Three local Jewish genealogy programs planned for July
Two separate programs for Jewish genealogy beginners and one for those seeking ancestral roots in Greater Hungary are scheduled for July in Chicago's northern suburbs.
July 10: Mike Karsen, past president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois, will present a program called "Discover Your Family Genealogy." He will explore connecting with one's roots and share a genealogy case study based on David Laskin's book, "The Family," which illustrates how to locate U.S. and Yad Vashem family history records.
Karsen will speak from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, July 10, 2016, at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie, Ill. This program is free to Holocaust Museum members; $12, non-members; $8, seniors (65+) and students (12-22). To reserve a spot, go to www.ilholocaustmuseum.org/genealogy.
July 17: Judith R. Frazin, another former president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois, will present a workshop program on "Getting Started in Genealogy" from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, July 17, 2016, at Temple Beth Israel, 3601 Dempster St., Skokie, Ill. This program is free and open to the public.For more information, phone 312-666-0100 or go to www.jgsi.org.
Frazin will explain how to get started in genealogy, how to interview relatives and how to use the public library as a valuable resource. She will also identify internet and print resources and explain what records are available, where they can be found and what information they contain.
A genealogist for 45 years, Frazin has done extensive research on all the branches of her family. She has written a book about two of her family branches that has been distributed to family members and she served as president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois for 10 years. She is also the author of three editions of A Translation Guide to 19th-Century Polish-Language Civil Registration Documents (including Birth, Marriage and Death Records).
July 31: "Specifics of Hungarian Jewish Genealogy: Historical Background and a Practical Guide" will be the topic of a presentation by Hungarian researcher and tour leader Karesz Vandor at the Sunday, July 31, 2016, meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois. His presentation will begin at 2 p.m. at Temple Beth-El, 3610 Dundee Road, Northbrook, Ill. This program is free and open to the public.
The JGSI meeting facilities at Temple Beth-El will open at 12:30 p.m. to accommodate those who want to use or borrow genealogy library materials, get help with genealogy websites or ask genealogical questions before the main program begins at 2 p.m. For more information, see jgsi.org or phone 312-666-0100.
Hungarian genealogy covers the old territories of Greater Hungary, including all of Slovakia, small parts of Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Ukraine.
Karesz Vandor is a Budapest-based Hungarian Jewish genealogist and military historian. He has been active in working on various family trees since 2004 and has helped descendants of Shoah survivors find previously unknown relatives living in Hungary.