This page shows links to resources that we have found useful in our research. In addition to the genealogical societies there are seven categories:
- Jewish Genealogical Resources
- Jewish Military Records
- BC Genealogical Resources
- Canadian Resources
- International Resources
- Newspaper archives
- Jewish Birth, Marriage and Death Records in the Polish State Archives – Links to records which have not been indexed by JRI-Poland.
Canadian Jewish Historical and Genealogical Societies
Jewish Genealogical Resources
| JewishGen | The premium Jewish genealogy site on the web with links to many other sites. Among many other things, has a family finder (lists of surnames, towns and who is researching them) , genealogical trees and a burial registry (see below). Free, although donations are requested. Searching requires membership. |
| Jewish Records Indexing - Poland | Site containing over a million records of Jews in Poland from about 1865 to the mid 1930's. Some records include links to the actual birth, marriage or death records. Records in Polish, German and Russian, depending on the era and location. Searching the records require membership of JewishGen. |
| Yad Vashem (Holocaust Memorial) | Contains some 3 million records relating to those who were murdered during the Holocaust. Most records are names of family or friends remembered by their surviving relatives. Also many images from that time. |
| Arolsen Archives International Center on Nazi Persecution | Previously the International Tracing Service. The archive is a comprehensive searchable archive of victims of Nazi Persecution. Not all records are online yet. |
| US Holocaust Memorial Museum | Documents, photographs, films and oral histories from the Holocaust. Two important resources are the Holocaust survivors and victims database and the searchable collections |
| Gesher Galicia | Jewish records from the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia (now Southern Poland and south-western Ukraine) . Searches provide links to record sources (e.g. LDS microfilm) |
| JewishGen Online World-wide Burial Registry | JOWBR catalogs data about Jewish cemeteries and burial records. It is a searchable database of names and associated information, including photographs of gravestones. As of July 2019, JOWBR contains more than 3.45 million burial records from 7,978 cemeteries in 128 countries. |
| Joint Distribution Committee Archives | Archive contains the organizational records of JDC, the overseas rescue, relief, and rehabilitation arm of the American Jewish community. Records date from 1914 and include many pre and post-Holocaust. |
| Ontario Jewish Archives | Digitally searchable records of Jewish life in Ontario, with a major focus on Toronto. Records are extensive with images and documents from the mid 1800's to the present day. Also includes the Toronto Jewish City Directories of 1924-26 & 1931 |
| The Canadian Jewish Heritage Network | Data from the Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives; Jewish Public Library Archives of Montreal; Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre; Saint John Jewish Historical Museum; Congregation Shaar Hashomayim Archives; Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue Archives |
| World Zionist Organization - Central Archives | These archives, some of which are searchable online, contain information about both legal and illegal immigration into Palestine and then Israel (1919-1974). There is also data on youth aliyah, Cyprus detainees , and other records from Palestine. |
| Israel National Archive | Site in Hebrew and English has records dating from 1936 to 1990. Also unclassified records from the Six Day War. |
| Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA) | Requires registration. Lists many Israeli resources and burial societies. Some areas require yearly membership of US$45. |
| Akevoth - Netherlands Jewish Genealogy | Bilingual: can be viewed in either English or Dutch. Comprehensive site dealing with Jewish genealogical research in the Netherlands. Organized by town. Lists of marriages, synagogue records, burials, etc. Site closing in 2020 and will be moved to archive. |
| Judaica Europeana | A network of archives, libraries and museums integrating access to the most important collections of European Jewish heritage. Currently holds 45 million records. |
| Toldot: Jewish Cemeteries in Russia and Ukraine | In Russian: Searchable database of 40+ Jewish cemeteries (including 5 in Moscow) and 110,000+ graves |
| Mapping The Lives | Based on the German Minority Census of May 1939, this is an interactive database which provides records of people recorded in the census along with their fate. It also shows street maps of where the persecuted lived. The majority of places marked are in Germany, but there are also a fair number in the Czech Republic and (now) Western Poland. |
| Memorial Book to Victims of Jewish Persecution in Germany 1939-1945 | Hosted by the BundesArchiv, the site, in English, allows searching by name, birthplace, date of deportation among many other parameters. |
| Foundation for Documentation of Jewish Cemeteries in Poland | Searchable records of Jewish Cemeteries in various towns in Poland. Includes photographs. Interface in English |
| Leo Baeck Institute | The Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin is a research library and archive focused on the history of German-speaking Jews. Its extensive library, archival, and art collections comprise one of the most significant repositories of primary source material and scholarship on the centuries of Jewish life in Central Europe before the Holocaust. |
Jewish Military Records
| Canadian Military Casualties, WWI, II & Korea | Part of the Canadian Jewish Heritage Network's Family History database. List was originally compiled by the Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives, Montreal. |
| Canadian Jews in World War II (Casualties) | Scanned pages of a book published in 1947 which listed Canadian Jews in World War II who were "reported killed, dead, missing, presumed dead, wounded, injured, ill and prisoners of war". Includes indexes, so names can be found |
| Southern Alberta Jewish Veterans of WWI & II | Searchable database of Jewish veterans from Southern Alberta. |
| The Museum of the Jewish Soldier in WWII | A museum to commemorate the 1,500,000 Jewish soldiers and partisans who fought during the war. The site has an English version (linked) as well as Hebrew and Russian options. |
| Book of Memory of Jewish Casualties in WWII | Alexander Zaslavsky's Book of Electronic Memory, which lists more than 140,000 of the 205,000 Jewish Red Army soldiers who fell in WWII. (in Russian) |
| The Pobediteli (Victor's) website | A multimedia history of the Eastern Front during the Great Patriotic War (WWII). It over a million surviving (in 2005) Red Army veterans. Over half a million Jews served in the Russian Army. In English: search by name including patronymic. |
| Jewish Soldiers killed in the Siege of Leningrad | The Martyrology list of Jewish soldiers killed in the Siege of Leningrad (in Russian) |
| Russian Defence Ministry Memorial site | OBD, the Russian Defense Ministry site, which lists over a million fallen Red Army soldiers (in Russian). |
| Jewish Military Casualties in Polish Army in WWII | Site contains about 150 names as a supplement to a volume of a book published by the author of this site. The volume, which is not online, costs US$40 |
BC Genealogical Resources
| BC Archives - Genealogy | Indexes to births (1854-1903), marriages (1872-1938), deaths (1872-1993), colonial marriages (1859-1872) and baptisms (1836-1888). Data can be sparse with known events missing. Some records can also be obtained through Family Search (LDS) |
| BC Cemetery Finding Aid | A database consisting of surnames, cemetery name and location of more than 344,000 entries associated with 264 cemeteries in BC and two from Washington State. |
| BC City Directories 1860-1955 | Vancouver Public Library has digitized BC city directories. They contain detailed historical information about British Columbian communities, including street and name listings of individuals and businesses in Vancouver and Victoria; population figures; government listings; operating newspapers; and schools and libraries from communities across the province. |
| BC Historical Photographs Online | Links to various historical collections (either databases and/or online photographs) including the cities of the Lower Mainland and Victoria and many other towns or cities throughout BC. |
| BC Genweb | Links to censuses of Vancouver Island (1871 &, 1881) and Victoria (1871 & 1901) |
| BC Historical Newspapers | UBC's collection of 145 historic community, business and society (union) newspapers. Titles range from the 'Abbotsford Post' to the 'Ymir Miner' and date from 1865 to 1994 |
| British Columbia Genealogical Society | A society that researches the genealogy of British Columbians. Holds monthly meetings. |
Canadian Resources
| Library and Archives Canada | All federal censuses from 1851 to 1921 (The 1931 census has been digitized but not indexed) Passenger Lists; Naturalization Records 1915-1951; Military Records |
| CanadaGenWeb | Links to individual provincial & territory GenWebs. Helps researchers locate Canadian data. |
| Canadian City Directories | Historical directories from cities across Canada |
| Olive Tree Genealogy | Passenger Lists and Naturalization records. Also Ontario Land Records and Ontario City Directories |
| Nanaimo Family History Society - Passenger Lists | Indexing of passengers arrivals at Quebec Ports (Montreal is included in the Port of Quebec) for the period 31 Jul 1903 to 13 Oct 1910. Search by name |
| Canadian Censuses | A free index to the following censuses: 1851, 1901, 1906 (Alberta, Sask Manitoba only) &1911. Not all indices are complete or proof-read |
| Saskatchewan Homestead Index | Index to files held in the Saskatchewan Archives. It contains 360,000 references to those who, from 1872 to 1930, took part in the homestead process |
| Canadian Local Histories | In English and French: Histories from various parts of Canada |
| Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 | Many immigrants to Canada arrived through Pier 21. There is a database of ship arrivals (1928-1971), giving the scheduled (rather than actual) dates of arrival. Some crossings, such as those chartered by refugee assistance organizations may be absent. Site includes a searchable database of images, stories, documents and oral histories, but no manifests. Site accepts fee-based research requests. |
International Resources
| FindMyPast.com | FindMyPast is a subscription site with a focus on the UK. A source of the 1939 UK register as well as UK Trade Union data. Free access to all US censuses. Sole source of the 1921 England & Wales census ($) |
| MyHeritage.com | MyHeritage is a subscription site, with many databases and censuses from throughout the world. Source of Israeli/Jewish records. DNA testing and matching service offered. ($) |
| Ancestry.ca | Ancestry, a subscription service, has millions of records from Canada and elsewhere in the world. Contains the 1939 UK register, the 1921 Canada census (free) and the JewishGen databases (free). DNA testing and matching service offered. Its siblings, Ancestry.com and Ancestry.co.uk, contain the same data but differ in which collection (Canada, US, UK) is searched first. ($) |
| Family Search | Website run by the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons). The LDS collected genealogical data from throughout the world, though most records are from North America, UK and Continental Europe. Some of this data is not available elsewhere. Free, though requires a account. |
| Stephen Morse's One-Step Webpages | A superb resource for searching US data with easy-to use interfaces: Search forms for Ellis Island and Castle Garden (it's predecessor) records as well as arrivals at other US ports; Canadian-US border crossing; US, Canadian and UK censuses, etc. He also provides an excellent article describing the use of these tools. |
| England & Wales: Birth, Marriage, Death Indexes | Free: Allows searching of the England & Wales birth marriage and death indexes from mid-1837 to the 1980's. Result points to a page on another index, where names, districts and reference numbers are given. The indexes are arranged by quarters of each year and represent when the event was reported, not when it occurred. The data can be used to order the matching certificate from the General Records Office |
| UK General Records Office - Certificate Ordering | England and Wales birth, marriage and death certificates can be ordered for a fee. There are three types:
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| National Records of Scotland | Scotland birth, marriage and death records (since 1855), censuses, church registers and valuation rolls. Search is free, pay-per-view for digital records. Certificates can be ordered for a fee. |
| National Archives of Ireland | These archives contain census records from 1901 & 1911 (all others have been destroyed), Will calendars and registers and other records. Since Ireland was under British administration until 1922, The records also cover today's Northern Ireland. |
| BaSIA | The BaSIA project, the 'Database of the Archival Indexing System', was created to give easy access to to records of Greater Poland from the 18th to the 20th century (although it also contains older information). Through a friendly interface, it provides users with a database containing indexes prepared by volunteers, derived from materials stored, among others, in state and church archives, including Jewish records. Site is a mix of Polish and English, usage would be easiest with Google Chrome. |
| GenTeam: Die genealogische Datenbank | 19000000+ records from Austria and Germany. Free after registration. Interface in English. |