Jewish genealogy may not always be easy, but it is well worth doing. During World War II, the Jewish people and their public and private records were systematically destroyed. The attempt to eradicate this people and its history can make Jewish genealogy challenging. For the Jewish researcher, genealogy can be a hobby, but it can also be a mission with the objective of honoring the dead by recreating their history. Relatives and ancestors live again through the fruits of such research.

Below is a partial list of the holdings of The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Library that can assist Jewish genealogists in researching their roots in Eastern and Central Europe.

Allen, Serah Fleury. Overcoming Obstacles to Eastern European Research: Self-Help for Laypeople.

Bentz, Edna M. If I Can You Can: Decipher Germanic Records.

Baxter, Angus. In Search of Your German Roots: a Complete Guide to Tracing Your Ancestors in the Germanic Areas of Europe.

Blatt, Warren. FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions about Jewish Genealogy.

Ellmann-Kruger, Angelika. Library Resources for German Jewish Genealogy.

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

Grimsted, Patricia Kennedy. A Handbook for Archival Research in the USSR.

Karo, Inge, compiler. Jewish Genealogy Beginners Guide.

Kurzweil, Arthur. From Generation to Generation: How to Trace Your Jewish Genealogy and Family History.

Mehr, Kahlile B. Sources for Genealogical Research in the Soviet Union.

Mohrer, Fruma. Guide to the YIVO Archives.

Mokotoff, Gary. How to Document Victims and Locate Survivors of the Holocaust.

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

Mokotoff, Gary. WOWW Companion: a Guide to the Communities Surrounding Central and Eastern European Towns.

Movius, John D., ed. Resource Guide to East European Genealogy.

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

Thode, Ernest. Address Book for Germanic Genealogy.

Weiner, Miriam. Exploring Your Sephardic Roots: A Resource Guide.

Weiner, Miriam. Bridging the Generations : Exploring your Jewish Roots.

Weiner, Miriam. Genealogy Research in Eastern Europe and Israel.

Weiner, Miriam. The Holocaust and Genealogy.

Weiner, Miriam. Unusual Sources for Jewish Genealogists.

Zubatsky, David. Sourcebook for Jewish Genealogies and Family Histories.

Perlman, Robert. Bridging Three Worlds: Hungarian-Jewish Americans, 1848-1914.

Suess, Jared H. Handy Guide to Hungarian Genealogical Records.

Ames, Mary Ann Boczon. How to Research your Personal Polish Family History.

Chorzempa, Rosemary A. Polish Roots.

Dobroszycki, Lucjan. Image Before my Eyes: a Photographic History of Jewish Life in Poland, 1864-1939.

Lenius, Brian J. Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia.

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

Obel, Thaddeus J. A Bibliography for Genealogical Research Involving Polish Ancestry.

Rosenstein, Neil. Polish Jewish Cemeteries.

Schlyter, Daniel M. Poland/Prussia: How to Locate Vital Records of Former Prussian Areas of Poland in the Genealogical Library.

Shea, Jonathan. Russian Language Documents from Russian Poland: a Translation Manual for Genealogists.

Smith, Clifford Neal. Reconstructed Passenger Lists for 1851 via Hamburg: Emigrants from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Scandinavia, and Switzerland to Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the United States, and Venezuela.

Weiner, Miriam. Finding Your Jewish Roots in Galicia: a Resource Guide.

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

Wellauer, Maralyn A. Tracing your Polish Roots.

Wynne, Suzan F. Finding Your Jewish Roots in Galicia: A Resource Guide.

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

Feldblyum, Boris. Russian-Jewish Given Names: Their Origins and Variants.

Sack, Sallyann Amdur. The Russian Consular Records Index and Catalog.

Stumpp, Karl. The Emigration from Germany to Russia in the Years 1763-1862.

Weiner, Miriam. Researching your Russian Roots.

Grimsted, Patricia Kennedy. Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the USSR: Ukraine and Moldavia.

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

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

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Austro-Hungarian Empire Boundary Changes and Their Effect on Genealogical Research.

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

Gruber, Ruth Ellen. Upon the Doorposts of Thy House: Jewish Life in East-Central Europe Yesterday and Today.

Schlafler, Sara Edell and Philip Bloom, eds. 1993 Guide to International Jewish Genealogical Research & Resources.

Russian American Genealogical Archival Service.

Friendly, Natalie Brooks. The Friendly Family: the Descendants of the Freundlichs of Bavaria.

Hoenig, Leopold. The Honig / Hoenig family of Kirchenbirk, Falkenau, and Karlsbad, Bohemia: including the related families Adler (Falkenau), Heller (Mies), Blaustern (Tachau and Vienna) and Aschner (Vienna), Fischer (Alt-Rohlau/Karlsbad), Loewy (Budau near Saaz), Holzner (Theusing, Purles), and the other Jewish families in Falkenau.

Isenberg, Janet Bernd. The Wolff Family of Muenstereifel.

Menton, Arthur F. The Book of Destiny: Toledot Charlap.

Menton, Arthur F. Ancilla to Toledot Charlap.

Reiss, Nathan Morris. Some Jewish Families of Hesse and Galicia.

Ronn, J. Michoel. The Dworskys of Lazdei: The History of a Lithuanian Jewish Family from the Mid-1700’s until The Present.

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The New York Genealogical & Biographical Society Library is located at 122 East 58th Street, New York, NY 10022-1939. The Library is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm. The G&B is a membership organization, and new members are always welcome. Benefits of membership include access to all of the library's collections (books, manuscripts, and microforms); subscriptions to our two quarterly publications, the Record and the Newsletter, and discounts on other publications; four free queries per year in the Newsletter and on our website; and reduced fees for educational programs and our library's record search service.

Non-members using the library pay a donation of $10 which they can apply to membership at any time. Non-members have access to books and periodicals but not to open stacks, manuscripts, microforms and CD-ROMS. Annual Membership for an individual residing in New York City (the five boroughs) is $60.00 per year and for an individual residing outside of New York City $50.00 per year For more information please visit our website at  http://www.nygbs.org/.