May is Jewish American Heritage Month

Jewish American Heritage Month is a month to celebrate the contributions Jewish Americans have made to America since they first arrived in New Amsterdam in 1654, according to the Library of Congress.

Family Research
Ancestry.com has partnered with JewishGen®, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the American Jewish Historical Society and The Miriam Weiner Routes to Roots Foundation, Inc. This partnership offers the world’s largest online collection of Jewish historical records, according to Ancestry.com.

Some of the collections include:

Belarus, Minsk, List of deaths
1889 Miriam Weiner Eastern European Archival Database
Lithuania: List of Donors to Charity from HaMagid, 1871-72
Munich, Vienna and Barcelona Jewish Displaced Persons and Refugee Cards, 1943-1959 (JDC)
Hungary: Jewish Census, 1848
Russia: Duma Voter Lists, 1906-07
Jewish Given Name Variations
Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum Records, 1878-1969 (AJHS)
New York Hebrew Orphan Asylum Records, 1860-1934 (AJHS)

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum offers many educational tools online at http://www.ushmm.org/. Included in the collections, is a Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database. There I found Zofia Hruszczak. I have stumbled upon Zofia before but have not made a direct connection, other than the last name. Zofia's location is listed as "Stryj, Distr Galizien" and the address is listed as "Zielowa." The source is marked as Liste XIV, which the site describes as "List of persons in various camps and ghettos in Poland. Includes name, current location and address."

World Memory Project
The World Memory Project is another great resource.

DNA
According to Ancestry.com, I have a trace amount of European Jewish DNA. It's less than one percent. The primary regions for this background are: Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Hungary, and Israel.

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Coatesville's First Serial Killer

Young Alexander Meyer was a disturbed and angry young man with some major issues. He had failed sixth and seventh grade, and instead of having to repeat eighth grade again, he finally gave up on school. At age 16 he quit Downingtown Junior High. Meyer is not a relative, nor are his victims (that I am aware). I stumbled upon young Alex while reading Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre - But Forgotten - Murders by Tammy Mal. On 11 February 1937 Alexander Thweatt Meyer killed young Helen Moyer as she walked home from school in Coatesville along Modena Road. She was not his first. The jury was out only three minutes after hearing Dr. Michael Margolis' testimony on the death of Helen Moyer. The jury determined Meyer had murdered Moyer and should be held for first degree murder. The jury also condemned the parole system which had released Meyer back into the public, after having served just 14 months in Huntingdon Reformatory, for the murder of two other girls - Anna Blasc...

Thaddeus Stevens at the Lancaster Convention Center

Within the Lancaster Convention Center (Lancaster, PA) is a small section dedicated to Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith. The section is known as the Stevens & Smith Historic Site. It is scheduled for development this year. At the moment one can only get a glimpse of it through the Convention Center or by peeking in from the outside. Here at Queen and Vine Streets in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, Thaddeus Stevens had his law office. Stevens was an abolitionist. An abolitionist is a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, especially capital punishment or (formerly) slavery. Stevens was born 4 April 1792 to Joshua Stevens and Sarah (Sally) Morrill in Danville Vermont. One of four children, he attended Vermont University from 1810 to 1812 when the War prompted its closure. He then went to Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1814. He then studied law and found himself set up in Gettysburg, PA in 1816. He practiced law there until 1828 when he...

52 Ancestors: Remembering the King

Today is Elvis’ birthday. He would have been 80 today. I was only eight when he died so obviously I am too young to have seen Elvis perform. However, when I hear his music, I go back in time. I am once again that young girl dancing in the living room to Elvis and other greats with my father. Back then girls learned to dance by dancing with their fathers not some video of scantly dressed people doing all sorts of things young ladies should not be doing in public! What is YOUR favorite memory - either of your father or of Elvis? 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a weekly genealogical challenge issued by Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small . Look for my weekly posts each Thursday! © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

Genealogical Gems

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