When Noah’s car broke down in rural Ukraine, he discovered something unexpected: the warmth of strangers who knew his ancestors had once called their town home. It's a moment that captures the heart of Noah's journey. As a professional genealogist his childhood obsession with family history led him from the Birmingham Public Library to the decimated streets of Kobryn, Belarus, searching for the roots of Alabama's surprising Jewish community.

Join me and my guest, Noah Lapidus (Research Manager at Ancestry ProGenealogists and African American specialist), as he shares how his family's immigration story connects a small Russian shtetl to the coal mines of Birmingham, Alabama, where his ancestors established one of the South's unique Jewish communities in the 1880s. Through heirlooms, tall tales, and painstaking research, Noah uncovered the truth about how the "Magic City" became an unlikely home for Eastern European Jews and how that community, born from Kobryn, still thrives today. His story reminds us that family history isn't just about the past; it's about understanding the joy, resilience, and connections that live in us across generations.

💭 What family stories have you been told that turned out to be beautifully, unexpectedly true?

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🎧 Ready to discover more stories that could transform your family connections? Subscribe to 'Stories That Live In Us' wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to help other families find their path to deeper connection through family history. Together, we're building a community of families committed to preserving and sharing the stories that matter most.

🖼️ Ready to get your family tree out of your computer and onto your wall? Visit FamilyChartmasters.com to create a family tree chart that will help your family share stories for generations.

♥ Want more family history tips and inspiration? Follow me @CristaCowan on Instagram where I share behind-the-scenes looks at my own family discoveries and practical ways to uncover yours!