Ukraine Research Division Year-End 2020 Update
Please support the work of the Ukraine Research Division. Go to: https://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen-erosity/v_projectslist.asp?project_cat=22
Scroll down to the project that is 7th from the bottom:
Ukraine Documents Acquisition and Translation Project
We so much appreciate donations of any amount.
News
New Ukraine Records
The Ukraine Research Division has literally gone from zero to a thousand over the past year – in terms of available genealogical records. Thanks to our many volunteers and to Alex Krakovsky in Ukraine, we now have available thousands of records at no cost to us.
Still, the bottleneck is translation or transcription. We have a number of people working on streamlining the process, but even that takes time and funds. And we continue to pay professional translators.
New Focus in 2020
We have broadened our focus to translate entire documents which may include multiple towns, rather than just a single town from a larger record for a particular geographical area. We were concerned that a large part of a record for an entire area covering several towns would be ignored if a project manager or town leader had only the target town’s data translated. We believe that our group and JewishGen, as a community, has an obligation to make records available for researchers of other towns in our areas. Also, you might just find that your ancestors moved to a nearby town for which you would like the data.
New Translations on JewishGen
In 2020, we have submitted translations of multiple revision lists and metrical data to JewishGen covering towns including: Bar, Belaya Tserkov, Blystavytsya, Borki, Borodyanskaya, Borzna, Chernigov, Ezershina, Fastov, Gostomel, Hutor Gorianka, Hutor Gorbovaya, Hutor Paraskoten, Hutor Potok, Hutor Zhukov, Kamenets-Podolsky, Khmelnaya, Kiev plus many small towns near Kiev, Kisilevka, Korostyshev, Kozintzy, Krasnoe, Kuna, Litin, Lyutezh, Maidanovka, Mglin, Mikhailovka, Mikulichi, Mirotzka, Mogilev-Podolsky, Mostishy, Oster, Ozera, Pylypovychi, Rokitno, Rovno, Rubezhivka, Shargorod, Shpikov, Shpola, Smiela, Snitkov, Staraya Babinskaya Buda, Starye Petrovtzy, Starokonstantinov, Tripolye, Valki, Vyshgorod, Yablonka, as well as Ellis Island arrival records for Zolotonosha and Derazhnya.
If you haven’t checked the JewishGen website recently for your family information, you may want to look again – and regularly. New information appears constantly!
Town Leader Survey
We re-sent a multiple choice and fill-in survey to town leaders who did not respond to the one sent previously, in order to assess the status of their participation, projects, and needs. We received a total of 76 responses (covering about 80 towns) from mostly enthusiastic town leaders, and are now processing the results to improve communication and project information.
Alex Krakovsky Ukraine Records Project
Gary Pokrassa, Joel Spector, and their growing team continue to upload for preservation and translation records posted by Alex Krakovsky. There are hundreds of thousands of pages uploaded!
Cemetery Indexing Projects
Additions to the JOWBR site in 2020 were: Sumy in Poltava; Kremenets, Shepetivka, Slavuta and Vishnivets (new and old cemeteries) in Volhynia; Chernivtsi in Bucovina; Nizhyn in Chernigov; Mogilev-Podolsky and Yampil (new and old cemeteries) in Podolia; Ostrog in Rivne.
Nolan Altman continues to do a wonderful job as Director of JOWBR. He is very helpful to those beginning cemetery projects. For Ukraine JOWBR now includes 364 cemeteries, 129472 burials, and 80709 photos. If you know of ongoing cemetery projects, please contact me.
Yizkor Book Projects
Too many new projects to mention! Check the JewishGen website to see the progress in 2020. Welcome back, Lance Ackerfeld as Director.
Plans for 2021
A. Additional translations and transcriptions;
B. New methods of translation / transcription; and
C. Organizing town leaders to begin and continue translation projects.
Last, and not least, I want to thank all of you who have been so supportive and responsive to the needs of Ukraine work. Special thanks to all of the project managers and town leaders, who shepherd the work from raw data to translated spreadsheet, proofread, and send it for uploading. To those who manage cemetery and Yizkor Book projects. To all of you who find the time in their busy lives to pitch in and help out when and where needed.
Best for the new year,
Phyllis Gold Berenson
Director of Research for Ukraine
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