[Research Guidance: Jewish Genealogy - Research Outline</STRONG></STRONG>] Research Guidance Version Of Data : 6/21/2001

Jewish Genealogy
Research Outline

Table of Contents
Introduction
     Using This Outline
Jewish Search Strategies
     Step 1. Identify What You Know About Your Family
     Step 2. Decide What You Want To Learn
     Step 3. Select A Record To Search
     Step 4. Use The Internet
     Step 5. Find And Search The Record
     Step 6. Use The Information
Finding Jewish Records In The Family History Library Catalog
     Subject Search
     Locality Search Or Place Search
     Keyword Search
Archives And Libraries
     Yivo Institute
     Leo Baeck Institute
     Holocaust Memorial Museums
     Other Libraries And Archives
     Historical And Genealogical Societies
     Inventories, Registers, Catalogs
Biography
     Individual Biographies
     Compiled Biographies
     Jewish Biographies
Business Records And Commerce
Cemeteries
     Records At The Family History Library
     Funeral Home Records
Census
     Census Indexes
     Searching Census Records
     Census Records At The Family History Library
Chronology
Church Records
     Finding Church Records
Civil Registration
     General Historical Background
     Information Recorded In Civil Registers
     Births
     Marriages
     Deaths
     Locating Civil Registration Records
     Records At The Family History Library
     Obtaining Civil Registration Records Not At The Family History Library
Concentration Camps
Court Records
Directories
Divorce Records
Emigration And Immigration
Encyclopedias And Dictionaries
Gazetteers
     General Gazetteers
     Country-specific Gazetteers
     Jewish Gazetteers
Genealogy
     Major Collections And Databases
     Family Histories
     Genealogical Collections
     Genealogical Indexes
     Research Coordination
Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)
Inquisition
Jewish History
     Local Histories
Jewish Records
     An Austrian Example
     Locating Jewish Records
Language And Languages
     Hebrew Alphabet
     Language Aids
Maps
     Using Maps
     Finding The Specific Place On The Map
     Finding Maps And Atlases
Military Records
     Austrian Military Records
Minorities
Names, Personal
     Surnames
     Sephardic Surnames
     Ashkenazic Surnames
     Given Names
Other Records
For Further Reading
Comments And Suggestions
Appendix A - Glossary

ENCYCLOPEDIAS AND DICTIONARIES

Encyclopedias provide information on all branches of knowledge, usually in articles arranged alpha-betically. They often contain information of great interest for genealogical research, including articles about towns, places, prominent people, minorities, and religions. They can give information about diverse topics such as record- keeping practices, laws, customs, commerce, occupations, costumes, and archaic terminology.

The Family History Library has general knowledge encyclopedias from countries throughout the world. Similar collections of encyclopedias can be found in most research and university libraries. Examples of two general knowledge encyclopedias are:

Great Soviet Encyclopedia. 31 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1979. (FHL book 030.47 G798s.) Translation of the third edition of Bol’shaia Sovetskaia Entsiklopediia.

Orgelbrand, Samuel. Encyklopedja powszechna (Universal Encyclopedia). Warszawa: Archiwum Dokumentacji Mechanicznej, 1974. (FHL film 0997501–0997518.)

There are several Jewish-specific encyclopedias. The following may be particularly helpful in your research:

Kurzweil, Arthur and Miriam Weiner. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Genealogy Vol. 1: United States and Canada. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson Publishers, 1991. (FHL book 929.1 En19e.)

Encyclopaedia Judaica. 17 vols. Jerusalem: Keter, 1972, 1982. (FHL book 296.03 En19j.)

Jewish Encyclopedia. 12 vols. New York City: Funk and Wagnalls, 1901–1906. (FHL book 296.03 J556.)

Pinkas Hakehillot (Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities). Various editors. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1969–date. These volumes are in Hebrew and cover many different countries as defined by pre-WWII boundaries. Jewish communities with a population of over 100 are discussed in each volume. The countries covered to date include Romania (2 vols.), Germany (5 vols.), Hungary, Poland (7 vols.), Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Latvia and Estonia, Lithuania, Greece, and Libya. The Family History Library collection of this reference is incomplete.

Region FHL book

Netherlands 949.2 F2m

Romania 949.8 H26ph

Bavaria 943.3 H26ph

Hungarian 943.9 H26ph

Poland-Lodz 943.8 H26ph v.1

Poland-E.Galicia 943.8 H26ph v.2

Language dictionaries are discussed in “Language and Languages” in this outline. Historical diction- aries of most countries have also been published by Scarecrow Press, Inc. in Metuchen, N.J. and by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress (Country Studies). These books give valuable background information on many of the smaller countries of the world.

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