This material is for information only. JHE does not endorse any of the guides or agencies listed here and declines any responsibility in case of problems.
PUBLICATIONS & RESEARCHERS
Jewish genealogy magazine, web site, publishing house
Links to books published or sold by Avotaynu
David, Jo. How To Trace Your Jewish Roots: Discovering Your Unique History. Citadel, 2000
Kurzweil, Arthur. From Generation to Generation: How to Trace Your Jewish Genealogy and Family History. Jossey-Bass, 2011
New edition of a classic primer.
Rottenberg, Dan. Finding Our Fathers A Guidebook to Jewish Genealogy. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1998
Sack, Sallyann Amdur and Mokotoff, Gary. Avotaynu Guide to Jewish Genealogy. Avotaynu, 2004
Wenzerul, Rosemary. Tracing Your Jewish Ancestors: A Guide For Family Historians. Pen and Sword, 2008
Link to a page listing professional Jewish genealogy researchers recommended by users of JewishGen.org
WEB RESOURCES AND INSTITUTIONS (International and regional)
This is a sampling of some of the general main sites helpful for Jewish genealogy.
Please see country pages for country specific genealogy resources dealing with that country.
There also also many Facebook pages and groups — both general and dealing with specific countries and regions.
Among the main general Facebook groups are:
General genealogy web resources
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives Online
A complex online review of Jewish genealogy, launched in 2015, that expands on its parent print publication, Avotaynu, and will host its 2007 through 2011 archives. It includes a wealth of articles, links, and other resources.
Bet Hatfutsot: Douglas E. Goldman Jewish Genealogy Center
The Bet Hatfutsot website also has many other links useful in researching family history.
Website/database using crowd-sourcing via smartphone apps to document and upload pictures of gravestones, and epitaphs, etc, worldwide
Foundation for the Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture
Valuable search tool for online resources. Search 556,000 pages of historical directories (business, address, telephone, etc., mostly from Central and Eastern Europe), 91,000 pages of 207 yizkor books (memorials to Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust), 32,000 pages of military lists (officers, casualties, etc., mostly from the Russian Empire and Poland), 41,000 pages of community and personal histories, and 24,000 pages of Polish secondary school annual reports and other school sources. New genealogy sources are added weekly.
A collaborative genealogy site whose software helps build and connect family trees.
A Guide to Getting Started with Jewish Genealogy
A useful primer for family history researchers put together by the Jewish Genealogical and Archival Society of Greater Philadelphia.
Based on the wikipedia model, an expanding web site that allows users to post information on historic sites, map them, and connect them with wellknown resorts of tourist attractions.
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS)
An “organization of organizations” with links to many publications, web sites and other resources.
International Institute for Jewish Genealogy and Paul Jacobi Center
An academic institute for Jewish Genealogy at the National Library of Israel, Givat Ram Campus of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Israel Genealogy Research Association
IAJGS International Jewish Cemetery Project
Extensive Database on Jewish cemeteries, with locations, site reports, resource material and more.
JewishGen, Inc.
Edmond J. Safra Plaza
36 Battery Place, New York, NY 10280
The most inclusive Jewish Genealogy site, with a huge amount of resources, links and tutorials including how-to tutorials for people beginning to research family history.
JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry
The JOWBR aims to catalog data about Jewish cemeteries and burial records worldwide, from the earliest records to the present. It is a searchable database of names and associated information, including photographs of gravestones. As of December 2013, JOWBR contains more than two million burial records from 4,200 cemeteries in 83 countries.
Vast online museum with permanent exhibitions, photographs, documents and much more.
Online Historical Newspapers web site
Digitized historical newspapers from the U.S. and other countries
Online Historical Newspapers — via Google news
Mainly U.S. digitized newspapers from the 19th and early 20th centuries
ROUTES TO ROOTS: Tracing Jewish Roots in Poland, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus
Website developed by Jewish genealogy and travel pioneer Miriam Weiner. Many links to archives and other genealogy and research resources.
A big web site with many links and resources
Resources for tracing Sephardic heritage and genealogy.
Topographic Maps of Eastern Europe
A collection of small and large scale historical maps of the lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Jewish Pale of Settlement of late Tsarist Russia. Also articles and links to materials that chronicle the history of these regions for the Jewish inhabitants.