionr three quaders-of-a n]illion
10 a nrillion names. We ve nolv arrarged for Russians in the
lbrmer Soviet Union to enter the nanres. Ihe) are $.orklng in
St. Pelersbu.g and Minsk. They errter the material in Russian
and send us the disks. We push a buton and it cones out in
Latin lvpe. We can argue whether ihe Alexand.ovitch should be
'cz' or 'ch but the computer never cha.ge! the spelling so ir's
consistent. Once we have this b! name. \!e can do a database
other rays. ln lheor) we could give you all lhe coldbergs in
Ukraine. You $on l have to wriie |rle. It ll be on rhe \{eb and
you can ser e\esnarn al nome.
This hrs been accessjble in theory for ]eal.s our mere was no
wa,! r'ou cotrld have goften this in Canada. We could have done
this by letter but rle have onlr- one volunleef who does rhis oDe
day a week. fherefore il s in ou interesl to get this infornratioD
otrt. ]'he database will onl] tell you the name. Then )ou caD gel
other infomiation that is not computerjzed. Thar describes all
the events in a tot\n: when the Nazis arived. when thc sfnagogue
was bumed and so on- We can gct lou copies of these
pages. Yoll can have them translated.
ln the Fall 2001 isstre of ,.hotdlr, \'ou'11 see an article me
Nhere I describe the 15 reels (15.000 pages) I was able to gel
on. These are the transports fron Ausch$i1z. Man] assume
thai if yotr were shipped to Auschwirz, you were kjlled. There
December 2001

lold akd Nelt Sourc.s of lnfothntiot rahti\L''1)
\!ere thousands \rrho where shipped /i"' Axschwrtz especrarL)'
in 1944. But you donl kno'v uhat happened 10 lhem You
nrislr lIov riar
qicr"irz br. \oJ non kno$ | rr'" pe or '\-' r'Dpfd r"
i"J"-r,"r*r.' In mv Aratq'nu a icle cntitled Dld
'j''ere
;hei, Diea tt1 )^ch\'11::' Or did thq St.rfiel t sal for exam-
"l-. *, .-. -r',. tt r^':' , lL\ ' \ o ' -_ ir lo'/ro l o-
oe"n' a'Don

The Hungarians annexed T.ansllvrnia fionl Romania.
Thefe are no recofds lionr the east and southeast. Ihe)
annexed and killed all the Je*s.-lhere a|e no records. ln
Budapest ma.v were nol depoted. The! shipped them furthcf
north to Sturhol They shipped man) wesi 1o Nluhlhol
becausc of e labour slroltage. For -lifile Hungar) ,\ouf
SOME LISTS OF NAMES OF SURVTVORS AND VICTIMS
AVAILABLE IN TORONTO AND ON THE INTERNET
Compiled b) Henry Wellisch
Tlere is somc olcrlapping bct\L€e. the Cedenkbuch and thc Ccdenkbuch Berllns. the Memorial ro the Je\as Deporred fron France
and othen. Thc Robarls I ibrary oflhe UDi\ersil] ol Tomnto has o!e. 500 Yizkor (Memorial) books. These books \\ere published
b) sur!ivors ofganizations and conlain the names of thouslnds o1 \,iclims aDd sur!i!o|S. Local hislorians in German) have also published
man) books. including lists, oftheir formef.le$jsh communities.
COUNTR} TITLI OF R[CORD NUNI B[R OF
AUSTRIA
TotenbLrch Theresiensiadi
(AusIrian vicrims deponed io
VICTTNIS
16.000
LOCATION OR \\[BSITE
BELGIUM
Lisr ol deportees (Auslrian Jews) 6r.000
Memo.ial de l. d.poftation desiuifs de 25.12.1 Robarls Llbrary-
Bclglquc
FRA.^-C E Menrorlallo the Jews Depoted fiom 16.120
French Children of rhe Holocaust 11.000 Robafs Library
GERMANY Gedenkbuch (German viciims) 128_091 Robats Library. Our Library
Gedenkbuch Berlins 55.696 Robarts Library
Diejudischen opfer des Natjonalsozialis
mus aus K6ln (Victims lionr ColoSDe)
7.000- Robarts Library
I{UNGARY
Names of Jewish Victims of Hungarian
Labor Battaliors
Names ofthe Deponed Je\S from
Haidu Count]
i1.000 Robats Librarr
5.600 Robats Libran
NETHER]-ANDS ln Xlemoriam (DuLrh \ icrim.) 100.000 Roba s Lihrar\
I}OLAND Names Lodz (List of ghetto inhabitanis) 200.000 Robans Librar)
Deathbooks from Auschwitz 60.000
COUNTRY TITLtr OF RECORD NUMBER OF
SURVIVORS
LOCATION OR WEBSITtr
AUSTRIA Exile and Destruction 2.0t1 Robarts Lib.an,
BELGIUM Mcmo alde la detoftation desiuifs dc
1.205 Robarts Libran,
Belsiatre
CERMANY Gedenkbuch 7.278 Robart! Libr ar \. Our Libraf!
VARlOUS Register of Sur\ i\,i s 60.000+ Our Librarv
Decembet 2001 Shem Tov

Mendittg Tom Memofies:
The Ron\ld s. Laud.et Foundation Genealogt Pfoiect .tt the Jewish Historical Irrstitute of Poland
Origins
The Ronald S. Laudcr Foundatnnr Geneab-gy Pfoject was
formally cslabljshed on Janual 1. ]995. at thc lnitiatjve ofthe
Ronald S. Lauder Foundation. as a joint educaliooal efforL of
the Foundalion. the leNish Hislo.ical lDstitutc Assocralron
(Sto$arz,,--sTenie ZIH) aod the Je'!ish Hislofical Resea.ch
hislirute lZtH lNBl. As iniliall) envisioned. the prciect had a
dual purpose: to assisl Jelrs around tbe world to discover and
explore theif Polish-Jewish roots and 1o mobilize supporl lof
the conservation and catalogunlg effots of the Jc$ish
Hislorical lnsliilLle Archives. These goals complement the basic
goals oflhe Ronald S. Lauder Foundation io supporl J e rv i s h
comnnrnilies and conmunal inslirulions in Centfal Europe and
above all. 1(r provide Jetrish educalional opporlunrtres to
Cenlial European Jews who. far too often. '!ere
denied Jewish
education over the lasl several decades To this end. in addnior
ro the Cenealog) Projecl, the Foundation has creaied a network
of Jewish schools. kindefganens. )oxth clutrs, summer and
winler camps an.l nume.ous speciitl educatl(nlal and cultural
programs for Jews ofallages
Groling Demand
"Recdll the du)'s al.ld,
seek to c.,nprchend thereorc aJ edth genetatbn:
Askya jathet, he wilL infunt YalL
yotu elden anl lhq' riLl telllDtL".
Deuleronom-v- 32:7
There is a gro\ying inlerest in Je'lish genealogy roda). On
tle lntemet. thousands of people are h daily coDtact through
the Je$ishcen discussion group and other forums. seeking and
sharirrg infbrmation abo t Jewish history. biograph) and
fadirion. Dozens ofspecialized publications appear regularl) jn
a variet) of languages. dedicated ro .Jewish geneabg! or
fbcussnrg edclusivel) or the history ola paticular geographical
region. world'vide. some sixl--five Je'!ish Genealogical
Societies are active. whosc members are researchirg the
histodes of Je$.ish lhmilies or thc biographies of individuals
and who. in the process. sometinres leam more abou1 the
hisior-a of tle Je*ish people than the,! evef did in a fo nal
classroom sefihg. B! studling several 'Jewish histories" nr
micrccosm- ihey olten come to appreciale the broader scope of
llre Je!\ish histo cal expedence
Growirg Possibiliiies
The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation Genealog,v Project has
oe,n e'r"b:.red.. $h.rr rr"\ be rhc no . opTorrure no r, nr in
history due to the conrergence of two watershed phenomena:
the opening ol Central and Eastcm European arcbves to
researchers after years of inaccessibillr-"- and tbc explosion in
compurer and communications technology which has enabled
better and faster calaloguing of archival malerials than eler
bclbre and grealer access 10 iilbrnntion. rmages and even
sound liom anr_ poini on the globe almost instantl). Given
appropriale rechDolo$ and manpotlcf. access to inlbrmalion
be greatly irnprov€d in the coming nronihs and years The
'!ill
proiecl. ftrough its fun drais in,1 effots. ls helpineto enhance lhe
technological and manpowel capabilities of the Instjtute
Clienreles - Articipnt€d and Unanticipatcd
While the pfojecls origiDal concepl rargeted geDealogical
rcsearchers abroad- il soon became clear lhat it $ould also serve
some unanlicipated client groups. These grotrps have, jr Iacl
pro\ided some oflhe pfojecls nosl exciting momenls
Reco!ering the -4lientted, Touching the Jaded
Man]_ assimilated Je$s irale expressed renewed nrterest nr
Jei{ish learning as a b)product oftheir search for famil} roots
NIan) lvho considered themselves alienated liom Judaism and
Jewish hislory have found rhat $e subiec$ come alive for them
$hen "personalized' th.ough genealogical research Repeate{tl).
leaders ofsludent lours in Poland (now a basic element of
niany high school Holocarsi cur'ficula) have expressed
anrazement at howjaded ieeDagers - who wandcred through the
fil51 da)s oftheir tours with the grudging atrilude thal the-v $'ere
nudying sone obscure bit of ancient hisrory with little
connection to their lives - changed their attitudes markedl)
when harded a document such as a tlolocaust docunent or
photo of! relalive or teacher ret personall,v knew. From that
momenl on. the tour - and perhaps lhe eniire curriculxm
suddenly gains a nerv inlnrediac). For some lsraeli-born ieens
in paticular. it has been an epjphan]- - \t'ilh a lasiing effect on
lheir atritude toward Diaspora Jet!r-1'
The "Hidden Children"
A nlost remarkable clieniele has been ihe so-called "hidden
children". These are no1. ilr fact, children at all. but mlh€r adults
ir thelr fifiies to seveDties $ho. as childreD, had been hidden
during the Holocausl. Some 'vere
furnished qith lhlse papers
and Lived oul the war ]ears on the so-called "Aryan side".
masquerading as Genriles. Others were deposjted as infanrs
wirh Carholic families afte. lheir parents had been deporred or
nufdefed. lnfants and younger children often did no! know tha!
the) \r€re Jews and frequentl) did not even know their orn
names. Older children mighl have known. but they soor leamed
and iitemalized the babit of liding iheir penonal histofies,
sometimes even ftom their otrn families, a habit thal some
cases long survived ihe war. Many such "hidden children" - and
their descendants - hale only recently leamed the rruth oftheir
idenlity in whoie or in frustrating pafl. Some. adopied alier $e
war, had their true histor) deliberately obscured fron them b)
adoptive parenis who night never have told lhem that they
were adopted. nruch less thal thet were Je\\s.
December 2001 Shem Tov

lncreasing numbers of these 'hidder children' have been
coming forward of late in search of their own true idenrities.
Some who have leamed ollhen true history from rhe deathbed
confessions of thcn no{ elderl} parenrs of ffom docunents
discovered afier thei| lbsler parents deatis - rhe so-called
'newbom' hidden children comc to the Archiles wilh
trenendor! fiequenc!. seeking ro leam $ho the) are. what iheir
real names are. {ho rheir biological pafenls were and if tbel
might ha!e siblirgs or other relariles who might have survrved
J1d \ho rli:l be.b - ofkf \. o " d r,eil
Based on information in the lnsliruie\ archives and in other
feposirories. the projecl has been able in lome case! ro in rish
people wilh lheir o{n odginal names o. lhosc ol thcir birh
pafenls. inlbrmation as to ihe fate ofrheir families and. al lirnes.
eveD childhood photographs. As ollhis writing. the projecr is
.ornpilir= .. ddr. b/.c or ir r'r'.c ion or c rid 5uni\o-s.
Aringing the Dead to Lile - Surrivor Reunions
A natural side effect ofreturning people's idcnti)_ to thcm is
drat it leads io curiosil, as ro d1e fates of the nidi!idual'l
biolosical family. Thal c'r.iosit). ii lum. has !ielded stunnlngl)
dmmatic resulls in a \'en linlitod nunrber ofcases
ln the Jewish rradition. {hen one sees a lircnu ururr ole
has nor seen in a ver] krng time. one recites a blessing ihankilg
God for "bfinsing the dead to life". Over the last several )ears.
sometimes with hclp fionr the project and from lnstrlute
archnal stafl the miracle has occurred several rimes in the
fonn of anazing rcunions of families separared by the
Holocaust o|er hall a cenlurl ago. There have been cases ofa
father and son reunion after fifty-one rean (Canada/Poland). a
reunion of lwin siblnrgs (USA,rPoland), of brothers and siste|s
(lsraellPoland. kraelrRussia and lsrael,Nonla)). of a gfandfather
and granddaughter (Austda/USA)- of a niece and hcr
uncle (Ne$ ZealandrSweden)- an aunt and hef nephew (Polandl
USA), of cousins long separatcd (Austlalia/UsA and USAI
Ukraine). and ofnumerous long lost {iiends and colleagues.
The Instirutel own librarian recenth discovered an aunt in
the United Stales who was able 10 teli her - after a decadeslong
sea.ch - her own name. her parenls nanes and her entire lamily
histor', pfoliding. in addidon, a collecrion of pre,$ar famil]
photographs. The impacr ol such reunions need not be spelled
Proliding Closure
ln the vast majorif ol cases. such reunions can never occur:
their families perished, )-oung and old. in the Holocaust. But
often there remain disturbing. uruesolved questions. lfno one
$.jhessed the dearh. could it be that someone ftom the family
did. in fact. suni!e. unbekno$nst ro the inquirer? The reunions
that hale laken place suggesr thal alL hope is not lost. On the
other hand. even rvhere it is reasonably cedain rhat loved ones
did perish, the lack ofkno{ledge of how. when and under whai
circumstances lhe dealhs occuned can leave rhe mouming
process inconplete and reider psycholoeical healing difilcuh.
The living often cannot rest in peace until rhe) knor! thar lheil
dead are br ed. Thjs requires concrete infbrmaiion.
In lhc Jcwislr hadition, deaths are commenomled with a
tahrzeil observarce on the anniversar) of the death. Yei. in
order to pelform t|is ritual. one nrusl knory tbat the indilidual
nr question died and when. Lrndcf the cifcumstances of rhe
Holocaust suc| information can be difficuh to obtain.
rhe Archives o1 the Jewish Historical Insikute hold sonre
collections rhat can provjde a degree ol closure. Death records
of lhe Wana$' Ghetto. burial lisis fron certain labor camps.
eyewitness lc(imonies and other materials can shed ligh! on
sone individual dearhs. Severai correspondcnls and visitors.
thced with specific evidence of rheir relalive\ death. have
responded $jlh a kind ofreliet. sa)ing "at least, noN we kno$"
o. "non I can observe a )ahrzeit". This feaction has beer
reporled by the Red Cross ljolocaust Viclinrs Tracing Ser\ice
as well. For healing to besin- uncefainq_ mu$ be pu to rest
and the proiect. wrrh the irstilule s valuable archives at hand, i,
lending a hand in this healing process.
Building a Future on the Foundations of the Past
A large and growil]g ne* clienlele for the cenealogr
Project is the Je'vish youth of I'oland. While diftirent in
character lionr the Foundation's other educarional activities- the
aienealogl Project does not stard sepafate fronr those activjties.
Young Polish Jews and Poles \aith Je\rish roots altending the
Foundarions classes. camps and lectufc\ leam abour fie
Genealog) Projeci as $ell and nran). alread,v- curious aboui
Je$s and Judaism. corne to the archives to explore - in drc
literal- historical sense - their.Jewish roois. Ol}en. genealogical
research ii the archives is their firsr step. \lhal the! uncover
$ill someinnes give them the impetus and seli conndence dre.-
need to then take pal1 in olher Jewish acriviries.
Many young people have been raised in mixed fanilies in
which, quite often, on],\ one parenl or one grandparenr was
Jervish and tbe subjecis olJewishness and ludaism were treared
as taboo. OtheN are ihe children and grandchildrcn of$,afnne
''hidden children"r they did nor kno$ they were Jews until their
teens or tNenties because iheir o\rn parents did noL kno\{ that
they rhemselves $ere Jewish until their fifties or sixties. Of
course. only rvhen the parents learned ihe ruth aboul
rl.r.cl\e. \oJld rhe) r,rfor.l1 rhcir dau (hild-e..
Anodrer group of "latecorners" to Jewish identit,"- are rhe
children and grandchildren of highl) assimilated or ardentl)
atheist families in which the parental generarion soughr to
erpunge all lraces of Jewishness ftom rhe hone. prefening ro
adopt either an acti!ely Catholic or secular "Pol;sfi" idenritv on
the mistaken prenrise thaL being Jewish and being Polish uere
someho{ mutuall} exclusively. Upon reachjng maturit}, th€
children of such families (and this js not onl) true of Polard)
often find themselves draln back toward their roots as lhe!
seek to shape their olvn nascent independent jdentities. Such
young people - in nlcreasing nunrbers, approach rhe Genealogy
Project ibr advice and assistance.
In this fashion, genealoeical research - and the Ronald S.
Lauder Foundation cenealogl Project in parricular - plays an
inportant role in Je\rjsh identiry building and in helping Je\{s
December 2001 Shem Tov

Itten.lhtE Tolr tleno es .ontinrcd)
ljnd their {ay back inro the le\\ish communil} and 1o Je\r'ish
tradirion and culture. There have been numerous instances in
which )oung people have been led through genealogical
research ro erplole oiher areas of Jewish hishry. cuhurc and
i|aditional beljeis and pmcrice. Such people and lheir cfiildren
have become jnvolved in man) areas of Je$ish lite. ranging
fiom working in Jelvjsh inslitutions io enrclling themsel!es or
ihejr clildreD in Jewjsh educational progmms. to adopling a
traditional Jetlish lifesllle Fof n]anv olhc|S. thi! search has
saiisfied an intellectual curiosity. hctped resoh'e hjstolicaL and
ps)chological conundra or clarified. Io some snrall degree lire
dislofied of obscured memory ofPolish Je$rl
Plans for the Fut'ire
ln thc l\ao yean of its exisLence as of lhis wriing the
Ronald S. Laudef Foundation Genealogl Projeci lras alreadv
helDed fescue and preser\e hundreds of tlousands of trnique
ani nasile archival docunlents b] providiig funding for theif
ohvsical conscnation and secure srolage. lt has helped to
itiu;,, equipmenl and to create compuler databases
Lha sill "ontput",
: ea,l pe

\Books R...ntU R..eip.lh! out Librdry .arlr,tu.t
Dr. Beide.'s linguistic anallsis of Ashkcnasic given names
is a subslantial connibution to Gennanic as well as SIavic
ljnguistics in geneml, ard Yiddish linguistics h parricular. The
diachfonic anal)sjs olthese narnes suggesls strcngly rhe need
for the reevaluation ol Jewish demograph) and migrarion
paltems in medie\al and eafly modem Eufope. to be take. into
accouDl by an) luture investi-sation.
l.tacor Olqgekhetln
Germania Judaica
Hebrew Unilcrsil\
Dr. Beider's new djctionary of gilen nanrcs. covering a
period from rhe beenning of Asbkenazic Je{L\. tills an
imporlant fescarch gap and represenls a magnu opus. Thc
audror atlaiis an admirable degree ol completeness in Lhe
widel) dispersed sou.cc malerials- and ihe text ofthe afticlcs i1
ofperfect ransparency both in the prcsentation ofthe male.iall
and in the explanations.
Rolissor ol Yiddish siudies
University ol Trier
The dictionarl \aill be an indispensable slandard $ork tbr
cerman and Eurcpean name research. lt should not be omitred
fiom an) onomastic library.
Author- Historical book ofcerman First Names
Hejdetberg German)
Fnn hnmigrution to htegmtion -
The Conftlinn Jet!'ith Expefienca: A Millenniuttl Elitiotl
Ruth Klein and Frank DimanL. EdiloN.
Published by: InstiLrle 1b. hxenralional Affairs, B'naj B th
Canada, l oronlo. 2001. (123 pages)
We are pleased to have received this book fron B'nai
Brith Canada. lts publicalion lvas co-sponsored bl ihe Govemmenl
ofCanada thrcu-eh its Millenniun Bureau. as one oi
ils special projecls 10 mark tle millennium.This inportant
book is an outstanding contributiolr to the bisror) of the
Je$ish communiry in Canada. Sixteen of Canadas preeminent
historians- social lcienlists. and legal scholan - il]
essa)s w.itlen spcciall) for this rrolunlc charl lhe slory of
Canada\ Jers. beginning with their earl,," clrtrggles for equal
status with dren fellow citizen\. drrough d€cades ofprofbund
political and social change. and culnrinaling h an
examilation oi thc challenges the) tacc al rhe onset ol lhe
The evolvlng nature of jmmigration fton] the llrst Jewish
setrlers in New France to the "ne$' Russian and Israeli
immisranrs; the rools of anlhenritism; the oEanizational
response to discrimination; the relalionship of the Canadian
Je$ish communitr to lsmel: the communi!-'s cortdbutior to
civil and constitutional 1a$.: rhe changirg role of romeD nl
Jewish communal life; the groNing isolation of small-tolvD
Jervish communiiiesi the changing demogmphies for the
Jewish conrmunity these are just some of the themes
cxplored jn this volunle.
Some intercsling chaptcfsi
. t"er Hori.ans in d \"e, Lahd: Jevish Innigt.ltion to
C.r,o/d - llarold Troper
. The Cdnadidn Je\ish hrytience: A Distinct Pelronnlij:
trrefs€r Geraldrulchinsky
RUTH KLEIN is National Difector of rhe Instirute lbr
international Affair s ofB'na; Brith Canada.
We Welcome These New
Members to Our Sociefi
Hele. Chimomas
Monis Gold
FRANK DIMANT is recognized nalionall! and iniernalionalh
as an c\pet on Canadian Jewry. As Executive Vice
President of B'nai Brith Canada and ChicfErecutive Officel
ofits League for Human Rights and Instilute for lntemational
Affairs. le co-ordinares thc organization s dual hunan rights
and social policy agendas.
Jerrold Landau
Gloria Roden
Andrew Sandcrs
M.A. Stein
Naomi Strobach
December 2001 Shem Tov

Civil Records vs. Vital Records in Gcrmanv
Ernesl R Siielcl
Here is thc wa) l look at Jesish liral records in Gemlan)
prior io 187,r. rhe esrablish enl ofthe Stand€saenner. Prior to
1800 Jewish lilal records are ahnost non exinent Ge'nan)
west oflhe ver Rhine '!ac
Frencb tiom abour 1794 to 18li
Ffance insiituled general registraiion (lc$ish aDd non'Je'rlsh)
in ll98 and rhesc records arc still alailable loda) The) are
located al lhe local Slandesamt lregislration oftice] Up ro 1815
the] are tu French and up to 1805 the) sho\! the dales oflhe
French Relolutionafy Calendar' (l know ho\1 10 conrefi dle
During the Napoleonic limes registration \ras established n1
tfie Kingdon of Weslphalia This continued 1(r l87i l belie\e
special rcgisters were kepl lbr Jetls b) dre sr'le aulhontjes
irr.t. ut. nnt" at the Detmold archilcs Hessen established
"Gebufis- trauungs and Sterb- Reginer der Juden" (Brlth-
Marriage and Dealh Regisle$ ofJews) in Janual l82i l have
a copl of the la\1. thcse docunents $efe preparcd h duplicare
by the local lna)'or' one cop) $as kept at $e place and one
cop) $as sent to the conrt.
(There were no cop) machines at that tinre. ihe docu enls
had be $.fitten lNice.) The copies sent 10 the couns were senl
{probabl)' after World War ll) ro the slare archi\es h man)
cases I have oblanltd both documents from both the archives
and the place of origination. tn 1938 I obrained a copl ol m)
Sreal-grandfathed death certificate fiom the "Amtsgerrcht
(loscr coun) ofOnenberg. oberhessen" This document is now
located atihe Hessische Slaalsarchiv il] Darmrladi Nol only fie
document. but also m,'- leter of 1938 $hich was filed with the
death certificat€.
I lbrod some Jeqish recod! from Dannsla'lt. the then
capital of Hessen. of around 1800 \Yhjch were kept b! the
Protestant church. Again. these rccords exist in duplicalc. one
cop,v al lhe Protesta.t commuDit) and oDe aI tbe cirf archi!es of
Damrsladt. Similarly- Prussia had sepafate "Juden
Matrikel" (Jeivislr Records). I undersrand thai there was a
change in ho$ these records were to be kept in I8'11
The Rejchssippenaml lcovemment Race Office] copied
man) Jewish records. I received some which were cop'ed on
December 16. 1944. the da] lh€ Battle ofthe Bulge staned. I
cuess at rhat time tlre Nazis had nolhing belter io do on dlat dal
ihun to .op,- Jewish records (fiom lwo insignificanr places in
the fomer Kingdom ofHannover) Cop)ing b] ihe Nazis went
on until March of l9'l5 While man)' orjginals are lost these
conies are at various archjves in Gennan,! ln an earl) edftjon of
Stimmbaurn I published a list (obiained tionl the Jewish
Museum in Frankfurt am Main) as 1o the location oflhe copies
Mostje$ish records were kept by local municipal aullrorities l
tound some records kepl by the Je'vish communilies. such as in
Waldeck and also pats ofUannovcr'
Various German archives have published books gjving
details of rheir holdings. Manr include a listins of "Juden und
Dissidenten Register'. listing tlre nane ollhe place. indicatnrg
for which ther
bird. ariage and death regisrers and dre )ean
hold Lhese reco.ds. All this clanged in 1875 lvith the
establirhment of the Slandesae'n1er.
Hungarian LaborBaltalions
Therc is a new searchable database which is rhe fi.uit of a
joinl \'enlure betNeen Hungarian and Russian allr) historians
It rargels the soldier, and Lhose in the forced labor battalions.
who pedshed in WWII on lhe Soviet fronl and in prisoD Some
2,1.100 names are ahead," in rhe darabase and trpon complenon
thcre will be o!er 600.000 lames.
The seNer is fast. bur the dalabase is in Hungarian. To use
the dalabase. click on kerese's and then rhe lurname or
'npui
interesl The crgine 'iearches 1{o differcnl datat'ases ' the
Hunsarian and lhe Russian. so. ifsomethnrg comes up thal was
not icquesed. il ma) be altributable ro lhe transliieration fiorn
the C!fillic alphabet.
The address is: htrp: 'iww$ . hadjlbgol) adarban)aszar'hu
Canadian Border Crossings
DanielKazcz
Fe$ members of m) fanily ente.ed lhe USA at NYC
l'rster.. lrdr. erre cd rro, gl' { rnar.. He-e.
curjous. is an atjcle discussing Canadian bofdef crossings:
hltp: I' u w$ . nara.go\ rpub licationsl prologuektalbans.html
PRNSS RILEASf,
Bibles, Haggtrdahs and Much, Much More Added
to thc Jewishcen Nlall
A great new selcction of books. CD-Roms and Videos
has been added to )our Jewishcen Mall For the ftrst lime
we are oficring Bibles. Haggadahs and relaied titles mosl of
Nhich will also make:real Chanukah gilts.
Check them out b] going inlo Jewishcen.
\'\'$ ie\Lnhgen.or-q. sc.oll down 1() the pul])le ba.ner for
th. Mall and click on ii. Browse the Nlall and vou will be
able 1o click on "Bibles.." or, take a look al 'Assoted
Chanukah Gili ldeas." and our constantly enlarging
"Children's Books..." and "Children's Software and
Each of these catego es offer appropriate irems tol
holida,,-s and special occasions ai special prices Do vour
holiday shoppins and suppon JewishGen
Don and Sand) Hnschhorn, Managers
't0
December 2001 Shem Tov

Lodz Records lnitiative
Shirley Flaun
JRI-Poland announccs a ne{ l.odz Seven-Year lnitiative for
the Ciry ofLodz PSA Project. 1899-19051
As town leader 01- the cit) of Lodz Je$ish Recods
lndexing-PolandlPolish State Archives (JR1-Poland,PSA) Proerr
I an Tc-.ed J JIr.rrLerl-e lar tr\of a n-ior.e\er-.eil
initialive 1o index 4:.501 Lodz Jewish birrh- ma.riage. and
death records, from 1899 through 1905. This marks the initial
inroad inio 20Ih cenlxr) Lodz Je\aish !ital rccords.
In 1997. JRI Poland entered irlo an agreement lr,ith the
l'olish State Archires to iDdex.Jelvish vital records not
microfilmed by the Mornrons (LDS). Each )ear the Lodz USC
(Urzad Sranu Cywilneso - civil registration oftice) rransfi|s the
]o0-)ear-old regislers ro the Lodz Branch of the Polish Stare
Archives. The records then become available to JRI-Polard for
indexing.
During rhe last few months. 10,876 binh. marria-ne, and
death records fron the "new" 1899 and 1900 registers !'ere
compuierized b)- ihe JRI-Poland team in Warsaw. The data
entry in C,"-rillic has been converted to Larin characters and the
indices are ready to be added to lhe JRI-Poland daiabasel
The new data will enable you to expand your research ofthe
time period when nol only our grandparents and their sibllngs
!!ere bom and naffied. but also when many of our pa.enrsaunis
and uncles were bom in Lodz. We hope lhe avaiiabilit oi
the first balc| of 2oth century records $i11 resuh in breakthfoughs
ir ]our fanrilr' researchl
Nearly 1{o \ears have passed since lve flrst began the cit}
of Lodz pSA project. The nelv Lodz Seven-Year Initialive
picks up where we leli ol}.
The lbllorving lists the status oflhe postl898 Lodz Je$.ish
Dates No. ofRecords Status
I899- 1900 PSA 10.876 Indexedl
1901 Lodz USC 5.890 Alailable in 2002
United Kingdom Resource for Wills
Wills are useful documents giving lots of falnily
infbrmalion. hr the UK. try hltp:1,www.cor{ser!lcc.go!.uk
and thcn click on Fornls & Leallets on the navigalion bar on the
ght hand side then click on'Probatc'.
You rlill be able to gel copies ol an) $ill iiom 1858 on
providing you send five pounds in sterllng form to:
The Probare Regislfy
Dunscombc PIace
York. YOI 7EA
Yorkshire. INCLAND
Berliner Adressbuech€r 1799-1943 on the h\et
Joseph Goldschmidt
The Berlh addressbooks fron] 1799 10 19.11 arc at dre
tbllo$ ins site: http:lr6l.l 04. 117. I 06 Ad.essbuchide
These arc facsimilcs ofwhole pages wriften in gothic script.
Please pay attenlion that Address in German is lvritten wirh one
"d" onl!.
Erperierced genealogi.al researcberwill search
for )our Canadian and lewish anceslors in the
archi\'es. libraries. govemmentreposiiories. etc.
olthe Grcater Toronto area. Estare/probate. ]egal
and land registr,! searches also condrcted.
Contaclr Clen Eker
l9 Resolure Ddve
Hamilton. Ontario, L9A 5J6 Canada
Tel:(90s)118-691s
E-MAIL: geker 9S yalroo.com
r902 Lodz USC 6,q52 Available in 200i
l90l Lodz USC 6..105 Available in 2004
190.1 Lodz USC '7,290 Available in 2005
1905 Lodz USC 6.088 Available in 2006
(Records 1906 and laier $.i11 be pan ofa subsequent initiaiive.)
Once indices lo these records are added to the JRI-Polard
Database, you will be able io oblain copies of the records by
simpiy printing oul the order lorm on the JRI-Poland web sile
and rnailing it to rhe Polish Stare Archives branch in Lodz.
Check out our new website at
www.igstoronto,ca
for current information about the
Jewish Genealogical Society of
Canada (Ioronto) including
valuable links.
December 2001 Shem Tov 11

National Archives ofCanada to ExpNnd Their
CenealogJ Focus
The Naiional Archives ofCanada has received new funding
tor a Canadian Cenealog) Cenrre Projecl fiom Canadian
Heritage. The Centre ains to increase Canadian conlenl on the
tnternet and lo inrprove the qualily of selvices provided Not
only will the Cenlre provide an eler-increasing amount of
services. lools and infomation ffonr the National Archives. but
it will also pfovide a single point of access f-or all genealogy
Canadr to facilitale their access bl all
\ Jnadi-l. rega-ole.' ol { rc-e .he) ar< lo\"red
The 22nd I,.iGS Conference on
tawish GenealoEly
August4-9,2002
Sheraton Centre Toronto
ISfiV,'C
o67
"
"%,,*
Efforts to Release Canadian Census R€cords Gain
Momentum
Canadian historians and geneaiogists are still pressing their
government to make accessible lhe censuses of the 201h
ceniury. Canada has always allowed access to jts census records
92 years after collection of the data. The l90l census was
released in 1993. Release oflhe l9ll census \vould be due in
200-l; bul lhe rei€ase has hn a snag in l9lL. and in aii
subsequent censuses. the Canadian govenlnent of ihe time
assured its citizens that the nlformation they provided would bc
kept confidential. There was no time limit on the confidenrialit]
and some have interpreled this to mean in perpeluil,1.
Bills have been iDtroduced in the Canadian Farliament that
authorize transfer of all census records liom Statistics Canada
to the National Archives ofCanada for pennanent safekeeping.
It gives access ro the records to researcher 92 ,vears alier the
census. subiect to a privac]- right that allows
to
object to rhe disclosure of personal inibmmiion 'ndividuals in thc census
records. lnfonnation aboutthis efforl can be found at:
htqr:lr globalgenealog,v.co]n, Census
Avotaynu Site Now Has Search Engine
Avotaynu has added a search engine to its site that nrakes jt
easier to locate information wirhin our domain The search
facility is localed on our cataiog page at lrtlp:/l
wrvw.avotaynu.con/catalog.lrh. For example, ifyou key in the
word "Galicia" it will identiry an,v of our rnore than 100 web
pages thal include the $od.
Toronto is a Huron Indian word
me.Lning N4eeting Place (I-ieu de
Renconcre7. Our new Conference
Iogo reflecr' our special Canadian
herrtage and our plans to make Toronto
a meetirg place for genealogists
from around the wodd. In
2002. Toronto wiJJ be the place ro
be for the annual Internalional
Conference on Jewish Genealogl.
A grear lioe up of speakers. special
eveo15. Progfammes.
tours and resources
will be available to genealogisrs
fr"m begrnner ro erPerr.
N{ark your calendar now!