Start researching your Jewish roots in the former Russian Empire. Ellie Vance will provide an introduction to Jewish genealogical research and discuss resources, sites, and tools for research in the Russian Empire and resources for Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, and Ukraine.

“Statistics say that less than 10% of all the world’s genealogical records are online.” Truthfully that percentage is probably more like 3%–5%. Most genealogy records are still sitting in repositories. Learn why you need to seek an archive for those records that are not online.

After many years Dr. Milton Koch opened a box of documents that his mother had saved, starting him on a journey to discover the story of his family during the Shoah. His research took several unusual turns, including donations to the USHMM, which led to unforeseen connections.

In this session, you’ll learn about researching online for Jewish relatives who lived in Latin America. Discover the resources available in both English and Spanish, learn to contact communities that can help, and receive a quick introduction to Spanish keywords and helpful translation tools.

The Jewish calendar is important to genealogists because Jewish vital records use the Jewish dates. The Jewish calendar is both a solar and lunar calendar, with the months being synchronized to the moon and years to the sun. This talk presents the calendar in an easy-to-understand fashion.

When is it safe to get information from an online tree? We will discuss where these trees can be found, how to assess them for reliability, how to cite them, how to use them for clues to further your research, and more.

This program is an introduction to many helpful genealogical resources available on social media platforms and how to use these tools safely. Included are examples of best practices for using social media in genealogical records research, how to find long-lost family members and much more.

This talk examines Russia’s efforts to limit the movement of Jews into Old Russia by creating the Pale, an area of expanded western Russia, where Jews were permitted to reside. It also addresses the significant changes of borders, town names, record-keeping, and archive locations over time.

After exhausting your descendant research, it’s time to move sideways. Learn the methods and value of collateral research, along with how delving into non-relatives can break through brick walls.