If you are researching relatives who may have been Holocaust victims, you need to check the Arolsen Archives for records that have just been discovered and added to that collection. According to a story by Bernard Osser and published today in the Times of Israel web site:

A train-load of victims destined for concentration camp, lined up on the railway station on arrival at Auschwitz.

"Ewa Bazan, an archivist at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, compares her work on newly accessible records to piecing together a “puzzle” that is revealing new names and stories of the Nazi death camp’s inmates.

"Ninety percent of the notorious camp’s files were destroyed by its guards before they fled but a recently completed two-year collaboration with the Arolsen Archives in Germany is bringing new information to light.

“We didn’t know what to expect when we started the project,” Bazan told AFP, barely hiding her emotion.

"The patient, humble research carried out by Bazan and her colleagues has uncovered the previously unknown identities of an estimated 4,000 camp inmates as well as information about 26,000 others.

"Currently, the identities of around 300,000 inmates out of the 400,000 estimated to have been held at the camp are known."

You can read the full story at https://www.timesofisrael.com/archives-uncover-forgotten-names-of-auschwitz-inmates/.

The following is an announcement issued by Ancestry.com:

LEHI, Utah and SAN FRANCISCO -- Mar. 24, 2021-- Ancestry®, the global leader in family history and consumer genomics, today announced the appointment of Lorrie Norrington as an independent member of its Board of Directors. She previously served as an advisor to Ancestry from May 2019 to December 2020.

Lorrie Norrington has more than 30 years of operating experience in technology, software, and internet businesses. She currently serves as an Advisor and in an Operating Partner capacity for Lead Edge Capital, a growth equity firm.

Prior to Lead Edge Capital, Norrington was the President of eBay Marketplaces and led all eBay businesses in 39 countries. Before joining eBay, Norrington was the CEO of Shopping.com Inc., an online shopping comparison site acquired by eBay in 2005, served as an Officer at Intuit and led a variety of businesses at the General Electric Company over a 20-year period in a broad range of industries.

“We are pleased to welcome Lorrie to Ancestry’s board of directors. She brings decades of leadership in key areas, including consumer technology platforms, e-commerce and innovation at a global scale,” said Mark Thompson, Ancestry board chair. “Lorrie joins the board at an exciting time and will provide valuable perspective as we continue to accelerate growth and empower journeys of personal discovery for millions more people around the world.”

Norrington has an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BS degree from the University of Maryland. She also serves on the board of Colgate-Palmolive, HubSpot, Autodesk and Eventbrite. Previous boards include DIRECTV, Shopping.com, McAfee, TaskRabbit, Catawiki, and Lucasfilm.

About Ancestry

Ancestry®, the global leader in family history and consumer genomics, empowers journeys of personal discovery to enrich lives. With our unparalleled collection of more than 27 billion records and over 18 million people in our growing DNA network, customers can discover their family story and gain a new level of understanding about their lives. For over 30 years, we’ve built trusted relationships with millions of people who have chosen us as the platform for discovering, preserving and sharing the most important information about themselves and their families.

The following is an excerpt from an article by Jenny Ashcraft published in the Fold3 Blog:

Soldiers from the 92nd Infantry Division

The 92^nd Infantry Division, also known as Buffalo Soldiers, was the only Black infantry division to see combat in Europe during WWII. They served as part of the U.S. Fifth Army in Italy’s Po Valley and the northern Apennine Mountains, where they helped penetrate the Gothic Line (Germany’s last major line of defense against Allied forces pushing north). The division paid a heavy price, losing an estimated 700 soldiers. To date, 50 soldiers from the 92^nd remain unaccounted for, and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) would like to use DNA analysis from surviving family members to identify them. We’re teaming up with the DPAA to help spread the word and track down the families of these fallen soldiers. Let’s honor the sacrifices of the 92^nd Infantry Division and help bring them home!

To positively identify the missing members of the 92^nd, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) started the “92^nd Infantry Project” in 2014. Of the 53 soldiers unidentified at the end of the war, 50 are still unaccounted for. One major obstacle that stands in the way of positive identification is family reference DNA samples.

You can read more about this worthwhile project at: https://blog.fold3.com/bring-the-buffalo-soldiers-home/.

The following announcement was written by Accredited Genealogists Ireland:

Accredited Genealogists Ireland member Paul Gorry has published a new edition of his 2018 book, Credentials for Genealogists: Proof of the Professional. In it he puts forward the case for professional genealogists seeking credentials, or accreditation, from a relevant accrediting body. There are eight such bodies throughout the world, AGI being one of them.

Gorry says “nowadays the majority of professional genealogists do not hold credentials and appear not to think them necessary for their career”. But he argues that professional credentials provide “a structure essential to the integrity of the profession, a stamp of approval for the conscientious practitioner and protection for clients”.

He asserts that credentials guarantee that the holder has the required knowledge, skill and experience, as well as ethical behaviour, to be regarded as a true professional.

Back in 2018 he chose to sell the book through an independent bookshop in Ireland. People overseas found this inconvenient and asked about ordering it through Amazon.

For that reason this Second Edition is available to purchase on Amazon. It went live early on St. Patrick’s Day (Irish time), purely by coincidence. It may be found by following this link to Amazon: https://amzn.to/38NqL4W.

Genea is a research program for Macintosh that has earned a great reputation. Now the company has announced version 2.0 which adds new features as well as versions for iOS and iPadOS.

Here is the announcement from Vertical Horizon Software:

If you need help with your genealogy research, Genea is the app for you. Genea allows you to keep your notes and research logs organised and separated from your own family tree. When you find a matching results, you can easily export the note to import the information in your family tree.

After a year of feedback and improvements, we bring Genea 2 to iOS, iPadOS and MacOS. We not only improved the Notes features, but also added Research logs to Genea.

Research logs allows you to track your genealogy research in a simple but convenient way. Create as many research logs as you want. Define the objective of each research log. Add context info about the people and or the places you are researching, and log the research you have done. You can share a PDF of the Research log and add research activities in your calendar. You can of course search research logs to find results and more.

Notes is modified in several ways. You can sort lists alphabetically or on date. You can search on places, dates (exact date, before, after or between dates). You can search on gedcom tags and more.

Notes can contain text and an image, and you can link events to the Notes, and link people to the events, including their relationship to the event.

You can adjust images and even do text recognition on typed text. All this can be exported as a gedcom file to import in your favorite family tree app.

The MacOS version provides Touch Bar features and shortcuts. In several places we added extra context info and popover views, so all the info you need is just one tap away.

With Genea 2, your genealogy research app has become much more mature, and a powerful tool for all people that take genealogy research serious.

Genea appStore iOS (USA): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/genea/id1468873969

Genea appStore MacOS (USA): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/genea/id1487534380

Genea manual v2.1: https://verticalhorizon-software.com/onewebmedia/Genea%20-%20your%20genealogy%20research%20manual%20v2.1.pdf

Website: https://verticalhorizon-software.com/genea.html

Blog: https://wordpress.com/view/verticalhorizonsoftware.wordpress.com

About American Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society

American Ancestors, also known as New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), with its national headquarters located in Boston’s Back Bay, is the oldest and largest genealogical society in America. It serves more than 300,000 members and millions of online users engaged in family history nationally and around the world. It is home to a world-class research library and archive, and an expert staff. American Ancestors offers an award- winning genealogical research website at AmericanAncestors.org with more than 1.4 billion names and maintains a publishing division which produces original genealogical research, scholarship, and educational materials, including The NEHG Register, flagship journal of American genealogy since 1847, American Ancestors, its award- winning magazine and Mayflower Descendant, a quarterly journal of Pilgrim genealogy and history.

The following is an excerpt from a new announcement from Reclaim the Records:

NOTE: The above is an excerpt from the Reclaim the Records newsletter and is too long to reproduce in its entirely here. You can read the full announcement in the Reclaim the Records newsletter at:

https://mailchi.mp/reclaimtherecords/our-legal-fight-to-open-1-point-6-million-nyc-death-certificates-moves-forward?e=1fcb9139f0

Most of us have always pictured Viking warriors as being blonde, blue-eyed males. However, it appears there were exceptions. Historians have known for some time that Viking warriors included some women. Now the historians have discovered that at least one woman was a Viking warrior and a leader.

One particular Viking grave was unearthed more than 100 years ago. It obviously was the grave of a chieftain or some similar high-ranking warrior. For more than 100 years, the high-ranking Viking warrior was assumed to be male. Dr Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson has been studying the grave found in the 19th Century.

While the grave and its contents had been known for more than a century, apparently nobody thought to determine the sex of the skeleton. After all, Viking warriors were always males, right?

Wrong.

Thanks to the new technology called DNA, determining the sex of a skeleton is now rather easy. However, nobody thought to test this particular skeleton until recently.

Dr Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson's team carried out a DNA test on the bones, revealing that they belonged to a biological woman. The discovery shook the academic world. The artifacts buried with the warrior indicated it was the grave of a high level warrior.

As stated in the article, "If this omen actually was the warrior that she was buried as, she probably would have done some not so nice things, so she wouldn't have been a very good role model. She was a fierce person."

You can read more and watch a video of this story in the BBC World Service web site at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/reel/video/p099hyk0/the-viking-warrior-who-turned-out-to-be-a-woman.

There is a family myth amongst tens of thousands of American families: "The family name was changed at Ellis Island." The stories claim the immigrant arrived at Ellis Island and was unable to communicate with the officials. A record was then created by someone who (undoubtedly did not speak the same language as the immigrant) assigned the immigrant a descriptive name.

WRONG!

This fairy tale refuses to die. Let's look at a few simple facts:

1. Passenger lists were not created at Ellis Island. They were created abroad, beginning close to the immigrant's home, when the immigrant purchased his ticket. In 99% of the cases, the clerk filling out the forms and creating the passenger list in "the old country" knew how to speak, read, and write your ancestor's language. That clerk filled in the proper name. In the case of Eastern European or Oriental languages, those forms even included the correct non-Roman characters. To be sure, spelling variations were common as the immigrants usually were illiterate and often didn't know their own alphabets or how to spell their own names in any language. The clerks wrote what they heard, which may or may not be the same spelling used elsewhere. In fact, there might not be a "correct" spelling. However, what was recorded ALWAYS sounded correct, especially when pronounced in the immigrant's language.

It is unlikely that anyone at the local steamship office in "the old country" was unable to communicate with the immigrant or his/her family. Names were most likely recorded with a high degree of accuracy at that time.

2. The idea that the immigrant was unable to communicate with officials at Ellis Island is ludicrous. In fact, one third of all immigrant inspectors at Ellis Island in the early twentieth century were themselves foreign-born, and all immigrant inspectors spoke at least three languages. In addition, Ellis Island and other ports of entry also hired an army of interpreters, most of them as part-time employees. These interpreters always (repeat: ALWAYS) could speak, read, and write the languages of other immigrants. If a new immigrant arrived and no interpreter was available for his or her particular language, that immigrant was detained at Ellis Island until a qualified interpreter was located and brought in for the interview. Most immigrants were processed through Ellis Island within a day or two but there were cases where immigrants were detained for several days until an interpreter became available and proper documentation could be completed. Nobody passed through the process without being interviewed by someone in a suitable language.

Immigrant being interviewed at Ellis Island by an Immigration Official and an Interpreter

3. The passenger lists were always prepared in "the old country" by steamship company officials. If any immigrant arrived at Ellis Island and provided a different name to officials from that provided on the passenger list, he or she was always denied entry. If a brief investigation could not clear up the mystery, the immigrant was shipped back to the old country on the steamship's return trip.

NOTE: Many immigrants were refused entry for a variety of reasons and were returned. Estimates seem to vary from 12% to 18% of all would-be immigrants were denied entry into the United States and instead were sent back to their originating countries. The fates of most of these returnees has not been well documented.

4. Later immigrants had to verify their correct names every year. Starting in July of 1940, the Alien Registration Act required every alien resident in the United States to register at their local Post Office in January. As part of the registration process, the immigrant had to provide ALL names by which he or she had ever been known, including his or her full name as used in "the old country" as well as the name used currently. Yes, that was true even if the "previous name" was written in Russian, Arabic, Chinese, or other letters. Alien Registration requirements applied to all aliens over the age of fourteen, regardless of nationality and regardless of immigration status.

Despite these facts, the Ellis Island name-change story (or Castle Garden, or Angel Island, or any other Port of Entry, or earlier versions of the same story) is as American as apple pie. However, there is little to no truth to these stories.

When Did the Names Change?

After processing through Ellis Island and settling within the United States, many immigrants DID change their names. In numerous cases, the names were changed for them by public officials, schoolteachers, shopkeepers, and neighbors. Anyone from Eastern Europe, with a name LONG on consonants and short on vowels, learned that his name often got in the way of a job interview or became the subject of ridicule at his child's school. Any change that might smooth their way to the American dream was seen as a step in the right direction. In most cases, these later name changes were made without court papers or any other official recognition.

In any case, the records at Ellis Island and other ports of entry always contained the original names, although with frequent spelling variations.