JRI-Poland, also known as Jewish Records Indexing-Poland, is an online resource for Jewish genealogists searching for Jewish vital records for the current and former territories of Poland.[1]

Jewish Records Indexing-Poland
AbbreviationJRI-Poland
Formation1995; 29 years ago (1995)
FounderStanley M. Diamond
TypeNon-Profit
ServicesDatabases
FieldsJewish genealogy
Executive Director
Stanley M. Diamond
Websitejri-poland.org

History edit

JRI-Poland was founded in 1995 by genealogists Stanley M. Diamond, and Michael Tobias, and Steven Zedeck. Diamond was researching the Beta Thalassemia genetic trait, which he suspected was present in Ashkenazi Jewish families in his family tree.[2]

In February 2013, a historic agreement was negotiated between JRI-Poland and the Polish State Archives to make more records available in digitized form.[3][4]

In 2014, JRI-Poland was instrumental in the Finding Your Roots episode featuring the family history of Alan Dershowitz, Carole King, and Tony Kushner according to Josh Gleason, producer, who said that the program was able to provide information about the subject's 3rd and 4th ancestors that would otherwise have been unavailable except for the work of JRI-Poland.[5]

In 2016, records found in the JRI-Poland databases provided confirmation of Holocaust survivor Yisrael Kristal being the oldest living man.[6][7][8]

Awards edit

  • 1999: IAJGS Award for Outstanding Contribution via the Internet Award[9]
  • 2014: IAJGS Award for Outstanding Contribution to Jewish Genealogy via the Internet[10]

References edit

  1. ^ Lipsius, Hadassah (Fall 2008). "Jewish Records Indexing-Poland Presentation on Polish Records". Dorot. 30 (1): 7–8. Archived from the original on 21 December 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  2. ^ Diamond, Stanley M. (3 August 2004). "About the beta-thalassemia project". DiamondGen. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  3. ^ Burstein, Nathan (19 February 2013). "Poland deal massively expands access to prewar Jewish records". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  4. ^ Diamond, Stanley M. (10 May 2013). "IAJGS 2015 Conference Syllabus: What's New in JRI–Poland?" (PDF). International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS). Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  5. ^ ""Our" Finding Your Roots episode on November 4th". Jewish Family Search. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  6. ^ Stackmarch, Liam (11 March 2016). "World's Oldest Man, a Confectioner From Poland, Survived Auschwitz". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  7. ^ Lynch, Kevin (11 March 2016). "Guinness World Records announces Holocaust survivor Israel Kristal as world's oldest living man". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  8. ^ Sharon, Jeremy (21 January 2016). "Israeli Holocaust survivor, 112, likely oldest man in the world". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  9. ^ "IAJGS Achievement Awards 1999". International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS). 12 August 1999. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  10. ^ "IAJGS Achievement Awards 2014". International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS). August 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2016.

External links edit