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jewish history

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Tracing the Past: Deciphering Handwriting in Yiddish and Hebrew

By J.D. Arden, Reference Services Librarian, Genealogy Specialist, Center for Jewish History Here at the Center for Jewish History in the Ackman and Ziff Family Genealogy Institute, researchers in genealogy often discover or bring in old postcards, letters, manuscripts or vital statistics records. These old documents are notoriously difficult to read! Some are in Yiddish, some in Hebrew. Here are my tips for deciphering Hebrew-alphabet penmanship…

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Shad Polier and the Civil Rights Movement

To commemorate the end of Black History Month, our new intern Poorvi Buller looked through an American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) collection of Shad Polier’s papers for quotes that are emblematic of this lawyer and activist’s commitment to protecting civil rights. Tomorrow, we will be tweeting these quotes out to remind all those in our community of the lasting significance of the civil rights movement, and…

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Kindertransport

As part of the Kindertransport movement, thousands of Jewish children from Central Europe were allowed to immigrate to Britain. There, most lived with host families throughout the war. Above is a list from 1934, matching refugee children with families in Britain. Image: Courtesy of Leo Baeck Institute The Center for Jewish History insists upon the most genuine of American and Jewish values: religious freedom, human…

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Isidor

Isidor  A. Popper, an early 20th century immigrant to New York City and an entrepreneur, signed the above affidavit in 1938, sponsoring the immigration of Vienese refugees Alice and Gisele Popper (even though they were not actually her relatives). Popper signed 32 such documents, which were most successful when promoted by a family member. Here, you can see the desperate letters that Alice wrote to Isidor,…

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