Introduce yourself !

What families are you researching? From which towns/countries?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Judi Zimmer on July 12, 2009 at 10:29am

I'm sort of between beginner and intermediate, but utterly fascinated and consumed by the search for my ancestors. I started 3 years ago, when my 1st grandchild was born, and can't believe how I went from having almost no information to gathering data going back, in some cases, to the 1820s. I only hope I can knock down several brick walls and add even more to my family tree!
Researching: ABROMOWICZ (Radomysl nad Sanem), AUERBACH (Mikulince), BAER (Buczacz), BETT (Nisko), SCHNEIDER (Buczacz), SCHUPLER (Buczacz) as well as ROTHSTEIN(Smela, Russia--now Ukraine) and KOSMINSKY (Smela, Cherkassy).

Permalink Reply by Schelly Talalay Dardashti on July 12, 2009 at 11:05am

I caught the genealogy bug back in 1989 in response to a Hebrew School homework assignment given to our daughter.

Since then, I've focused on Iran (DARDASHTI), Galicia (FINK in Suchastow and Skalat), Belarus (TALALAY in Mogilev, Vorotinschtina, Chaussy, Bobruisk, and branches in NovgorodSeverisky, Chernigov, Ukraine, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Crimea, etc.) and Spain (our TALALAY are Sephardim who wound up in Mogilev).

This interest took my journalism career into genealogy journalism - I was the Jerusalem Post's genealogy columnist (It's All Relative, 1999-2005) - and other endeavors. Tracing the Tribe: The Jewish Genealogy Blog went live in August 2006, followed by the International Jewish Graveyard Rabbit . I also write the MyHeritage Genealogy Blog, and articles for Family Tree Magazine, Avotaynu, Reform Judaism, Outreach, and other magazines, journals and newspapers.

I love my work, the people I work with, my readers and enjoy assisting others with their quests. So ask away, share information and resources!

Permalink Reply by Penelope Bell on July 13, 2009 at 1:22am

I too am between beginner and intermediate; four years ago I was contacted by a cousin about family history and I caught the "bug" then. I'm interested in the family of Hermann and Emilia ASHER who arrived in Newcastle upon Tyne, England around 1860. Census returns have them coming from Russia and Prussia (Posen) but so far I have not been able to track down their town or village. They were linked with the ELKAN or ELKIN family and there are runours that some family members went to the United States.

Permalink Reply by arnold shirek chamove on July 20, 2010 at 8:00pm

I may have so good news for you and for me too. I have Ashers from Posen and have a lot of info on them including DNA and Posen info too. Our Ashers came to California in the early 1850 and stayed. Perhaps you could write directly to me (ArnoldChamove@Ynnovate.co.nz with a copy to Alexandra Asher-Sears (AlexAsherSears@Mac.com) and we can see what we can see. Checked in Naturalized Jews of the Grand Duchy of Posen in 1834-5, E.D.Luft (2004) for Elkan and found 2 sort of: 1--Elkan Bad, Joseph a businessman and Elkanus, Jacob a rabbi, both living in Murowana Goslin, Posen, Prussia and both naturalized on the same date 27 july 1834.

Permalink Reply by Evelyn Steinberg on July 13, 2009 at 8:04am

I have dabbled with genealogy for several years but have only gotten down to it seriously this past year. I have been recording family stories and "legends" from the few remaining "oldsters" who love to talk about the past. Through the researching process I have reconnected with some cousins and found some new ones. My mother's side has been well researched by others so I am concentrating on my father's side - what a slog going back. Finding sources is a challenge. I have realized my research skills in this area are lacking so am hoping that what I learn at the conference this year will help me move things along. Sometimes the researching is tedious and frustrating. But when I find a source or a fact, It is exhilarating and keeps me going.
Researching (so far):
STEINBERG, GEZELMAN/GEDZELMAN (Kiev, Russia/Ukraine)
HERSHENHOREN/HERSHORN (Nowa Slupia, Kielce, Poland)
SPIEGEL (Lagow, Kielce, Poland)

Permalink Reply by Lewis Stein on July 13, 2009 at 4:22pm

I backed into genealogy. We had a picture of my father's older brother on our piano for as long as I can remember. He was in the uniform of the AEF and I was named for him. There were three Stein cousins named Lewis and none of us knew anything about him aside from the fact that he was killed in action five days before World War 1 ended. None of his siblings spoke of him, though his jahrzeit was always observed. When I retired I decided to find out about him. By that time, there was noone left in the family aside from me who even knew his name. I promised myself that my grandchildren and those of my brother and of my cousins would know from whence they came.
I am searching STEIN (Bialystok), STEINSAPIR (Rajgrod), BRAUN (Suwalki), SILVERBERG (Smila), ENGLISHER (Warsaw & Lodz), BRUS or BRUSSE (Paris & Lodz), PARKER (London), JOEL (London), LASERSON (Kourland), KRUK or CROOK (Lodz & London)

Permalink Reply by Annekathrin Genest on July 16, 2009 at 3:54am

Inspired by my work for the publication "Sources on the History of the Jews in Polish Archives" (Volume I, Saur 2003, ISBN 3-598-11647-0) I startet my historical research-service "archivauskunft.de" in 2003. On our website we provide informations about helpful sources for genealogists and historians. Perhaps GenealogyWise will be our next "Tip of the month?". I'm specialized in Middle and Eastern Europe. Id like to search on things that can help increase my knowledge...

Permalink Reply by Debbie Burr on July 17, 2009 at 6:31am

My name is Deborah Kopstein Burr. I have working on my own genealogy for about 12 years, although I have been researching my husband's families for over 30 years. The internet made it much easier to research my Eastern European roots. My Paternal family came from Novogrudok Belarus and Russia. My Maternal family came from Romania and Russia. Researching: Kopstein, Korlitsky, Kushner, who came to Manitoba Canada in the early part of the 20th century and then to Ontario Canada
Adler, Greenberg, Hilenbrand, who came to Pittsburgh PA in the early part of the 20th century and then moved to Detroit MI
Slutsky and Nosovitsky who came to Detroit MI also in the early 1900's.

Permalink Reply by Mitchell C. Sklar on July 17, 2009 at 6:38am

Hello - just joined the group. I am researching the Yavelberg, Sklar, Mariasin (Morrison), and Marianowski (Marinoff) families (as well as several others that are related to these as well). The locations I am interested in include Bessarabia, Moldova, Ukraine, USA and Israel.

Would be glad to hear from anyone.

Best regards to all - Mitch Sklar

Permalink Reply by Lewis Stein on July 18, 2009 at 7:41am

Mitch,
My maternal great grandmother was Dora Sklar. I'm not sure where she was born, but she was married to David Silverberg of Smila, Kiev Gubernia. Since my grandfather was an orphan by age eight, she must have died prior to 1882. I have been able to find from little to no information about that side of my family.

Permalink Reply by Irene Berman on August 5, 2009 at 9:40am

My name is Irene Berman.
Fortunately, I had heard some family tales and knew many of my mother's older family members. The family lore has been largely borne out and much has been added by research online and in the NYC archives as well as cemetery visits.
I am still researching Finkel and Stoller of Kossovo and HaLevy Epstein of Kossovo and Slonim, both in Grodno Province in Belarus; Asbell of Gomel (Homele) Province in Belarus and possibly somewhere outside of Kiev in the Ukraine.

Permalink Reply by Candy Kammerman on August 21, 2009 at 8:56am

Hi, I am helping my husband research his Marrom family line. We have been working on this for many years with very limited success. I recently started a blog in hopes of finding some folks also searching for this family. Joseph Samuel Marrom was born in Tauroggen, Russia in 1874. Tauroggen is now Taurage, Lithuania. For more details on what we know of Joseph's life, please visit my blog at http://marromquest.blogspot.com/. I would also appreciate any comments and suggestions on how to make this blog more effective. Thanks, Candy