JewishGen Bessarabia SIG

In case you missed it, here is the announcement about JewishGen's new Bessarabia SIG


JewishGen is pleased to announce the formation of a new regional Special Interest Group -- The JewishGen Bessarabia SIG. This SIG will focus on the region of Bessarabia, a former Gubernia in the Russian Empire, an area now comprising most of the Moldova Republic, and two areas of Ukraine.


The prime objective of the SIG is to help users in their family genealogical research and related information gathering. The SIG's website can be accessed by clicking here.


The two largest ongoing projects are: Bessarabia Vital Records and Bessarabia Revision Lists. There are also new projects -- some of which already begun,  others awaiting users to become involved and/or lead them. These include: 

• creation of a geographical dictionary of the Jewish communities; 
• transliteration of the 1924-25 Business directory for Bessarabia; 
• research in American archives for material relevant to the SIG; 
• transliteration of landsmanshaftn records for towns in Bessarabia;
• obtain video testimonies of Holocaust survivors from Bessarabia; 
• conduct cemetery projects -- indexing, photographing gravestones;
• translate Bessarabia towns' Yizkor books; 
• translate graduation records from a Kishinev Gymnasium. 

If you have interest, genealogical skills, knowledge of the history and genealogy of this area, or language proficiency (especially in Russian, Romanian, Hebrew or Yiddish) we would be most appreciative of your input into our efforts. We are always looking for users to propose new projects, participate in existing ones, or when possible, lead one.


Please peruse the Bessarabia SIG's website, see what's there, and contribute materials you may have that will enhance it. A discussion/mailing list is the conduit through which the SIG's  members can communicate their research problems, ask for advice, offer solutions, and share creative ways they have documented  their family heritage. To subscribe to the discussion/mailing list, please click here. 


CONTACTS:

• Discussion Groups: Alan Levitt at alanmlevitt@gmail.com
• Data Entry & Transcriptions: Joel Waters at watersjd@gmail.com
• Projects: Yefim Kogan at yefimk@verizon.net

We welcome the active participation of all. Your suggestions for research projects and your willingness to help or take a leadership role is sought and always appreciated.


Warren Blatt
Managing Director, JewishGen


Yefim Kogan
Bessarabia SIG Coordinator