Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State

12/01/2021

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State proudly presents
"GEDmatch.com - Should I Upload or Not? Or, I Uploaded to GEDmatch --
Now What the Heck Do I Do with the Free Tools?"
by Arthur Sissman, advanced family history researcher and process expert
DATE: Monday evening, December 13, 2021,
at 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, via Zoom (note earlier than usual start)
This free online meeting will be open between 4:30 - 5 p.m. PST for networking.

Please see our website for complete registration information at www.jgsws.org/meetings
Please consider becoming a member.
If you are not a member please consider a donation so we can continue to bring quality speakers to our monthly
meetings.

ABOUT OUR PROGRAM
Come learn about GEDmatch and have all your questions answered!
• What is GEDmatch?
• Why should I upload my raw data to GEDmatch?
• What questions can GEDmatch answer for me?
• Is GEDmatch hard to manipulate?
• How much does GEDmatch cost?
• What are the best tools to use at GEDmatch?
This will be a free-wheeling, fast-moving demo of the power of GEDmatch and why you should use the GEDmatch Free Tools -- OR Not!
If you’re not already a user of the free tools on GEDmatch, pick two matches (one can be you) using another device and try to play along with Arthur -- Or Not!

Arthur will speak for 1.25 hours and then take questions.

06/07/2021

Monday evening, 6/14/2021, at 5 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time:

"The Genetic Origins and Migrations of the
Jewish People and the Avotaynu DNA Project"

Presented by Adam Brown, author and founder/director/project manager of the Avotaynu DNA Project

ABOUT OUR PROGRAM
Adam Brown, Project Administrator of the Avotaynu DNA study, will describe how this ongoing worldwide academic collaboration of scientists, historians, genealogists, and community leaders has utilized DNA to illuminate the origins and migrations of the Jewish People. Under the guidance of the Technion, the Avotaynu DNA study has over 8,000 participants representing all known Jewish communities from China to Curacao.
This presentation will include information about the genetic history of the Jewish people. Learn more about Adam’s role with Avotaynu DNA and the scientific discoveries he has made while researching the genetic history of Jewish people. Find out how you might learn more about your own genetic and genealogical history.

Adam will answer your DNA questions and explain how the Avotaynu study can help you understand the origins of your own family.

For information on how to register please go to jgsws.org/meetings.php

Meetings are free to members. Please consider a donation to our society to defray costs of these excellent speakers.

03/14/2021

A Repeat presentation, (originally given 3/8/21)o
March 22, 2021 @ 7:00 PM PDT
"The Alex Krakovsky Project: Navigating the Wiki to
Locate Town Records and Find Hidden Data"
presented by Gary Pokrassa, Data Acquisition Director of
JewishGen’s Ukraine Research Division

Free to members
Non members requested donation of $5
GO to http://jgsws.org/meetings.php for information on how to join this Zoom meeting

ABOUT OUR PROGRAM
Gary Pokrassa, Data Acquisition Director of JewishGen’s Ukraine Research Division, will present on Alex Krakovsky’s Wiki and records digitization projects. Alex is a Ukrainian, who, using freedom of information laws in Ukraine, forced virtually every archive to permit him to scan their records and post them to an online wiki page, yielding a massive amount of raw data for the Ukraine researcher. Gary will go through Alex’s postings and describe how to navigate the Wiki to locate town records and how to find hidden data not obvious on the home page.
Gary will also describe the Ukraine Research Group’s project to capture Alex’s scanned files on the JewishGen server, which includes Index files for several of the
larger cities including Kiev, Zhitomir Nikolaev and Odessa, and how the Ukraine Research Group is using these files in translation projects. He will speak on changes that have taken place since last August. A robust question and answer will be included in this evening’s presentation, as well as an overview of JewishGen’s Ukraine Research Division.

02/28/2021

OUR NEXT MEETING (online via Zoom) is
Monday, March 8, 2021, at 7:00 PM

The Alex Krakovsky Project: How to Navigate the Wiki to Locate Town Records and Find Hidden Data," presented by Gary Pokrassa

This zoom meeting is free for society members.
Non-members please consider a donation of $5 to help bring great speakers to our meetings!
Check for more information on how to join at http://jgsws.org/meetings.php

Gary Pokrassa, Data Acquisition Director of JewishGen's Ukraine Research Division, will present on Alex Krakovsky's Wiki and records digitization projects. Alex is a Ukrainian, who, using freedom of information laws in Ukraine, forced virtually every archive to permit him to scan their records and post them to an online wiki page, yielding a massive amount of raw data for the Ukraine researcher. Gary will go through Alex's postings and describe how to navigate the Wiki to locate town records and how to find hidden data not obvious on the home page. Gary will also describe the Ukraine Research Group's project to capture Alex's scanned files on the JewishGen server, which includes Index files for several of the larger cities including Kiev, Zhitomir, Nikolaev, and Odessa, and how the Ukraine Research Group is using these files in translation projects. He will speak on changes that have taken place since last August. A robust Q&A will be included in this evening's presentation, as well as an overview of JewishGen's Ukraine Research Division.

01/31/2021

How to Locate People Through Genealogy
presented by Fred Blum, Genealogist and Licensed Private Detective
DATE: Monday evening, February 8, 2021
from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Pacific Time via Zoom
Free for members. Registration Required
Non-members see JGSWS.org/meetings.php
Please consider donating to JGSWS to help us bring fabulous zoom meetings each month!

ABOUT OUR PROGRAM
Fred Blum, genealogist and licensed private detective doesn’t wear a trench coat. Nor did he grow up reading hard-boiled crime novels. Instead, as a licensed detective, genealogist, and historian, he uses his investigative and research skills and experience to find ancestors and living descendants. Fred will cover the techniques he used to find members of his own family. He will also discuss his volunteer work with the International Red Cross Tracing Service and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, which resulted in finding survivors who were children during the Holocaust. The results of his genealogical and
investigative efforts frequently end up reconnecting families.
You will come away from this presentation with new techniques and resources that Fred uses to locate individuals through genealogy. His presentation will enable you to uncover distant relatives and ancestors, assist in finding heirs to estates and, if you are researching lawsuits in genealogy, you will also include information to assist in searching for missing plaintiffs, defendants, and witnesses.

01/05/2021

SPECIAL NOTE: OUR NEXT ZOOM MEETING IS AT AN EARLIER TIME:
MON. JAN. 11 @ 6:00PM
A Post -Holocaust Genealogical and Family History Journey: From the USA Back to Ukraine," presented by Esther Safran Foer
Registration is required.
Please see our meeting page for registration information: http://jgsws.org/meetings.php
If you are not a member please consider a donation for $5.00 that can be made at:http://jgsws.org/donations.php

We are a non-profit organization that collects, preserves, and disseminates knowledge and information with reference to Jewish family history.

01/01/2021

OUR NEXT MEETING (online via Zoom) is
Monday, January 11, 2021, at 6:00 PM

PLEASE NOTE EARLY START TIME

"A Post -Holocaust Genealogical and Family History Journey: From the USA Back to Ukraine," presented by Esther Safran Foer
Registration is required. Please see our meeting page for registration information: http://jgsws.org/meetings.php
If you are not a member please consider a donation for $5.00 that can be made at:http://jgsws.org/donations.php

ABOUT OUR PROGRAM

Esther Safran Foer grew up in a home where the past was too terrible to speak of. The child of parents who were each sole survivors of their respective families, for Esther the Holocaust loomed in the backdrop of daily life—felt but never discussed. The result was a childhood marked by painful silences and continued tragedy. Even as she built a successful career, married, and raised three children, Esther always felt herself searching.

So, when Esther's mother casually mentioned an astonishing revelation—that her father had a previous wife and daughter, both killed in the Holocaust—Esther resolved to find out who they were and how her father survived. Armed with only a black-and-white photo and a hand-drawn map, she traveled to Ukraine, determined to find the shtetl where her father hid during the war. What she found reshaped her identity and gave her the opportunity to finally mourn.

Esther's book, I Want You to Know We’re Still Here, is the story not only of Esther's journey but of four generations living in the shadow of the Holocaust. Esther will talk about the search for her family's Holocaust history, the period post WWII for the refugees in DP Camps, and the impact of the journey to uncover her family's hidden past on her and her children.

12/08/2020

Announcing our next meeting:
"Finding My Roots: Using the Entire Genealogy Toolbox"
presented by Coral Grant, Genealogical Lecturer

Monday evening, December 14, 2020,
7:00 to 9:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) via Zoom

Registration is required. See our webpage for information: Jgsws.org/meetings.php

Our wonderful informative meetings are free for all members.
We encourage non- members to donate $5.00 if you attend, thanks.

ABOUT OUR PROGRAM
The secrets that Coral Grant’s grandparents thought were safe eventually became unraveled through the magic of DNA, archival research, and tenacity. The truth revealed an unknown ancestor and a truly rich heritage. Working back in time, this adventure begins in the Garment District of Toronto, Canada in the early 1930's and ends deep in the Northern European Baltic-region countryside of the 18th century. The journey includes a life altering deportation from the countryside during World War I, a survivor's struggle to return home, a deception to avoid military service, and a most reluctant immigration. Along the way, Coral encountered many genealogical roadblocks: name changes, protective descendants, and multiple individuals with the same name. Using her research to share her family story and Jewish history, Coral’s
presentation highlights the use of all the tools available to the genealogist. Ultimately, the goal of our genealogical research is to honor our ancestors and to make sure we do not forget their stories. Coral’s presentation will leave you with the tools to break through your genealogical roadblocks and find your ancestors, for you to tell their stories.

10/20/2020

Join our next Zoom meeting on November 9,2020

Help! I tested my DNA and I’m confused!"
presented by Gil Bardige, DNA/Genealogical Lecturer and
DNA Mentor/Project Leader

This free online meeting will open at 7 p.m., and the presentation will start at 7:15 p.m.

Reigstration is required
For information on how to join this exciting zoom meeting please go to our webpage: Jgsws.org/meetings.php

ABOUT OUR PROGRAM
This presentation will provide specific guidance on how to use DNA/Genetic Genealogy as an effective tool in your genealogy tool belt. Gil will provide examples from the four major DNA testing companies to clarify ethnicity estimates and give a detailed review of what matches mean at each company. He will outline the recommended steps to take for prioritizing and making contact with your DNA matches. The end goal is to have your match help with your family tree and, hopefully, provide information, photographs, documents, stories, etc., that you don’t already have. Gil will review the DNA tests available, what you can expect from the results, and who should test. At the end of the presentation, you will be able to say, "Now I get it....I know what to do."
During the presentation, you may ask questions by using the Chat feature, and Gil will answer them at the end of his talk. If there is time after that, he will take more questions via audio.