Jewish Genealogy Society of Cleveland

"The World in Crisis:
Jews, Ukrainians, and History"
Presented by Dr. Sean Martin

Dr. Martin discussed the Jewish history of Ukraine and the status of its Jews since Russia’s February 2022 attack on the country. Jews have lived among Ukrainians for centuries, under the Russian Empire and then in the Soviet Union. Many of us trace our families back to this region and some still have family there. Understanding the importance of this area to our lives and Jewish heritage will help us better understand what is at stake in the conflict today.

IN-PERSON SPECIAL PROGRAM

Overcoming Brick Walls in Research

A panel of past-presidents led an in-persion seminar for an afternoon renewing ties with local JGSC members aftertwo years of virtual meetings due to the Covid-19 pandemic..

• Attendees Brought research problems, and the panelists demonstrated techniques to break through the "brick wall".
• Attendees also sharedd significant research breakthroughs that they made during the past two years.
• ANd the panel discussedLearn how members can contribute to the leadership of JGSC as we rebuild our infrastructure.

Panelists: Sylvia Abrams, Ken Bravo, Richard Spector

Meeting and Webinar

THis program was a live, interactive Q and A discussion to answer questions about Family Tree Maker, the latest version, updates, features and more. The speaker also talked about Family Tree Maker partner products - Charting Companion and Family Book Creator - which are amazing plug-ins that can help you create amazing charts, graphs, and books.

Meeting and Webinar

"Out of the Whirlwind: Finding the Family You Lost in the Holocaust"
Presented by Deborah H. Long

The daughter of two Holocaust survivors, Deborah Long revieweds the best (as well as some of the obscure) resources and methods for determining the fate of those involved in the Holocaust, including survivors and victims. Deborah used examples from her own research to demonstrate the documents and artifacts she discovered.

Meeting and Webinar

"The Cultural Phenomenon of Home DNA Testing"
Presented by Libby Copeland

The presentation explored the extraordinary cultural phenomenon of home DNA testing, which is redefining family history. It drew on Libby Copeland’s years of research for heer new book The Lost Family: How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are (Abrams, 2020), which The Wall Street Journal calls “a fascinating account of lives dramatically affected by genetic sleuthing.” With more than 37 million people having been tested, a tipping point has been reached. Virtually all Americans are affected whether they have been tested or not, and millions have been impacted by significant revelations in their immediate families. The presentation featured discussions of the implications of home DNA testing for Jewish genealogy, as well as the unique challenges of genetic genealogy for Ashkenazim.

Meeting and Installation of 2022 Officers and Directors

"Here Comes The 1950 Census: What To Expect"
Presented by Joel Weintraub

The U.S. 1950 census will become public on April 1, 2022. Joel provided advice on what can be done now to prepare for the rollout. He covered what is a census, who uses the census, census caveats, who was enumerated (most Americans abroad in the military or diplomatic service will not be part of the rollout), how the 1950 census was taken, training of enumerators, enumerator instruction manuals, census sampling, and 1950 population and housing forms and large city block summaries. Joel then discussed locational tools for finding people as a name index won’t be available for some time after the opening. Discussion about the National Archives census map collection (available online), and his and Steve Morse’s 1950 locational tools, online right now at the One-Step stevemorse.org website, ended the talk. The One-Step 1950 utilities took almost 8 years to produce with the help of 69 volunteers and involve 230,000 or so searchable 1950 census district definitions with about 79,000 more small community names added, and street indexes for over 2,400 1950 urban areas that correlate with 1950 census district numbers.

December 1, 2021

Annual Meeting and Election of 2022 Officers and Directors

Using Facial Recognition Tools to Identify Unnamed Ancestors for Genealogical Research
Presented by Scott Genzer

Photographs have always been a genealogical challenge because, unlike more conventional sources such as vital records, they do not impart clear data. Most often we simply attach the picture to our trees and then leave it there. However in early 2019 Scott developed a new technique that shows how to use facial recognition via artificial intelligence / machine learning methods to identify unknown people in photographs using large libraries of passport-like images currently available online. With facial recognition, genealogists can generate new clues with statistical probabilities from old photos that have never before been available. This presentation was an elaboration and detailed demonstration of this technique previously published in the fall issue of Avotaynu. A PDF copy of the article and instructions for 2 tools used by Scott were provided to the attendees.

November 14, 2021

2-part program in partnership with the
Case Western Reserve University
Laura and Alvin Siegal Lifelong Learning Program

One-Step Webpages: A Potpourri of Genealogical Search Tools
and
Case Study: A Complete Genealogy Starting From Nothing
Presented by Steve Morse

Session 1: One-Step Webpages: A Potpourri of Genealogical Search Tools

The One-Step website started out as an aid for finding passengers in the Ellis Island database. Shortly afterwards it was expanded to help with searching in the 1930 census. Over the years, it has continued to evolve and today includes about 300 web-based tools divided into 16 separate categories ranging from genealogical searches to astronomical calculations to last-minute bidding on e-bay This presentation described the range of tools available and highlights of each.

Session 2: Case Study: A Complete Genealogy Starting From Nothing

This lecture presented a case study using the One-Step Webpages as well as other websites to develop a family history. It illustrated how, with a minimal amount of initial information, an entire genealogy can be obtained. It also showed how to obtain records in spite of name misspelling and how to avoid accepting wrong information.

The What and When of U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Records
Presented by Marian Smith

Marian Smith presented an overview of three historical eras of US immigration and naturalization records, illustrated with documents of Jewish immigrants. Using a timeline tool (included in the handout she provided), she demonstrated how plotting an immigrant’s life events can identify what records may exist for that particular immigrant and where these records can be found.

September 1, 2021

"The American Jewish Cousins Clubs and Family Circles as a Genealogical Resource"
Presented by Robinn Magid

Anthropologists say that kinship clubs are unique to American Jewish Families of Ashkenazic background. This presentation  explored Jewish family clubs and family circles as a cultural phenomenon and showed through example how exploring cousins' clubs can be useful for genealogy research. Most examples used in this presentation were from clubs in the Midwest, including the Katz family of Cleveland, who held a family reunion in 1905 with photos and a memorial book to kick off their cousins' club!

August 11, 2021

"The Holocaust Art Recovery Initiative:
Exposing and Addressing the Historic Injustice of Nazi Looted Artwork"

Presented by Jonathan H. Schwartz, Esq.

This discussion examined the ongoing injustice of unreturned artwork stolen by the Nazis and their collaborators, which has been called the “greatest displacement of art in human history.” As part of the discussion, we looked at legislative efforts to address the problem, the recent Supreme Court decision in Republic of Hungary v Simon which decimated art-recovery efforts in U.S. Courts, and the recent discovery of “smoking gun” government documents exposing the theft of thousands of pieces of still-missing artwork from Jewish communities in Hungary. Importantly, we discussed how genealogists can help in the effort to reclaim a missing part of Jewish cultural identity.

July 7, 2021

"Jewish Resources on Ancestry"
Presented by Crista Cowan

With more than 24 billion online records, twice as many as any other online genealogy company, Ancestry has a lot to offer Jewish family history researchers. Crista Cowan gave us a look at records in the U.S., Canada, and England specific to Jewish immigrants as well as tips for researching the millions of JewishGen records, Holocaust records, and other European records from the 18th and 19th century for those of Jewish descent. She also added a few tips for successful searching as well.

June 2, 2021

"A Story of Rose’s: Creating a Personal Narrative to Remember and Investigate"
Presented by Larry Volk

A Story of Rose’s is a biographical narrative about Rosette Alcabes Volk, Larry’s mother and a Holocaust survivor, whose journey brought her from Cuba to France, and later to the United States and Cleveland, Ohio. It is a son’s creative effort to know his mother through significant events that shaped and changed Rose’s identity. It is an act of remembrance but also investigation. Through a presentation of his work exploring his mother’s history, Larry discussed the process of using the photographs and materials that have been handed through generations to preserve family history.

May   5, 2021

"Researching Your Litvak Roots on LitvakSIG and More"
Presented by Judy Baston

Do you want to know more about your Litvak heritage? LitvakSIG's searchable All Lithuania Database (ALD) provides the primary foundation for Litvak genealogical research, with translations of more than 2.2 million Jewish records, census and vital records key among them. Also in the ALD are records in Lithuanian archives for a number of towns in Belarus and Poland. This presentation described the LitvakSIG database and website, as well as other major resources for Litvak research, such as JewishGen, Yad Vashem and district research groups. The speaker decribed how to determine what records are available and how to read and analyze your findings to achieve an optimal outcome.

April 7, 2021

"The History, Adoption, and Regulation of Jewish Surnames in the Russian Empire"
Presented by Dr. Jeffrey Mark Paull

The history of the adoption, regulation, and use of Jewish surnames in the Russian Empire is quite complex. There were a myriad number of ways by which Jewish surnames were created, assigned, or adopted, while tight restrictions were placed on changing or altering surnames.

As a result of Russian laws and mandates, many non-related Jewish individuals acquired the same surname, while many related family members acquired different surnames. This situation has created many challenges for genealogists who try to trace the ancestry or locate descendants of a particular Jewish lineage, many of whom have different surnames, as well as for interpreting the results of DNA tests for Jewish descendants.

The purpose of this presentation was to explain the various laws and mandates pertaining to Jewish surnames in the Russian Empire, so that those who are interested in Jewish genealogy will better understand the complexities of Jewish surname adoption and use.

Read more about Dr. Paull’s books and related genealogy and family history projects on his website, https://www.ANobleHeritage.com, and Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ANobleHeritage. Direct your research questions to jmpaull@anobleheritage.com. Please limit email requests to questions directly pertaining to the webinar presentation.

March 10, 2021

"The View from Pittsburgh"
Presented by Eric Lidji

Eric Lidji discussed the development of the Pittsburgh Jewish community from the nineteenth century on, explaining how and why that development differed from the settlement of Jews in Cleveland. Topography, transportation routes, industry, and personalities all combined to help form Pittsburgh's Jewish community and the many smaller Jewish settlements throughout Western Pennsylvania. Focusing on patterns of migration and population density, Eric drew our attention to how communities develop. Eric also addressed the history of Jewish archives in Pittsburgh, suggested sources for genealogy researchers, and highlighted recent efforts to document the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue on October 27, 2018 and the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Jewish community.

February 10, 2021

"Never Give Up - Strategies for Taking Your Genealogy Research to the Next Level
and Finding the Previously Unfindable"
Presented by Marion Werle

The talk featured a collection of tips to maximize your genealogical research. The speaker presented a number of research problems that required a creative approach to locate elusive people and their documents. She discussed online search strategies and indexing, names and name variations, the importance of geography, getting the most out of each record, revisiting old research, and the importance of persistence in achieving success.

January 13, 2021

Board Installation and Program

Finding Your Kaplans
Presented by Mindie Kaplan

Our program began after a short business meeting, which included installation of our Officers and Board members for 2021. The speaker discussed techniques for researching common names that, because they are so common, create difficulties in determining whether there is a relationship to the family being researched. To illustrate the process, she focused on how she was able to find a bit more on her Cleveland relatives in the presentation. She also illustrated her techniques with an example from our membership.

December 9, 2020

November 15, 2020

Why Cleveland? Immigration Stories Uncovered from the Industrial Removal Office
Renée K. Carl

Co-sponsored by the Siegal Lifelong Learning Program of Case Western Reserve University

If you ever wondered why your immigrant ancestor chose to live in Cleveland instead of Pittsburgh, Little Rock - not Los Angeles, or Memphis - not Miami, the answers might lie in the records of the Industrial Removal Office, a scary name for a good organization. Renée Carl examined the history of the Industrial Removal Office and its records. Then, using a case study, demonstrated how to use the online index, and how to navigate to find immigrant case files, correspondence, and reports.

The IRO, founded in 1901, assisted immigrants in finding employment and better living conditions, and helped assimilate them into American society. IRO agents, often working in partnership with B’nai B’rith or other Jewish fraternal groups, spread around the USA securing jobs, and then immigrants would be sent to those locations to establish a new life. Records of the IRO, housed at the American Jewish Historical Society, include ledger books, case files and correspondence, as well as reports by local agents on the newly settled immigrants. Ohio, and specifically Cleveland, played outsized roles in the history of the IRO, and the talk included an Ohio-focused angle.

October 7, 2020

September 9, 2020

Getting the Most out of Family Tree Maker^®

A Virtual Presentation by Duff Wilson

The presentation highlighted all the latest features of Family Tree Maker 2019 as well as older features you may not use, but should. 2019 marked thirty years since Family Tree Maker was born, and it's only fitting that this new edition takes this grand old brand to places its original creators could only have dreamed of. Where every change you make to your tree on your Mac or PC can be instantly and automatically viewed from your smartphone or tablet. Where you can turn back time to erase mistakes you made even a thousand changes ago. Where you can arrange for your tree to be passed on to a relative of your choice along with your Family Tree Maker license to ensure your legacy lives on. We saw all this and much more in this session.

In addition, all attendees became eligible for a discounted price on Family Tree Maker by ordering through a special link that was provided during the program, and a complimentary copy of Family Tree Maker was presented to a member of the JGS of Cleveland that attended the session, in a virtual drawing at the conclusion of the webinar.

August  5, 2020

The Benefits, Limitations and Ethical Challenges of Genetic Testing in Health and Genealogy Settings

Dr. Aaron Goldenberg
Vice Chair & Associate Professor
Department of Bioethics
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

As commercial genetic testing becomes cheaper and more available, many individuals and families are using these technologies to explore their own health, as well as their ancestry. However, the use of genetic testing also raises many ethical and social questions regarding the accuracy of genetic ancestry tests, the impact that genetic information may have on one’s identity, and the potential misuse of personal genetic data. This presentation explored the benefits, limitations, and ethical challenges of genetic testing in health and genealogy settings.

July 8, 2020

Rabbi Akiva Feinstein

The use of words, names and phrases on Jewish headstones is an ancient way of remembering a soul when they can no longer speak for themselves. Jewish custom is rich with traditions, insights and guidance on how to write these expressions. The presentation included a review of the common expressions, naming conventions, calculation of dates and certain other aspects while focusing on the need for accuracy and completeness. Our speaker, who worked as a chaplain for many years, shared his concerns and offered possible solutions to preserve this beautiful tradition for those unfamiliar with Hebrew names and conventions. Many examples were cited to highlight important laws and customs. Rabbi Feinstein demonstrated how even those who do not have a strong Hebrew background can learn how to decipher Hebrew names and dates on headstones.

June 3, 2020

Betty Franklin

Betty Franklin described many of the enhancements  that have been made to the FamilySearch.org website. She explained that the goal is to have as many items free and available online as possible. In addition the spaeker described the site's learning centers, community groups, activities to involve the whole family and new ways to add sources to Family Tree or to merge individuals. The discussion included the changes that have been made, and some of the upcoming changes to FamilySearch.org.

May 13, 2020

Getting Started as a Search Angel:
Solving Mysteries to Reunite Families

Robin Selinger

Robin Selinger discussed her volunteer work as a “search angel”. A member of the JGSC, Robin got started in family tree research as a hobby in 2007. As a search angel, she helps others locate long-lost parents, children and other family members. In just one year, she took on and solved three such cases including a woman whose father used a false name and disappeared when she was only four-years old. Robin discovered the father’s true identity and found two half-siblings who welcomed their long-lost sister into the family.

April 29, 2020

Ask Us Anything. . .About Genealogy!

Three experienced JGSC genealogists gave answers to questions that members raised while conducting family research in a virtual interactive meeting. Topics propsed in advabce included these:

• What would you like to know how to do, or do better?
• What frustrates you most when doing genealogical research?
• How do you deal with languages you don’t know?
• Where can you look for information beyond the obvious vital records, census data and immigration/naturalization sources?
• How do you track people after name changes, immigration, marriage, etc.?
• How do you make a family tree and why would you do this?

March 4, 2020

Scott gave us a look at Jewish ballplayers and those that played or were part of the Cleveland Indians organization, including a discussion of some of the experiences of ballplayers that came from minority groups who faced a difficult time from rival players, fans and even teammates.

The presentation covered ballplayers like Jonah Goldman, Cleveland’s first Jewish shortstop, Harry Eisenstat, Al Rosen and Hank Greenberg, who served as the Indians general manager starting in 1948, plus others such as Max “Lefty” Weisman, Indians trainer for twenty-seven years and Max Rosenblum, the leading supporter of amateur baseball in Cleveland.

February 9, 2020

January 12, 2020

December 8, 2019

Annual Meeting
Election of Officers and Trustees
and
Dr. Sean Martin shared highlights of his sabbatical in Poland.

Dr. Martin taught as a Visiting Professor in the Institute of History at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, during the spring 2019 semester. He taught in a special, English-language program within the Institute, Studies in Central and Eastern Europe: Histories, Cultures and Societies. He taught twentieth century Central and Eastern European survey courses, with a focus on Jewish history. During his stay in Krakow he also spent time doing research on Polish Jewish history and re-acquainting himself with Kazimierz, the city's Jewish neighborhood. Martin told us about Jewish studies and Jewish life in Poland today and about his travels throughout the country and region.

November 17, 2019

Kirsten Fermaglich
Author of "A Rosenberg by Any Other Name"
&
Associate Professor of History, Michigan State University.

October 2, 2019

Getting Our Records Back
Brooke Schreier Ganz

Our guest speaker, Brooke Schreier Ganz, founder and president of Reclaim the Records, provided an update on her efforts leading Reclaim the Records, a not-for-profit group that files Freedom of Information requests to get public data released back into the public. Their goal is to get these record sets put online for free, open to everyone. And if the government doesn’t comply, they take them to court. To date, they have been successful in reclaiming over 25 million records. She reported Learn about the work of Reclaim the Records, including their most recent success stories and what is on their “To-Do” list.

Brooke Schreier Ganz is the first genealogist to successfully sue a government archive for the return of records to the public. A computer programmer, she is also the creator of LeafSeek, a free open source records management platform and multi-lingual search engine that won second place in the 2012 RootsTech Developer Challenge. Her work has helped non-profit organizations like the Israel Genealogical Research Association (IGRA) and Gesher Galicia publish over 1.5 million unique genealogical records online for free use. She also designed and built one of the first public API’s for records sharing between non-profit genealogical organizations.

September 4, 2019

Report on the 2019 IAJGS conference in Cleveland

Ken Bravo gave a report on the attendance and some of the programs at the conference. He was followed by Robin Selinger, Feige Stern, and Jaime Klausner, who each had not previously attended an IAJGS conference. They each spoke about their experiences and what they considered to be highlights of the event.

August 7, 2019

Genealogy Activities You Can Do With Your Kids and Grandkids
Sunny Jane Morton

The best way to TELL family history often involves SHOWING it. In her presentation, Sunny Morton shared experiences that have inspired her own kids' interest in history and their family's place in it. These included activities that teach younger generations the value of their OWN stories; thoughts about finding the right "hook" for each person; how to tell a good short story (with an emphasis on SHORT); and hands on experiences that fire historical imaginations young and old.

July 28, 219
through
August 2, 2019

IAJGS 2019
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies
39th International Conference on Jewish Genealogy
Hosted by The Jewish Genealogy Society of Cleveland

Over 1,000 attendees, exhibitors, volunteers, guests, and others, were hosted by the JGS of Cleveland at  the annual IAJGS conference, held at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown. The attendees came to Cleveland from 16 countries on 5 continents, and those from the USA represented 36 states plus the District of Columbia.

July 10, 2019

A Town Called Brzostek
A Documentary Introduced by Russ Maurer

The program consisted of a screening of the award-winning documentary, “A Town Called Brzostek.”  This documentary is a compelling tale of a professor from London who goes looking for his Jewish past In Poland and how a reconciliation takes place that reverberates around the world. This one-hour film, which won awards for its beauty and sensitivity at two Jewish film festivals in eastern Europe, presented the story of Professor Jonathan Webber, who returns to the place of burial of his grandfather.

Upon his arrival, he learns that a vacant plot of land is the only remnant of the former Jewish cemetery. With the help of the mayor, priest and local community, the main protagonist restores the burial site and brings about its consecration. It also includes the interesting stories of three different families with roots in Brzostek—from Australia, France and the United States—who returned to Brzostek for the commemoration ceremonies.

June 19 & 24, 2019

My Parents Were Holocaust Survivors and There Are No Records...

In conjunction with the Kol Israel Foundation, we conducted a two-part beginner genealogy workshop geared to Second and Third Generation Holocaust descendants who know very little about their fa mily history.

• Learning how to get started
• Locating ship manifests
• naturalization records
• Explore key websites and International Tracing Service (ITS)

June 5, 2019

The Temple Archives—A Valuable Resource for Genealogists
Jane Rothstein, Archivist for the Temple-Tifereth Israel

Jane Rothstein is used to hearing genealogical questions like “was my ancestor a member?” and she generally answers by saying “maybe.” The Temple-Tifereth Israel Archives are a relatively untapped treasure for exploring Cleveland Jewish history and genealogy. Holdings include records from the congregation’s founding in 1850 through the congregation’s growth under Rabbi Moses J. Gries and Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, and on to the present. Jane provided an overview of the Archives’ collection and discussed the type of records genealogists may find especially interesting.

May 15, 2019

How Jewish Ancestry Impacts Genetics

Sarah Mazzola and Megan Quinlan, two board-certified genetic counselors with the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Personalized Genetic Healthcare provided a general overview of common conditions in individuals with Jewish ancestry such as Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome due to BRCA mutations. They also provided helpful information for those who are considering meeting with a genetic counselor, and what to expect from genetic testing.

Sarah's presentation focused on non-cancer related inheritable disorders such as Gaucher, and also touched on prenatal risk screening. Megan shared information related to inherited cancer risk in the Eastern European Jewish population.

April 3, 2019

Tracing Our Ancestral European Roots—A Panel Discussion

Five members of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Cleveland shared their journeys to ancestral villages in Europe in conjunction with last year’s IAJGS Conference in Warsaw. Helen and Paul Wolf, Muriel Weber, Anne Lukas, and Henny Lukas Fierman have all gone to great lengths to trace their families' ancestral roots and identify unknown, missing and lost relatives over many years, if not decades. They reveaedl some of the twists and turns in the road that led to some amazing discoveries—not to mention a few surprises.

March 3, 2019

Peter J. Haas
Abba Hillel Silver Professor Emeritus
Case western Reserve University

The Clubs: What Excelsior and Oakwood
tell us about Jewish Life in Cleveland

In 1872 about two dozen Jewish business men, excluded from other clubs in Cleveland, met to form their own social club. The result was the Excelsior Club which hosted Jewish high society life in Cleveland for the next nearly 60 years. Due to changing social, demographic and financial factors, the Excelsior Club voted in 1930 to end its separate existence and to merge into the newer suburban Jewish club, Oakwood. This Oakwood Club continued to be an important part of the Cleveland Jewish community until it was dissolved in 2010 and its membership combined with Mayfield Sand Ridge Country Club.

This talk focused on the social history of our community from the character, trajectories and experiences of these two institutions. It also focused on how these clubs throw light on larger trends that were shaping North American Jewry.

February 3, 2019

January 6, 2019