SIG & BOF events cover many interests
From the outset, the conference planners decided that a focus of the 31st International Conference on Jewish Genealogy would be to help promote the Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and Birds of a Feather (BOFs). The SIG and BOF leaders took us at our word and they have put together a great group of lectures and events. You will find that the SIG and BOF programs cover a very broad spectrum of interests and subjects. So we invite you to read on.
Thanks to all the SIG and BOF coordinators who submitted applications for breakfasts, lunches, presentations, and meetings at the upcoming DC Conference on Jewish Genealogy in August 2011.We look forward to seeing all of you at the conference and anticipate that attendees will be excited by the various opportunities that they will have in linking up with the various groups that will be there.
We are especially excited by the great response from the SIGs and BOFs for their anticipated participation in the Sunday (August 14) SIG/BOF Fair from 2 to 5 p.m. Explore the world of the SIGs and BOFs on Sunday afternoon in the spacious Constitution Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Washington. Attendees will have ample opportunity to visit with groups that are interested in doing research in the areas, countries, cities and towns (shtetls) where their ancestors once lived. Find out about the research that each group has done and is doing. See photos, maps and projects on display. Meet "cousins" and compare family trees and research. Some groups may have T-shirts and other memorabelia for sale.
More than 35 organizations will be represented. Some of the groups have other than geographic focus; including DNA. Rabbinic, Next Generation, and Mac (computers) groups. More than 30 SIG, Birds of a Feather (BOF), research and reunion groups will have organizational meetings that you may attend. (To see the schedule, click SIG, BOF, RG meetings under Conference Program above, or click here.)
This event will be fun for all, but will have a special significance for the beginners and conference first-timers among us. All will be able to network and build the relationships that so many of the attendees who have been to previous conferences have developed. It is these relationships that foster the growth of our vocation, avocation, and hobby - Jewish Genealogy.
Schedule of group breakfast and luncheons
Breakfast is from 7:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. and casts $36. Luncheons are from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. and cost $42.
Monday
Ukraine SIG Breakfast "Jewish Agricultural Colonies and Shtetls in Ukraine." With growing accessibility to the archives of Ukraine, researchers have discovered new records detailing the origin, development, daily lives and outcomes of Jewish agricultural settlements in what was once Southern Russia. Many believe these colonies were the forerunners of the kibbutz movement. From these new records emerges the struggles and triumphs of these colonies, the families who toiled in them and the movement of Jews from towns to settlements and, often, back again. New information also has surfaced detailing daily life in the shtetls where Jews created fire brigrades, theaters, schools and synagogues. I want to tell the stories - in a PowerPoint format - of these Jewish societies and discuss how their records are accessed. Speaker: Anna Royzner.
Rom-Moldova SIG Luncheon "Analysis and Typology of Romanian Jewish Surnames" Romanian and Romanized surnames (11% of all Jewish surnames in Romania) provide evidence as to the Jews' interaction and adaptation to Romanian surroundings. Their analysis reveals the progressive stages in the process towards full linguistic adaptation to the Romanian language, techniques of generating Romanian or Romanian-like surnames, degrees of productivity of these techniques, the typology, frequency and concentration of these surnames. About 32% of the Romanian Jewish surnames are originated in names of occupations. A semantic analysis shows the diversity and social status of the different occupations while statistical categorization points to their frequency and relative importance, to the better understanding of the occupational profile of Romanian Jewry. Speaker: Alexander Avraham.
Gesher Galicia SIG Luncheon "A Tour of Jewish Krakow: Past, Present & Future" Jews have lived in Krakow, one of the largest centers in Poland/Galicia, since the 12th century, and their history is a long and complicated one. Today Kazimierz -- the heart of Jewish Krakow -- is a thriving district of cultural festivals, museums, synagogues, antique shops, restaurants and bars. There is a noticeable resurgence of Jewish culture and -- more importantly -- Jewish population. Join us for a virtual tour of this reborn and re-imagined Krakow, from the first days of Jewish settlement, through the unimaginable years of WWII, to this present-day tourist destination with its new JCC and a Disneyland-like "Schindler Factory Museum," and into a future of what will become an authentically Jewish Krakow. Speakers: Jakub Nowakowski and Pamela Weisberger.
GerSIG Luncheon "A Conversation with Henry Morgenthau III" Henry Morgenthau III, in his delightful prime at age 90, will be interviewed by Karen Franklin, guest curator of The Morgenthaus: A Legacy of Service, an exhibition currently at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – a Living Memorial to the Holocaust, in Manhattan. Mr. Morgenthau traveled to Germany and the United Kingdom while doing research for his book Mostly Morgenthaus: A Family History, published in 1991. Karen Franklin is a co-chair of the Board of Governors of JewishGen.org and a past President of IAJGS.
Tuesday
JRI-Poland Luncheon "Polish Notarial Records - A Hidden Genealogical Treasure" Since 1808, when the profession of notary was introduced in the territory of Poland, many citizens became clients of notarial offices. Notaries were authorized to draw up and witness documents – so called "acts of good will" that recorded private agreements (such as leases, loans, employment contracts and partnerships) as well as distributions, inventories, prenuptial agreements and last wills and testaments. The procedure gradually became common, especially for property owners.
Depending on the type of document, notary records include ages, names of parents and siblings, occupations, places of residence, social status, etc. Notarial documents also show relationships between members of the family or business partners. The talk will include a detailed description of typical records and examples of records with unusual information. Options for carrying out research in Poland will also be discussed. Speaker: Ania Wiernicka.
Hungarian SIG Luncheon "Resources for Hungarian Research at the USHMM" US Holocaust Memorial Museum Archivist, will describe resources available at USHMM for researching Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and other areas that were part of Hungary before and during WWII. He will give an overview of the collection highlighting significant resources, such as the Records of the 8th Gendarmerie District, Kassa, Hungary, 1944-1945, and provide information about recent acquisitions. The Library also has other items for genealogical research such as a Buda Neolog birth index for years 1820-52, 1868. Because many unpublished materials have to be ordered ahead of time, consult the on-line catalog at http://catalog.ushmm.org/vwebv/search and come to the Hungarian SIG luncheon with your questions. Speaker: Ferenc Katona.
Wednesday
French SIG Luncheon "French resources for research at the USHMM" Dr.Afoumado will supplement the discussion with updates on the current state of the ITS records, particularly as it relates to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Speaker: Diane Afoumado
LitvakSIG Luncheon "Home, In So Many Words: The Old World Comes Alive" Ellen Cassedy will share her love of the Mother Tongue and her experiences studying at the Vilnius Yiddish Institute. She hopes we will be able to sit back and relax while we enjoy beautiful words about the land of our ancestors, through her use of writings by known Litvak authors. Ms. Cassedy will touch on the issues of connection, loss, remembrance – the things that motivate people to become genealogists. She will include her personal story, which took her to Rokiskis and Saiuliai, the towns of her ancestors. Speaker: Ellen Cassedy.
Austria-Czech SIG Luncheon "Brandeis Family Comes to America" The Brandeis Family originated in Brandys nad Labem, just outside Prague. The unsuccessful Revolutions of 1848 produced a series of political upheavals, and the family decided to leave Europe. Based, in part, on the book by his great-aunt (“Pilgrims of ’48”) and the memoirs of his great-grandmother, the talk will cover the last years in Prague, the decision to emigrate to the United States, the exploration of opportunities by his great-grandfather and the settling in Louisville, Kentucky. The talk will include personal memories of his grandfather, the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis. Speaker: Frank Brandeis Gilbert
Thursday
Belarus SIG Luncheon "Overview of ghettos in German-occupied Belarus." The lecture will focus on some of the difficulties encountered, the sources used and the findings we made for Belarus in researching this project. Speaker: Dr. Martin Christopher Dean. Broad audience.
Latvia SIG Luncheon "Making Rumbula’s Echo - What Happened in Latvia?" What motivated Mitchell Lieber to make a ground-breaking documentary film set in the country of his grandparents' youth, Latvia? Besides the personal connection, what uniquely made Latvia so suitable for the film? Mitchell Lieber discusses this topic, and tells stories about surprises that occurred during production, including surprises about Jewish history and the Jewish community. Hear about the challenges of transporting an international crew and van load of equipment half way around the world, moving moments and funny ones. After five trips over eight years totaling 32 days, Lieber's view of the country and relationship with it is changing. He'll tell why and how, and show clips from Rumbula's Echo spanning the pre-WWII period, Shoah and modern times.
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