German Jewish Genealogy 010613

German Jewish Genealogy
Do You Have German Roots? A Question For All Ashkenazi Jews January 6, 2013
Michael Marx
Lexington, MA
mhmarx@alum.mit.edu
© Michael Marx 2013
Germans, Germans Everywhere
Do You Have
German Ancestry?
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DNA Proves The Connection
Common Ancestor
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DNA Proves The Connection
Common Ancestor
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German Jewish Genealogy
•  Agenda
 Where is Germany?
 Jews in Germany
 What is different about German genealogy?
 German records
 Recommended internet sites
Where is Germany?
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Where is Germany?
Germany 1815
Where is Germany?
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Where is Germany?
Where is Germany?
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Where is Germany?
Germany Today
Where is Germany?
Meyers Gazetteer
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Jews in Germany
•  Earliest record of Jews - 321 C.E. in Cologne
•  Long history of persecution
•  14th century (Black Plague) - expulsion of
Jews from German lands
•  Peace of Westphalia (1648) - beginning of
the modern era for German Jews
•  Napoleonic era - varying degree of
emancipation for Jews
•  1933-1945 - destruction of German Jewish
population
Jews in Germany
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/germany.html
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What Makes Germany Different?
•  The Good
  Tradition of research and scholarship
  Extensive recordkeeping
  Permanent surnames by early 1800s
  Interest in Jewish history
  English widely spoken
•  The Bad
  Deciphering German script
  Archives are local
  Strict privacy laws
What Makes Germany Different?
Extensive Recordkeeping
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What Makes Germany Different?
Interest In Jewish History
What Makes Germany Different? German Script
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What Makes Germany Different? German Script
What Makes Germany Different? German Script
The Family History Library in Salt Lake City offers a number of
free online genealogy courses.
One is designed to teach you how to read the old German script:
(http://tinyurl.com/ybd3m8t)
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What Makes Germany Different? Surname Adoption
Robert Benmosche
CEO, AIG Inc.
What Makes Germany Different? Surname Adoption
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German Vital Records
•  After 1790
 Usually kept by churches
  Catholic - Latin
  Lutheran - German or Latin
 Separate Jewish records
•  Beginning in 1876
 Mandatory civil registration
 Civil registration offices German Vital Records
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Other German Records
Other German Records
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ITS Records
ITS Records
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Hamburg Passenger Lists
Where to Find German Records
•  Germany
 Records are kept locally
  City archives [Stadtarchiv]
  Village records [Dorfarchiv]
 Older records (before 1876)
  State archives [Landesarchiv]
  National archives [Staatsarchiv]
•  Addresses of state archives: http://tiny.cc/L741R
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Where to Find German Records
•  United States
  Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History,
New York City
 
 
 
 
Extensive collection of German Jewish history
Large German Jewish genealogy library
Publishes www.lbi.com
Where to Find German Records
•  United States (continued)
  United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,
Washington, DC
  Holocaust library
  ITS repository
  www.ushmm.org
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Where to Find German Records
•  United States (continued)
 Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT
  Largest genealogy library in the world
  2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical records
  310,000 genealogy-related books
  Extensive holdings relevant to Jewish German
genealogy
  Excellent resources
  www.familysearch.org
Where to Find German Records
•  Israel
 Central Archives for the History of the
Jewish People(CAHJP), Hebrew University,
Jerusalem   Founded by German immigrants
  Largest Jewish archive in the world
  sites.huji.ac.il/archives
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Recommended Internet Sites
www.jewishgen.org
Recommended Internet Sites
www.jewishgen.org/GerSIG/
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Recommended Internet Sites
http://db.yadvashem.org/names/search.html?language=en
Recommended Internet Sites
Yad Vashem
Pages of Testimony
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Recommended Internet Sites
www.familysearch.org
Recommended Internet Sites
www.jewishwebindex.com
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Recommended Internet Sites
wiki-en.genealogy.net
Recommended Internet Sites
www.cindislist.com
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German Jewish Genealogy
•  Agenda
 Where is Germany? √
 Jews in Germany √
 What is different about German genealogy? √
 German records √
 Recommended internet sites √
Thank You For Your Attention
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