News About Jewish Genealogy, Jewish History, and Jewish Culture
Editor: Phil Goldfarb, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
- MyHeritage Adds 94 Million Historical Records in July 2025. In July 2025, MyHeritage published 94 million historical records across 13 new and updated collections. These collections are from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland. The collections include census records, birth marriage and death records, tax records and newspaper pages. Many of these collections feature images. Read more from their blog: MyHeritage Adds 94 Million Historical Records in July 2025 – MyHeritage Blog
- Israel Genealogy Research Association adds databases release for August. IGRA has added three new databases and updated two others, adding over 37,994 new listings, many of them with images. With a variety of subjects, from immigration to military, from the Ottoman period to the Israel times after the British mandate. To see the specifics, go to: Seventh Databases Release – August 2025 – Israel Genealogy Research Association
- When Was The Last Time You Checked out Reclaim The Records? We Want Our Records Back. And we get them! More than sixty million records reclaimed so far. See more from their website: Reclaim The Records: Public Data for Public Use – Reclaim The Records
- National Library of Israel to host 1,000 interactive life stories in landmark AI project. New partnership will use conversational video AI to preserve testimonies from Israelis, giving voice to diverse personal stories worldwide. Read more from Jewish News UK: National Library of Israel to host 1,000 interactive life stories in landmark AI project – Jewish News
- 25 Reasons to Research Probate Records and Wills. Read the 25 reasons from The Ancestor Hunt: 25 Reasons to Research Probate Records and Wills – The Ancestor Hunt
- 23andMe Seeks Approval of Larger, $50 Million Data Breach Settlement. The genetics testing company 23andMe asked a federal bankruptcy judge to approve a $50 million settlement to resolve claims from a 2023 data breach that exposed genetic and other personal information of about 6.4 million U.S. customers. Read the story from Reuters: 23andMe seeks approval of larger, $50 million data breach settlement | Reuters
- Jewish Workers and Trade Unions. Eastern European Jews arrived in the United States at the very apogee of unrestrained American capitalism. Early working‑class efforts to unionize, to strike, almost invariably failed. Among East European Jews, these initial unionizing ventures proved even more difficult than for other laborers. Most Jews worked in sweatshops, in tenement quarters that were too small to foster a collective, unionist outlook. Read more from My Jewish Learning: Jewish Workers and Trade Unions | My Jewish Learning
- Israeli archaeologists unearth lavish 1,600-year-old Samaritan estate. The excavation revealed a magnificent mosaic floor decorated with a geometric pattern and images of fruits and vegetables, such as grapes, dates, and watermelons. Read the story from The Jerusalem Post: Archaeologists unearth ancient Samaritan estate in Israel | The Jerusalem Post
- Oldest Jewish cemetery in Britain dating back to the Norman Conquest was uncovered beneath the Barbican. Dating from around 1070, the site lies just beyond the city’s old Roman walls and was in use for more than two centuries, before becoming neglected and forgotten after Jews were expelled from England. Read more from the JC: Oldest Jewish cemetery in Britain uncovered beneath the Barbican – The Jewish Chronicle – The Jewish Chronicle
- The History of Ethiopian Jewry. A Jewish community in Ethiopia — the Beta Israel (House of Israel) has existed for at least 15 centuries. Read more from My Jewish Learning: The History of Ethiopian Jewry | My Jewish Learning
- The remarkable story of the Lost Shtetl Museum. Šeduva, two hours by car from Vilnius, was once a shtetl. Not a single Jew remains, but a Jewish museum just opened. You may wonder why, of all the former shtetls in Lithuania, create such a museum here? Read “why” from the Forward: The remarkable story of the Lost Shtetl Museum – The Forward
- Masha Bruskina: The First Jewish Girl Hanged in Minsk. At 17, Masha Bruskina faced the Nazis’ noose with unflinching calm—her final act of defiance turned a warning into a timeless symbol of courage. Read her story from Aish: Masha Bruskina: The First Jewish Girl Hanged in Minsk | Aish
- Hitler’s bunker is now just a parking lot. But it’s a ‘dark tourism’ attraction anyway. The site is known in German as the Führerbunker, a subterranean bomb shelter that the Nazis built to protect their leader and his top henchmen from air raids during World War II. Read more from NPR: Hitler’s bunker is now just a parking lot. But it’s a ‘dark tourism’ attraction anyway : Planet Money : NPR
- In Damascus’ former Jewish quarter, optimism about the Syrian Jewish future is hard to muster. The fall of the Assad regime has some Jews who left eyeing at least a partial return. At the community’s height, approximately 100,000 Jews were living in Syria, but after Israel’s formation in 1948, a set of draconian measures was implemented by the then-President of Syria, Shukri al-Quwatli. Read more from The Forward: In Damascus’ former Jewish quarter, optimism about the Syrian Jewish future is hard to muster – The Forward
- The nursery school built atop the remains of the Vilna Great Synagogue has been demolished, clearing the way for development of the area as a heritage site. The Great Synagogue was built in the early 1600s in Renaissance-Baroque style and became the center of Jewish life in Vilnius (Vilna). Read more from Jewish Heritage Europe: https://jewish-heritage-europe.eu/2025/09/05/lithuania-update-vilnius-school/
- The Wizard of Oz and the Jews. Behind the magic of The Wizard of Oz lies a story of Jewish pain, hope, and creativity—from its antisemitic author to the Jewish artists who transformed it into an immortal anthem of longing for home. With the reimagining of The Wizard of Oz at the Sphere, a new generation is being introduced not only to a classic film, but also to its profound Jewish legacy. Read the story from Aish: The Wizard of Oz and the Jews | Aish
- ‘Soul on Fire’: New film gets to the ‘heart’ of Elie Wiesel. Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize, received a Congressional Medal of Honor, and his book Night has sold millions of copies read by students across the globe. Wiesel, who died in 2016 at the age of 87, will go down as one of the most famous Jews of all time, who encouraged other survivors to find their voice and speak out. Read about the movie from JNS: ‘Soul on Fire’: New film gets to the ‘heart’ of Elie Wiesel – JNS.org
- Documentary lays bare Nazi propagandist celebrated for her cinema, unpunished for crimes. In his film ‘Riefenstahl’ out in the US Sept. 4, director Andres Veiel mines hidden archives to cut through a gifted auteur revered by Hitler as the epitome of Aryan womanhood. Read more about the movie from The Times of Israel: Documentary lays bare Nazi propagandist celebrated for her cinema, unpunished for crimes | The Times of Israel
- Update On Last Week’s Story: Nazi’s daughter gives up looted painting to Argentine cops. The daughter of a German Nazi who fled to Argentina is suspected of having tried to hide the 18-century portrait, believed to have been stolen from a Jewish art dealer during WWII. Read the story from JNS: Nazi’s daughter gives up looted painting to Argentine cops – JNS.org
- What’s the big dill? Pickleball hits the Holy Land. This new sport is gaining popularity across Israel ahead of its debut in the Maccabiah 2026 Games. Today, there are around 3,000 players who play in 50 locations around the country. Editor Note: I have been playing for about eight years…a great sport! Read more from JNS: What’s the big dill? Pickleball hits the Holy Land – JNS.org
- And Finally…A Reminder to Check out all of the Jewish Events/Programs that you can attend from around the World on the L’Dor V’Dor Foundation’s JDays: JDays
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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.