1. Update on the Cadastral Map and Landowner Records Project – Pamela Weisberger, President & Research Coordinator, Gesher Galicia

Cadastral land records and property maps are an excellent source of family history information. Studied together, they can show the exact location where a family lived in a shtetl. They can tell the story of neighbors or siblings who resided near each other and demonstrate how close a family lived to the synagogue, cemetery, schools, or the market square. Using house numbers gleaned from vital records, a connection can be made between these physical locations and the genealogical data. Landowner taxation books show the size and value of the properties that Jewish families owned or rented, adding greatly to the history of a family. These records are invaluable when other metrical records are not available, and in some cases they may be the only documented evidence relating to your ancestors.

Examples of maps and records from Phase 4 of the project will be shown and discussed, along with examples from a 1765 Polish magnate census book showing the Jewish residents of Grzymalow and the first appearance of Jewish surnames as derived from the occupations of the Jews who lived on the grounds of the estate. I will detail the next phase of the project in June 2010 along with the return of the Lviv Street and House Photography Project in July 2010.

2. A Galician Childhood Recounted – The True Story of Feige Hollenberg Connors

Feige was born in Korolowka in 1933 . In addition to a house on the market square, her family had farmland outside of town, inherited from her Rosenstock grandfather. She led an idyllic childhood until war broke out and her family had to go into hiding. Hear her first-hand account of what it was like to grow up in this shtetl, until, at age 14, she was hidden by a Ukrainian family that later betrayed her, escaped from the ghetto and labor camp, and survived in the forest until the wars' end. Feige returned to Korolowka last summer with cave explorer, Chris Nicola, who will be on hand to add a coda to her story involving his discovery of "Priests Grotto" the 77-mile long cave where 38 Jews from the town hid until the war was over and his tenacious path to both discover the identities of those who survived the horrors of war and to successfully reunite them.

This meeting is free of charge. No need to RSVP. Please invite anyone you think would be interested!

(To be followed, after a lunch break, at 2:00PM by a Galician-themed JGSNY meeting with Roma Baran, telling her amazing story of re-discovering the true identities of her family. An IAJGS 2010 Conference "sneak preview" will also be offered at that meeting.)

for directions go to: http://www.cjh.org/about/directions.php

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