This handbook is designed to guide descendants of Jewish Galitzianers to geographical, historical, cultural, and genealogical information. Though many Jews alive today had their roots in Galicia, where it was and how it was formed may be a source of mystery because it ceased to exist after World War I. This revised edition covers the geopolitical history of how Galicia came to be and how Austrian policies impacted Jews; Jewish life, religious life, socioeconomics, customs; surname acquisition; an overview of vital and other documentation of Jewish life; research resources; and the Galician Gazetteer (a list of towns and their main and subdistricts where Jews lived in 1771).

In 1772, the weakness of Poland's government led to a land grab by Russia, Austria and Prussia. Austria renamed its territory the Crownland of Galicia and Lodomeria. The territory encompassed much of today's Southern Poland and Western Ukraine. Jews made up about 10 percent of the territory's population.

Descendants of Jewish Galitzianers will find geographical, historical, cultural, and genealogical information that is vital for understanding the lives of their ancestors.