Steven Brock has been researching his family roots in Poland and Russia for over 25 years and has traced his ancestors back to the late 1700’s. He was an executive member of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Hamilton and Area for over 12 years and now finds himself serving on the Board of JGS-Toronto. In addition to his own research, he has been involved in several projects including the Jewish Records Indexing – Poland, The Canadian Naturalization Database Indexing, and the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry.
Available Speaking Topics:
- The ABCs of Jewish Genealogy: Please join us as Steven Brock presents the ABCs of Jewish Genealogy. During this presentation, he will walk us through the basics of genealogical research, how it specifically pertains to Jewish ancestry and how to get started in discovering your own family histories.
- Yad Vashem: Preserving the Memories and Helping Us Discover our Lost Families: In 1957, twelve years after the end of the Holocaust, Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, opened its doors in Jerusalem for the first time. Dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered by the Nazis, the museum has become the second-most visited tourist site in Israel, after the Western Wall. Among the documents collected by Yad Vashem are Pages of Testimony (PoT). Submitted by survivors, relatives or friends, these one page documents are designed to restore the personal identities and brief life stories of each individual victim. Over 3 million Pages of Testimony have been amassed to date.In 2004, Yad Vashem digitized and uploaded all PoTs into a free searchable database. This enabled family members, genealogists and other researchers the ability to search this vast archive from the comfort of their own homes. In the 19 years since, Yad Vashem has added innumerable other Holocaust related resources to their website.
Please join us as Steven Brock gives us a brief, insightful history of this inspiring museum and guides us through a step-by-step demonstration of how to get the most out of their extensive collections and powerful on-line research tools.
- Jewish Immigration to Canada: The Ships that Brought Our Ancestors: Please join us Steven Brock presents Jewish Immigration to Canada: The Ships that Brought Our During his presentation, he will walk us through the history of Jewish immigration to Canada focusing on the ocean liners that brought our ancestors from Europe.
- The Saddest Stories In The World: Yizkor Books And How To Use Them In Genealogy: Following the Holocaust, survivors from specific European Jewish communities published memorial (Yizkor) books in order to remember the thousands of towns and villages destroyed by the Nazis.
In this presentation, Steven Brock recounts the origins of Yizkor books, where to find and how to understand them, and how to use them to research your ancestral homes and the lost members of your family tree.
- The Genealogical Importance of Gravestones and the Hamilton JOWBR Initiative:
For those tracing their family tree, gravestones can be an incredible source of information. They can provide the researcher with key details relating to their ancestors, including names, dates, places and references to previous generations. In this presentation, Steven Brock will discuss Jewish gravestones and their importance in genealogy. He will speak to the origins of the Matzevah and how to read and interpret the information carved into the memorial. He will then address The JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR); how to use it and JGSH’s contribution to this remarkable database.
- The Not So Mythical Village Of Chelm: Jewish folklore is filled with stories about the village of Chelm. Outsiders consider the villagers as fools, but they know that they are the great sages of the world and that their logic always makes perfect sense – at least to them. Although Chelm seems like a mythical place, it is in fact a real village in south-east Poland.
In this presentation, Steven Brock recounts the history of the real life village and how it got its humourous and less than flattering reputation.
