Nu? What's New? The E-zine of Jewish Genealogy From Avotaynu Gary Mokotoff, Editor Volume 14, Number 22 | June 2, 2013 Every government puts value on preserving its history. That is why we have national archives. Genealogy preserves history; the history of a family. It cannot be done without access to records, just as historians cannot preserve a nation's history without access to records. It is a greater good than the right to privacy. It is a greater good than the risk of identity theft. Past issues of Nu? What's New? are archived at http://www.avotaynu.com/nu.htm

Not that much to report in the past week. Register Now for Luncheons/Banquet at Conference It is now possible to register for fee-based portions of the 33rd IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy. These include Breakfast with Experts, SIG luncheons, banquet, computer workshops, tours, printed syllabus, spouse/domestic partner and daily registrant extras. If you are already registered for the conference, go to its home page at http://iajgs2013.org and select from the Registration tab “Update Your Registration Info.” Click the Edit Registration link, and then click the Continue button at the bottom of the next four pages. On those pages you can make changes to information previously provided. On the “Optional Fee-Based Items” page select the additional function(s) in which you wish to participate. When selecting SIG Luncheons or the Gala Banquet, additional questions will appear allowing you to specify your meal preference. The 33rd IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy is being held from August 4–9 at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers. Former U.S. Ambassador to Poland To Be Gesher Galicia Luncheon Speaker Lee A. Feinstein, former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Poland, will be the speaker at the Gesher Galicia Special Interest Group luncheon at the conference. Ambassador Feinstein will discuss his first-hand encounters with the spirit of Jewish renewal and the revival of Jewish culture in Poland, along with highlights from his recent trip to explore his Galician roots in L’viv and Skalat, Ukraine. Feinstein served at the United States Embassy in Warsaw from 2009 through 2012. IIJG Extends Deadline for Call for Research Proposals The International Institute for Jewish Genealogy (IIJG) has extended the deadline for its annual Call for Research Proposals to June 30, 2013. The proposal should be for original research in the field of Jewish genealogy to be carried out in the academic year of 2013–14. Successful applicants will be awarded grants of up to $10,000. Proposals meeting strict standards of academic excellence will be judged by the extent to which they broaden the horizons of Jewish genealogical research and/or create innovative tools or technologies to assist Jewish genealogists and family historians in their work. Submission instructions are at the IIJG website, http://www.iijg.org, under Research/Research Grants. Successful applicants will be announced on September 1, 2013. FamilySearch Additions for the Week Recent additions to FamilySearch, all browseable images, can be found at https://familysearch.org/node/2182. This site provides direct links to the individual collections. They include records from Austria, Brazil, China, Honduras, Luxembourg, Peru, Portugal, Switzerland, and the U.S. states of Hawaii, Idaho, Maine and Massachusetts. Most notable are 5.7 million images for the start of a new collection: Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620–1986. Glancing at specific counties, the initial records available for this collection only include up to about 1910. Note that at the FamilySearch website announced collections may not be complete for the dates specified and will be added at some later date. Also note that counts shown are the number added, not the total number available in the collection. To submit a Page of Testimony, go to http://db.yadvashem.org/names/search.html?language=en. Click the words “Submit Pages of Testimony (online).” Join the ranks of Yad Vashem’s worldwide network of volunteers working in one-on-one outreach efforts with Holocaust survivors and members of their generation to recover the names of Shoah victims before they are lost forever. For ideas and resources on how to launch a names recovery campaign in your area, visit Yad Vashem’s Community Outreach Guide for updated program information on the project in Israel and in Russian speaking Jewish communities around the world. Yad Vashem has provided a 10-minute Pages of Testimony tutorial video at the site to learn how to help survivors and others from their generation to fill out Pages of Testimony. To volunteer for the project or for more information contact names.outreach@yadvashem.org.il

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