Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain



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Recent Postings on JGSGB Discuss

This is a very small sample of recent postings on JGSGB Discuss and represents the variety of postings made day-in and day-out. If you feel any of these messages are interesting and helpful but you are not signed up to JGSGB Discuss, join now by contacting Tony Benson, Discuss Moderator at moderator@.uk

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2 November 2014

Dear Members,

We have had a request from a lady who is researching migrants who were under 18 years old when they emigrated from foreign climes to London from 1930. This research is linked to the V&A Museum of Childhood and Queen Mary University of London. The result will be archived at the Jewish Museum.

Please contact me if you are able to help her at chairman@.uk and I will pass it on to her.

Volunteers are needed to participate in an observational only study (non medication) regarding Parkinson's disease, which may have a genetic connection to Jews of Ashkenazi (Eastern European) origin. If you or a relative might be interested please contact ppmigenetics

We urgently need a guest Editor for our well known journal Shemot next year. You will be given every assistance and we do have an experienced copy editor. Next year - guest Editor of Shemot? Please let the Chairman know if this appeals to you or someone that you know.

Finally, and most importantly, a big thank you to those who were able to attend our Conference on 26th October and who were such an appreciative audience. Our speakers were particularly impressed by the receptiveness and enthusiasm of our members and all want to be asked back!

Doreen Berger

Chairman

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31 October 2014

Dear Genners,

I wonder if anyone has any women intheir tree whose maiden name was KOENIGSBERG?

My great, great grandfather, Isaac KOENIGSBERG was born in Vilkaviskis, Lithuania in 1828 and died in London 14 Jan 1909. In his Jewish Chronicle death notice it stated he was mourned by (amongst others) "sisters." A year later his tombstone consecration took place on 2 Jan 1910 at Plashet Cemetery. His matzevah still stated "sisters." Therefore at least two sisters were still alive in 1910.

There was one other brother Harris, who was born in 1841 who also lived in London who died in 1921. As his death notice doesn't mention any siblings it's possible the sisters may have died by then.

If anyone thinks they may have female ancestors who fit this criteria (born in Lithuania) please contact me off list.

Thank you

Jeremy

--

Jeremy G Frankel

ex-London, England

now Folsom, CA

Searching for:

FRANKEL: Plock, Poland; London, England

GOLDRATH/GOLD: Praszka, Poland; London, England

KOENIGSBERG: Vilkaviskis, Lithuania; London, England; NY, USA

LEVY (later LEADER): Kalisz, Poland; London, England

Pinkus, Poland; London, England

PRINCZ/PRINCE: Krakow, Poland; London, England; NY, USA

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31 October 2014

Dear All

Can someone advise where I could find details regarding a Hendryk van Oyen and his wife Stella nee Kutnowski who lived in Holland and survived the war. Last contact was in 1948 in Holland or Belgium when my wife remembers meeting them while she was on holiday with her parents. Stella was Polish, from Kalish. I don't know how they met or where they were married, but believe they were in Holland from 1930 or so.

Alan Cohen researching KUTNOWSKI and DEITSCH from Poland.

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28 October 2014

Dear Membership - this may interest many of you.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) - The presidents of Poland and Israel have joined Holocaust survivors for a ceremony to open a multimedia museum that tells the 1,000-year history of Jewish life in Poland.

The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews is located at the site that once was the center of the Warsaw Ghetto. It uses documents, murals, touch screens and building reconstructions.

Read Full Story

Museum of Jewish history opens in Poland. By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA. Published:

Today

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin walks past a historical map of Poland as he tours the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews during the opening of the core exhibition, in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014. WARSAW, Poland (AP) - The presidents of Poland and Israel on Tuesday joined Holocaust survivors for the formal opening of a multimedia museum that tells the 1,000-year history of Jewish life in Poland.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, on his first foreign trip as president and Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski attended the open-air ceremony at the neighboring monument that honors fighters of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Speaking in Hebrew, Rivlin said he came as the 10th president of Israel and a son of builders of the State of Israel. "When you are a Jew, even if you were not born in Poland, the very name 'Poland' stirs up trembling and longing in your heart," Rivlin said. "This country has become a place of creating the spirit of the Jewish nation and - alas! - also the largest Jewish cemetery. Here, the Jewish town (shtetl) was born and here it was also dying. It was dying, locked in ghettos but never ceasing to fight until it was murdered by German Nazis."

Komorowski said he believes the museum will help remove untruths and distortions in the way that Poles and Jews see each other, and thus contribute to building new relations between the two nations whose life and cultures were intertwined for centuries.

The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews was built at what was the center of the Warsaw Ghetto. It uses documents, murals, touch screens and building reconstructions to show the richness of Poland's Jewish culture, which was wiped out in the Holocaust.

First plans for the museum were made in 1995, under Poland's young democracy that made it possible to discuss and remember events that were taboo under decades of communism following World War II.

A striking modern glass-and-concrete form, it was financed from private donations and from the Warsaw budget

Raymond Montanjees

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27 October 2014

The London Conference

Kol ha-koved to Doreen and everybody who worked so hard to give us lucky attendees yet another memorable JGS-GB One-Day Con. I enjoyed all the talks I heard, but of course as a Galitzianer born & bred the highlight for me was Pamela Weisberger's in-depth tour of the wonderful Gesher Galicia (of which I am a founder member). To think that 30 years ago nobody talked about being a Galitzianer - well,

we're certainly out and proud now! The Jewish Museum was an excellent venue with plenty of space and easy Sunday parking nearby. My only regret was that I only gave myself half an hour to explore its delights - too many chavers to catch up with! I'm looking forward to next year already.

Best wishes and happy ancestor-spotting,

Richard Cooper (NB: Not related to any COOPERs!)

Midhurst, UK

MILLET, ENGELBERG, BLUMENKEHL, SUSSWEIN, WACKS & PITERZIL from Tarnow,

Dabrowa Tarnowska and Lezajsk

LEZTER, SALENDER, RINENBERG, EISEN & KRAETTER from Rzeszow and Kolbuszowa

YAROSHEVSKY, SHAPOCHNIKOW & GRANITUR from Odessa and Zlatopol/Novomirgorod

LEWINSTEIN from Berdichev

ADLER, FINKELSTEIN, PARYLLE, WEINTRAUB & ZILZ from Tarnopol and Trembowla

BORENSTEIN, MATELEVITCH,GODZINSKIJ & ZIMNOWICZ and from Warsaw and Radun

Really enjoyed the conference yesterday. Interesting talks, in particular:the ww1 talk by Martin Sugarman, as it highlighted the 1918 march my relative took part in, the Gesher-Galicia talk, opened up new possible avenues for us to look into, and the Find My Past talk, with forthcoming news about the UK 1939 health records coming soon. Great also to be able to catch up with fellow members, and to chat with others I hadn't met before.

Thanks too all who helped organise, including the caterers!

Bea Shiel

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25 October 2014

Dear JGSGB Members

The following information is really useful:

"The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee announced that they will be posting online with free public access its Poland collection from 1945-1949. This collection was confiscated by the Communist Authorities. The collection documents the JDCs efforts to assist holocaust survivors following the holocaust.

To access the collection go to:

Original url:



Jan Meisels Allen

Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee"

You can search by name, town, etc.

Regards

Mark Nicholls

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24 October 2014

Dear JGSGB Members

The following details are about a new site created by Who Do You Think You Are? that allows you to create a family tree and timeline. I have tried it briefly and it appears to be a nice way of presenting family history and stories to other people, especially younger family members:

"Who Do You Think You Are (UK), sponsored by FindMyPast, launched site allows you to create your own personalized Who Do You Think You Are? You can create your own story and its free. All you have to do is enter some of the details you know about your immediate family, and Who Do You Think You Are, Story will create the visual experience. In addition to your own family history the site will add contemporary issues that impacted the family’s lives at the time they lived. If you are interested in participating the website is:

. At this time this is available only in the UK version of Who Do You Think You Are. You will have to register with first and last name, email address and password. As this is part of FindMyPast you will be subject to their terms and conditions of use.

I have no affiliation with FindMyPast, or the BBC. This is being posted solely for the information of the reader.

Thank you to Peter Calver of Lost Cousins Newsletter for alerting us to these items of interest for UK researchers.

Jan Meisels Allen

Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee"

Regards

Mark Nicholls

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16 October 2014

Dear Members,

Within my TOF(F)LER/TAF(F)LER tree, there is a marriage to a CHARKOFSKY - which more than likely was mis-spelt. A few years ago, a copy of a CHAPKOFSKY tree came my way - but I couldn't connect up with either spellings.

If any of you have either of those two spellings in your tree(s), still researching the name and would like this information - you are more than welcome to have a copy of both.

Regards,

Raymond Montanjees

Researching.

Paternal:

MONTAN(N)(H)ES _ MONTANJIES - VAN PRAAG(H) - KURTZ - PIZER - TOF(F)LER _

TAF(F)LER

Maternal:

ISAACS - JESSEL - LEVY

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14 October 2014

I have a question about the use of secular v Hebrew names in the late 19th century which I hope other society members can shed some light on:

My great-great grandfather, Menachem Mendel FINKELSTEIN arrived in London,

England in about 1865, having previously lived in Kalwaria' Russian Poland (now Kalvarija, Lithuania). He was always known by family and friends as Mendel, and in all official synagogue documents (marriage authorisations etc) he was recorded as Menachem haMechune Mendel (Menachem known as Mendel). However, in all secular documents (census returns, BMD records etc) he appears as Marks FINKELSTEIN.

I wonder if it was common practice at that time for someone to use a different first name in official documents from what family and friends called them. And has anyone ever heard of the name Marks being used as an 'anglicised' version of Mendel? I did wonder whether the name Marks had some additional significance - perhaps a surname used on official papers from Russian Poland?? Unfortunately Kalvarija appears to be one of those towns from which no documents have survived, so there is no way of confirming what names were used in the Old Country. Any thoughts other members might have on this would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Jeremy Schuman

Buckinghamshire, England

Responses to above:

Dear Jeremy,

Very briefly, it was completely the norm in 18th / 19th century Britain to take an English equivalent name for all secular purposes. Although a Menahem most often would take the name Emanuel, I'm sure that Mark or Marks was sometimes adopted (although it most usually represented Mordecai).

Sorry I'm not qualified to comment on E.Europe!

Henry Roche

I agree, it was extremely common for Jews to anglicise their names and no one was as fussy as they are now about anglicisation. My own great-great grandfather, Samuel Smith, is probably a good example!

Josephine Bacon

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14 October 2014

Dear JGSGB Members

Many of you will remember me posting about a very good resource called The Ancestor Hunt for finding newspapers on-line. This referred mainly to US and Canadian newspapers. The latest message from The Ancestor Hunt I have received is about Free European newspapers on-line. The following link takes you to the website page about these newspapers:



or:



Regards

Mark Nicholls

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10 October 2014

I will never forget my delight when I first came across this website and the pleasure I got from slowly working my way though it. Sadly, the lovely Philip Walker is no more, having died earlier this week after a short illness.

However, his memory will live on because of all he did to preserve the history of the Jewish East End.

Philip was also active in the Jewish East End Celebration Society from its early days, and together with his brother David, produced "The Cable".

Philip will be remembered all over the world by the hundreds of visitors to London who were lucky enough to share his knowledge as he guided them around the many areas associated with the Jewish past.

I know Philip will be sadly missed by those who knew him personally, and also by those who benefitted, and will continue to benefit, from his own love of the Jewish East End.

Shirley Collier

East of London UK

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3 October 2014

Dear JGSGB Members

The following message has been received from the IAJGS Records Access Forum:

"Relatives of adopted adults are now able to trace their family history in the UK. New regulations announced by Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families Minister Edward Timpson have extended rights to family members. Previously only the person adopted and their birth relatives were able to use specialized adoption agencies to help shed light on their family history and make contact with their biological family members. The new rules will extend this right to all relatives of adopted adults, from children and grandchildren to partners and adoptive relatives. It will help them unearth their family history, discover more about their medical background and reach out to long-lost relatives The new rules become effective by November 2014. To read the press release see:



Thank to Peter Calver and Lost Cousins Newsletter for alerting us to this new regulation.

Jan Meisels Allen

Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee"

This will have a particularly great impact on people who find after a parent's death that the parent was adopted. In the past it was impossible to get access to the parent's adoption information and to find the birth family. Now from November the Intermediary Services will be able to help relatives of adoptees find the adoptees' birth family. The JGSGB Education Handout on Adoption will be changed once the full details of how relatives can apply are known.

Regards

Mark Nicholls

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1 October 2014

Dear JGSGB Members

A new on-line system has been created by the Probate Service to enable people to order wills and grants of probate for 1996 onwards. The details are set out below:

"Subject: FFHS-NEWS Post-1996 English and Welsh probate records database online

To: ffhs-news@ffhs-.uk, ffhs-members@ffhs-.uk

The Probate Service for England and Wales has added a searchable database online for post-1996 wills and grants of probate, to complement its soldiers wills offerings already available. The database is at .

There is a basic search facility (surname and year of death) and an advanced search capability (surname, first name, year, month and date of death, year, month and date of probate). If an entry is found from the search a full copy will cost £10 to access.

(with thanks to Chris Paton The British GENES Blog (GEnealogy News & EventS))

Beryl Evans

FFHS Archives Liaison Officer

archives.liaison@.uk

The Federation of Family History Societies is a Company Limited by

Guarantee Company Number 2930189 (England & Wales) - Registered

Charity Number 1038721

Registered Office: Artillery House, 15 Byrom Street, Manchester, England M3 4PF"

Thanks also to Jeanette Rosenberg for passing this on to me.

The database has useful data such as death dates even if you don't order a will or probate.

The pre-1996 to 1967 wills and grants still have to be searched at local Probate offices or at the main search room in the the Royal Courts of Justice. Wills for 1858 to 1966 can be searched on Ancestry and on some other websites.

Regards

Mark Nicholls

23 September 2014

Dear JGSGB Members

Jeanette Rosenberg has drawn my attention to a message about the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People and its merger with the National Library of Israel. The message is below:

"Subject: Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People at the National Library in Jerusalem

From: Rose Feldman

Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 09:03:38 +0300

They have the beginning of a new website. What a wonderful way to start a new year.



Pages/default.aspx

or-

Shana Tova,

Rose Feldman

Israel Genealogy Research Association



http:/israelgenealogy"

Take a look at the inventories under each community to see what material is available for the country or countries that you are searching for.

The CAHJP does not have on-line holdings other than index material so as their website says "Please note: The lists and descriptions are partial. In order to fully explore our holdings one must visit the Archives"

The CAHJP holds records that cannot be found anywhere else or are so scattered to make research impossible of too expensive. The CAHJP is one reason for being at the 2015 International Conference on Jewish Genealogy in Jerusalem -

Regards

Mark Nicholls

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14 September 2014

I have just heard that the Western Charitable Foundation has this week gone live with its graves database. This covers its cemeteries at Edmonton (Western, not the Federation one), Cheshunt, Streatham and Fulham. The website is .

It is fully searchable by surname, and gives full name, cemetery, plot no. date of burial.

Philip ROTH

Elstree, Herts, UK

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13 September 2014

Dear JGSGB Members

A blog posting by Kitty Munson Cooper helps to explain why many Jewish people who do genealogy tests find that they end up with many hundreds or thousands of matches.



The recent talk by Dr Maurice Gleeson at the Chiltern's and Home Counties Group explained the issue as well.

DNA testing is still very useful in finding living relatives but also in breaking through some of the brickwalls created by lack of paper records or by lack of surnames. This is particularly true of Y-chromosome matching.

JGSGB has an affiliate partnership with FamilytreeDNA, which means that we get a small amount of money for each DNA test sold through the website. We also have kits that can be obtained through Jeanette Rosenberg, JGSGB Education Officer.

Regards

Mark Nicholls

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