Two Boxes of History

My grandmother's first cousin Helen died a few weeks ago.  Helen and her siblings were the only first cousins side that my grandmother knew growing up, since all of the others grew up in what was then Czechoslovakia or Romania, while my grandmother was born in Pennsylvania.  One of Helen's brothers had given me some (very poor) photostats of some family documents in the early 1990s, but I'd never seen the originals.  Both of Helen's brothers died years ago.

I'd asked Helen a year or so ago if she had any family documents or photos, but she said that she didn't.  She did share some stories of growing up and of some relatives that she remembered.  Well, it turns out Helen had documents and photos.  Lots of them.

Helen's niece (on Helen's husband's side) has been going through her house.  As she found Rutner-related documents and information, she added them to a box.  And then she had to start adding them to a second box.  It turns out that Helen had many documents and photos.  Here's what Helen's niece Elizabeth has given me so far:

Photos and Documents from Helen

Three New (To Me) Ancestors

I always smile when I hear people say that their family tree is "done."  Perhaps they have exhausted some major online resources.  But it's likely that they're not aware of some obscure site that has information and that they haven't looked in every archive or repository that has information about their family.  There's almost surely at least one more nugget out there waiting to be found.

I've been researching my family for 30 years, and I still find more information.  And the latest was three new direct ancestors!

Zyubkis Family, 1806, Uman

Russian WWI Records

Our ancestors and other relatives fought for the countries in which they lived.  As some of those military records come online and are more accessible, we can sometimes learn more about our family members who served.  Some of my family members fought for the Russian Empire in prior wars--and I didn't realize that until I found some of their military records online.

Meir Zubkis WWI Record,
Russian State Military Historical Archive, Fund No. 16196, Particular record keeping on the collection and registration of information about those who left after death or behind wounds, as well as missing military ranks, acting against enemy armies (1914 - 1918); Inventory №1, Nominal li

Ashkenazic Shared DNA Survey - September 2019 Update

An updated version of this post is here.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed data about shared DNA in people with Ashkenazic ancestry!  I have 5537 data points to analyze, and that should help the entire genetic genealogy community  (I'm still collecting data--you can find out more about the project and how to contribute here).

This iteration looks at how shared DNA will differ depending on how much (documented) Ashkenazi DNA each individual has.

There are four tables below:

• Table 1 looks at all 5337 data points, regardless of Ashkenazic percentage
• Table 2 looks at those data points where both individuals are documented to be 100% Ashkenazic
• Table 3 looks at those data points where one individual is documented to be 100% Ashkenazic and the other 50% Ashkenazic
• Table 4 looks at those data points where both individuals are documented to be 50% Ashkenazic 
• Table 5 looks at those data points where one individual is documented to be 100% Ashkenazic and the other 25% Ashkenazic
• Table 6 looks at those data points where one individual is documented to be 50% Ashkenazic and the other 25% Ashkenazic

Buchenwald Records - Some With Photos

When I was in DC at the FGS Conference last week, I was able to spend a few hours in the Holocaust Museum.  I printed out hundreds of pages (literally) of documents that I discovered, and I'm finally having a chance to actually read some of what I found.

My fourth cousin twice removed, Yitzchak/Izsak Rutner, was killed in Buchenwald.  But before that point, the Nazis collected information on him--including the only known photo of him.

Inmate Personal Card - Izsak Ruttner

Town Finding Aid Created for Novohrad-Volynskyi District Revision Lists on Krakovsky Website

At the recent IAJGS conference, I spoke to Ellen Shindelman Kowitt.  Ellen mentioned an incredible project she is undertaking, which led to her obtaining images of records not just for her towns of interest but for many towns in the area.  As a result of this conversation, I'm pleased to have Ellen as a guest blogger today where she talks about the towns covered by these records and how you can find records for your own family's towns, if you're fortunate enough to have had family from this area.  While most of the records are Jewish-focused, there are a reasonable number of records for non-Jews who lived in these towns as well! Without further ado, here's Ellen!


Town Finding Aid Created for Novohrad-Volynskyi District Revision Lists on Krakovsky Website
By guest blogger Ellen Shindelman Kowitt, genealogysleuth@comcast.net

If you’re interested in Russian-Era Revision Lists circa 1816-1868 for the city of Novohrad-Volynskyi, Ukraine and nearby towns, this article directs you to the exact pages that records for your town are found within nine Revision List books that have been digitized and are available on Alex
Krakovsky’s website (https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Єврейське_містечко#Новоград-Волинський_повіт).  Not all of the pages in these books include Jewish surnames, but the index identifies exactly where the pages with Jews within each town are located. These are not surname indices – just a finding aid to where within over 9000 digitized pages, you can browse Russian-language records for the following 13 towns:

Baranivka - @243 pages in 7 books
Berezdiv - @253 pages in 8 books
Horodnytsia - @843 pages in 7 books
Korets - @938 pages in 8 books
Krasnostav – @365+ pages in 8 books
Liubar – @918 pages in 8 books
Myropil - @267 pages in 7 books
Nova Chortoryia - @59 pages in 5 books
Novohrad-Volynskyi City -@890 pages in 7 books
Ostropil - @341 pages in 6 books
Polonne - @816 pages in 8 books
Rohachiv - @172 pages in 7 books
Romaniv - @89 pages in 7 books

Towns Covered in Revision Lists

Upcoming Week: FGS & JGSMD

The next week will be a busy but fun one.  I'm speaking three times during the FGS Conference in Washington, DC--a great location.  If you'll be there, come say hi!  I start off on Wednesday morning with an introduction to Jewish genealogy.  If you're not sure how to start researching your Jewish ancestry, this is the talk for you!