This class uses large and small scale maps of the pre-WWI Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires, including the German Empire and Romania. Small scale maps show national and provincial borders and related historical topics. Large scale maps show terrain and infrastructure around specific towns and villages. Students will download maps of their ancestors' home settlements, then use legends and glossaries to record the surrounding environment, or "gene-ography," for each location. Gazetteers place these towns on modern maps
The Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania and its Partition
Jewish ancestry across Russia, Poland, and multi-ethnic east Europe
The Pale of Settlement, Congress Poland, and Austrian Galicia
Demo: JewishGen Gazetteer and Locality pages; finding a map at easteurotopo.org
Legends and glossaries at easteurotopo.org; Russian map symbols and abbreviations
Cemeteries in multi-ethnic east Europe
Topographic maps: relief, hachures, and contour lines
Using Google Translate and Russian-language websites for foreign-language sources
Reading large scale maps: symbols, terrain, relief
Comparing shtetls, villages, and farmsteads
Review of key features and symbols
Creating your own "Locality page" for a settlement
This course is best taken using a desktop computer, although laptops will work. Smaller devices like tablets or iPads can be problematic.
Study hours per week will vary, but two hours minimum is suggested. There are assignments to complete which are part of this time commitment.
Three 75 min. Interactive Lectures via Zoom (10 AM PT / 1 PM ET)
The cost is $150.
For any questions, email the instructor at education@jewishgen.org.
Open Register here