Welcome!
1. What is purpose of the Czernowitz-L mailing list?
Members of Czernowitz-L are interested in the genealogy and history of the Jewish community of Czernowitz, and the nearby shtetl, Sadgora. We number over 270 subscribers as of August 2006. Our group started out in 1997 as a Sadgora research group (loosely dubbed "Sadagorans United"). Sadgora was a small shtetl on the outskirts of Czernowitz, which was the capital of of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bukowina until WWI. Czernowitz is now known as Chernivtsi, Ukraine. In 2001, the group expanded to include members with a primary interest in the genealogy and history of Jewish Czernowitz. You'll be amazed by the international flavor as well as the breadth of knowledge and experience of the group. Some have visited Czernowitz, and others are planning visits in the future. We are also fortunate that some of our members bring with them the knowledge of Czernowitz that comes from either having been born there or having lived there for a period of time.
2. OK, so how much does it cost?
It costs nothing to join (so the price is right!) and amounts to a support and discussion group where we seek each other's help and share our knowledge.
3. What else do I have to look forward to?
Since late 2001, the Mormon Family History Library has been microfilming vital records of all faiths at the Chernivtsi Oblast Archives. It is our understanding that Jewish records from Czernowitz are just now being microfilmed (as of August 2006) and that they will be indexed and made available as soon as they are sent from Ukraine to Salt Lake City. Included in the Jewish records are 115 volumes for the period 1857-1940, plus one volume from 1841. (Other villages may be included in addition to these 115 volumes, as well.) As these volumes are microfilmed and then indexed, they will be added to the Mormon Family History Library catalog <http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHL/frameset_library.asp> and will then be available at Mormon libraries around the world. Maybe our energetic group will be the one to create an online searchable index to these records, once they are available? However, it will be still be a year or two before a microfilming project of this size is completed and until the films are listed in the catalog.
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Ottawa, Canada, digitally photographed all tombstones in the Czernowitz and Sadgura Jewish cemeteries in 2001 and 2002. They also located and digitized a burial register covering most of the period from 1860 to 2001. An online searchable index is being prepared by JGS Ottawa in cooperation with group members. As of February 2004, all names listed in the Czernowitz Jewish cemetery burial register (approx. 1860-1947) have been entered into Excel spreadsheets. There were over 27,000 name entries in the pre-1948 registers (including many duplicate entries). These Excel files are being checked for accuracy before they are uploaded to the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR). Images of these tombstones are also being indexed for entry into JOWBR.
In April, 2003, Jerome Schatten created a web site for the Czernowitz-L group. The site is a repository for maps, pictures and family history and is actively growing with contributions from members of the Czernowitz-L. The site also includes an archive of all past posts to the Czernowitz-L discussion group.
4. How does it work?
To subscribe to the list, send a Plain Text email addressed to <lyris@cornell.edu>.
In the text of the message, place this text substituting your real name, and nothing else:
Join Czernowitz-L “Firstname Lastname”
If this doesn’t work, then email the list owners at owner-Czernowitz-L@cornell.edu requesting that you be subscribed. When your subscription is accepted by the listserv and approved by the list owners, you will receive an acknowledgment message from the Cornell listserv computer. Once the acknowledgment is received, you can post to the group.
To email the group, simply send your message (in Plain Text, please) to Czernowitz-L@cornell.edu. Any problems? Please contact the list owners at <owner-CZERNOWITZ-L@cornell.edu>. If you wish to receive a daily digest of messages (one email with all messages sent that day) rather than a separate email with each individual message, send this command to <lyris@cornell.edu>:
Set Czernowitz-L digest
To unsubscribe from the list, send this message to lyris@cornell.edu:
leave Czernowitz-L
5. Now what happens?
Once you have subscribed to the list, please send a note telling a bit about yourself and your Czernowitz region interests and questions. Some members will reply to the list; others may reply privately.
6. What else do I need to know?
Membership is subject to approval of the list owner (rarely withheld). Replies are set to go directly back to the sender, so if you wish to reply publicly to the group, please check your "To:" line before sending your mail. Czernowitz-L is a moderated list. The List Owners will only forward messages that are pertinent to the history and genealogy of the Jewish communities of Czernowitz and Sadagora to the group. Only subscribers may post to the list using the email address from which they subscribed. Please post in "plain text" mode from your email software, and please double-check your text before sending.
Bruce Reisch,
List Owner
Geneva, New York
Carl Ulrich,
Co-List Owner
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Jerome Schatten, Co-List Owner
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada