MyHeritage just published a huge new collection covering immigration to Israel from 1919 onwards, with 1.7 million records! And the best news is that we’ve made it completely FREE! This collection is the Israeli equivalent of the famous “Ellis Island” immigration database for the United States. This is probably the biggest news in Israeli genealogy in the last decade! For a period of more than a year, MyHeritage painstakingly indexed thousands of public domain images made available by the Israel State Archives that include all surviving records of all those who immigrated to Israel by ships and by planes from all over the world starting in 1919. MyHeritage is the first organization to create a searchable index for this valuable collection and associate it with the scanned images. The collection is available for all to search and view for FREE, without even having to sign up, making the information more accessible than ever before for anyone researching their Jewish roots in Israel. Almost every genealogist in Israel is expected to find direct ancestors and other relatives in this valuable collection and to know for the first time the precise circumstances of their arrival to Israel.

The records in this collection include the name of the immigrant and the names of relatives who immigrated with them, country of origin, the name of the ship they arrived on, the date of arrival, names of parents, names of relatives who are expecting them in Israel, and their destination city in Israel.

Following the end of World War I, the British occupied Palestine from 1919 until Israel declared its statehood in 1948. During that period, there were four waves of immigration, or aliyot in Hebrew. There were many reasons why people made aliyah: some were fleeing antisemitism, some leaving for political or religious reasons, many searching for new hope and a new life following the World Wars.

Historians have defined several waves of aliyah between 1882 and the beginning of World War II. This collection starts with the Third Aliyah period. The first two waves took place from 1882 to 1918 under Ottoman rule, and are not covered in this collection. 

The Third Aliyah took place between 1919 and 1923 and was primarily composed of Eastern European Jewish immigrants called halutzim, or pioneers, who left Europe after World War I to create a new future for themselves. 

The immigrants who arrived during the Fourth Aliyah, from 1924 to 1929, were mostly Jewish people who arrived as a result of the rise in antisemitism throughout Europe and the Middle East. Most came from Eastern European countries like Poland, the Soviet Union, Romania and Lithuania but there were also Jews from Yemen and Iraq.

The Fifth Aliyah, from 1929 through 1939, saw the influx of 250,000 immigrants, the largest wave yet. Most were fleeing Poland, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Greece in response to growing antisemitism and the rise of Nazism. There were also Jewish immigrants from Turkey, Iran, and Yemen.

From 1933 to 1948, the British enforced immigration quotas, limiting the number of Jews who could move to Palestine. Many Jews found ways to enter Palestine illegally. The collection does not include lists of illegal immigrants, but there are several lists of children who arrived as part of the youth immigration during this time period.

The collection was created from scanned books stored by the Israel State Archives with lists of immigrants (most of them in Hebrew), arranged in chronological order according to the arrival dates of the ships or planes to Palestine or the State of Israel. These registers were previously used by the Jewish Agency’s Relatives Search section. The records also include the arrival of tourists to Israel, or the return of Israeli residents from a trip abroad. Pedestrian arrivals are also listed, i.e. those who came in through border crossings in the north or south.

You can read a lot more in the MyHeritage Blog at: https://blog.myheritage.com/2023/01/myheritage-publishes-exclusive-huge-collection-of-israel-immigration-records/.

History often reappears in unexpected places. A 135-year-old time capsule was discovered in November in Edinburgh , Scotland by a plumber who, by chance, opened up the floor at the exact spot where it had been left in 1887.

Since then experts and historians from the genealogy service Findmypast have looked up censuses and pored over dozens of newspaper archives to uncover the story behind the men who left the note - as well as those who lived in the house.

The entrance to Riddles Close in the early 1900s where John Grieve lived with his family

Its inhabitants included the Reverend Archibald Eneas Robertson, who is thought to have been the first mountaineer to climb all 282 Munros.

The two joiners who left the bottle were John Grieve and James Ritchie.

You can read more, including the identity of the men who left the message in the bottle and their families, in an article by Angie Brown published in the BBC News web site at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-64162667.

Researchers say that the Viking Age left an imprint on the genetics of present-day Scandinavians.

In an international study published Thursday in the journal Cell, scientists found that DNA from archeological remains shows exceptional immigration to Scandinavia during that era.

The Viking ship Havhingsten af Glendalough (the Sea Stallion of Glendalough), a replica of a Viking warship, sets out from the Viking Museum in Roskilde July 1, 2007.  (REUTERS/Scanpix/Bjarke Orsted/File Photo)

The authors analyzed 297 ancient Scandinavian genomes dating back two millennia with the genomic data of 16,638 present-day Scandinavians.

"As the geographical origin and the datings were known for all these individuals, it was possible to resolve the development of the gene pool to a level never realized previously," the University of Stockholm, where many authors were listed, said in a press release.

The university noted that the analysis found a surprising increase of variation during the Viking period that indicates gene flow into Scandinavia was especially intense during this period.

Women from the east Baltic region and, to a lesser extent, the British and Irish isles contributed more to the gene pool of Scandinavia than the men from those regions during that time.

You can read a lot more in an article by Julia Musto  published in the Fox News web site at: https://tinyurl.com/y8atk5aw

The following was written by FamilySearch:

What a year 2022 has been at FamilySearch! In 2022, FamilySearch.org added billions of new, freely searchable records to help its millions of visitors make important new family discoveries.

RootsTech 2022, hosted by FamilySearch, was a phenomenal success with more than 3 million joining the celebration online during the 3-day live event. Millions more have accessed free, recorded content from the conference throughout the year.

The cadence of gathering and publishing the world’s genealogical records online increased with a focus on select countries or homelands and a major US Census project. In addition, a new online volunteer tool was introduced, which, coupled with artificial intelligence and handwriting recognition technology, will vastly increase the searchability rate of non-English documents.

Read on to learn more about these accomplishments and new product features and discovery experiences added by FamilySearch in 2022.

You can read a lot more at: https://www.familysearch.org/en/newsroom/familysearch-2022-genealogy-highlights

Volunteers have now tracked down at least one photo for every one of the more than 58,000 U.S. military service members who died in the Vietnam War – for an online Wall of Faces project that took more than two decades to complete.

The goal was to help a new generation of Americans grapple with sacrifice and inspire them to reflect, perhaps, on “why we have a wall” with names inscribed on it, say organizers from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF), the nonprofit that spearheaded the digital project as well as the national monument on which all these names are engraved.

More than half of the visitors to the memorial in Washington, D.C., today weren’t alive when it was commissioned in 1982, they add.

Over the years the picture-gathering process could be fraught: Relatives were sometimes reluctant to share photos of loved ones killed in battles picked by a government their survivors had come to distrust.

And stock photos taken straight out of, say, boot camp graduation can be surprisingly tough to come by. “The military doesn’t just sit there and funnel pictures to you,” says Herb Reckinger, a volunteer. 

So tracking them down often involved investigative dedication, reaching out to local librarians, scouring yearbooks, and, at one point, combing through microfiche for a grainy image of a high schooler orphaned and homeless before he was drafted. 

You can read a lot more in an article by Anna Mulrine Grobe published in The Christian Science Monitor web site at: https://tinyurl.com/8wspeb6x

The following is a press release from The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding:

SANDY, UT: A major upgrade for The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding (or “TNG”), is now available from Next Generation Software. TNG 14 includes many enhancements and new features, plus a variety of improvements to the administrative interface. Existing users can purchase the upgrade at a discount by returning to their previous download page.

Some of the most notable changes include a general style facelift, plus improvements to image tagging, the relationship finder, and the GEDCOM import. The advanced search, the mod manager, and the report generator have also undergone significant overhauls. 

In addition, many adjustments have been made to keep TNG compatible with the latest versions of PHP and MySQL. A more detailed summary of all the new features can be found at http://tngsitebuilding.com/features.php.

For those already running TNG, upgrading to the new version should be fairly easy and should take less than 15 minutes. A helpful video is also available to walk users through the process, but users can also pay a small fee to have someone perform the installation remotely.

TNG makes it easy to put your genealogy on your web site in a dynamic fashion. It uses a database to store your information, so the pages are created at the time they're requested. When you want to make a change, you only need to upload your GEDCOM file again, or enter the new facts directly online. TNG also allows you to link photos and other media to the people in your tree. You're in total control, so you can update your information or customize the look and feel any time you want. 

TNG is commercial software ($34.99 USD one-time license fee). In order to run TNG, your web site must support PHP (a programming language) and MySQL (the database). Existing users may upgrade to the latest version online starting at $17.99. The first version of TNG was published by Darrin Lythgoe in 2001.

The following was published in the Federal Register:

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

[OMB Control Number 1615–0016]

Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of a Currently Approved Collection: Application for Relief Under Former Section 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act

AGENCY: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security.

ACTION: 60-Day notice.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment upon this proposed revision of a currently approved collection of information. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the information collection notice is published in the Federal Register to obtain comments regarding the nature of the information collection, the categories of respondents, the estimated burden (i.e., the time, effort, and resources used by the respondents to respond), the estimated cost to the respondent, and the actual information collection instruments.

DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for 60 days until March 7, 2023.

You can read more at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-01-06/pdf/2023-00004.pdf (scroll down the page a bit).

Three years ago Matt Phillips experienced an incident where he faced his own mortality. 

Being a single father to his 9-year-old son Cooper and 5-year-old daughter Piper, he felt there needed to be a way for him to remain present in their lives, even if he passed away. For Phillips and many others, losing someone means losing their stories, wisdom, and pure essence.

That sentiment inspired his Raleigh-based startup, Project Transcend.

Billing itself as an “experience creation company,” Transcend aims to revolutionize social media by creating a mobile app that allows your life story and essence to live on. Through gathering photos, videos, audio, and ‘written moments,’ users can capture key moments and ultimately their legacy.

“It’s really focused around capturing your life story that entails the most impactful moments, meaningful memories, the things that really kind of define us and package them up in a way that you can pass them along over generations,” said Phillips, who is Project Transcend’s Founder and CEO.

He said it’s not just about the photos or videos we post. It’s sharing the story behind it that “captures the magic” in our lives.

You can read more in an article by Jackie Sizing published in the GrepBeat.com web site at: https://tinyurl.com/86fjs7jr.

The following announcement was written by Legacy Tree Genealogists: 

Legacy Tree Genealogists was named a 2022 Winner for the Best and Brightest Companies to Work for in the Nation by the National Association of Business Resources. 

"We are honored to have received this recognition of our corporate culture and practices. 

In the 18 years we have been in business, Legacy Tree has consistently employed top researchers and professionals in genealogy. We strive to provide a work environment that supports our employees’ professional and personal development," said Jessica Taylor, President and CEO of Legacy Tree Genealogists. 

Legacy Tree Genealogists is the world's highest client-rated genealogy research firm. Founded in 2004, they provide full-service genealogical research for clients worldwide. 

The winning companies are assessed by an independent research firm which reviewed several key measures relative to other nationally recognized winners. 

With over 20 years of experience conducting the Best and Brightest competitions, the National Association for Business Resources (NABR) has identified numerous best Human Resource practices and provided benchmarking for companies that continue to be leaders in employment standards. 

"These 2022 winning organizations have stood out during unpredictable times and have proven they are an employer of choice. They keep their employee's needs first and provide benefits that include development, well-being, work-life balance, rewards, and recognition. In addition, these winning companies offer a fantastic work culture and workplace environment that attracts and retains superior employees," said Jennifer Kluge, President and CEO of NABR and The Best and Brightest Program.

Legacy Tree Genealogists will be honored during the virtual Illuminate Business Summit week in February 2023. 

About Legacy Tree Genealogists 

Legacy Tree Genealogists is the world's leading genealogy research firm. Founded in 2004, the company's mission is to bridge the divide between clients and their ancestors, helping them discover their roots and personal history. Based near the world's most extensive family history library in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, Legacy Tree has developed a network of professional researchers and archives around the globe. Legacy Tree's team of professional genealogists searches the world for answers and finds the un-findable.

To join the team at Legacy Tree Genealogists, visit https://www.legacytree.com/apply 

About the Best and Brightest Program 

The Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® competition identifies and honors organizations committed to excellence in operations and employee enrichment that lead to increased productivity and financial performance. This competition scores potential winners based on regional company performance data and a set standard across the nation. This national program celebrates companies making better businesses, creating richer lives, and building a stronger community. There are numerous regional celebrations throughout the country, such as Charlotte, Miami, Denver, Nashville, New York, Pacific Northwest, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Houston, Milwaukee, San Diego, and San Francisco. Nominations are now being accepted for all programs. Visit thebestandbrightest.com to nominate your organization.

Images saved from a skip, showing the restoration of a city devastated by the blitz, have been identified and catalogued thanks to the work of volunteers.

Thousands of photographs taken by Coventry photographer Arthur Cooper from the 1940s up to the 1960s have been digitized and released online by Coventry University.

The archive, in the form of thousands of glass negatives, was found dumped on a Coventry street and returned to publishing company Mirrorpix.

After sitting at the company's Watford archive for nearly a decade, the 8,049 rescued images have been made available to view as part of the Coventry Digital initiative.

The archive had no information attached, explained the project's director Dr Ben Kyneswood, so he has called on community groups and organisations to help identify people and places to add metadata.

"As soon as I opened the files I thought 'this is just marvellous'. There were just thousands of images with no information on," said Martin Williams.

The chairman of the Friends of Coventry Cathedral group has so far helped identify and caption about 700 of the pictures.

"It was when I saw early historic photos that I'd never seen before that I got very excited," he said.

You can read much more in an article by Vanessa Pearce published in the BBC News web site at: https://tinyurl.com/ye22h5rs.