By Gary Mokotoff
Primer on Jewish genealogical research that explains the great resources on the Internet to get you started with your Jewish family history. It alerts the reader to types of documents that will aid in their research — such records as birth, marriage, death, immigration, census and naturalization records. Updated for 2022.
7" x 10" 104 pp. softcover $29.00
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
IF I CAN DO IT, SO CAN YOU
Four Myths of Jewish Genealogy
GET STARTED BY INTERVIEWING PEOPLE
Ask for Documents
Ask for Photos
RECORDS OF YOUR ANCESTORS
Vital Records
Federal Census Records
Non-Federal Censuses
Naturalization Records
Passenger Lists
Other Resources
JEWISHGEN: THE INTERNET HOME OF JEWISH GENEALOGY
Searching JewishGen Databases
STEPHEN P. MORSE ONE-STEP SITE
A Strategy for Using the Morse Site to Search the Ellis Island Database
SOME OTHER ONLINE GENEALOGY SITES
FamilySearch and the Family History Library System
Routes to Roots Foundation
Jewish Records Indexing-Poland
American Joint Distribution Committee
SephardicGen.com
Compendium of Jewish Genealogy
Geni
Cyndi's List
Facebook Goups
COMMERCIAL ONLINE GENEALOGY SITES
Ancestry.com
MyHeritage
DNA Testing for Genealogy
FindaGrave.com and Billion Graves.com
Findmypast.com
Fold3.com
Association of Professional Genealogists
JewishData.com
IMPORTANT NON-INTERNET RESOURCES
Jewish Genealogical Societies and Annual Conference
Avotaynu
HOLOCAUST RESEARCH
Shoah Victims’ Names Database
International Tracing Service (ITS)
Yizkor Books
Other Resources
SPECIAL PROBLEM: MY NAME WAS CHANGED AT ELLIS ISLAND
SPECIAL PROBLEM: FINDING YOUR ANCESTRAL TOWN
GETTING STARTED PROPERLY
Genealogy Software
Cite Your Sources
Standards
Maintain a Research Log
GLOSSARY
APPENDIX A: HOW TO SEARCH ONLINE DATABASES
APPENDIX A: DAITCH-MOKOTOFF SOUNDEX SYSTEM
APPENDIX B: CASE STUDY– THE PATERNAL HISTORY OF BERNARD MADOFF
ILLUSTRATIONS
Birth Record
Marriage Record
Death Record
Death Index:
Russian Census
Passenger Arrival Record
Census Record
Petition for Naturalization
Tombstone Inscription
Page of Testimony (Holocaust)
Holocaust Document:
JewishGen Discussion Group
JewishGen Family Finder
Consolidated Jewish Surname Index
Social Security Death Index
Getting Started in Jewish Genealogy
More than 3,000 copies sold. It is not a beginner’s guide. A beginner’s guide to Jewish genealogy would undoubtedly take many more pages and cost much more. Instead it is a getting started guide meant to convince the reader that tracing one’s Jewish ancestry can be done.
The resources described are primarily Internet resources. The Internet has revolutionized family history research. What used to take days or weeks now takes minutes or hours because of the wealth of resources on the Internet.
It describes in detail such resources as JewishGen, Morse One-Step site, FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, MyHeritage and many more sites. It alerts the readers to what types of documents of their ancestors will aid in their research—such records as birth, marriage, death, Immigration, census and naturalization records.
Special focus is given to two problems often uttered by neophyte Jewish genealogists: (1) My name was changed at Ellis Island and (2) I do not know the town my family came from.
7" x 10" 104 pp. softcover $29.00