beltainelady: Scrumbella the Stilt Spirit (Default)
beltainelady ([personal profile] beltainelady) wrote2009-04-28 04:06 pm

Ancestry.com?

This happens every time I watch Schindler's List. If you've seen it, you may remember the scene where Amon Goethe (Ralph Fiennes) orders a female Jewish engineer to be shot after she tells him that the foundation for the barracks need to be replaced. She gives her name as "Diana Reiter". Since the film is based on the book, which is based on eyewitness accounts, letters and other information found about Schindler's doings, I have reason to believe she existed as a real person.

And a person who is more than likely related to the rest of my mother's father's family: Jews displaced and scattered by the Holocaust. I am only Brasilian by way of Germany, where her mother and father's family originated. I took a quick perusal of Ancestry.com's site, and both my mother's and grandmother's names are found on the immigration lists.

Of course, to access any information, I need to pay for membership to the site. Has anyone done this and had good results? I don't want to pay needlessly if the site doesn't really help. Strange, my mother was always into genealogy and did a lot of research into my father's family (pre-internet! I have letters from Russia, from behind the Iron Curtain. Letters that warn her not to look too far into the family, since apparently, we were still banned from the country) but she didn't leave me too much information regarding her own family. I have some names and remembered stories, but that's about it.

Suggestions?
jenett: Big and Little Dipper constellations on a blue watercolor background (Default)

[personal profile] jenett 2009-04-28 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Suggestions:

- I've never use ancestry.com, but I've heard good things about it for families that have enough widespread members to make documenting sensible. (Mine, on the other hand, might not be a good move.)

- The US Holocaust Memorial Museum has useful info on tracing relatives affected by the Holocaust: much more info here: http://www.ushmm.org/research/library/faq/details.php?lang=en&topic=03#01

- Your local library (ideally, the main library, they tend to have more resources). Many have a genealogy section, special subscriptions, and other resources - at least enough to get an idea what's worth pursuing. You might also look at the state history library: they have genealogy resources and training even for stuff outside the state.

[identity profile] gessatrude.livejournal.com 2009-04-28 09:47 pm (UTC)(link)
I used ancestry.com extensively when I was putting together mine and tony's family trees. I find if you are serious about doing research on your family history, its well worth the cost.

[identity profile] aislingthebard.livejournal.com 2009-04-28 10:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Get the trial membership. It's only fifteen dollars and you can do a lot in that three months. Then, see if it does you any good.

[identity profile] odilla.livejournal.com 2009-04-29 01:25 am (UTC)(link)
my aunt (or is she my cousin) has a membership, and is constantly adding to it. It's really awesome! She's got a huge tree going on!

I'm related to Joan Collins!

:-)

[identity profile] jinxxed.livejournal.com 2009-04-29 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
Weird....we just watched that movie this weekend

[identity profile] herbmcsidhe.livejournal.com 2009-04-29 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
Ancestry.com can be a very useful site - I had a paid subscription there for years, but let it lapse last year and haven't renewed it yet.

However -- find an LDS Family History Center near you; they have access to all of the information there and it won't cost you anything. The folks who work at the FHCs are very helpful and can likely point you towards additional resources as well.

[identity profile] aislingthebard.livejournal.com 2009-04-29 06:02 am (UTC)(link)
You don't necessarily have to find an LDS FHC near you. They're also online, here: http://www.familysearch.org

[identity profile] loreleyjacob.livejournal.com 2009-04-29 09:19 pm (UTC)(link)
The Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names:
http://www.yadvashem.org/wps/portal/IY_HON_Welcome

Maybe that could help too.