Renia Spiegel was born in 1924 to Jewish family living in southeastern Poland in the former land of Galicia.. At the start of 1939 Renia began a diary. “I just want a friend. I want somebody to talk to about my everyday worries and joys. Somebody who would feel what I feel, who would believe me, who would never reveal my secrets - a diary.” And so begins an extraordinary document of an adolescent girl’s hopes and dreams. By the fall of 1939, Renia and her younger sister Elizabeth (née Ariana) were staying with their grandparents in Przemysl, a city in the south, just as the German and Soviet armies invaded Poland. Cut off from their mother, who was in Warsaw, Renia and her family were plunged into war and the grips of the Holocaust.

Renia’s sister Elizabeth Bellak, and her daughter, Alexandra join Gesher Galicia President, Steven Turner in a conversation about the diary. Please submit any questions or comments to [email protected].

Entrepreneur and life-long genealogy enthusiast Bennett Greenspan founded Family Tree DNA in 2000. Family Tree DNA was the first company in the world to develop DNA testing for ancestry and genealogical purposes into a commercial business. The Y chromosome test, the company's original product, started the Direct To Consumer genetics testing revolution. Mr. Greenspan’s business and entrepreneur experience spans photo-imaging and commercial real estate.

Conversation spans the beginning of the very first commercially available DNA test to the future of genetic genealogy. Please give it a listen.

Nolan Altman was bitten by the “genealogy bug” when he was inspired to write his family history in 1996 in memory of his mother. After making use of the valuable information on JewishGen, he volunteered to do data entry on various projects. In time, he was asked to become the Coordinator for JewishGen’s Holocaust Database and subsequently the Coordinator for the JOWBR (JewishGen’s Online Worldwide Burial Registry) project. Nolan  currently holds the position of JewishGen’s Director for Data Acquisition and focuses on growing the JOWBR , Holocaust and Memorial Plaques databases.

In 2021, Nolan was recognized by the IAJGS with their Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, the organization’s volunteer award was renamed in his honor, the Nolan Altman IAJGS Volunteer of the Year Award.

He is in conversation with Steven S. Turner, President of Gesher Galicia.

A handout for the podcast can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PdytPYk3iMn9fvn-8_IoTsAkH26tb3qPv_wsyy2s_cM/edit?usp=sharing

We are very excited to present to the community this most interesting conversation between the noted author, educator, editor, publisher and award winning genealogist, Arthur Kurzweil with Gesher Galicia President, Steven Turner. Those of you who were able to attend the gala at the IAJGS in Philadelphia know what a privilege it is to listen to Arthur Kurzweil. We discuss Arthur’s new book, The Persistence of Memory which can be purchased here.

Arthur Kurzweil grew up hearing his father's tales of Dobromyl, the small town-a shtetl - in what is now Ukraine, which his father had left behind as a child when his family emigrated to New York in the 1920s. As a young man in the 1970s, Arthur obsessively sought to rediscover this lost world, researching in the New York Public Library and tracking down the shtetl's surviving emigrants. This research led him to write his best-selling book, From Generation to Generation: How to Trace Your Jewish Genealogy and Family History, but his obsession with Dobromyl didn't abate.

We hope you give this podcast a listen and look forward to hearing your questions and comments at [email protected].

In The Persistence of Memory, Arthur brings us along on his quest to find his father's ancestral home in Dobromyl - a quest that covers physical and spiritual ground. Join him on a frustrating trip to Soviet-held Ukraine in the 1970s to multiple return trips to a free Ukraine in the 21st century, in a quest that brings him to the height of elation and to the depths of despair.

The Galicia Jewish Museum exists to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and celebrate the Jewish culture of Galicia, presenting Jewish history from a new perspective. An innovative and unique institution, it is located in Kazimierz, the Jewish district of Kraków.

Jacek studied history as well as Jewish history and culture at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Since 1992 he worked as journalist, commentator and media manager at the BBC World Service, and RMF (the biggest Polish private radio channel) where he was head of news and current affairs

We are very excited to present to the community this most interesting conversation between Jennifer Mendelsohn and Adina Newman of the DNA Reunion Project at the Center for Jewish History with Gesher Galicia President, Steven Turner.

Jennifer and Adina together with the CJH organized this project to help reunite families separated by the Holocaust. Gesher Galicia fully supports the work of this project and we would like to promote it to get as many people to test as possible.

Jennifer Mendelsohn is a sought-after genealogist who specializes in helping Eastern European Jewish families shattered by the Holocaust reclaim their history. Her DNA sleuthing was featured in the 2019 bestseller Inheritance by Dani Shapiro. Her work has received international media attention including stories on CNN.com, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, National Public Radio and The Times of Israel.

Dr. Adina Newman, EdD, the creator of My Family Genie, is a professional genealogist and educator. Her findings have received international media attention, including mentions in The Daily Mail, AP News, and The Times of Israel, and she has made appearances on several news outlets such as NPR and I24NEWS. She was a 2020 recipient of the AncestryProGenealogists scholarship.

You can donate to this project here: https://www.cjh.org/donate/donate-now-dna

We hope you give this podcast a listen and look forward to hearing your comments or questions at [email protected].

On Yom Hashoah we remember our sacred martyrs killed by the Nazis and their collaborators. One of the reasons they were able to kill so many is because Jews trying to flee the impending catastrophe had no place that would accept them. Just as war was breaking out and the Jewish plight became more desperate, Great Britain closed the gates of Palestine with its infamous White Paper of 1939. Why did that happen and how did it come about?

Oren Kessler in his new book, Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict tells the story.

Oren is a journalist and political analyst based in Tel Aviv.  He has served as deputy director for research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, Middle East research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society in London, Arab affairs correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, and an editor and translator at the Haaretz English edition.

Raised in Rochester, New York, and Tel Aviv, he holds a BA in history from the University of Toronto and an MA in diplomacy and conflict studies from Reichman University (IDC Herzliya).Kessler’s work has appeared in media outlets such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and Politico.

You can purchase the book here.

We are very excited to present to the community this most interesting conversation between Jenna Augen and  Gesher Galicia President, Steven Turner about Tom Stoppard's hit show Leopoldstadt currently on Broadway.

Jenna plays the parts of Wilma and Rosa. Jenna’s bio from the Playbill.

We are very excited to present to the community this most interesting conversation between Tony Kahane and Andrew Zalewski, two recently retired members of our Board.

Tony is the Immediate Past Research Coordinator, Past President/Chair of Gesher Galicia and was the Chair of the Gesher Galicia/AGAD symposium.

Andrew is the Immediate Past Vice President of Gesher Galicia, Past Editor of The Galitzianer and renowned lecturer and teacher on the history of Galicia.

In conversation with Gesher Galicia President, Dr. Steven S. Turner.

Andrew Zalewski is past vice president of Gesher Galicia and a frequent speaker at meetings of Jewish genealogical societies and cultural and academic institutions in the US and abroad. His interests and writings have focused on Jewish cultural transformation, educational access, modernizing impact of Jewish physicians, and Jewish political and legal rights in Galicia. Unique archival records—population surveys, maps, and old newspapers—provide the background for his in-depth description of Galicia. 

He authored two books on Austrian Galicia: "Galician Trails: The Forgotten Story of One Family" & "Galician Portraits: In Search of Jewish Roots", in which he traced the story of his ancestors in a historical context.

Any questions or comments please write to [email protected]. 

To become a member of Gesher Galicia click here.