JewishGen German Research Division
Introduction to the German RD
Introduction
Welcome to the German Research Division. We are one of 16
country-specific Research Divisions on JewishGen. Our objective is to connect you to
information that will further your Jewish family history research in current and former German-speaking regions of Europe.
Our Research Division has several ways of interacting with
you: through this website, through messages on the JewishGen Mailing List and by posting data in the JewishGen Germany Database.
This All-Germany Database is meant to be a searchable repository for all
JewishGen information about Jews in Germany. Our mailing list is the primary way we communicate with each other. Click on the
hyperlinks above to subscribe to the mailing list or to bring
up a search form for the Database.
What geographic areas does the German Research Division cover?
The German Research Division covers all areas that were part of Germany in 1900. This includes today's modern Germany, Alsace and Lorraine, today in France, and Prussian, Posen, and Silesian territory today in Poland. Although Austria is German-Speaking it is covered by the Austria-Czech SIG
German RD focus on towns and districts
Our website and our research have a towns
and district focus because most of us think of towns when we seek information about our ancestral homes. You will find a browsable list of
the towns that
we cover on our website. Our website also lists contact information
for our town leaders and for 'owners' of KehilaLinks websites for German towns.
German RD Projects
We list current
projects, and the status of each, under Research on the top menu bar. The
list is alphabetical by town name. You can re-alphabetize it by any column
simply by clicking on the column heading. The projects we have are managed by Project Leaders. This list is a 'work-in-progress'. We
constantly add new projects to the list, so check back frequently. A search
form at the top of the page allows you to search for any town that has a project
or for any project by using the keyword search. The form contains dropdown
lists of provinces, districts, and towns.
How you can help
What we accomplish depends on you and on
others doing German research. We need volunteers with various skills, and we
need project leaders to manage our projects. Project leaders may be focused on
specific towns, or they may be focused on specific tasks that cover many towns.
Check out some of our volunteer opportunities here.
An organization like JewishGen and its SIGs
cannot operate only with volunteers. The organization needs funding to acquire
documents, pay professional translators who supplement our volunteers, and
improve computer systems. That's where 'JewishGen‑erosity'
comes in. If you are unable to serve as a volunteer you can help by making a
tax-deductible donation to the SIG and its projects. You can designate your donation
for general use or for use by a specific SIG.
If you need help or have any questions,
please do not hesitate to contact me or any of our Board Members. Our contact information is
here. We will try our best to assist you.
