Ellen Kowitt

A primer on how to find synagogue records, what genealogical material they include, and what they look like. Finding synagogue records can be problematic and time consuming as there are errors in catalogs and a variety of ways materials are described. JewishGen’s Shul Records America, a finding aid pointing to the location of American synagogue records includes more than 650 collections held at over 60 repositories or websites, with about 20% including URLS for digitized materials. Not only a historical resource but important as modern-day synagogues merge or close, Shul Records America encourages congregations to preserve records with genealogical value.

Strategies and resources to document the earliest Jews in America 1654-1880. Learn how to navigate early American secular records and Jewish institutional materials to create a successful research plan. Land, military, languages used, and historical collections will be featured. A timeline will help identify when to look for Jewish synagogue, burial, or other Jewish community documentation, and when only government-generated records will fill the gap.

Join Ellen Kowitt as she provides an update about what’s new when researching Jewish ancestry on familiar websites including JewishGen, Steve Morse, and Miriam Weiner’s Routes to Roots Database. Hidden gems and lesser-known resources will also be provided in this information-packed webinar.

English speakers can now learn details about what happened to relatives or a community in the Holocaust by Bullets. Review documentation from this important era including access to Russian Extraordinary Commission files; German Einsatzgruppen Reports; Yahad-In Unum eyewitness video; USC Shoah Foundation and other recorded survivor testimonies; Yizkor Books; Yad…

Learn about Jewish record collections across Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, Findmypast and MyHeritage--and JewishGen! This comparative analysis tells you not only what records are where, but recommends best versions of similar record collections and additional tools on each site that are especially relevant to researching Jewish ancestors. Sunny Morton, expert on…