The Weekly News Nosh – May 31, 2026

This Jewish heritage news digest is this week’s NewsNosh (The Weekly News Nosh) from L’Dor V’Dor Foundation—a curated set of links for anyone interested in Jewish family history, Jewish history, and Jewish heritage. This week’s NewsNosh Jewish heritage news digest includes immigration records, Holocaust remembrance, Jewish cultural heritage tourism, kosher dining, and more.

Editor: Phil Goldfarb, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

This week’s news links:

1. Free U.S. immigration records for Immigrant Heritage Month from MyHeritage. To celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month and the upcoming 250th anniversary of American independence, MyHeritage is offering free access to U.S. immigration records from June 1–5, 2026. The free access includes 56 immigration collections with 206.1 million records covering passenger lists, arrivals, and naturalization documents from major gateways like Ellis Island and Castle Garden. In these records, researchers can discover the ship their ancestors traveled on or the records documenting their path to citizenship. To search these records, go to: Historical Record Catalog: Immigration & Travel, USA
2. New in MyHeritage Ancient Origins: Discover Your Connection to Notable Individuals from History. Since February 2025, Ancient Origins has enabled DNA users to trace their origins back up to 10,000 years through ancient DNA analysis. Now, users can also discover their genetic proximity to 32 notable historical individuals whose DNA was recovered from archaeological remains. Read more from their blog: New in Ancient Origins: Discover Your Connection to Notable Individuals from History – MyHeritage Blog
3. New free database documents Nazi persecution victims within the Soviet Union. The Book of Remembrance offers personal details on victims and documents that detail the persecution of victims, in addition to providing a map with the history of occupation and number of victims by locations. So far, almost 60,000 victims of various ethnicities can be searched in the database. The details included on victims go beyond dates of birth and death. Some victims are listed with places of residence, employment, execution, and burial, and other personal details. Make certain that you have the Google Translate App downloaded. For more information, go to: New free database documents Nazi persecution victims within the Soviet Union – Find Lost Russian & Ukrainian Family
4. How to Back Up Your Ancestry Family Tree. If you have spent time researching and building your family tree on Ancestry, it is time to make sure you don’t lose your work. Learn different ways to back up your Ancestry family tree and protect your research. From Who You are Made Of: How to Back up Your Ancestry Family Tree – Who are You Made Of?
5. What To Do With Old Letters. Do you want to know what to do with old letters that belonged to your parents, grandparents, or more distant ancestors? Preserving these artifacts is important, and you will learn ways to do so in this article – even if you don’t want to keep them. Read how to do this from Who are You Made Of: What To Do With Old Letters – Who are You Made Of?
6. Can Ancestry DNA or MyHeritage DNA or FamilyTree DNA or 23andMe DNA Help Find Birth Parents? In this post, find out exactly how it could help, as well as some of the limitations of DNA testing that are relevant to people who were adopted. Read more from Who are You made Of: Can Ancestry DNA Help Find Birth Parents? – Who are You Made Of?
7. A major new exhibit focuses on the discoveries made during the excavations of the site of the destroyed Vilnius Great Synagogue. Called Unearthing the Great Synagogue of Vilna, it opened on May 19 and runs until December 27. It tells the story of the synagogue and its rediscovery through archaeological finds, works of art and surviving historical fragments. Read more from Jewish Heritage Europe: https://jewish-heritage-europe.eu/2026/05/25/lithuania-exhibit/
8. At the edge of America, six Jewish graves endure. Long before Alaska had synagogues or an organized Jewish community, a small cemetery in Fairbanks preserved traces of frontier Jewish life one burial at a time. Read the story from The Forward: The six graves in Alaska’s oldest Jewish cemetery – The Forward
9. The First Blood Libel. Blood libels throughout history follow the same script that was first written in 1149. The story behind it — corrupt bishop, murdered banker, monk who rewrote history — is stranger than fiction. Read more from Aish: The First Blood Libel | Aish
10. Highlighting the JEWELS TOUR, an EU-funded project on the tourism potential of Jewish cultural heritage that is under way in six partner countries. An acronym taken from its full name – JEWish hEritage as Leverage for Sustainable TOURism. Read more from Jewish Heritage Europe: https://jewish-heritage-europe.eu/2026/05/28/jewels-tour/
11. New paths to German citizenship for families affected by Nazi persecution. Since 2021, Germany created broader legal pathways that opened significantly more opportunities for families affected by Nazi persecution to apply for German citizenship. Read more from JTA: New paths to German citizenship for families affected by Nazi persecution – New York Jewish Week
12. ‘The Wanderers’ tells the story of Poland’s Holocaust survivors who fled to the Soviet Union. Daniela Gerson was surprised to learn that most survivors, like her grandparents, survived not in concentration camps, ghettos or forests, but in the mountains of Siberia. Read the story from JTA: ‘The Wanderers’ tells the story of Poland’s Holocaust survivors who fled to the Soviet Union – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
13. How 51 Boys Escaped the Gas Chamber in Auschwitz. The remarkable story of a group of boys who were forced into the gas chambers yet came out alive. Read their story from Aish: How 51 Boys Escaped the Gas Chamber in Auschwitz | Aish
14. New Woody Guthrie documentary is ‘Jewish film about very non-Jewish guy from tiny little town in Oklahoma.’ The Jewish story about Guthrie, who died in 1967, is the subject of the new documentary “Dust Bowls and Jewish Souls: Another Side of Woody Guthrie,’’ which is scheduled to make its world premiere on June 4 at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival. Read more from JNS: New Woody Guthrie documentary is ‘Jewish film about very non-Jewish guy from tiny little town in Oklahoma’ – Israel & Jewish News – JNS Editor’s Note: The Woody Guthrie Center is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is right next door to the Bob Dylan (aka Robert Zimmerman) Center. Well worth a trip to visit both!  Woody Guthrie Center | Tulsa, OK
15. Arthur Szyk: The Artist Who Fought Hitler with a Paintbrush. His rifle was his paintbrush, and he became one of the most feared weapons in the Allied arsenal. Read his story from Aish: Arthur Szyk: The Artist Who Fought Hitler with a Paintbrush | Aish
16. Yad Vashem to open first Holocaust education center outside Israel in Munich. The new facility, set to open within three years, aims to combat rising antisemitism and Shoah distortion across Germany and Europe. Read more from JNS: Yad Vashem to open first Holocaust education center outside Israel in Munich – Israel & Jewish News – JNS
17. A museum exhibit explores the Jewish fascination with the occult. YIVO spotlights fortune-tellers, mind-readers and wonder rabbis, and the enduring appeal of the supernatural in moments of social anxiety. Read the story from JTA: A museum exhibit explores the Jewish fascination with the occult – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
18. Sir Isaac Newton and Judaism. The scientists recently disclosed private papers reveal his deep reverence for ancient Jewish wisdom. Read more from Aish: Sir Isaac Newton and Judaism | Aish
19. How the 1919 solar eclipse made Albert Einstein famous. Photographs from the celestial event proved the theory of relativity, which caught the world by surprise. Even his mother was once unsure of his greatness. Asked if her son would amount to anything, she once admitted she thought he would be “gornisht,” Yiddish for nothing. Read his story from The Forward: How the 1919 solar eclipse made Albert Einstein famous – The Forward
20. ‘10 Agams in Iran’: The secret story of Israeli and Jewish art in the regime’s hands. The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art owns pieces by the iconic master of kinetic art and several other Jewish artists. While works occasionally go on display, most are shrouded in mystery. Read more from The Times of Israel: ‘10 Agams in Iran’: The secret story of Israeli and Jewish art in the regime’s hands | The Times of Israel
21. The Jewish Samurai: Joseph Trumpeldor’s Japanese Odyssey. Joseph Trumpeldor spent a year in a Japanese POW camp and came out a Zionist legend. Read his story from Aish: The Jewish Samurai: Joseph Trumpeldor’s Japanese Odyssey | Aish
22. Garry Trudeau was a prep school kid from New England, but he identified with the Jewish outsider in ‘Doonesbury.’ Trudeau had more in common with ‘Megaphone Mark’ Slackmeyer than you might think. Read his story from The Forward: How Garry Trudeau tackled Jewish issues in ‘Doonesbury’ – The Forward
23. Miami restaurant becomes first kosher eatery to earn Michelin Star. Mutra restaurant has become the world’s only kosher restaurant currently holding a Michelin Star, a milestone that places the intimate North Miami restaurant in global culinary history. Read their story from Miami New Times: Miami restaurant becomes first kosher eatery to earn Michelin Star

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About The Weekly News Nosh

The Weekly News Nosh (NewsNosh) is the L’Dor V’Dor Foundation’s weekly Jewish heritage news digest—a curated set of links for anyone interested in Jewish family history, Jewish history, and Jewish heritage. NewsNosh is published on Sundays and shared on our website and social media platforms. “A Family Without The Understanding Of Their Past History, Foundation And Ethnicity Is Like A Tree Without Roots.” Subscribe to receive NewsNosh every Sunday, directly in your inbox. Browse past issues of our Jewish heritage news digest in the NewsNosh archive.