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In this issue

🙏 For the Record: Our thanks to you

📣 Announcement: Expanded data collection available in our winter update

🔬 Research Tip: Using our new display of Yad Vashem links on our search result pages.

🔦 Spotlight On: Shanghai Polish Consular Registrations 1934-1941 by Mark Halpern

💰 Donate to JRI-Poland NextGen $200,000 Challenge Fundraiser!

For the Record: Our thanks to you

The JRI-Poland “For the Record” eNewsletter has made a major impact in our ability to reach the research community tracing their Jewish roots to Poland. It has also inspired many readers to share their thoughts, what they learned in reading the articles, and what they would like to see in future newsletters.

The articles on Notarial records and “How to Improve Your Requests to JRI-Poland for Help” were very popular and we will certainly include similarly helpful articles in future newsletters.

One thing is clear: Time is precious and it’s quite easy to be overwhelmed with email, Facebook posts, promotional messages, and so on. Therefore, our commitment to the JRI-Poland research community is to make our newsletters worthy of your time, present the articles in such a way to enable you to quickly decide if it is of interest to you, and give you the option of clicking on “more” if you wish to dig deeper.

By our very nature, as a non-profit organization depending on the support of the research community, we need to ask for your help in supporting the town and special projects. Our new membership program has been a success and going forward we expect it will continue to cover our administrative expenses. Of course, the importance of maintaining momentum in the development of the NextGen website and data management project will continue to be front and center. Yes, we will ask you to be generous, but our loyal supporters do not need to be hounded. You know the mitzvot that our volunteers and critical and growing mass data perform every day. The expression, “we can’t thank you enough” has never been truer about the heartfelt and generous support that we have received over our 26-year journey. Yes, I can’t thank you enough!

And when JRI-Poland has made a difference in your life, please share the story with us. Write us at: hello@jri-poland.org

Stanley Diamond, Executive Director

December 21, 2021

Expanded data collection now available in Winter Update

We are delighted to announce a major upload of record entries to the JRI-Poland database which is now viewable on our Legacy System at: https://jri-poland.org/. This is the first of two planned uploads. The second part of this update is planned for the first quarter, 2022.

Thanks to our many extractors who include volunteers (around the world) and expert professionals (principally based in Poland), our work has continued throughout COVID-19; therefore, we are elated to show you the fruits of their efforts.

The upload includes both fully-funded data, and other collections labeled “Preview Files.” Preview files are data sets with first and last names. Although the associated town files are not yet fully-funded, JRI-Poland is using this novel approach to fast-track the sharing of information that may be important to many of our users. We hope your discoveries will encourage you to contribute to the town project associated with your family members and help to expedite getting this data online for everyone to use.

The first batch of uploaded data includes both Vital Records and Books of Residents files from towns in some JRI-Poland Research Areas, including Galicia (AGAD Archives), Prussia (Koszalin and parts of Silesia), and Congress Poland: Warszawa, Kielce, Lodz, Plock, Radom, Zagłębie (Zaglembie) and the Zamość Research Area of the Lublin Gubernya.

Towns and projects included in this upload are:

Będzin, Biala Prudnica, Biłgoraj, Bóbrka, Bohorodczany, Bolechów, Bołszowce, Borszczów, Buczacz, Bursztyn, Bytom, Chęciny, Chmielnik, Działoszyce, Frampol, Gliwice, Gołogóry, Goraj, Gorzków, Grabowiec, Gródek Jagielloński, Horodło, Hrubieszów, Iłża, Janów Lubelski, Jaryczów Nowy, Jawarow, Jozefow Ordynacki, Kielce, Kietrz, Kłobuck, Koszalin, Koźle, Kozowa, Krakowiec, Krasnobród, Kryłów, Łódź, Lwów, Nadwórna, Namysłów, Narajów, Niemodlin, Opatów, Opole, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Pińczów, Prudnik, Radom, Rypin, Sandomierz, Skole, Sokal, Strusów, Tarnogród, Tarnowskie Góry, Tartaków, Turka, Warszawa, Wiślica, Zborów, Ziębice

JRI-Poland Research Area Coordinators will be posting messages on the mailing lists with more detailed information on the contents of the town projects included in the first batch of the two-batch upload of JRI-Poland data.

Research Tip: Using our new display of Yad Vashem links on our search result pages.

Following our recent announcement of the landmark agreement between JRI-Poland.org and Yad Vashem, we are delighted to offer you this tip for how to use the link to the best advantage. The JRI-Poland database generally contains information about people who lived somewhere in Poland or its territories from 1810-1920. The Yad Vashem Shoah Victims Database generally contains references to people who lived in those Polish towns between 1900 and 1942.

When doing research on a family surname and a specific town, it’s often useful to know the time period when your family was associated with that town. A search on the JRI-Poland Legacy System may provide instant confirmation that your family was living in a specific town during the 19th century if they appear on the top portion of the initial search results screen, and may confirm that they were in that town in the 1930s or 1940s if they appear on the bottom portion of the search results screen. A sample is provided below.

In the example, the requestor has searched for the name AKKERMAN appearing in the town called Bychawa. The initial search results screen confirms there were AKKERMANs associated with Bychawa, in the 19th century JRI-Poland data, AND in the more recent 20th century Yad Vashem Holocaust data.

Of course, details can be found by clicking on the buttons at the far right. However, even a glance at this initial search results screen may provide interesting and helpful insight!

Spotlight on: Polish Jews in Shanghai

The story of Polish Jews in Shanghai, told via the Citizen Registration Book maintained by the Polish Consulate in Shanghai, China from 1934 through 1941. Mark Halpern brings this story to life in this featured article.

Our NextGen Challenge Fundraiser needs your help now!

We are delighted to announce that we have raised over $70,000 in less than two weeks towards our $200,000 NextGen Website and Data Management Fundraising goal for this holiday season. This is wonderful progress – but we need more of your help NOW. Your year-end donation is needed to develop the Search Features of our new system, including the Search Results screens and filters. We’re designing unique features that will greatly improve your ability to identify and understand your family’s documents, so please…

Please consider a special and generous donation to this project as you decide your year-end tzedakah giving. Your gift will speed our ability to complete the most critical piece of redesigning our website – the first overhaul in our 26- year history. It is a huge project and we need you.

And please note that funds donated to the 2021 NextGen Challenge Grant are applied to the software development project and not to any specific town project.

JRI-Poland’s NextGen Project presents the opportunity for a fresh new approach to viewing and understanding your ancestral data. Here’s how:

Please go to: JRI-Poland.org/support.htm and indicate “NextGen Challenge Grant Response”

Thank you! Here’s to only good things in 2022!

Stanley Diamond, M.S.M.,Executive Director, Jewish Records Indexing - Poland, Inc., Montreal

Robinn Magid, Assistant Director, Jewish Records Indexing – Poland, Inc., Berkeley, California

For the Record: Newsletter Archive