News About Jewish Genealogy, Jewish History, and Jewish Culture
Editor: Phil Goldfarb, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
- MyHeritage Adds 123 Million Historical Records from 18 collections in April and May 2024. The newly added records are from the United States, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Italy, Luxembourg, and England, and include birth records, marriage and divorce records, death and burial records, census records, voter lists, school registers, and telephone directories. Many of the collections also include images. Their major historical record releases this past month include 3 new and important historical record collections from New York: New York City birth, marriage, and death records. Read more from their blog: MyHeritage Adds 123 Million Historical Records in April and May 2024 – MyHeritage Blog
- Free Access to Ancestry Occupation Records Through July 2. In celebration of July 4th, Ancesry.com is offering free access to their millions of their US occupation records. The free record access ends 2 July 2024. Go to: https://www.ancestry.com/c/ancestors-who-shaped-america
- Free Canadian records for Canada Day on MyHeritage. In honor of Canada Day, MyHeritage is offering free access to all 135.4 million Canadian historical records on MyHeritage for a limited time, from June 27 to July 2, 2024. Read more from their blog: Celebrate Canada Day with Free Access to Canadian Historical Records! – MyHeritage Blog
- United Kingdom and Scotland Archive Unveils Artifacts and Stories from WWII. Oxford University has preserved by digitization, more than 25,000 previously hidden artifacts from World War ll. Photos and objects and stories are available on the project website, theirfinesthour.org se: https://theirfinesthour.english.ox.ac.uk/. One of the stories is about a Jewish-owned business in France transferred to non-Jewish ownership. Thanks to Jan Meisels Allen Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee for this story
- JewishGen Education Classes: Title: Immigration Study Group. Dates: July 3rd 2024 – July 24th, 2024 includes three 1-hour Zoom Sessions 12 – 1 PM EST Sundays July 7, 14, 21 and online discussions throughout the class period. Instructor: Barbara Rice Cost: $150. Click here to register now (note: you must be logged into JewishGen to register)
- com adds 148 New Papers. They announced the addition of 148 papers from 13 states, Canada, England, Wales, Samoa, and Australia! These papers date back to 1787 and gives you access to 200+ years of history at your fingertips. Read more from their blog: 148 New Papers Added! – The official blog of Newspapers.com Note: Newspapers.com has different levels of membership. Basic and Publishers Extra. Only Publishers Extra Subscribers level will get you all of the newspapers to view.
- Speaking of Newspapers, 11.6 Million of Nordic Newspaper Pages Added to OldNews.com. The new content which is indexed and searchable includes historical local, regional and national newspapers, periodicals and gazettes from Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands, with articles dating back to 1666, but mostly from the 19th century. It has also been added to MyHeritage, with the full images for the newspaper pages available on OldNews.com via direct links from MyHeritage. Read more from their blog: Millions of Nordic Newspaper Pages Added to OldNews.com – MyHeritage Blog
- Researchers have identified ancient military camps that correspond with the biblical narrative of King Sennacherib’s siege. When the Assyrian king Sennacherib ordered his artists to decorate the walls of his palace with scenes of his military victories, he did not suspect that thousands of years later, these wall reliefs would help modern day archeologists solve ancient mysteries. Read more from Aish: King Sennacherib’s Military Encampments: Ancient Mystery Solved – Aish.com
- How Israeli farmers are growing formerly extinct dates from a 2,000-year-old tree. The ancient seeds’ incredible longevity is largely due to the unique environmental conditions around the Dead Sea region. Masada, the last Jewish stronghold against the Romans, opened the door to bring back the tree. It turns out the Jewish rebels inside the fort had destroyed everything except their food stores to show the Romans they died of their own accord. The untouched provisions held a supply of dates that would allow the Judean Date Palm to make a comeback almost 2,000 years later. Read the story from Jewish Unpacked: How Israeli farmers are growing dates from a 2,000-year-old tree (jewishunpacked.com)
- The Indian Princess who Fought Nazis. Noor Inayat Khan courageously spied for Britain behind enemy lines. Noor Inayat Khan, a descendent of Indian royalty, was a great heroine of World War II. Though her story is little known, she provided crucial aid to the Allied war effort and its fight against Nazi Germany. Read about her from Aish: The Indian Princess who Fought Nazis – Aish.com
- King Sennacherib’s Military Encampments: Ancient Mystery Solved. Researchers have identified ancient military camps that correspond with the biblical narrative of King Sennacherib’s siege. When the Assyrian king Sennacherib ordered his artists to decorate the walls of his palace with scenes of his military victories, he did not suspect that thousands of years later, these wall reliefs would help modern day archeologists solve ancient mysteries. Read more from Aish: King Sennacherib’s Military Encampments: Ancient Mystery Solved – Aish.com
- The Jewish Community of Jamaica. Legends about Jewish pirates and a distinguished 20th-century political legacy are highlights of this Caribbean Jewish community’s history. While the core of the community traces its ancestry to the Iberian peninsula, and the Jewish exodus that began in the late 15th century, Jamaican Jews today come from Poland, France, Italy, Africa, Israel, Turkey, and many other places. Read their story from My Jewish Learning: The Jewish Community of Jamaica | My Jewish Learning
- Auschwitz display of 3,000 murdered children’s shoes returns after undergoing preservation process. The shoes underwent a preservation process that took over a year of work at the Auschwitz Museum Conservation Laboratories. Before the preservation process, the shoes were at risk of being unable to survive for future generations. The main issues were damage to the leather in the form of discoloring corrosion caused by the shoes’ metal parts, along with the fragility of the leather and its delamination. Read more from The Jerusalem Post: Auschwitz preserves and displays thousands of murdered children shoes – The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)
- Hundreds of historic lectures from famous Jewish thinkers are now available at the 92NY’s website. The lectures span topics from Jewish life and philosophy to politics, psychology, science, art, dance, film, history, music and women’s perspectives. The Jewish cultural institution said they digitized more than 800 lectures in total. Read more from JTA: Hundreds of historic lectures from famous Jewish thinkers are now available at the 92NY’s website – New York Jewish Week (jta.org)
- UK government review concludes Nazi-invaded Isle of Alderney was no ‘Mini Auschwitz’. New research raises death toll on island which housed the only concentration camp on British soil and uncovers why perpetrators escaped justice. For the past decade, a fierce, increasingly rancorous, debate has been waged over the grim wartime past of the island of Alderney, which housed the only Nazi concentration camp to have existed on British soil. Read more from the Times of Israel: UK government review concludes Nazi-invaded Isle of Alderney was no ‘Mini Auschwitz’ | The Times of Israel
- Rare English medieval siddur goes on display. The 12th-century prayerbook is on display in Bishop Auckland, Durham. The rare book, one of the earliest Jewish texts to survive from Northern Europe, is thought to have been made in England or Northern France. Read the story from the Jewish Chronicle: Rare English medieval siddur goes on display – The Jewish Chronicle (thejc.com)
- Letter to FDR from Einstein warning of Nazi atomic bomb to sell for millions. Christie’s auction house anticipates an explosive sale price for a two-page letter from 1939 that laid the foundation for the Allied victory in World War II and calls the item “arguably the most influential single letter of the 20th century.” The letter, dated Aug. 2, 1939, urged the American development of an atomic bomb out of fear that Nazi Germany would make such a weapon first. In direct response to the warning, Roosevelt created a committee that would lead to the Manhattan Project. Read the story from JNS: Letter to FDR from Einstein warning of Nazi atomic bomb to sell for millions – JNS.org
- More Einstein: How a Brooklyn dentist almost formed a Jewish homeland in pre-WW II China. Seeing a land free of antisemitism, Albert Einstein and Chinese leaders pushed plans to settle 100,000 Jews fleeing Nazis in Yunnan, the Himalayan foothills of China’s hinterland. Read this interesting story from The Times of Israel: How a Brooklyn dentist almost formed a Jewish homeland in pre-WW II China | The Times of Israel
- Family menorah saved from Holocaust is donated to Yad Vashem. Kafka family’s Hanukkah candelabra was hidden in Poland, then Finland; now resides in Jerusalem Holocaust museum’s new underground Collection Center: Read the story from The Times of Israel: Family menorah saved from Holocaust is donated to Yad Vashem | The Times of Israel
- Egyptian tomb find may shed light on ancient diseases. Initial archaeological study shows evidence of conditions including infectious diseases, bone disorders, women with signs of pelvic bone trauma, anemia, malnutrition, tuberculosis. A new discovery of 33 ancient tombs in Egypt’s southern city of Aswan could reveal “new information on diseases” prevalent at the time, the tourism and antiquities ministry said Monday. The tombs date back to the Ancient Egyptian Late Period and the Greco-Roman Periods, which collectively lasted from the seventh century BC until around the fourth century AD. Read more from The Times of Israel: Egyptian tomb find may shed light on ancient diseases | The Times of Israel
- From Odessa to Nir Oz. A linguistic history of the pogrom. Pogrom is the term by which the memory of persecution in Eastern Europe has found its way into Jewish memory. But when did it appear, and how was it used? For this text, Elena Guritanu delved into the dictionaries of the last two centuries, in order to trace the history of this term which, because it designates an undeniable horror, has itself been the object of omissions and denials. Read more from k-larevue: From Odessa to Nir Oz. A linguistic history of the pogrom – Jews, Europe, the XXIst century (k-larevue.com)
- Israel’s Oldest Reserve Soldier. At the age of 95, Ezra Yachin is still serving his country, striving to lift the morale of the country. When he was 15 he joined the Lehi, a Zionist paramilitary organization founded by Avraham Stern in Mandatory Palestine, to fight against the British and the Arabs, and pave the way for the establishment of a Jewish homeland. Read his story from Aish: Ezra Yachin: Israel’s Oldest Reserve Soldier – Aish.com
- This Popular Sicilian Sandwich Has Surprising Jewish Origins. Explore the 1,000-year-old history of pani câ meusa. Biting into a pani câ meusa is like being transported back 1,000 years to when Sicilian Jews dominated the sandwich market. Read the story from The Nosher: This Popular Sicilian Sandwich Has Surprising Jewish Origins | The Nosher (myjewishlearning.com)
- New Greek stamps honor synagogues. Greece has issued as series of commemorative stamps featuring the synagogues of Greece. The six stamps of the series are illustrated with images of the interiors of the historic synagogues of Athens, Thessaloniki, Larissa, Trikala, Ioannina, and Rhodes, while the two first day cover envelopes present the synagogues of Corfu and Chania. Read more from Jewish Heritage Europe: Greece: New Greek stamps honor synagogues – Jewish Heritage Europe (jewish-heritage-europe.eu)
- The Most Popular Biblical Villain Baby Names. Most people play it safe when naming their babies, even when naming their children after a relative or loved one. But that’s not always the case. Some parents—those with a little flare, or a taste for danger—opt to name their babies after villains. And not just any villains. These parents want epic villains whose names conjure up biblical levels of evil. Read the story and names from Aish: The Most Popular Biblical Villain Baby Names – Aish.com
###
About The Weekly News Nosh
The Weekly News Nosh contains news about Jewish Genealogy, Jewish History and Jewish Culture. The Nosh is published on Sundays and distributed by the L’Dor V’Dor Foundation on its 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 future announcements.