Date: Thu, 17 Jul 1997 16:40:53 -0500 From: MS PHYLLIS KRAMERSubject: Pre-WWII Warsaw phone (& Business) Direc Post: pre-WWII Warsaw Telephone (and business) directories An answer to a recent query (and another query).....a 1930 telephone directory for all of Poland is in the Slavic Reserve (96-7788) at the New York Public Libraries.......several Warsaw directories from 1931, 3,5,7,9 (*zan 9542) and all Poland 1936 and 1937 telephone directories (*zan 9541) too. By the way......I followed the article by Jeffrey Cymbler in the Spring issue of Avotaynu, and went through the 14 rolls of microfilm of business directories from 1899 through 1930) in the Slavic Reserve 96-7788.......i took the article with me and found going through it easy as I knew where my shtetls were located (I hardly needed the polish/english dictionary, which I found on the shelf there whenever an occupation was mentioned that wasn't on the jewishgen occupations info file list). I found my great grandfather, Leib Stecher, in 1926 Zmigrod Nowy selling eggs! But perhaps some other jewishgenner could help me.....the microfilms began with Lvov in 1899....i could not locate the 1877 or 1891 directories which were also mentioned in the article.....has anyone had any success with this??? Phyllis_Kramer@prodigy.com ...... searching KRAMER, WISNER from Jasienica Rosielna, Poland ---------- Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 13:28:07 EST From: james gross Subject: Re: NYC city directories In a recent post, Susan (susan0727@aol.com) inquired about NYC city directories. As this is a useful reply, I am sharing it. The answer is LDS. Especially if you are "out there" in MN. You should get a hold of as much LDS reference info as you can. I would first try your local JGS (if you have one) and go thru all the Dorot issues. The main LDS in NY <125 Columbus Ave NY NY 10023 212-873-1690> has a good deal of lists (of film #'s). You may want to call/write them and ask if they will copy and mail some to you. I'd imagine they'd charge copy & mailing cost. I have 10 pages of LDS NYC city dir info. Most of it is from the LDS microfiche. James H. Gross e-mail: LARKLANE@JUNO.COM ---------------------- Date: Tue, 24 Feb 1998 03:44:11 EST From: james gross Subject: Re: Jewish newspapers: Where are they? Dear Lester & others, Lester (elessel@mediaone.net) just posted a very useful item which some of you may have missed. he asked " whether there is an English language Jewish newspaper in NYC. In Boston, we have the Jewish Advocate; isn't there something comparable in NYC? " My answer is that I have been quietly working on this for the past several months. As I am close to Phila, I have been copying tons of pages from 2 English language papers: Jewish Exponent and Jewish Times. The info I have found includes post-WWII refugee lists, religious confirmations, New Year greetings, and misc charity items. I strongly believe that similar info exists in Jewish papers for most major US cities. I have recently called the NYC public library Judaica dept in an attempt to narrow this search for English (my only readable language) Jewish papers. They helped me identify and narrow down a very long list of papers. After I called them, I decided to try and find another library closer to me that would have some of these items. I contacted Yeshiva University and the Jewish Theological Seminary. 2 papers were recommended to me: American Hebrew, published up to 1953, and the Brooklyn Examiner, published up to 1956. I intend to follow up on this and other items as time permits. I strongly suggest that those of you "out there" who are near a facility with such items, stop on by. You don't have to be a nuclear physist to realize that this stuff is probably sitting on microfilms WAITING for one of us to go, copy it, and get it on a computer database. Hebrew Union College in Cincinatti,OH has a lot of films too. Whether you are in Boston (like Lester) , near Phila like me, or near LA, there are probably some films you can get your hands on. Many of the strides made in this hobby have been, and continue to be, made by people who find and collect such info for the usage of the entire Jewish genealogy community. Lets get to work... James H. Gross Cherry Hill, N.J. e-mail: LARKLANE@JUNO.COM --------- Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 04:05:56 -0500 From: "R. Naidia Mosher" Subject: JEWISH CHRONICLE (LONDON); ENGLISH BURIAL SOCIETIES I've been seeing a lot of inquiries, lately, from people trying to trace relatives & ancestors in England. I thought it might be helpful if I shared some resource info I have learned about from other Jewish genealogists, wiser and more experienced than I: 1. CHECKING THE JEWISH CHRONICLE'S MICROFILM AT UC BERKELEY Jeremy Frankel, author of the New York State Erie Canal Guide and S.F.Bay Area Genealogical Society board member (and originally from England), and an experienced and extremely knowledgeable genealogist, recently wrote an article in the JGS's monthly newsletter (ZichronNote, November 1997) about the London-based Jewish Chronicle and what a superb resource it can be for Jewish genealogists with Anglo Jewish roots or family connections there. Below I have either extracted or paraphrased certain passages from Jeremy's article, with his permission. Please note that most of the text within parenthesize represents my personal comments (not necessarily the opinion of the author of the article). After 1880's, not only lifecycle events, birth, marriages, and death, were printed on the 1st 3 pages in roughly alpha order, but in the case of death announcements, the names and addresses, or at least the family relationships of the decedents, were also furnished [this potentially could be very valuable]. The Jewish Chronicle "also listed bar mitzvahs, betrothals, fiance, engagements, forthcoming marriages (and marriages called off!), silver, diamond, and golden wedding anniversaries [the latter]] usually listed original marriage date, synagogue (London), and rabbis officiating. ... There are tombstone consecrations (useful when you don't know where someone was buried!), in memoriams, deaths in military service," etc., etc. To top it all, the "Chron" also listed New Year's Greetings "for many years, mostly London-based," but there are also some entries for other parts of the country, incl. Birmingham (my home town!), Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, etc., even "some from abroad, principally the U.S. and South Africa." >From 1915 on, during the 1st world war, the "Chron" also printed lists of casualties, "both wounded and dead." The first paragraph of the article mentioned that the UC Berkeley Newspaper & Periodical Library has an almost complete set of the "Chron's" microfilm and that the library is part of and on the ground floor of the Doe (Main) Library; also [happy news!], you don't need a library card; film is accessible to walk-ins. ------------ From: Mark Heckman (requested email deletion) To: larklane@juno.com Date: Sun, 1 Mar 1998 17:09:26 -0800 Subject: Re: Jewish Communal Register James, I think the post that you are referring to had something to do with Jewish newspapers in New York. I'm not sure if I posted my reply to Lester Levy's original message or if I just emailed him, but what I wrote is probably what you saw in his post: >According to a book called "The Jewish Communal Register" from 1918, >there were no daily Jewish newspapers written in English at that time >(I don't know about after that, however). There were five Yiddish >dailies, but that's it. There were a few weekly journals written in >English, however, including the "American Jewish Chronicle," "The >American Hebrew," and "The Hebrew Standard," but I don't know if they >carried obituaries, and I don't know where, if anyplace, they are >archived. The "The Jewish Communal Register" was a book published in New York City in 1918 (and once more in 1917 or 1919, I think -- there were two editions) that contained a list all the Jewish community organizations that the authors could locate, including synagogues, landsmanshaften, newspapers, hospitals, etc. It is something like 1500 pages long! I just recently borrowed the book via interlibrary loan, and have it for a few more days. If you have a specific question about the English-language Jewish papers, I'd be happy to consult the book for you. By the way, I really enjoy looking at your web page. Mark ----------------------- From: WHirsch869 To: larklane@juno.com Date: Thu, 5 Mar 1998 20:33:55 EST Subject: Re: Post WWII refugee ads Dear James, You asked: << I have a question: I am looking for select post WWII NYC English language papers. I have been researching post WWII Jewish refugee lists as published in Phila in English Jewish papers. >> I'm not exactly sure of what you are looking for, but during, and especially after, WWII there were many ads by survivors, usually looking for other survivors, published in the New York periodical, the Aufbau. Although it is written in German, you should be able to read it more easily than Yiddish. I believe that the paper is still being published. Sincerely, Werner -- Werner S. Hirsch, Curator Jewish Historical Soc. of Gr. New Haven (CT) http://pages.cthome.net/hirsch/ Reply to: or ------------- Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 20:17:28 -0700 From: RSTEHLE@ix.netcom.com Subject: Hamelitz I have just got copies of donor lists from three different issues of Hamelitz from the N.Y. Public Library (NYPL). All I had to do was call NYPL Express at (212) 592-7201 & give them the year & issue number I needed. (If they ask for it, the call # is *ZAN-*P40). They will make copies of all the donor pages (usually 2 or 3 pages), plus enlargements of each page. It takes four enlargements to cover one page. They charge $15.00 for the first 10 pages, plus .25/pg for additional ones. Postage is an extra $3.00. They will take your credit card over the phone. I did not inquire about other forms of payment. I got my copies in three weeks. Unfortunately, they had done the wrong year. When I brought this to their attention they credited my account & within one week had sent the correct copies. They were very nice & said that I was the first one to request copies from Hamelitz. By the way, I tried interlibrary loan, but they will not send the films to other libraries. Randy Stehle ---------------- Date: Sun, 3 May 1998 20:03:23 -0700 From: Lenn Zonder Subject: Jewish newspapers The unofficial list of Jewish Newspapers around the world can be found at www.libertynet.org/anderson/iprintnewsmedia.html/#us. The list is maintained by A. Engler Anderson, editor of Jewish Ink and the Jewish Communications Network. I believe it was last updated in March 1998. ------------- From: Qedetc@aol.com To: larklane@juno.com Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 13:46:10 EDT Subject: Re: Herald post In a message dated 98-06-21 12:20:54 EDT, you write: < > James, Thank you for your thanks! I used my local branch of the Anchorage Public Library to make the request, the films themselves arrived from Boise University in Idaho. (Our library always begins with West Coast holdings first to do interlibrary loan). See below for a great resource on New York State Newspapers and the libraries which have holdings. Coincidentally I picked the Sept 1918 issue to see if I could find a death notice for my ggrandfather but I was also curious about the WW1 draft registration addresses (which I happen to know also appeared in the NYTimes, a full collection of which the APL holds). I found the information to make my request from the NY State Newspaper Project: www.nysl.nysed.gov/nysnp/230.htm ( New York State Newspaper Project) click on this if you can, if not, the URL is www.nysl.nysed.gov/nysnp/230.htm another way to access the information is through unix2.nysed.gov/ Category: Research library; then NYS Newspaper Project; then Newspapers on Microfilm at the NYS Library; then your county of choice (NY County) Take down all the pertinent information including the OCLC number. It will show you exactly which issues are held by which university or public library and the dates they hold. Happy Hunting! Tracy Lewis Anchorage, AK ---------------- Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 01:48:58 EDT From: james gross Subject: Aiming at Jewish newspaper research Hello, In a recent post, Tracy Lewis (Qedetc@aol.com) shared some extracts from the 1918 New York Herald (NY). I think Tracy deserves an official "mitzvah" credit for her unselfish donation of time and effort to the greater genealogy community. Thanks Tracy! With regard to genealogy content from Jewish papers, I want to share some of my research info to date: I have been working on Jewish New Year greetings and HIAS post WWII refugee ads as published in various Jewish English language papers. In particular, I have been researching the Phila Jewish Exponent, Phila Jewish Times, American Hebrew (NY), Jewish Chronicles (UK), and a few others. Upon the completion of my research in each paper, I will advise everyone via a post in JewishGen. Due to the sheer volume of material, it is not practical for me to convert it to a database. Instead, I will be making copies of this material. As I mentioned, I have been investigating English language Jewish papers. I have been doing this via the web and calls to various libraries including Yeshiva Univ library, NYC public Library Judaica dept. I have been curious as to why there seems to be so much more English language ad material in Phila than NYC. Apparently Phila was more of a reform town (than NYC) and English language Jewish papers were prominent in Phila long before they became prominent in NYC. I am not interested in arguing any theological points, only in identifying sources of genealogically rich material that I can read as I can't read Yiddish or Hebrew. So, Tracy's post on the Brooklyn Herald caught my eye as I wasn't aware of it. I had found the American Hebrew (NY) which seems to have merged with the Brooklyn Examiner. I just found out (NYC public lib) that the Brooklyn Examiner was separate from the American Hebrew until they merged. Another paper I am looking into is the Jewish Ledger. The NYC public Library has it from 1928-1950's & possibly current. There comes a point in one's genealogy research when one realizes that he/she has a bunch of material which is of general interest to others. It is at this point that a decision has to be made regarding sharing. JGS libraries, Jewish research libraries, Jewishgen as well as other facilities exist partly due to donations, i.e. sharing of material. Whether an item is shared at cost, or given outright, the point is that there may be a few of you "out there" who are sitting on material that no one knows about. I modestly suggest that you take a look at your "tiny collection" of genealogy material and decide if anything warrants copying and submitting to a genealogy library/institution. Whether you are "the authority" on a small shtetl, a particular landsmanshaft or organization, or anything involving names, I suggest you evaluate whether anyone else will "realistically" get their hands on it without your making a copy of it and sharing it. There is a lot of material in specialized Judaica collections that no one is accessing due to geographical distance and/ or lack of knowledge regarding its existence. So, whether you adore the spotlight or prefer to remain anonymous, sharing your genealogy material qualifies you for an official mitzvah credit. (smile). If you are on a budget, don't forget those 5 cent copy machines and the one dollar 3 ring binders! James H. Gross ----------------- From: "Satin, Allan" To: "'larklane@snip.net'" Subject: Zionist Record and South African Jewish Chronicle Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 10:58:05 -0500 Dear Mr. James Gross, Your request for information was forwarded to me by Dorothy Smith at the American Jewish Archives. The American Jewish Periodical Center houses the microfilm collection of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Library which includes microfilm of the Zionist Record and South African Jewish Chronicle. Our holdings include 1955 to 1993. If you would like to borrow any of this microfilm, please submit a request through the interlibrary loan system of the library with which you are used to working. There are no charges unless your library has charges. You can borrow up to four reels of film at a time for a one month loan period (renewals are available). When you are done with the four, you may return them for another four. We look forward to hearing from you. ------------------ Subject: Re: Location of the * Jewish Chronicle and Jewish World * From: doreenjgn@aol.com (DOREENJGN) Date: 27 Feb 2000 15:28:07 GMT X-Message-Number: 3 Just to inform fellow genealogists with Anglo-Jewish links that * The Jewish Victorian *, a recently published 600 page reference book, covers all births, marriages, deaths and condolence notices, plus obituaries and individual news item for the years 1871-80 from three Jewish newspapers, including the Jewish Chronicle. All the information is crossreferenced. In addition, another volume is in progress covering the 1860s. There are many American references in this book. Please E-mail the publisher BOYDPUBS@aol.com for further information. Doreen Berger Author of "The Jewish Victorian: Genealogical Information from the Jewish Newspapers 1871-80". Convenor of the Anglo-Jewish Special Interest Group, JGSGB ----------------------- Subject: Location of the Jewish Chronicles and Jewish World From: Beverly Davis (bdavis@interconnect.com.au) Date: Mon 28 Feb 2000 Maurice Hoffman recently enquired about the location of [London] Jewish Chronicles and Jewish World with particular interest in holdings outside the UK. We have highly detailed computerized indexes which were compiled by one of our members comprising personal announcements (births, marriages, deaths, bar mitzvahs, engagements, condolences, in memoriams) for the years 1900 and 1901. Mrs Beverly Davis, OAM,Honorary Archivist Australian Jewish Historical Society, Victoria Inc. PO Box 255 Camberwell Victoria Australia 3124