Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois members to share discoveries and research tips on June 26, 2022:

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois will hold a “Kvell and Tell” session on Sunday, June 26, 2022, as part of the group’s annual meeting. Several JGSI members will take turns sharing family history discoveries and research tips. This meeting, which starts at 2 p.m. CDT, also features a brief annual report from JGSI’s co-presidents, Debbie Kroopkin and Wendy Hauser. (A separate JGSI members-only genealogy question-and-answer discussion time will start at 1 p.m.)

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This year's Kvell and Tell presenters are the following:

• Sue Davis will talk about her paternal grandfather, Sam Schapiro, who was instrumental in assisting many of his cousins escape from the Nazis, and how one of those cousins, Max Weinstein, and his German, Christian partner were able to protect their son from the Nazis, as Max was led away one day, never to return.
• Moreen Ferdie will tell the story of her great-uncle Max Blinski in World War II, who was on the ship Leopoldville, which was torpedoed by a German U-boat.Bobby Jacobs will describe her efforts to share family history with her great nieces and nephews and how she is giving suggestions and hoping to get all the descendants of her parents to participate.
• Irene Jacobson will describe the process of researching, writing and publishing her family history book.
• Gayle Justman will share her research into Chaya Litvak, who immigrated to America in 1912 with her maternal grandfather, and the tools that she used to discover who she really was.
• Mike Karsen will share with us the latest additions to the JGSI Jewish Chicago Database (JJCD), a major research tool on our website.
• Bob Silverstein will briefly explain how he answered the question of whether or not he is a Levi, Kohane, or Yisrael and tell a story about how a soldier’s Purple Heart found its way back to his sister after 76 years.

JGSI is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping members collect, preserve, and perpetuate the records and history of their ancestors. JGSI is a resource for the worldwide Jewish community to research their Chicago-area roots. The JGSI motto is “Members Helping Members Since 1981.” The group has more than 300 members and is affiliated with the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies.

JGSI members have access to useful and informative online family history research resources, including a members’ forum, more than 65 video recordings of past speakers’ presentations, monthly JGSI E-News, quarterly Morasha JGSI newsletter, and much more. Members as well as non-members can look for their ancestors on the free searchable JGSI Jewish Chicago Database.