First source for Jewish Genealogy. This free site (registration required for most services and donation for detailed search functions); contains at least forty searchable databases, multi-million-record European holdings, Family Finder, Family Tree of the Jewish People, Yizkor and Kehila books, town finder, and links to other genealogical sites. Other resources include
Ancestry ($$, but many libraries offer free library access)
Comprehensive source for U.S. and foreign materials.
Paid subscription needed for access after a free trial period
MyHeritage ($$)
International genealogy research website and social network service. Available by paid subscription.
Family Search (Free)
World’s largest collection of genealogical records available on microfilm and online.
Steve Morse One-Step
Find your ancestors more effectively in the Ellis Island database and the U.S. and N.Y. census. A wealth of other genealogical material.
Israel Genealogy Research Association
The Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA) is the largest genealogy society in Israel with a database of over two million records.
Was founded by Miriam Weiner, who has been instrumental in opening up Eastern European archives and establishing a database of genealogical information.
Publisher of The International Review of Jewish Genealogy, Avotaynu publishes books and a quarterly magazine of Jewish genealogy, published in New Haven, Connecticut.
The World Holocaust Remembrance Center. A vast archives and research holdings on the Holocaust; includes searchable database of Shoah victims
This site contains tools for finding immigration records, census records, vital records, and for navigating calendars, maps, foreign alphabets, and numerous other applications. Some of these tools fetch data from other websites but do so in more versatile ways than the search tools provided on those websites.
Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute
This site provides an enormous wealth of genealogical resources through the Center for Jewish History partners’ collections.
JRI – Poland is the largest fully searchable database of indexes to Jewish vital records accessible online.
Archives of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) records the overseas rescue, relief, and rehabilitation arm of the American Jewish community. The JDC Archives houses one of the most significant collections in the world for the study of modern Jewish history from 1914 to the present from over 90 countries.
International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS)
The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) is an organization of organizations formed in 1988 to provide a common voice for issues of significance to its members, to advance our genealogical avocation, and to coordinate items such as the annual IAJGS conference.
TKFGEN Tsal Kaplun Foundation Archives of Jewish Records
Listing indices from other sites (some foreign language) shtetls, family surnames, stories, migration families (heritage surnames, genealogy, stories and migration) calamities, pogroms, evacuations, and Holocaust immigration. Archive of Jewish records from Eastern Europe.
The Society is open to anyone doing research within the borders of the old Commonwealth of Poland by publishing the journal Rodziny and providing books, newsletters, bulletins, printed information, regular Society meetings, conferences and workshops.
History of Jewish Communities in Ukraine
The Jewish population of Ukraine before the Second World War was over 2.5 million but now the current population is only in the 100,000 range.
Search for the names of victims of Nazi persecution. The International Center on Nazi Persecution contains 30 million documents from concentration camps, and details of forced labor and files on displaced persons. 13 million are now online.
Lo Tishkach Eastern European Cemetery and Mass Grave Database
The Lo Tishkach Foundation European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative aims to guarantee the effective and lasting preservation and protection of Jewish cemeteries and mass graves throughout Europe. There are now 11,061 cemeteries on the Lo Tishkach database.
The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) provided support and assistance to immigrants as they arrived in America. They provided financial and legal assistance for those who were at risk of being returned to their home country. The HIAS offers a search of their records for minimal fees.
Foundation for East European Family History Studies
YIVO Institute for Jewish History
The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is dedicated to the preservation and study of the history and culture of East European Jewry worldwide with over three million items archived.
