OUR SOCIETY'S LIFE

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FAMILIES

From Lengnau to New-York : the Guggenheim family
Jacques-Henri GOUGENHEIM

After a series of papers by John Berkowitch about the genealogy of the Guggenheim family, we publish a chronicle written by another descendant of this family focused on the American Guggenheim branch whose fate and huge wealth equal the Rothhschild’s ones. The author locates the "founding couple” in the Swiss family before following it in the United States. There they beget a large offspring and demonstrate their sense of business, their imagination and their talent; within some tens of years they rise from small shopkeepers to industry tycoons. They drop businesses that yield too little profit in order to invest in new domains of international scale like mines or metallurgy. The brothers, their sons and grandsons remain united, their flair for high potential opportunities and their business flair lead them to the top of finance and social life. They raise to the climax of their wealth and power at the end of World War I. (to be continued)

 

 

About the changes of family names and first names in the Raynal family from Bordeaux (France) in the XIX^th century.
Georges GRANER

On the specific example of the Raynal family from Bordeaux, Georges Graner proves that the change of given name and surname recorded in the 1808 registers (1808 Decree of Bordeaux by Napoleon) have not immediately been respected, in the official records as well as in the daily usage.

 

 

The name Benitah in the Jewish population of Marnia (Algeria) in the XIX^thcentury
Charles BENITAH

The author has collected the vital records regarding the Benitah families from the "Centre des Archives d'Outre Mer d'Aix en Provence" (France) and details all the gathered information in a table chart.

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MISCELLANEOUS

The Atlantic "gap" in Jewish genealogy
Ernest KALLMANN

The survivors of the Holocaust and the dissemination of personal data are frequent topics in Jewish genealogy. They are considered and handled in quite different ways from either side of the Atlantic. Such differing or opposed conceptions can result in major consequences; the reader, duly informed, could avoid the worst ones.

 

 

How to obtain Polish vital records from Poland
José KLINGBEIL & Basile GINGER
Basile Ginger, author of the basic manual for Jewish Genealogy in France, and José Klingbeil update the modus operandi for the research and acquisition of Polish vital records according to the most recent situation. The first step is to find the location of the archive, the record number(s) through JewishGen. The second step, ordering and paying the records, differs from the procedure suggested by JewishGen and should minimize the cost and the time needed.

 

 

The first name "Gentille" : from Gente to Yentl
ELIANE ROOS-SCHUHL

In her Hebrew chronicle, the author examines the avatars of the first name, Gentille, through times and locations in Europe.

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NEW DOCUMENTS IN OUR LIBRARY

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BOOK REVIEW

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QUESTIONS and ANSWERS

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PRESS REVIEW