FOUNDED 1998


JGSWVO PAST MEETINGS, PROGRAMS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES


2024

Film - “Echoes That Remain”
Folk histories and archival photography are restored in this warm and rich remembrance of Eastern European Jewish life before the Holocaust. Group discussion and genealogy help followed.


History of the Geography of New York City — a recorded lecture
This talk showed the changes to New York City’s geography and described the difference between New York City and the City of New York, to aid in searching for vital records. The origin of the counties and their changing boundaries, along with the early geographies of Brooklyn and Queens, was also presented.


Research Israeli Genealogical Resources from Your Couch
A recorded lecture, followed by a group discussion.


2023

The Genetic Origins of the Jewish People — a recorded lecture
How an ongoing worldwide academic collaboration of scientists, historians, genealogists and community leaders is utilizing DNA to illuminate the origins and migrations of the Jewish People. Group discussion followed.


A Variety of Topics - Beginning and Enhancing Genealogy Research
— Starting Genealogy: Discussion on when, why and how we started and what amazing discoveries we found along the way.
— Introduction to new useful websites for learning more about our ancestors.
— Helpful tips for beginners.
— A large assortment of new books from the JGSWVO library available to check out.


Three Minutes: A Lengthening - A Documentary Film
Members viewed rare home movie footage shot in Poland in 1938 that became a priceless historical artifact, documenting people and places obliterated by the Holocaust.


Reeva Kimble talked about the medical examination of immigrants at Ellis Island. Why was it so feared? What were they looking for? What could happen if they found it? Was treatment provided?
Michael Sussman explained how and why to build a “quick & dirty” family tree for your DNA matches.


Iron Trails: How our Ancestors Traveled from Shtetl to Seaport, presented by Hap Ponedel. We learned how our ancestors got from their city, town, or shtetl to the seaport where they embarked for America and found out about their most likely means of transportation for the major part of their overland journey.
—In addition, members talked about an interesting or notorious relative or ancestor


The Spielberg collection of Holocaust survivor accounts, plus other Holocaust-related sites such as Yad Vashem, presented by Pam Endzweig
“Wall-busting” – members helped solve problems


Introduction to the One-Step Webpages of Stephen P. Morse –how to find almost anything genealogical you’re searching for, and uncover many things you never knew you wanted to learn - presented by Charlie Fleishman
Plus, members shared their most interesting genealogical discovery and connection.


Panel discussion about Genealogy Software for Your Computer
Why keep your genealogy on your computer when you can put it on a website like Ancestry or Geni? Are there benefits to using computer software for genealogy? We heard what genealogy apps could do for you. Presenters were:
Hap Ponedel – the multi-platform and open-source Ancestris
Reeva Kimble – the features of Mac Reunion genealogy software
Michael Sussman – the most recent version of Family Tree Maker for Windows.


2022

An assortment of short topics, helpful hints and discussion including:
Your Hanukkah menorah — Members showed and told about a favorite or unusual menorah or some other family heirloom.
DeepStory (aka LiveStory)Edward Winter demonstrated how this feature on MyHeritage can animate and give voice to ancestors’ photos.
Out on a Limb — What have you discovered for your family tree? What are you looking for? Members helped each other make new discoveries.
Coming in 2023! — Members were asked about their interests and ideas for programs for next year.


An assortment of short topics, helpful hints and discussion including:
Say what? Tips and tricks for deciphering difficult handwriting, presented by Michael Sussman
Form SS-5. Why and how to request an ancestor’s application for their Social Security number, presented by Michael Sussman
JewishGen’s Viewmate: How to request a translation of an old foreign language document, presented by Reeva Kimble
How to use Google translate—Russian, Hebrew, Yiddish? No problem!, presented by Hap Ponedel


Name Change in America
Patricia Rich-Prisbrey and Reeva Kimble told us about the why and how of official name changing in the U.S. in the first half of the 20th century. Stories of our own family name changes were shared.
Eliezer Froehlich discussed and demonstrated some of the symbols of Sukkot.


Information on the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, presented by Eliezer Froehlich.


An assortment of short topics, helpful hints and discussions.
Patricia Rich-Prisbrey provided an introduction to Landsmanshaftn.
Laeh-Maggie Garfield reported on where to go in the National Archives.
Hap Ponedel explained the usefulness of the JewishGen Discussion Group.


Finding Original Jewish Names and Towns (Shtetls)
This recorded video talk by Debbie Shaw (Past President of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado and current owner of oriGen Genealogy) focused on finding original Jewish names and towns. The talk was followed by JGSWVO group discussion on this topic and many others.


Memories of Migration
A recorded video talk covering decisions and circumstances that caused numerous large scale Jewish migrations. The talk was followed by JGSWVO group discussion on this topic and many others.


The Atlantic Park Hostel
A transmigratory facility in England, where Jews and other eastern Europeans were detained for up to seven years. Members of Michael Sussman’s family were among them. The speaker was be Lee Desty, a British journalist.


How to Use Your DNA Results to Find Actual Relatives
A video recording was shown to explain about the processes and techniques to prioritize matches despite endogamy, to understand results of ethnicity and matches, and to help organize results. After the video, members were invited to talk about their DNA results. Had they found new family members? Had they confirmed results of paper searches? Were mysteries solved?


Conducting an Effective Oral Interview
JGSWVO members Lisa Ponder and Patricia Prisbrey attended the recent online program hosted by the Utah Jewish Genealogy Society, featuring guest presenter Erika Manternach of Ancestry ProGenealogists. They shared tips for getting helpful information when interviewing family members and others for genealogy research.


2021

Family Heirlooms and Judaic Collections
Members showed an heirloom or two, told the history of the item, or asked for help identifying the item’s significance, date and place of origin, etc. Members also shared any items of Israeli or Judaic origin they owned. Results from JGSWVO board elections were announced.


Searching For and Finding Military Records
The information that might be found on draft registration cards filled out by your male ancestors is amazing, and includes those who might have been years older than draft age. Records can be searched from a home computer. We found out why, where and how at our JGSWVO Veterans Day meeting, when Michael Sussman demonstrated how your Eugene Public Library card will give you free access to records at Ancestry.com. Michael also took us through the Fold3 military records site, which provided free access on the Veterans Day weekend.


Translating Jewish Headstones
Eliezer Froehlich and Hap Ponedel discussed how to read a Jewish tombstone—those mysterious symbols were explained. Members learned details about their family tombstone at the meeting if they sent images in advance to Reeva. Several handouts were available for attendees.


How do you find a grave?
Eliezer Froehlich and Michael Sussman demonstrated how to explore Jewish cemeteries online to find a family tombstone.
New discoveries
Have you found new relatives? Discovered old photos or documents? Read a useful book or attended an interesting Zoom talk? Members showed and shared their finds with fellow JGSWVO members!


Yidl In The Middle - Growing Up Jewish In Iowa
Growing up “different” in America. In this evocative documentary, filmmaker Marlene Booth probed her Iowa-Jewish roots. Through home movies, period photos, her high school reunion, and current interviews, she examined the complicated process of negotiating identity—as an American, a Jew, and a woman. Members then discussed where they and their families grew up. Large city or small town? Jewish community or outsider? Extended family or isolated?


Rising From The Rubble: The Polin Museum Of The History Of Polish Jews
The chief curator of its extraordinary core exhibit was joined for a multimedia tour of 1,000 years of Polish Jewish life that explored how Poland became the center of the Jewish diaspora, the dynamic diversity of that community, how it was decimated and how it is being reborn. One entered Jewish homes and synagogues, met merchants, scholars and politicians, and walked the streets where so many of our ancestors lived.
Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett is the Ronald S. Lauder Chief Curator of the Core Exhibition and Professor Emerita at New York University. She is also the author of two books on pre-Holocaust Polish Jewish life.

Jews On The Silk Road
Linda Richman related the highlights of a 90-minute presentation called “The Jews of the Great Silk Road: Yesterday and Today,” and showed photos and described her experiences from a synagogue visit in Bukhara.
Laeh-Maggie Garfield displayed Jewish East Asian artifacts from her collection.


Memories of Migration: Between the Personal and the Collective Experience—A JewishGen video presentation.

The large-scale migration of Jews across continents and oceans is one of the most characteristic features of the modern Jewish narrative. What do we now know about the reasons and the circumstances that guided millions of Jewish migrants around the globe? What has been the role of the United States, its Jewish community, and other countries around the world in these migrations?

American Friends of the Hebrew University presents Memories of Migration: Between the Personal and the Collective with Professor Eli Lederhendler, the Stephen S. Wise Professor of American Jewish History and Institutions at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and chair of the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry.

After the video:
JGSWVO members were asked to talk about why their ancestors left, when their ancestors left and where did they go. (suggestion was to write down that information in advance of the meeting.)


Roots of Jews from Eastern Europe: Names, Language, and History with Alexander Beider (JewishGen video presentation)
Dr. Alexander Beider has a PhD in applied mathematics, and a second PhD in the domain of Jewish studies. Beider uses onomastics and linguistics as tools allowing to unravel the history of the Jewish people. He has written a series of reference books dealing with the etymology of Jewish surnames. Beider is also the designer of the linguistic part of the Beider-Morse Phonetic Matching method of computer-based searches for equivalent surnames.


JGSWVO board member Eliezer Froehlich discussed and demonstrated using familysearch.org for genealogy research.


Genetic Genealogy Next Steps: Analysis Tools and Techniques with guest speaker Meredith Sellers.
We learned about tools and techniques (e.g., Leeds analysis, chromosome painting, GEDmatch Tier 1 applications) to maximize the value and utility of test results. The talk also addressed DNA-related research challenges for those of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage.

Meredith Sellers is a genealogist with a passion for integrating traditional archival research with learnings from direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Most recently, she applied these interests by serving as a volunteer “search angel” with the DNA Detectives and Search Squad Facebook communities. Professionally, Meredith is a technical consultant with a doctoral degree in chemical engineering and the author of numerous books, journal articles, and patents.


2020

Holiday Grab Bag
Hanukkah party-BYOL (bring your own latkes). We shared genealogy success stories and attempted to help find solutions to genealogical puzzles. Members were asked to show family heirlooms and describe their origins. Program ideas for 2021 were offered.


Breaking through Brick Walls with Newspapers.com - presented by Larry Gorchow


Jewish Spain: A Travelog - presented by Pam Endzweig and Karen Hamilton.


Discovering Hidden Treasure in the JRI-Poland Database — Video talk presented by Robinn Magid. In addition, webmaster Charlie Fleishman walked us through the JGSWVO website to highlight the available information and links, and Reeva Kimble told us about one of the many presentations she attended at the 2020 IAJGS conference.


Death Certificates, Obits, Headstones and Probate Records: What Our Ancestors Have Been Dying to Tell Us — Video presentation by Ken Bravo.

Ken Bravo is a retired attorney, President of the IAJGS and a past president of the JGS Cleveland. He is a frequent lecturer on a variety of genealogy subjects. He has been searching his own roots since the mid-1970s. This presentation was recorded at an IAJGS conference.


Michael Sussman introduced his newly discovered cousins who presented:

A City of Two Tales: A married couple in Ottawa shared their fascinating family histories.

Part one: A Brit, a Jew, and an Asian walk into a DNA lab.
How three strangers - Weston, Sussman, and Wong-Schultz - used history, science, and luck to find their new family.

Part two: Surviving in Warsaw, thriving in Ottawa.
How a boy survived the Holocaust and found honor, and family, across the Atlantic.
Michael Sussman spoke about some new features of Ancestry. Eliezer Froehlich showed us a few items in his extensive collection of fine china pieces from the German factory connected with his ancestors. Hap Ponedel told about a source of maps of prewar shtetls.


Joan Pollack Shea and Linda Slate demonstrated the features of MyHeritage and showed how both the free version and the membership version can help with genealogy research.


Additional Features of Gedmatch - an open data personal genomics database and genealogy website.
GEDmatch users can upload their autosomal DNA test data from commercial DNA companies to identify potential relatives who had also uploaded their profiles. Tools available on the GEDmatch site includ sorting results by the closest matches to a user’s autosomal DNA, whether one’s matches match each other, genetic distance calculator, estimated number of generations to a common ancestor, whether one’s parents are related, and ethnicity calculator. — Presented by Linda Slate


Video Talk: The History, Adoption, and Regulation of Jewish Surnames in the Russian Empire — 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 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. The purpose of this presentation was to explain the various laws and mandates pertaining to Jewish surnames in the Russian Empire.


2019

Year-end Meeting
1. Final opportunity to vote for members of the JGSWVO Board of Directors (if not already voted via e-mail ballot)
2. Pay dues for 2020
3. Problem solving for JGSWVO members. Members brought family genealogy questions to get help with answers. General questions were asked on a variety of topics.
4. Members could bring a family heirloom to learn more about its significance or to explain its significance.
5. Early Hanukkah cookies and other treats were shared.


Video Talk: Why Did Our Ancestors Leave a Nice Place Like The Pale?
This talk by Hal Bookbinder provided background about the 120 years of the Pale from its formation in the late 18th century to its dissolution during the First World War. The speaker broke the life of the Pale into six distinct periods which he designated as “Creation,”, “Containment,” “Repression,” “Enlightenment,” “Pogroms” and “Chaos.” The talk provided some context to our ancestors’ lives in the Pale and their decisions to leave everything they had known to make new lives in the West.


Passenger Manifests And the Immigrant Voyage
In this video lecture, Phyllis Kramer z”l addressed many of the questions associated with this voyage, including:
How did the immigrants get the ticket and get to the port
What hardships did they endure
What was the voyage like
What immigration laws affected them
What documents did they come with
How to find and understand manifests, their handwriting and notations.


All the features of GEDmatch.com were shown. DNA results from almost any testing service can be uploaded to GEDmatch to see a number of different comparisons of DNA with relatives who used other tests — Presented by Linda Slate


Annual Potluck
Members were asked to bring something their ancestors might have made, a grandmother’s recipe, an Israeli dish or a favorite potluck dish.

Members were requested to tell about a recent genealogy discovery, and what and how it was found. Or, to tell what was undiscoverable and all the places searched without success so that perhaps a new direction can be pointed out. And anyone could bring a family heirloom and explain its significance, or get help from members to understand the significance.


Cemetery and Funeral Home Records
What information can be found in the records from cemetery and funeral homes? How do we access the records? — Presented by Eliezer Froehlich


Jews of Regensburg
“The Jewish Community of Regensburg, Germany: A Thousand Years of History” — Presented by Pam Endzweig.


JRI Poland
Jewish Records Indexing-Poland is a project started in 1995 to create English indexes to Jewish records from Poland and make the indexes available online. 5.4 million records from more than 550 Polish towns are now indexed or fully extracted. Members learned what records are available, how to search for your family and how to obtain a copy of individual records — Presented by Hap Ponedel and Reeva Kimble.


Part 1 How to Use Family Search How to access ships manifests — Presented by Hap Ponedel, Eliezer Froehlich and Michael Sussman.
Part 2 Brick Wall Busters! Our team of researchers helped find answers to Jewish genealogy problems. If questions were submitted to Reeva Kimble before February 24, the information was forwarded to the experts to give them time to search for answers.


US and Canadian Census Records
What years are available? How to locate records. How to use census records for genealogy research — Presented by Eliezer Froehlich.


Reading Between the Lines: Discovering What is Not Said in Archival Documents by Michael J. Simonson, archivist at the Leo Baeck Institute in New York. This talk was originally presented at a IAJGS Conference. Dues for JGSWVO 2019 membership were collected at the meeting from those still needing to join or renew.


2018

The DNA of the Jewish People – Bennett Greenspan
He is the founder of Family Tree DNA, which was the first American company to offer genealogical DNA testing directly to the general public. Greenspan is currently the President, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Managing Partner of Family Tree DNA’s parent company Gene by Gene. This talk was originally presented at the IAJGS Conference.
— Hanukkah was celebrated with yummy treats. Members brought cookies, candies, chocolate, dry fruit, fresh fruit or other foods to share. Advance information on the genealogy programs planned for 2018 was presented. Dues for JGSWVO 2019 membership were collected.


Part 1 – Setting the Record Straight: The DNA and Yiddish Origins of Ashkenazi Jewry was a video of a presentation by Harry Ostrer and Alexandre Beider. This talk was originally presented at the 2018 IAJGS Conference in Warsaw, Poland.
Part 2 – Breaking Down Brick Walls. Members brought genealogy problems, and JGSWVO members tried to help find solutions by using tools available on the internet.


Part 1 – JGSWVO member Patricia Rich-Prisbrey told us how a professional DNA genealogist, using many tools at her disposal, was able to gather information to find answers and attempt to solve a mystery for her client.
Part 2 – Breaking Down Brick Walls. Members brought genealogy problems, and JGSWVO members tried to help find solutions by using tools available on the internet.


10 Popular Genealogy Myths – Presented by Reeva Kimble.
What are they, and how to convince non-genealogists that these myths are not true.


Annual Potluck
Members were asked to bring something their ancestors might have made, a grandmother’s recipe, an Israeli dish or a favorite potluck dish. Suggestions for entertainment included: Tell us about an interesting person you discovered while doing genealogy. Tell us a funny, fascinating, amazing or educational family story and “Twenty Questions.”


Hasidic Culture in Eastern Europe — Presented by Eliezer Froehlich and Hap Ponedel, followed by details from Northern Lithuania.
Genealogy Help Live – Members brought genealogy puzzles, and some of the more advanced researchers helped break through brick walls.


Program: A Place in the Cloud: A comparison and review of places to put your family tree online by Michael Sussman.
Genealogy Help Live – Members brought genealogy puzzles, and some of the more advanced researchers helped break through brick walls.


You’ve Had Your DNA Tested – Now What?
Members who’ve done DNA testing demonstrated various testing services’ websites to show their results, and also compared results on GedMatch. This was followed by a discussion of strategies to figure out how people with DNA matches might actually be related. Pam Endzweig, Edward Winter, Reeva Kimble, and Joan Shea led the discussion, and Larry Gorchow talked about features of various sites where DNA results can be uploaded. Anyone who had a DNA test result could upload their results to GedMatch.com and contribute to the discussion if they brought in their login details and test number.


Part 1 – Lesson in Jewish DNA: One Man’s Successes and What He Learned on The Journey, a recorded talk and PowerPoint presentation by Israel Pickholtz, author of Endogamy: One Family, One People.
Part 2 – Genealogy Live! Needed help getting started? Or have you hit a brick wall? Our genealogical problem solvers did research for JGSWVO members online. Members could see what can be discovered and learned how to do it themselves.


Mining Genealogical Information through Archival Interviews from the Oregon Jewish Museum Collection – Presented by Linda Slate. Linda also told us a bit about endogamy, DNA matching and crazy mixed-up family trees.


Introduction to Yizkor Books – Presented by Hap Ponedel and Reeva Kimble.
Yizkor (Memorial) Books are published by former residents or landsmanshaftn as remembrances of homes and people lost during the Holocaust. The majority of these books were written in Hebrew or Yiddish. There have been a number of projects to collect and preserve these publications and to create translations. Members were asked to bring any available Yizkor books or translations.


2017

Yummy Treats and Insights—Hanukkah Celebration and Genealogy Brainstorming.
Members brought cookies, fruit and other Hanukkah snacks to share and told one genealogy-related item learned in 2017. Attendees submitted a genealogy question, brick wall or conundrum to possibly be chosen for live problem solving by a team of experts. Laptops and iPads were brought to aid in the search. Members voted for board members at the meeting, if they had not already voted by mail. We learned the identity of the JGSWVO Board of Directors for 2018.


Film: Everything is Illuminated
With the help of an eccentric local, a young Jewish-American man endeavors to find the woman who saved his grandfather during World War II in a Ukrainian village that was ultimately razed by the Nazis.


Part 1 – JRI-Poland Exposed and Explained — Presented by Reeva Kimble.
Part 2 – Finding Family Names on Ancestry.
Members brought a surname or two they were researching. Pam Endzweig plugged names into the international version of Ancestry.com and members familiar with Ancestry showed what can be discovered on this website. The information can be used to research further, using free access to Ancestry.com at the Eugene Public Library and other local locations. There also was time for problem-solving and reports of successes.


Major Features of JewishGen, the most important genealogy website for researching Jewish ancestors. Board members of JGSWVO described numerous JewishGen components including Family Finder, SIGs, Yizkor Books, View Mate, Databases, and FAQs.


Members Only Potluck Dinner
Members brought traditional Jewish foods, Israeli foods, or their favorite potluck dinner or dessert specialty. JGSWVO provided grilled salmon for everyone.


Part 1 – Using GEDMatch for DNA Analysis. Linda Slate and Edward Winter guided us through uploading DNA results to GEDMatch to find cousins who tested with a variety of services. See a beginners guild for background information at smithplanet.com
Part 2 – Best Genealogy Websites. Which ones are the most useful for Jewish genealogy? Which ones are helpful for genealogy in general? JGSWVO members suggested their favorites and show how to use them.


Part 1 – Can You Help Me Find My Cousins: Understanding Autosomal DNA. Audio recording of a genealogy presentation by Mary Kosy at the 2016 International Jewish Genealogy Conference.
Part 2 – Demonstration of How to Apply The Information– JGSWVO members Joan Shea and Reeva Kimble used their autosomal DNA results to show their family relationship.


My Ancestral Town. An introduction to the shtetl or city where an ancestor lived. JGSWVO members volunteered to provide history and photos of ancestral communities.
Pam Endzweig – Trzemysl, southeastern Poland
Bill Sarnoff – Ruzhany/Rozenoy, Belarus
Merrillee Eisen and Bob Proctor – Rezekne, Latvia
Reeva Kimble – Lomza, northeastern Poland


Software for genealogy. Video presentation was followed by group discussion about our favorite computer program for keeping track of family connections. Where to find free software for genealogy. What you get in a free program. Are special features in pricey software worth the cost?


The Golden Age Shtetl: A New History of Jewish Life in East Europe by Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern. Hap Ponedel offered some excerpts and shared maps showing the book’s geographic target zone.


2016

Election of officers for 2017, Hanukkah treats, genealogy success stories and sticking points. Who and what did you discover this year? What questions still need to be unanswered?


“Film Echoes That Remain” was a warm and rich documentary portrait of Eastern European Jewry before the Holocaust. It combined hundreds of rare archival photos and previously unseen film footage with live action sequences shot on location at the sites of former Jewish communities in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania. The film’s production team spent over a year of research in archives around the world collecting film footage and photographs to help dramatize the folk stories, parables, and anecdotes.

Playing an important role in the film are a series of evocative images from the famed photo biographer of Eastern European shtetl life, the late Roman Vishniac. “Echoes That Remain” has been screened in theaters and film festivals in North and South America, Europe, and Asia and has been the recipient of numerous awards.


Members gave short presentations on a city/town/shtetl/dorf where one of their ancestors lived. Photos, maps and slide shows were welcome.


Changing Borders in Eastern Europe and the Effect on Our Ancestors was presented by Hap Ponedel


Short reports on your genealogy research in August, what you looked for and what you found. (Hint: There were some exciting discoveries).


Annual Potluck and Family Cookbooks


Accessing an Archive
JGSWVO member Edward Winter explained how he used information from JRI-Poland to apply for Polish Archives birth certificate records for two family members, and showed the contents of the certificates and how to interpret the data.


How I Found My Birth Parents and Their Ancestors
Dr. Robert Weiss, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Oregoon reported on how he found his birth parents and their ancestors (and half sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews, etc.) The technical side of this success story was described by Bob’s son Aaron Weiss in a detailed Power Point presentation. Aaron’s profession includes involvement with high tech programing development and development of innovative data systems. He used many of his skills in the search for his father’s birth parents.


DNA Exposé 2.0
JGSWVO’s secretary Michael Sussman returned to the spotlight to reveal his DNA test results. What did his saliva disclose? Is Michael really Jewish or mostly Neanderthal? Did he finally discover his spitting image? Micheael presented a first-hand look at AncestryDNA test results, how it can link to a family tree, and showed extra tools for using the DNA information to learn more about one’s ancestry.


The Real Inquisition: Myths and Historical Reality
Professional genealogist and JGSWVO board member Eliezer Froehlich helped us understand the story of the Catholic Inquisition: not just in Spain, not just forced converts, and so much more.


Preservation 101
Dr. Pamela Endzweig, Director of Anthropology Collections at the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History, gave an introduction to the main causes of damage and deterioration to your heirlooms and discussed ways of preserving them for future generations.


Short videos and discussion on topics including Naturalization Documents in a Nutshell, Eight Ways to Find Your Ancestral Town, Eight Pieces of Information on a Passenger Manifest, Six Tips to Help Find Maiden Names, Seven Popular Symbols on Jewish Headstones.


2015

Genealogy Success Stories And Problem-Solving Session, election of JGSWVO Board members, future program wish list—helped plan the programs for 2016.

–Yummy Chanukah treats - favorites were brought to share


Put Uncle Max In His Place: How To Organize Your Computer Files For Genealogy
Did your ancestors keep changing their names? Did you search for documents online because you forgot you already had them? Have you lost Uncle Max?
Michael Sussman presented a simple and effective method for organizing your electronic genealogy files to instantly see the “Who, When & What” of each document. Learned and shared tips to make file management easier and more fun. This presentation used Windows; much applies to Mac. Michael has a degree in computer programming, a successful bookkeeping business, and a delightful sense of humor.


Researching USCIS Records
US Citizenship and Immigration Services historical records expert Marian L. Smith presented “Researching USCIS Records,” an overview of the Federal immigration agency’s records housed both at the National Archives (NARA) and USCIS. The talk included examples, identified finding aids, explained research procedures, and was geared toward beginners and moderately experienced researchers.
(Note: Our speaker, Marian Smith came from Washington DC. Last time she met with our group, she provided us with detailed information on finding all sorts of records about our relatives that have been kept the the US government. Based on what she told us, some of our members made exciting discoveries.)


Members of the Oregon Genealogical Society and the Sisterhood of Temple Beth Israel were invited to attend.


I Want To Tell You A Story Of Yiddish, Heartbeat Of Our People.
Sabena Stark told us all about Yiddish, the language spoken by most of our recent ancestors. This event was also sponsored by the Sisterhood of Temple Beth Israel and the Yiddish Club.


Chance To Use Grandma’s Recipe For Pietzels or to make that Israeli dish that you tasted once, with a name you cannot pronounce. There are some recipes from other members’ ancestors in the Magazine section of the JGSWVO website. A salad is always welcome, too.

An assortment of chocolates was provided in tribute to the memory of long-time JGSWVO member Arnold Ismach.


Eliezer Froehlich Told Us What’s New At Familysearch, the LDS/Mormon genealogy website, and showed us how to find our way to all the major features. Eliezer is a professional genealogist, and has ancestors who came to Oregon in covered wagons. He is an expert on Oregon Jewish genealogy and works at the Family History Center in Corvallis. He has been an active member of JGSWVO since 1998.


Solving Your Genealogy Puzzles: Bring Research Questions Or Solutions.
Our members made suggestions to help get started or to find answers to some of those genealogy mysteries. Progress reports and success stories were welcome.
Reeva Kimble demonstrated what you might do about misleading information in US census records and provided some basics about Jewish genealogy research.


Robert Weiss, who came to a JGSWVO meeting last year to ask for advice on locating his birthparents, told his remarkable success story and outlined the research steps involved. The film “The Return of the Violin was shown.” It’s the story of European Jewish musicians before and after WWII, especially the world’s leading violinist, Bronislaw Huberman, of Czestochowa, Poland. He saved 70 Jewish musicians and their families (over 700 people) by relocating them to Palestine, and founded the Palestine Philharmonic Orchestra, now the Israeli Philharmonic.


Bring Research Questions Or Solutions.
Our members made suggestions to help you get started or break through those brick walls between you and the history of your ancestors. Progress reports and success stories were welcome.


Changing Borders of Eastern Europe
Have you ever wondered why the country of your ancestors origin was sometimes Poland and sometimes Russia? What exactly was the Pale of Settlement and did your ancestor live there? In this talk JGSWVO member Hap Ponedel discussed the changing borders of Eastern Europe, featured in both large and small scale maps. In addition, members of the JGSWVO and guests were treated to interpretations of large scale images of the towns and shtetls of their ancestors found on military maps that are 100-150 years old. More was learned about maps and shtetls as the contents of easteurotopo.org were explored. This is Hap’s project to catalog many different historical maps and map systems of Eastern Europe.


Points of Entry: Where Did Your Ancestors Enter The US?
Eliezer Froehlich discussed ports from Boston to Seattle where immigrants entered the United States, plus other places where they may have “slipped” in.


2014

Share Your Most Interesting Genealogical Discovery
Members had 5-10 minutes each to describe their discovery and explain how others can use similar techniques to find relatives. Election of Officers and dues collection for 2015.


What A DNA Test Tells You About Your Genealogy And What It Doesn’t
Members could see the results of autosomal and mitochondrial DNA testing by FamilyTree DNA as Reeva Kimble showed sources of her genes, explained how she knows that her ancestors were in Europe during the last ice age, and what to do about the 3500+ people who might be her third, fourth or fifth cousins. Other people who had DNA testing by the same or other companies (23 You and Me, Ancestry.com, etc.) were welcome to share information.
Also: Short report detailing one article from a recent Avotanu


The Town Where An Ancestor Lived
Members took turns telling us about a community (city, town, village, shetl, dorf), where one of their ancestors lived. We heard about living conditions, occupations, Jewish community, etc. Old photos or printed images were welcome. (If Hap Ponedel was provided the name of a town some days before the meeting, he provided a map of the area around a village, including locations of market place, taverns, synagogues, etc.) If members knew nothing about the shtetl in the old country, they were asked to tell us about how and where their ancestors lived just after they arrived in the U.S.
Bonus program: Short report detailing one article from a recent Avotanu.


IAJGS Convention
Curious about the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Annual Convention? The meeting featured a full report of what you missed this summer. Eliezer Froehlich attended several IAJGS conventions and told about the latest one that was held in Salt Lake City. He filled us in about lectures he attended, issues that were discussed at society meetings, genealogists he met, and new projects proposed or accomplished by JewishGen, JRI-Poland, special interest SIGs and other groups associated with Jewish genealogy.


JGSWVO Members Potluck
We started early to enjoy a potluck supper. It was a chance to try out grandma’s recipe or to make an Israeli dish that looks good in that cookbook you got as a gift ten years ago. Genealogy discussions followed. Members were encouraged to bring photo or heirlooms for help dating or to illustrate a family story, and asked to bring search problems for help in solviing. The JGSWVO library materials were available and members could check out a book, magazine, newsletter, CD, etc.


Recording Your Genealogy Findings
Michael Sussman started off with “Citing Good Behavior—An Introduction to Citing Our Genealogy Sources.” We learned why it’s a very good practice to cite our sources of information. Heard and discussed different ways to cite our sources, with an emphasis on simplifying the process. An open discussion of how to keep track of your discoveries and of family relationships followed.


Solving Problems in Genealogy
JGSWVO members brought up problems researching their own family and the group suggested how to solve them. Research techniques to prevent problems were discussed. New researchers were welcome.


Dr. Dorothy Anker shared her stories of growing up in Jewish Chicago, including her family’s co-founding of Chicago’s Sholem Aleichem school where she learned to read and write Yiddish and was immersed in Yiddish culture. Dorothy leads TBI’s Yiddish Club, teaches Yiddish, and transliterates Yiddish stories to make them more accessible to new Yiddish learners. As a treat, we learned a Yiddish song from NY’s Camp Kindervelt, the Yiddish summer camp Dorothy attended as a child in the 1930s. Ellen Rifkin, a longtime friend and Yiddish student, interviewed Dorothy for this special talk.


Useful Websites For Jewish Genealogy.
Want to sit at home and do research in your pajamas? Members were instructed where to look online for information about their ancestors.


Genealogy Problem-solving Session
Just starting your research, or lost in the confusion of census records, vital records from the old country in languages you cannot translate? Attendees brought questions and expert help was available.


2013

Help for Lost Genealogists
Were you lost in the maze of records and genealogy web sites? Did you wonder what to do with information you found or where to look next? JGSWVO members tried to provide help and offer suggestions for new directions.


Jewish Marriage and Divorce in Eastern Europe
Rabbi Jonathan Seidel explained Jewish marriage and divorce in Eastern Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries and how those customs and rules influenced the decisions made by our ancestors.


JGSWVO Members Only Potluck
Members brought something made using a family recipe, something their ancestors might have eaten or an Israeli dish, along with whatever they wanted to drink. After dinner there was a discussion of Jewish food and genealogy.


The Beit Din (Jewish Rabbinic Court)
Professional genealogist and JGSWVO board member Eliezer Froehlich explained the function and general history of the Beit Din, especially regarding how it may have had an impact on the lives of your ancestors.


The Changing Borders of Eastern Europe or why grandma’s home town moved from Poland to Austria. Very informative talk/slide presentation by Hal Bookbinder. This video was recorded at a recent IAJGS (International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies) Conference. After the video, our own JGSWVO map maven Hap Ponedel answered questions on 19th century border changes and related issues.


Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theatre
A video - Michael Tilson Thomas, Artistic Director of the New World Symphony, explored the lives of his grandparents, Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky, through a musical performance that featured five performers and the New World Symphony orchestra.


The Family Shtetl
Members researched the home towns of one of their ancestors and told us where it was, how long Jews had been living there, what percent of the town’s population were Jews, what kinds of occupations did Jews have, etc. Was this community special in any way?


Doing Genealogy
Provided genealogy help for stuck researchers and offered suggestions for new directions. Learned about new genealogy books and maps that might be useful. Members brought heirlooms and discovered their possible significance.


Hannah Goldrich talked about her family’s experiences leaving Germany in the 1930s, their immigration to the US and her family tree.


2012

Annual Election of JGSWVO Officers and
“Genes: The Good , the Bad, and The Useful”

Dr. Peter Kovach gave us background information on classic genetics, then followed up with concepts in population genetics (Cohanim and Y chromosome studies), inherited diseases (especially BRCA) and touched on forensic DNA analysis.


Jewish Life in Poland in the 13th - 17th centuries
Ron Wixman, honorary JGSWVO member and Professor of Geography at the University of Oregon, told us about where our ancestors might have come from, and how they might have lived and worked in Poland in the Middle Ages.


Brick Walls & Problem Solving
JGSWVO members talked about their problems in researching Jewish family history We tried to suggest solutions. A great learning experience for new and experienced researchers.


Romania Research Trip
Charles Tannenbaum
traveled to Rumania in 2007 to research his family history, and presented a slide show lecture covering his discoveries.


Award Winning Film - The Ritchie Boys 
The group viewed this interesting film about the Ritchie Boys. During WWII, the U.S. formed an elite intelligence unit—mostly German Jewish academics—at Camp Ritchie, Maryland. Tasked with devising ways to break the morale of the SS, these men are often credited with bringing an early end to the war.


Posting Family Trees Online
Learned how to get your Ancestry, Geni, Family Tree of the Jewish People, etc. online, plus a discussion of GEDCOMS—what are they and what are they good for?


Brick Walls & Problem Solving
The group discussed problems in researching family history and how to solve them.


“From Russia to America”
Genealogist and JGSWVO stalwart Eliezer Froehlich discussed how our ancestors made immigration decisions, acquired tickets and necessary documents, crossed borders, travelled to the boats, and more.


2011

Finding Your Jewish Ancestors on Ancestry.com
Video lecture by Crista Cowan, the Community Alliance Manager for the Ancestry World Archives Project. Discovered what Jewish records were available free at Ancestry.com and learned from an expert how to navigate the site. Also discussed proposed programs for 2012.


“Echoes That Remain”
A warm and rich documentary portrait of Eastern European Jewry before the Holocaust, combining hundreds of rare archival photos and previously unseen film footage with live action sequences shot on location at the sites of former Jewish communities in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania.


Using Genealogy Software
Reeva Kimble demonstrated how to easily keep track of all your relatives using computer genealogy software, create family trees in a flash, and organize your sources.


JGSWVO Potluck
Members brought a family dish, something their ancestors might have eaten, or an Israeli dish, plus whatever they wanted to drink. After dinner we talked about Jewish food, the JGSWVO Ancestors’ Recipes Project and genealogy.


Introduction to JewishGen databases
A video presentation from the IAJGS International Conference 2010. An introduction to using JewishGen’s most popular databases: the JewishGen Family Finder (JGFF), JewishGen Communities Database; the Family Tree of the Jewish People (FTJP), and JewishGen Discussion Group message archives. This session took us step-by-step through the process of using JewishGen’s internet databases: how to search the databases, and how to add your own data.


Searching for Immigration Records.
Eliezer Froehlich showed us how to find ships’ manifests and other documentation of our immigrant ancestors.


Finding Your Missing Link
Time was set aside for beginners to ask questions, for experienced researchers to explain how they succeeded, for all to share search techniques.


The Changing Borders of Eastern Europe
A video of a very informative talk/slide presentation by Hal Bookbinder, recorded at the 2010 IAJGS Conference in Los Angeles.


Interviewing Your Great Uncle
What questions would you ask, if you could talk to a senior family member? How would you frame the questions? Where would you look for records that might back up some of the answers you got. We interviewed Richard Littman, found out what he remembered of his immigrant parents and tried to determine if his recollections were based on fact or family stories. We also learned about his experiences in late 1940s Eugene.


Market Towns in Eastern Europe
Presented by Prof. Ron Wixman. How they developed and functioned. Why market towns were important to Jews in the Middle Ages and beyond.


2010

Planning Your Research
How to get started (again?) Where did you get stuck last time? Should you switch to a different branch of the family? How to help a friend who is looking for family? What new tools or web sites have you found?

Finding Your Missing Links
Time was set aside for beginners to ask questions, for experienced researchers to explain how they succeeded, and for all to share search techniques.


Showcasing Family Memories
Sondra Ettlinger is a prize-winning digital photographer who created slide show presentations using her genealogical material. Weaving family photos into a story board and putting it all together into a meaningful production has created a living diary for current family members and for those yet to come. Included was information on ways to publish a book, create a wall chart or make a family cook book as well as ways to create personal slide shows for family events.


Family Stories
A chance to talk about a family story. Why was it told? What did it mean? Did it turn out to be true? And what discoveries came as a result.


Lakhn Mit Trern (Laughing With Tears)
A Sampling of Yiddish and Ladino Music of our Ancestors. Stories of joy and struggle told in the songs and melodies of the Diaspora. We explored the origins and forms of secular music of Ashkenazi and Mizrahi/ Sephardic Jews and performed a few pieces of the repertoire. Lisa Arkin (vocals), Debby Laimon (violin), Lisa Ponder (viola), Ellen Rifkin (accordion and vocals), and Sabena Stark (guitar and vocals).


Eastern European Shtetl Life
Professor Ronald Wixman compared shtetl life with life in towns and cities of Eastern Europe for Jews in the 19th thru early 20th century.


DNA and Genetic Genealogy
A talk by Astra Henner of the University of Oregon Institute of Molecular Biology.


Genealogy Roadblocks and Detours
Members tried to provide help for stuck researchers and offered suggestions for new directions. This was a chance to bring heirlooms and discover their possible significance. Learned how to add your family names to our web site. Showed new genealogy books and maps that might help other researchers.


Reports on the 2010 IAJGS Conference in Los Angeles
Learned about the interesting lectures, best films, and exciting new JewishGen features. Both Eliezer Froehlich and Laeh-Maggie Garfield reported on some of their experiences during the conference. We heard about the most useful talks and also found out how to to use lecture recordings from the JGSWVO library.


Annual Election of JGSWVO officers
The evening included Genealogy Progress Reports and ideas for programs in 2011. Since it is the last night of Hanukkah, members were encouraged to bring cookies or other goodies.


2009

“Pebble in the Water”
Bob Welch talked about his new book, the true rags-to-riches-to-rags story of his research, writing, and promoting of the Oregon Book Award-finalist American Nightingale, the story of Frances Slanger, a Polish-Jewish immigrant to America who instilled hope in thousands of GIs with a poignant letter.

Eastern European Jewish Folklore
Presented by University of Oregon Professor Ron Wixman.


2008

Genealogy Progress Reports
We opened envelopes and read the slips of paper put in last December. We reported on how the genealogy research or project we hoped to work on in 2008 is progressing. We talked about goals, sidetracks or roadblocks.

Railroads in the Pale of Settlement How your ancestors might have gotten from Pinsk to Hamburg — Presented by Susan Hoyt.


Problem Solving & Success Stories
Members reported on research progress and finding answers to research problems. Newcomers found out how to get started on researching their family history.


Books for Genealogists
Members talked about books they recommended for beginners and experienced researchers, for adults and children, both non-fiction and fiction.


Report from Bad Arolsen— Presented by Leah-Maggie Garfield
Laeh-Maggie, longtime member of JGSWVO, talked about her experiences at the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen, Germany where she received paperwork confirming her suspicion that the majority of her maternal family members survived the Holocaust. Included in the paperwork was information indicating where she might find the family members or their descendants. Laeh-Maggie showed materials and explained how to prepare for a successful trip to Bad Arolsen. The archives at Bad Arolsen contain every piece of paper, every transportation record and registration of victims and survivors. ITS first opened their doors to family members on April 30th 2008, more than 60 years after the end of WWII.


Languages of the Jews
JGSWVO member and veteran researcher Richard Sapon-White presented the talk, followed by questions and discussion. Richard spoke about the chronology of early languages (Hebrew, Aramaic), the early and later languages that developed in the Diaspora, which ones are still in use, how to recognize if a written text is Yiddish or Hebrew (even if you do not know either language) and so much more.


Using Timelines for Jewish Genealogy Research: Creating Timelines as an Aid to Writing Family History (Part II)
We continued discussing ways to use Timelines to direct research, discover missing information, organize notes and inspire writing. Members brought in sample family Timelines as well as historic timelines to share with the group.


Using Timelines for Jewish Genealogy Research: Creating Timelines as an Aid to Writing Family History (Part I).
Reeva Kimble and Renee Gottesman discussed various timelines, including Jewish History Timelines, Eastern European History Timelines, and 19th and 20th Century American History Timelines. They showed where to see Timelines online and how to set up Timelines for ancestors.


Personal Research and Problem Solving
The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss personal research and to ask for solutions to search problems. Members talked about ongoing projects and reported success stories. We suggested research strategies for those just starting out.


Ancestry.com — Presented by JGSWVO Vice-President, Renee Gottesman
The Eugene Public Library now provides free access to the databases of Ancestry.com. Renee explained what information is available and how to search for it.


Documenting Immigrants to America: 1882-1954 — Presented by Marian L. Smith, Historian, USCIS History Office and Library
The lecture focused on immigration and naturalization records of a typical late 19th and early 20th century immigrant. Records in the custody of both U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly INS) and the National Archives were discussed, including ship passenger lists, Board of Special Inquiry records, land border arrival records, visa files, legalization records, Alien Registration, and naturalization and citizenship records. The presentation concluded with a lively Q&A session.

Marian L. Smith is the Senior Historian at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security. She regularly lectures at national and international genealogy conferences on the history and uses of immigration and naturalization records. Her articles appear in the National Archives journal Prologue, the FGS Forum, and other publications. Her research focus primarily involves official immigration agency records held in the National Archives in downtown Washington, D.C.


2007

Detours around Roadblocks
Members were asked to tell us about a specific genealogy dilemma and we suggested detours around their roadblocks. The meeting focused on genealogy problem-solving to help get motivated and make progress in 2008. Some online search engines and new databases were also explored.


Dr. Richard Littman, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of Oregon discussed oral history and demonstrated how to conduct an interview.


Leona Maltz spoke about her ancestor Abraham Zacuto, who was the mapmaker for Christopher Columbus. One branch of his family migrated to Turkey after the Spanish Inquisition and Leona Maltz is a descendant of that branch of Zacutos. Another branch went to Amsterdam, and there are others in Israel, Argentina and perhaps Brazil.


Reports From The 27th IAJGS Conference on Jewish Genealogy
Reeva Kimble, Leah-Maggie Garfield and Eliezer Froehlich reported on the conference, which contained more than 120 programs. There were 44 films with repeat showings, and free access to many of the major commercial genealogy Web sites 24 hours a day. The Family History Library that includes over 2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical records was a few blocks away.


How To Trace Your Jewish Roots”
Renowned Jewish genealogist Arthur Kurzweil took us on location to Ellis Island and other significant sites in this 33-Minute video and showed us how easy it is to look for your origins. Step-by-step, Mr. Kurzweil guided us through the fascinating process of researching and examining relevant records and historical documents that would fulfill many an amateur’s dream.


Languages of the Jews
Presented by JGSWVO member and veteran researcher Richard Sapon-White.


Family History Center Resources
Eliezer Froehlich took JGSWVO members on a tour of the genealogy resources at the Family History Center in Eugene on an evening when the facility was closed to the public. Family History Centers are branch facilities of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. We had access to the computers and microfilm readers.


Searching Yad Vashem
Renee Gottesman explained the contents of the Yad Vashem website, how to find your way around, and how you might locate distant members of your own family or relatives of friends and neighbors.


DNA Testing for Jewish Genealogy and History
Bennett Greenspan, President and CEO of Family Tree DNA, spoke at Temple Beth Israel at event sponsored by JGSWVO in conjunction with TBI and the Jewish Federation. The lecture focused on the use of DNA testing to connect Jews with the same surname for genealogy purposes.


Travels of Rabbi Benjamin Of Tudela
Presented by Gary Tepfer. In 1160, Rabbi Benjamin went from Spain through Italy, Greece, and Constantinople to Syria and Jerusalem, and then through the Middle East to Central Asia, China and India. He then sailed to Africa, north to Egypt and eventually back to Spain, arriving home in 1173. We found out what Rabbi Benjamin saw, who he met and what he wrote.


2006

Genealogy success stories and research issues.
Discussion of the Yad Vashem Names Recovery Campaign and how JGSWVO members can help community members submit new information to memorialize family, friends and neighbors who perished in the Holocaust. Details on 2007 programs, and suggestions for future programs. Annual Election of JGSWVO officers.

Schelly Talalay Dardashti, journalist for the Jerusalem Post and president of the Jewish Family Research Association Israel (JFRA Israel), spoke about “Making Connections: Every Genealogist’s Dream” at a special Tuesday night meeting.

Photographer Gary Tepfer talked about Roman Vishniac, Russian-American biologist, photographer, linguist, art historian, and philosopher, with emphasis on his pre-war photographic record of Jewish communities in Europe, as seen in the book, A Vanished World. Prints of some of Vishniac’s work were shown and discussed.

Rabbi Jonathan Seidel spoke about “Changes in Jewish Marriage and Divorce in Eastern Europe in the 19th and early 20th Century. Included was information on finding records, genetic diseases, frequency of cousin marriages, and changes in dating patterns.

Film, “There Once Was a Town.”
A memorial to Eishyshok, Poland, a small town where 3,500 Jews were brutally murdered in 1941. Fifty-six years after the massacre, a bus load of survivors led by Israeli scholar Yaffa Eliach return “to awaken old memories and confront long-silenced ghosts.”

One-hour film, “West of Hester Street.” Interweaves the dramatized events of the Galveston Movement with the story of a young Jewish peddler who journeys from Russia to Texas.

Ron Wixman, Professor of Geography at the University of Oregon, discussed various geopolitical changes in Europe in the 19th century, including Jewish rights and restrictions under different governments, nationalism, the rise of Zionism, and causes of Jewish migration to countries including the U.S., France, and Israel.

One-hour film, “Echos that Remain.”
A poignant, nostalgic study of the Jewish shtetl life before the Holocaust. Combined hundreds of rare archival photos and previously unseen film footage with live action sequences shot on location at the sites of former Jewish communities in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania.


2005

Sasha and Rafail Levkovsky, from Kiev, spoke about education, customs, languages, climate, geography, etc. of the Ukraine.


Marion Walter, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oregon, native of Germany, talked about her Kindertransport experiences and how some of the  people who were involved are still finding relatives and friends. She showed selections from a video titled “ The Children Who Cheated the Nazis.”


Rabbi Jonathan Seidel, a member of the University of Oregon’s Judaic Studies Department, spoke on the Early Modern and Modern history of the Vilna Gubernia, the intersection of the Hasidic and Mitnagdic Worlds and the history of the Polish/Lithuanian town of Postowe. He focused on his father’s lineage, in particular the Zeitl/Seidel/Sjeidl families from 1750 to 1945.


Reeva Kimble and Renee Gottesman reported on the 25th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy and provided details on the many sessions they attended.


Richard Sapon–White showed slides and talked about genealogy research and other features of his 6-month stay in Prague, Czech Republic.


Renee Gottesman presented a program titled “Finding your Ancestors on the Internet: An Overview of Searching New Databases”


You and Your Families: Breakthroughs and Barriers. Open discussions of research successes and problems by JGSWVO members.


Other Activities:
The name and status of EugeneGen: The Eugene Oregon Jewish Genealogy Study Group was changed to JGSWVO: Jewish Genealogical Society of Willamette Valley Oregon. We created and passed by–laws.

JGSWVO was accepted into the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS). Dues and donations to JGSWVO are now tax deductible.


2004

Bob Welch, a Eugene Register–Guard newspaper columnist, talked about the research for his book, The Story of Frances Slanger, Forgotten Heroine of Normandy.


Ron Wixman, UO geography professor (former Soviet Union, eastern Europe, cultural geography) spoke about Eastern European border changes since the 1700s and how they affected our ancestors.


Eliezer Froehlich, member and Corvallis genealogist, provided details about Jews in the Civil War in two programs.


Charlie Fleishman and Reeva Kimble presented information and tips on using links from Steve Morse’s One Step web site.


Faris Cassell, Eugene author, presented background on her book in progress about Hedwig Berger, a Viennese Jewish woman who died at Maly Trostinets, and her family.


Polish Inns and Jewish Innkeepers – presented by Reeva Kimble


The German Jewish Special Interest Group, GerSIG – presented by Pam Endzweig


Mary Bella Beale Brainerd’s Jewish Ancestry – presented by Richard Sapon–White


Video tape from the Canadian television series, “Past Lives,” featuring the quest for family that first drew Stanley Diamond—President of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal and Executive Director of Jewish Records Indexing Poland—into genealogy research. Stanley Diamond’s website: www.diamondgen.org


Video “Delta Jews”, followed by discussion of Jews in the south.


Other Activities:
Genealogy Presentations to the local community by members:
    Renee Gottesman – to students at Temple Beth Israel<
    Reeva Kimble and Charlie Fleishman – LDS conference on Genealogy


2003

Your Grandmother’s Needlework, Your Grandfather’s Tallis
Preserving fabric heirlooms – presented by Reeva Kimble


The origins of Jewish surnames from Eastern Europe
Presented by Ron Wixman, a cultural geographer at the University of Oregon
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Discussion on the origin of last names.


The Hamburg Passenger Lists and How to Access Them. – presented by Eliezer Froehlich


The features and search options of the EugeneGen website. – presented by Charlie Fleishman


Immigration into the US via Galveston, Texas in the early 20th century. – presented by Janet Mangus


Plagues and Pogroms – influencing when our ancestors left the old country.


Other ways to present genealogy information besides charts and family trees.


Writing memoirs and family history – presented by Arnold Ismach


Pauline Wengeroff’s Memories of a Jewish Grandmother and Bella Chagall’s Burning Lights: Two Early Twentieth Century Memoirs of Eastern European Jewish Family Life.presented by Judith Baskin, Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies at the University of Oregon.


Other Activities: Set up a genealogy library at our meeting place that includes books, CDs, and videotapes.

EugeneGen featured in the monthly newsletters of Temple Beth Israel and in the quarterly Jewish Federation of Lane County newsletter.

EugeneGen participated in a community fair at Temple Beth Israel, answering genealogy questions and providing reference material.

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