Local History & Genealogy

Jewish Genealogy

Getting Started

Resources relating to Jewish genealogy are located in the Humanities and Social Sciences Department at the Toronto Reference Library, including general handbooks and guides for various countries. The collection includes Canadian, British, European and Holocaust-related material, aided by a strong map and atlas collection.

 

Searching the Library Catalogue

 

Suggested Subjects and Keywords:

• Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
• Jews – Genealogy
• Jews – [Location] – Genealogy  E.g., Jews – Canada – Genealogy
• Names, Personal – Jewish

 

Suggested Titles:

 

Biographical Resources

• Adler, Michael. British Jewry Book of Honour 

• Cohn-Sherbok, Dan. The dictionary of Jewish biography 

• Emden, Paul H. Jews of Britain: a Series of Biographies

• Lipsitz, Edmond Canadian Jewry Today: Who’s Who in Canadian Jewry 

• Marcus, Jacob Rader. The Concise Dictionary of American Jewish Biography 

• Rosenstein, Emanuel. Latter Day Leaders, Sages, and Scholars: Born between Late 18^th and Early 20^th Century (index to biographical sources) 

• Rosenstein, Neil. The Unbroken Chain: Biographical Sketches and the Genealogy of Illustrious Jewish Families from the 15^th-20^th Century 

• Tapper, Lawrence F. A Biographical Dictionary of Canadian Jewry 1909-1914, from the Canadian Jewish Times

• Who’s Who in American Jewry 

 

Geographical Resources

• Barnavi, Eli. A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People: from the time of the patriarchs to the present.

• Black Book of Localities Whose Jewish Population Was Exterminated by the Nazis 

• Cohen, Chester Shtetl Finder: Jewish Communities in the 19^th and Early 20^th Centuries in the Pale of Settlement of Russian and Poland, and in Lithuania, Latvia, Galicia, and Bukovina, with Names of Residents 

• Gilbert, Martin. The Routledge Atlas of the Holocaust 

• Great Britain. Foreign Office. Geographical Section, General Staff. Europe, Scale 1:1,000,000. 1915-1918. Covers Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Greece, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Yugoslavia and northern Italy, eastern Germany and western Russia.  MAP DRAWER: Eastern Europe

• Historical Atlas of the Holocaust 

• Kowallis, Otto K. A Genealogical Guide and Atlas of Silesia 

• Lenius, Brian J. Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia 

• Mokotoff, Gary. Where Once We Walked: a Guide to the Jewish Communities Destroyed in the Holocaust 

• Poland 1:100,000 [microfiche]. This microfiche series reproduces topographic maps of Poland issued in the 1920’s and 1930’s. It covers what is now Poland and parts of Germany, Slovakia, Ukraine, Byelorussia, Lithuania, Latvia and Kalingrad Oblast. 

• Postal, Bernard. The Traveler’s Guide to Jewish Landmarks of Europe (lists some European Jewish burial grounds)

• Wynne, Suzan. Galician towns and administrative districts

 

Handbooks and Guides

• Amsel-Arieli, Melody. Jewish lives: 1750 – 1950: a guide for family historians 

• Beare, Arlene. A Guide to Jewish Genealogy in Latvia and Estonia 

• Broadhurst, Neil. A Checklist of Registers of Protestant and Jewish Congregations in Quebec

• Cutter, Charles. Judaica Reference Sources: A Selective, Annotated Bibliographic Guide

• Ellmann-Krüger, Angelika G. Library Resources for German-Jewish Genealogy 

• Glicenstein, Ze’ev. Roots and Remembrance: Explorations in Jewish genealogy 

• Himka, John-Paul. Galicia and Bukovina: a research handbook about Western Ukraine, late 19^th and 20^th centuries

• Joseph, Anthony. My ancestors were Jewish 4th ed. 

• Kronik, Aleksander. Some Archival Sources for Ukrainian-Jewish Genealogy 

• Kurzweil, Arthur. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Genealogy 

• Kurzweil, Arthur. From generation to generation: how to trace your Jewish genealogy and family history 
• Malka, Jeffrey S. Sephardic genealogy: discovering your Sephardic ancestor and their world
  

• Mokotoff, Gary. Getting started in Jewish genealogy 

• Rottenberg, Dan. Finding Our Fathers: a Guidebook to Jewish Genealogy 

• Sack, Sallyann Amdur. A Guide to Jewish Genealogical Research in Israel 

• Skyte, Thea. A Guide to Jewish Genealogy in Germany & Austria 

• Tapper, Lawrence F. Archival Sources for the Study of Canadian Jewry 

• Weiner, Miriam. Jewish Roots in Poland: Pages from the Past and Archival Inventories 

• Weiner, Miriam. Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldova: Pages from the Past and Archival Inventories 

• Wenzerul, Rosemary. A Beginner’s Guide to Jewish Genealogy in Great Britain 

• Wenzerul, Rosemary. A Guide to Jewish Genealogy in the United Kingdom

• Wenzerul, Rosemary. A Guide to reading Hebrew inscriptions and documents 

• Wynne, Susan F. Finding Your Jewish Roots in Galicia: a Resource Guide 

• Zubatsky, David S. Jewish Genealogy: a Sourcebook of Family Histories and Genealogies 

 

Holocaust

• Anders, Edward. Jews in Liepaja, Latvia 1941-45: a Memorial Book

• Buber Agassi, Judith. The Jewish Women Prisoners of Revensbruck: Who Were They?

• Cohen, Rose. The Holocaust in Lithuania 1941-1945: A Book of Remembrance

• Czech, Danuta. Auschwitz Chronicle, 1939-1945

• Dobroszycki, Lucjan. Survivors of the Holocaust in Poland: a Portrait Based on Jewish Community Records, 1944-1947

• Garrard, John and Carol. The Bones of Berdichev: the Life and Fate of Vasily Grossman (Contains lists of Jews from Berdichev)

• Hepp, Michael. Die Ausbürgerung Deutscher Staatsangehöriger 1933-45 nach den im Reichsanzeiger Veröffentlichten Listen = Expatriation lists as published in the "Reichsanzeiger" 1933-45

• Klarsfeld, Serge. Index to Memorial to the Jews Deported from France

• ---. Memorial to the Jews Deported from France, 1942-1944: Documentation of the Deportation of the Victims of the Final Solution in France 

• Kugelmass, Jack. From a Ruined Garden: the Memorial Books of Polish Jewry 

• Robinson, Jacob. Guide to Unpublished Materials of the Holocaust Period 

• Schneider, Gertrude. Exile and Destruction: the Fate of Austrian Jews, 1938-1945 (Lists 2,017 survivors) 

 

Canadian Sources

• Eker, Glen. Index of Jews resident in Newfoundland according to the censuses of 1921, 1935 and 1945

• Eker, Glen. Index of Jews resident in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island according to the 1861 to 1901 censuses of Canada

• Eker, Glen. Index of Jews resident in the Province of Quebec according to the 1861-1901 censuses

• Eker, Glen. Index of Jews resident in Western Canada according to the 1870-1901 censuses

• Eker, Glen. Jewish Residents of Toronto in the 1861-1901 Censuses of Canada

• Eker, Glen. Jews resident in Ontario according to the 1851 to 1901 censuses of Canada

 

Local History

• Cochrane, Jean. Kensington 

• Medresh, Israël. Montreal of Yesterday: Jewish Life in Montreal, 1900-1920 

• Speisman, Stephen A. The Jews of Toronto: a History to 1937 

• Thompson, Austin Seton. Spadina: a Story of Old Toronto 

 

Names

• Abensur, Philip. Moroccan Jewish Surnames

• Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Ashkenazic Given Names: Their Origins, Structure, Pronunciation, and Migrations 

• Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia 

• Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland 

• Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire 

• Beider, Alexander. Jewish Surnames in Prague: (15^th-18^th Centuries) 

• Faiguenboim, Guilherme. Dictionary of Sephardic Surnames: including Christianized Jews, Conversos, Marranos, Italians, Berbers, and their History in Spain, Portugal and Italy

• Gorr, Shmuel. Jewish Personal Names: Their Origin, Derivation, and Diminutive Forms

• Guggenheimer, Heinrich W. Jewish Family Names and Their Origins: an Etymological Dictionary

• Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German-Jewish Surnames

 

Periodicals

• Avotaynu (1985- ) Teaneck, New Jersey. The international review of Jewish genealogy. Access index online. 

• Shem Tov (1988- ) Willowdale, Ontario. Jewish Genealogical Society of Canada; Jewish Genealogical Society of Toronto. Access index online.

 

Other Sources

• American Jewish Year Book (1900- ) 

• Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies. Jewish Genealogical People Finder 

• Auslander, Jordan. Index to the Jewish Vital Statistics Records of Slovakia

• The Jewish Year Book (1909- )

• Die Judischen Gefallenen des Deutschen Heeres, der Deutschen Marine und der Deutschen Schutztruppen 1914-1918: ein Gedenkbuch

• Goldstein, D.B. (David B.). Jacob’s Legacy: A Genetic view of Jewish History

• Kleiman, Yaakov. DNA & Tradition: the genetic link to the ancient Hebrews

• Leeson, Daniel N. Four Indices to the 1784 Census of Alsatian Jews

• Mokotoff, Gary. Index to Name Changes in the Palestine Gazette

• Moser, Geraldine. Hamburg passengers from the Kingdom of Poland and the Russian Empire: Indirect Passage to New York 1855-June 1873 

• Sack, Sallyann Amdur. Index to Russian Consular Records 

• Stern, Malcolm H. First American Jewish Families: 600 genealogies, 1654-1977 

• United States. Dept. of State. Index of Jewish Names from the U.S. Department of State Decimal File (RG59) Series on Protection of Interests of U.S. Citizens for Germany, Poland and Romania, 1910-1929; Austria-Hungary, 1910-1939

• ---. Protection of Interests of U.S. Citizens Part II, Index of Jewish Names

• ---. Protection of Interests of U.S. Citizens Part III, Index of Jewish Names, Palestine

• ---. S. State Dept., WWII [i.e. WWI] Requests to Assist People in Russia

 

Jewish Genealogical Society of Toronto Deposit Collection:

Additional resources are available through the Jewish Genealogical Society of Toronto deposit collection which is housed in the Humanities and Social Sciences Department, 2nd floor, Toronto Reference Library.

To view the holdings of the JGS Toronto's Library Collection, visit their website:

https://jgstoronto.ca/

Click: Research/JGST Library Collection

Choose: Subject File/Author File/Title

Established as a registered charitable organization, the Jewish Genealogical Society of Toronto provides a forum for the exchange of knowledge and information through their website and newsletter, The Shem Tov, and through its collection of books at the Toronto Reference Library, regular monthly lectures, workshops and special interest groups.

External Resources:

 Ontario Jewish Archives

4600 Bathurst Street.
Telephone: 416-635-5391

 

 

For further assistance contact the library:

Answerline: 416-393-7131

answerline@torontopubliclibrary.ca

Humanities and Social Sciences Department, Toronto Reference Library 416-393-7175

Contact us: Ask A Librarian