Welcome to the Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon blog and
our newsletter! We hope you find something here that helps
you with your research.
We are happy to provide information to the genealogy community
all over the world. Our newsletter is a curated list of free
presentations and articles focused on or in some way relevant to
Jewish genealogical research.
Members of JGSO receive the newsletter in their Inboxes every
Wednesday night. If you find the information here useful,
please consider joining JGSO or supporting us with a donation. Go
to our site, https://jgsoregon.wixsite.com/home ,
and click on Get Involved.
Our Next Presentation:
Our Next Presentation:
Anybody
Home? Using City (and Other) Directories in Your Research, with
Janice
M. Sellers
Sunday, 22 February 2026, 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time, via Zoom, free
Sunday, 22 February 2026, 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time, via Zoom, free
Directories were published for cities,
but that's not all. Many counties and rural areas had
directories, as did locations in other countries. You can
also find professional directories, social directories,
and more. Learn what they can contain and how they can be
used to flesh out your family's lives and track them
through time.
Janice M. Sellers is a professional
genealogist and international speaker whose grandparents
told her she is related to actor Peter Sellers and to John
of Gaunt, son of a king and father of a king.
Unfortunately, they were wrong, but that’s why she has
researched her family for 50 years and now helps others
find the right pieces to fit their genealogy puzzles. She
specializes in Jewish, Black, forensic, and newspaper
research. She has done research and appeared on camera for
the television series The Dead Files. Her site is http://www.ancestraldiscoveries.com/ .
Register here:
Register here:
==============================
JEWISH GENEALOGY EVENTS and NEWS
self-paced online course
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
https://yivo.org/Discovering-Ashkenaz
Folksong, Demons, and the Evil Eye: Folklore of Ashkenaz, Prof. Itzik Gottesman
Folksong, Demons, and the Evil Eye: Folklore of Ashkenaz, Prof. Itzik Gottesman
self-paced online course
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
https://yivo.org/Folklore-of-Ashkenaz
Trial of Gabriel de Granada by the Inquisition in
Mexico, 1642–1645, David Fergusson, translator
In an Ancient Oasis in Bukhara, a Tiny Jewish Community Relies on Its Muslim Neighbors, Sue Surkes
===
The Jews of Italy, Ruth Ellen Gruber
My Jewish Learning
Publications of the American Jewish
Historical Society No. 7, 1899
"Book Review: The Trial of Gabriel
de Granada", Sephardic World, 24
December 2025
mailchi.mp/sephardicgenealogy/24december2025
The 1680 Madrid Auto da Fe of the Spanish
Inquisition, David Mendoza
dated 19 May 2021
Sephardic Genealogical Society
In an Ancient Oasis in Bukhara, a Tiny Jewish Community Relies on Its Muslim Neighbors, Sue Surkes
12 December 2025
Times of Israel
https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-an-ancient-oasis-in-bukhara-a-tiny-jewish-community-relies-on-its-muslim-neighbors/
Revisiting the Lineages of the Cohanim Using Data from Next-generation Sequencing, J. Lipson et al.
I. S. Révah: The Scholar Who Revolutionised
Sephardic Studies, Dr. Carsten Wilke
Why Small Town Jews Buried Their Dead in
Big Cities, Austin Albanese
8 December 2025
Forward
Revisiting the Lineages of the Cohanim Using Data from Next-generation Sequencing, J. Lipson et al.
8 December 2025 (preprint)
bioRxiv
recorded 7 December
2025
Sephardic
Genealogical Society
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvj6piDNfUo
Local Family Database [of] Jews
in the German Reich
free database with 524,357 people
New Immersive Walking App Uncovers Sheffield’s
Hidden Jewish Heritage, Michelle Rosenberg
Genealogy.net
27 November 2025
Jewish News
https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/new-immersive-walking-app-uncovers-sheffields-hidden-jewish-heritage/
JewishGen Discussion Group
JewishGen has an e-mail list where people share information about resources, request help with translations and identifying photos, post about upcoming presentations, and generally indulge in family history on a regular basis. While not a must for doing Jewish genealogical research, it is a very helpful resource. You must first register for a free account on JewishGen and then separately register for the discussion group.
https://tinyurl.com/yp7ce6zj
Jewish Mendoza Family of London
This project will create a migration map as a test for a larger project.
If you are a descendant of the London Mendoza family, please join.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/jewishmendozafamily
==============================
Spies and Saboteurs: The Heroic Women of
Winston Churchill’s Secret Army, Dan Rich
Holocaust Reunion Project, reuniting survivors with family
Free DNA tests for survivors and descendants
https://holocaustreunions.org/
Living Links
Nationwide organization for grandchildren of Holocaust survivors
https://www.wearelivinglinks.org/
Austrian Gesture Payment for Living Survivors from Austria
Austria resolved to provide additional support to all living victims of National Socialism from Austria.
National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism
https://www.nationalfonds.org/gesture-payment
Share Your History: Preserve Films and Help Save Holocaust Evidence
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is seeking home movies from before, during, and immediately after the Holocaust. The museum will restore and digitize the films.
https://engage.ushmm.org/donate-collections
====================
YDNA Free Get Started Course, Diahan Southard
Attend on your schedule, online, free
Your DNA Guide
=========
CONFERENCES and SEMINARS
Bipartisan
Bill in Congress Would Create "Jewish Refugee
Day", Grace Gilson
25 November 2025
Jewish
Telegraphic Agency
https://www.jta.org/2025/11/25/united-states/bipartisan-bill-in-congress-would-make-jewish-refugee-day-marking
Senate Passes Bill to Identify Jewish U.S.
Soldiers Buried under Incorrect Religious
Markers, Aaron Bandler
25 November 2025
Jewish News
Service
https://www.jns.org/senate-passes-bill-to-identify-jewish-us-soldiers-buried-under-incorrect-religious-markers/
Scholars Transcribe Hundreds of Thousands of
Cairo Geniza Fragments, Some Never Read before,
Rossella Tercatin
25 November 2025
Times of
Israel
JewishGen Discussion Group
JewishGen has an e-mail list where people share information about resources, request help with translations and identifying photos, post about upcoming presentations, and generally indulge in family history on a regular basis. While not a must for doing Jewish genealogical research, it is a very helpful resource. You must first register for a free account on JewishGen and then separately register for the discussion group.
https://tinyurl.com/yp7ce6zj
Jewish Mendoza Family of London
This project will create a migration map as a test for a larger project.
If you are a descendant of the London Mendoza family, please join.
https://www.facebook.com/
==============================
Righteous Gentiles in the
Holocaust Were No "Ordinary Thing", Simi
Horwitz
22 December 2025
Forward
https://forward.com/culture/792763/documentary-holocaust-gentile-righteous-among-nations/
"Rehabilitated" Postwar West Germany’s
Government Was Riddled with Nazis, Robert
Philpot
13 December 2025
Times of Israel
Around 2,500 Fragments of
Matzevot Used by the Nazis to Construct
Underground Rooms Have Been Recovered from
beneath a Parking Lot in Janów Lubelski
11 December 2025
Jewish Heritage Europe
https://jewish-heritage-europe.eu/2025/12/11/jewish-gravestones-recovered/
How Nazi Categories of ‘Half-Jews’ and
‘Quarter-Jews’ Still Decide Who Is a Jew
10 December 2025
Jerusalem Post
https://www.jpost.com/history/article-879838
Nazi-looted Rothschild Vienna Mahzor to Be
Auctioned at Sotheby’s, Annabel Sinclair
10 December 2025
Jewish News
https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/nazi-looted-rothschild-vienna-mahzor-to-be-auctioned-at-sothebys-for-up-to-5-5m/
Argentina Had Detailed Info on Mengele during
His Decade There
1 December 2025
Times of Israel
23 November 2025
Aish
https://aish.com/spies-saboteurs-and-couriers-the-heroic-women-of-winston-churchills-secret-army/
The Belgian Priest Who Saved 400 Jews,
Menucha Chana Levin
Aish
Free AncestryDNA Kits for Holocaust
Survivors or Their Children
The Center for Jewish History has partnered
with Ancestry.com. Only for
first-time/new DNA tests at Ancestry.
Holocaust Reunion Project, reuniting survivors with family
Free DNA tests for survivors and descendants
https://holocaustreunions.org/
Living Links
Nationwide organization for grandchildren of Holocaust survivors
https://www.wearelivinglinks.
Austrian Gesture Payment for Living Survivors from Austria
Austria resolved to provide additional support to all living victims of National Socialism from Austria.
National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism
https://www.nationalfonds.org/
Share Your History: Preserve Films and Help Save Holocaust Evidence
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is seeking home movies from before, during, and immediately after the Holocaust. The museum will restore and digitize the films.
https://engage.ushmm.org/
====================
DNA
EVENTS
YDNA Free Get Started Course, Diahan Southard
Attend on your schedule, online, free
Your DNA Guide
Revisiting the Lineages of
the Cohanim Using Data from
Next-generation Sequencing, J.
Lipson et al.
8 December
2025 (preprint)
bioRxiv
Beginner's
Guide to Shared Centimorgans, Mercedes
LeBron
8 May 2024
(updated)
Who Are You
Made Of?
https://whoareyoumadeof.com/blog/beginners-guide-shared-centimorgans/
We list only events and news that have some relevance to Jewish genealogy research. Unless a presentation is particularly important to let you know about, we will not list talks from Legacy Family Tree, Salt Lake City FamilySearch Library, BYU FamilySearch Library, Lehi FamilySearch Center, or Los Angeles FamilySearch Center because there are so many. See our blog for links to those organizations and other resources: https://jgsojewishgenealogyportland.blogspot.com/p/resources-and-links.html .
Tracing Your New York Ancestors with
the NYG&B
GENERAL GENEALOGY EVENTS and NEWS
We list only events and news that have some relevance to Jewish genealogy research. Unless a presentation is particularly important to let you know about, we will not list talks from Legacy Family Tree, Salt Lake City FamilySearch Library, BYU FamilySearch Library, Lehi FamilySearch Center, or Los Angeles FamilySearch Center because there are so many. See our blog for links to those organizations and other resources: https://
on-demand
course, online, free
New York
Genealogical & Biographical Society
https://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/tracing-your-new-york-ancestors-nygb-registration
=========
=========
Call
for 2026 IGHR Zoom Keepers
The
Institute of Genealogical and Historical
Research is looking for Zoom Keepers for
its 2026 Virtual Institute
courses. Zoom Keepers assist
faculty and receive complimentary course
registration.
https://ighr.gagensociety.org/call-for-ighr-2026-zoom-keepers/
Using Photographs, Clothing, and Hairstyles to Understand Your Ancestors, Brian L. Mulcahy
How the First Bible to Include a
Map Helped Spread the Idea of
Countries with Borders, Nathan
MacDonald
Before Ellis Island: The
Forgotten Era of Castle Garden,
Mercedes LeBron
7 December 2025 (updated)
Who Are You Made Of?
Finding Patriot Roots
New England Historic Genealogical
Society
The Full New York State Death
Index, 1880–2017
2 December 2025
Reclaim the Records
Using Photographs, Clothing, and Hairstyles to Understand Your Ancestors, Brian L. Mulcahy
1 December 2025
Lee County Library
System
29 November 2025
The Conversation
==============================
CONFERENCES and SEMINARS
RootsTech 2026
Thursday–Saturday, 5–7 March 2026,
hybrid (Salt Lake City, Utah and online;
online will be free)
FamilySearch
Discounted early bird registration is
open.
Genealogical Forum of Oregon Open
House (20 classes)
Sunday–Saturday, 15–21 March 2026,
in-person and mostly virtual, free
Genealogical Forum of Oregon
National Genealogical Society 2026
Family History Conference: America
at 250
Wednesday–Saturday, 27–30 May 2026, in
person, Fort Wayne, Indiana
National Genealogical Society
Eastern European Genealogy
Conference
Tuesday–Friday, 4–7 August 2026, in
person, Salt Lake City, Utah
Foundation for East European Family
History Studies
https://feefhs.org/index.php/conference-2026/flyer
Visit JGSO online
https://jgsoregon.wixsite.com/home
To join JGSO, click on Get Involved.
JGSO Is a member of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies.
https://www.iajgs.org/
For JGSO questions, send a message to JGSOregon@gmail.com
For help with your genealogy (a members-only benefit), contact our Help Desk
genportland972@gmail.com
Visit the Portland KehilaLinks Page
History of the Portland, Oregon Jewish community, 1849–present
https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Portland/
Do you have information to contribute? Contact us at JGSOregon@gmail.com
JGSO YouTube Channel
recorded presentations we have permission to post online
https://www.youtube.com/@JGSOregon
https://jgsoregon.wixsite.com/
To join JGSO, click on Get Involved.
JGSO Is a member of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies.
https://www.iajgs.org/
For JGSO questions, send a message to JGSOregon@gmail.com
For help with your genealogy (a members-only benefit), contact our Help Desk
genportland972@gmail.com
Visit the Portland KehilaLinks Page
History of the Portland, Oregon Jewish community, 1849–present
https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.
Do you have information to contribute? Contact us at JGSOregon@gmail.com
JGSO YouTube Channel
recorded presentations we have permission to post online
https://www.youtube.com/@
JGSO Blog
updated weekly with
current news and events
https://jgsojewishgenealogyportland.blogspot.com/
Shopping at Fred Meyer
Please enroll in the Community Rewards program and designate Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon as your chosen charity.
https://www.fredmeyer.com/i/community/community-rewards
Thank you,
JGSO Board
Shopping at Fred Meyer
Please enroll in the Community Rewards program and designate Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon as your chosen charity.
https://www.fredmeyer.com/i/
Thank you,
JGSO Board