Nu? What's New? Vol. 20 No. 21

Underlined words are links to sites with additional information.

Ancestry DNA Now Has More Than 15 Million Customers

Ancestry has announced they now have more than 15 million DNA customers. The company notes that this large database will allow Ancestry scientists to refine and discover more communities using Ancestry’s patented Genetic Communities™ technology – a proprietary technology that can connect people through their DNA to the places their ancestors lived and the paths they followed to get there over the past 75–300 years. They also note that thanks to the large consumer DNA network, AncestryDNA is preparing another update for later this year which will include new ethnic regions and provide many members with a more detailed view of their heritage.

The full announcement can be found at https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2019/05/31/ ancestry-surpasses-15-million-dna-customers.

Index to files of “Austrian Concentration Camp Association” Now Online

Immediately after World War II, several organizations were founded in Austria by resistance fighters and people who were politically persecuted by the Nazi regime. One such group was the Concentration Camp Association founded in 1946 as Bund der politisch Verfolgten – Österreichischer Bundesverband (Alliance of Politically Persecuted). Membership in the Association entitled members to additional rations of food, cigarettes and clothing. The association also assisted their members in finding accommodations.

An index to members is now online at https://www.doew.at/. The site is the Dokumentationsarchiv des Österreichischen Widerstandes (Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance). The site contains an index to:
• Gestapo victims (4623 entries)
• Shoah victims (64,253 entries)
• Politically persecuted (8209 entries)
• Totenbuch Spiegelgrund (789 entries)

Additional information can be found at https://blog.ehri-project.eu/2019/05/15/ concentration-camp-association/.

New Book: Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe

A posting to the JewishGen Discussion Group notes a new book, Metropolitan Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe, by Professor Rudolf Klein of Szent Istvan University. It is described as “the first comprehensive work on metropolitan Jewish cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe on an international level.” Information can be found at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/ 43124394-metropolitan-jewish-cemeteries.

The author has previously published a book titled Synagogues in Hungary 1782–1918 Information on this book can be found at https://www.goodreads.com/book/ show/34924291-synagogues-in-hungary-1782-1918.

Both are available on Amazon.

JGS-Montreal Creates Website That Links to 100 Genealogical Resources

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal has created a web page that gathers about 100 links to genealogical resources onto one web page. The main idea is that you enter a name once and then can search many resources, each with one click. Called the Genealogy Dashboard, it is located at https://jgs-montreal.org/link/dashboard-info.

Most of the links are oriented toward Canadian genealogy. For example, there are links to each of the 1901, 1911, 1921 censuses of Canada. Veteran genealogists with Canadian roots can use the site as a checkoff list to confirm they have researched all resources shown.

Latest Prices for Autosomal DNA Testing
In the hiatus between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, most DNA testing services have returned their prices to their original listed price. The exception is MyHeritage. If you are interested in one of the other services, wait a week. There are likely to be discounts.

23andMe. $99. There is a $50 discount on their Health & Ancestry package.
Ancestry. $99.
Family Tree DNA. $79.
MyHeritage. $59. (Still discounted).

JewishGen Holocaust Database Now Has 2.75 Million Records

JewishGen has recently updated its Holocaust database. It now includes more than 2.75 million records from approximately 200 component databases.

All component databases (individual data sets) have a project introduction.
The introduction provides further information about the historical background of the data, location of the original source document, fields used in the database, translation aides when applicable and acknowledgments to those that helped with data entry, validation and online preparation of the data set.

The database can be accessed directly at https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/Holocaust/.

JewishGen Course on New York City Genealogy Starts June 14
If you have relatives that live in the United States, it is likely that you have New York City roots in your family. JewishGen is now offering a course on “Jewish Genealogy in New York City” beginning June 14.

It is an intermediate level genealogy course with eight text lessons that can be downloaded. There are no specific times for the course as students are international. Students will select a branch to research and receive daily advice and suggestions from the instructor through a 24/7 Forum, in a query and answer format. Students must feel comfortable browsing the web and downloading files, have 8–10 hours available each week, and should select one New York City family where census and vital records are already documented.

Tuition is $150; registration is open at https://www.jewishgen.org/education/ description.asp?course=40135.

FamilySearch Adds More Than 4 Million Records This Week

A list of recent additions to FamilySearch, more than 4 million indexed records, can be found at https://tinyurl.com/FamilySearch052819. This site provides direct links to the individual collections. Those identified with a dagger (†) are Christian-only records. They include 2 million indexed Canadian headstones records and more than 1.6 million indexed records from the Ohio Tax Records (1800–1850). Other countries include Argentina, Brazil, Cape Verde(†), England, Italy, Nicaragua, Peru, United Kingdom, and the United States of Kansas, Montana, Ohio and Texas.

Regarding the Canadian headstone records, there are only 82 persons named Cohen, which suggests there are not that many Jewish records.

Note that at the website, announced collections may not be complete for the dates specified and will be added at some later date. Also note that counts shown in the announcement are the number added, not the total number available in the collection, which can be greater.

New Collections at Ancestry.com

Ancestry has updated the following record groups at their site. The list with links to individual collections can be found at https://www.ancestry.com/cs/recent-collections. Announced collections may not be complete for the dates specified and will be added at some later date. There is also no indication of how many records were added to the updated collections.

Updates
U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-Current
Munich, Germany, Nazi Documentation Regarding Jews, 1919-1946 (USHMM)

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