Jewish Research

Jewish immigrants often “Americanized” their names. Further, they used a lot of nicknames and derivatives of their real name

• Hint: Search with initials and last name to maximize your chance of finding your relative

To find a Jewish ancestor’s town of origin (“shtetl”), look to their grave and local synagogue. Jewish immigrants often formed societies based on their hometowns and members frequently bought lots in cemeteries

• Ashkenazim - those traditionally living in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly Germany, northeastern France, and the former Russian Empire

• Sephardim - those traditionally living in Spain and Portugal

• Mirahim - those traditionally living in the Middle East and North Africa

A lot of areas where Jewish individuals originated from had shifting boundaries. It is not unusual for people to identify with other areas than the one named in official documents

Galicia (province of Austria) – Now in Poland and Ukraine

• Gesher Galicia is a Galicia research group

• Records are scattered

• Jews avoided registration of marriage. Children are often listed under their mother’s surname as illegitimate

A number of Jews immigrated to Mexico. Search the 1930 Mexico National Census and the Brazil Immigration Cards on FamilySearch

Since the 1950’s, the International Tracing Service has researched and documented the fates of millions who suffered persecution during the holocaust

Landsmanshaft

• Social organizations made up of immigrants from the same region.

• The Landsmanshaft helped immigrants transition from one area to another, helped immigrants learn English, find employment, learn culture, find financial aid, created burial societies

• Most Landsmanshaft’s published journals or newsletters, kept minutes, dues books and receipts, helpd special programs

• Burial Society – would buy sections within a cemetery and sell plots to its members

• TIVO’s Landsmanshaftn Collection

• Burial Society Database

Hebrew Newspapers

Historical Jewish Press

• American Sephardi Federation

• Avotaynu is a Jewish surname index

• Documentation of Jewish Records Worldwide

• Family Tree of the Jewish People

• IAJGS Cemetery Project

• Industrial Removal Office was created as part of the Jewish Agricultural Society to assimilate immigrants into American society

• International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies

• Israel Genealogy Research Association Contains records from the Ottoman era to the early years of the State of Israel.

  • Includes materials from Jewish communities in North Africa, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and more.

• Istanbul Jewish Genealogy Project

• JewishGen is one of the best websites to get started with Jewish genealogy

  • It is free to use, but you must register with the site

  • Contains great tutorials and information sheets

  • Family Finder is an interactive database which allows users to post family surnames and ancestral towns, and to find other researchers with similar interests

  • ViewMate Tool – Allows users to post photographs and documents, and ask for help in translating or identifying information.

  • Infofile – contains a very useful list of Yiddish and Hebrew names and their derivatives

  • Communities Database, Town Finders contains information about over 6,000 Jewish communities in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East

• Yizkor books are memorial books created to commemorate Jewish communities destroyed during the holocaust. Many Tizkor books can be accessed through JewishGen’s Yizkor Book Project D

• Litvaksig is the primary resource for Lithuanian Jewish genealogical research

• Routes to Roots shows where records are currently kept

• Sephardic Gen

• Social Media Groups

  • Avotaynu Online (FB)

  • Jewish Genealogy Portal (FB)

  • Tracing the Tribe – Jewish Genealogy on Facebook

• Southern Jewish Historical Society

• Yad Vashem is the central database of Shoah (holocaust) victim’s names