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 Berdychiv, at the 2nd half of the XIXth century and the first decades of the XXth century represented one of the most important Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. Nowadays in Ukraine, with the effort of the Chabad is recuperating the historical roots.
For more details visit: www.berdichev.org
Location:
93.1 miles WSW of Kyyiv
Coordinates: 49°54' N, 28°35' E
Map
Links showing the present location:
ABOUT ME
Finally, after several claims, I decided to include my biography in the site you are visiting, pages which I am constantly improving since 1997, when I began to build the site.
My name is Jorge Spunberg, I was born on September 22nd, 1942 in Buenos Aires (Argentine). I have European roots, my father David Spunberg (1901-1982) was born in Berdichev, at those times in the Russian Empire, nowadays in Ukraine; my mother Malka Biderman (1910-2001), was born in Kielce (Poland).
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Jorge (one year old) |
My mother |
My father |
Fortunately, they emigrated to Argentine many years before WWII, my father arrived at Buenos Aires in 1923, where some relatives lived since the end of the XIXth century, one year later arrived my grandparents with my uncle. My father began to study the Spanish language and with huge dedication in 1925 inscribed at the University (faculty of Medicine), concluding his studies and obtaining his degree as a physician in 1931. My mother arrived at Buenos Aires in 1911, being still a small baby, with her parents and some brothers; she completed the school and the gymnasium, but as was usual at those times, although she wanted to continue her studies at the University, her widowed mother preferred for her a “good husband” than a “diploma”.
The arranged “good husband” delayed to appear. Finally he came up, and at the end of 1938, after ten months of relationship the wedding was formalized. I have an older sister, Lidia Spunberg born in 1939, dentist, married to Julio Bastanski, they have an only daughter called Alicia, all of them living in Argentine.
But still, I slightly spoke about me. Therefore, according to my family I appeared in the world red and hairless, with 4,1 Kg after an exhaustive fight through a normal parturition.
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My parents with my sister and me |
Jorge (12 years old) |
Jorge (18 (years old) |
We lived in a Jewish district in Buenos Aires, called “Eleven” (Once) , in a big apartment of an old building, where my father had his cabinet, and my paternal grandparents had their own rooms.
My childhood passed quietly, my father was quite severe and exigent, my mother, instead, was kind and affectionate. I began to study when I was 6 years old in an official school called “Domingo F. Sarmiento”, afterwards I was moved to another school called “Juan M. de Pueyrredon”, where I concluded my primary studies. The secondary studies I completed in another school called “Bartolome Mitre”. I have been a good student during the entire career, including the superior studies. In 1960 I began my studies at the University (Faculty of Engineering), choosing the Electromechanical field. I obtained my degree in 1967, in the middle of the career I lost one year serving the army.
When I was eigh years old, my father began to teach me the Russian language. Along a large period, up to I was sixteen, we used to read together the classical Russian literature including: Pushkin, Tolstoy, Turguenyev, Tchekhov, Krylov, Lermontov, Gorki, etc., etc. I am very grateful now for this knowledge, which proved to be extremely useful to me along my life, helping me to have the opportunity of researching my roots and discovering unknown relatives around the world. When I was nine years old I began to study the English language, at the beginning with a professor at home, an Irish patient of my father; afterwards, in an English Institute. At school I also learnt Latin and French, but as I didn’t practice these languages I forgot almost everything.
My social life was quite limited, restricted to familiar events and few friends. My father tried to avoid risks for his family, overprotecting us and controling rigorously all our activities. Fortunately, when I was 16 years old, I became member of a Jewish club, this step helped me to open my mind and some years after, became the leader of my group, initially as an amateur, afterwards, engaged as a remunerated professional, coordinating the Youth Department. This one was my first official job, although, since I was sixteen years I had some pupils at home, teaching mathematics, physics and chemistry. These earnings helped me along my youth, to reinforce the slender help I received from my father.
I loved reading books and magazines, used going to the movies and was fond of sports, specially soccer (the favorite game in Argentine and Brazil) and swimming.
Once I obtained my diploma, I got a job in my professional area in the Argentine Railways, coordinating the Department of Tariffs. One year afterwards (1969), I moved to the Philips Group in Buenos Aires, where I worked along two years, up to my transference in February/1973 to Philips of Brazil. As the proverb says: “nobody is a prophet in his own territory”. After my change of residence to Brazil, I worked in the Philips organization along two years and since 1975, I began to work independently for myself.
From 1975 up to 1992 I had an industry which manufactured all the line of machines to produce and split polyurethane foams. As this market saturated, in 1992, I began to manufacture semi-industrial machines which produce disposable diapers and feminine towels. In 2006, I opened a complementary new “front”, and began to import from China, Japan, and South Korea computerized embroidery machines and laser machines, as well as, spare parts and accessories for these equipments.
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My daughter Mariana |
My daughter Carolina |
My son Igor |
In 1968, still in Buenos Aires, I married (for the first time) a Jewish Argentine lady called Silvia Kleiman, nine months later, in Setember/1969, my first daughter Mariana (nowadays settled in Toronto/Canada) was born. We had a second daughter Carolina ten years later, born in September/1979 (nowadays settled in Haifa/Israel). In 1984 I divorced and went to live alone. I have also a son named Igor, born in July/1985, living in Sao Paulo/Brazil.
Finally, I found “my second dear half”, On April/1992, returning from Buenos Aires, I met in the airport Diana Sztraicher, and since that time we are together. Diana, created the name of this site, “The Berdichev Revival”, and permanently stimulated me to keep on developing this endless work.
With 66 years on my back, I am very grateful to my destiny. Of course, frustrations and disappointments are mixed with moments of joy and happiness, but this is the rule of life. Along these two last decades, a deep revolution forced most of us to change old habits. The fantastical technological advances in all the areas, run faster than the ability to adapt ourselves to the modern times. This impressive “avalanche”, sometimes arise nostalgic feelings of old times, anyway, our conscience or our grandsons quickly bring us back to the real world.
I couldn’t finish this resume, without remarking and reverencing my young beloved teacher, Monica Gomes, who step by step, patiently oriented my efforts in the development of each page of the site, improving and suggesting new ideas and correcting my mistakes.
October/2008
Continuation
Time flies with incredible velocity, now I am 71 years old, still in full activity, with constant challenges and permanent disposition to overcome the daily difficulties. Meanwhile, my physician discovered through the exams that I am suffering diabetes (type 1), consequently, pills, insulin and trecking were incorporated in my routine.
The good news are my grandchildren, in São Paulo, Rafael (7 years) and Sofia (5 years) from Shirly (a “lending without return” of Diana’s daughter); and far, unfortunately far away, Anis (4 years) and Mila (1 year) from my daughter Carolina living in Yokneam (Israel).
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| Rafael and Sofía |
Anis and Mila |
Grandchildren, undoubtedly, enlighten and rejoice our lives, arousing an atmosphere of well being and happiness.
June 2014
HISTORY
- JEWISH
HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
- HISTORY
OF THE JEWS IN POLAND
- HISTORY
OF THE JEWS IN UKRAINE - I (Volodymyr Kubijovyč, Vasyl Markus}
- HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN UKRAINE - II (Jewish Virtual Library)
- THE
JEWS IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE
Courtesy
of Natasha Bulashova from Pushchino, Russia, and Greg Cole of Knoxville, from
Tennessee, USA.
- RUSSIAN
INFLUENCE IN POLAND-LITHUANIA (1768-1788)
- HISTORICAL
REPORT ABOUT BERDICHEV
- THE
KANTONISTS
- HEBREW
PRINTING IN BERDICHEV
- JEWS
IN THE SOVIET UNION UP TO 1940
Courtesy
of Natasha Bulashova from Pushchino, Russia, and Greg Cole of Knoxville, from
Tennessee, USA.
- JEWS
IN THE SOVIET UNION FROM 1941 UP TO THE END OF THE SOVIET ERA
Courtesy
of Natasha Bulashova from Pushchino, Russia, and Greg Cole of Knoxville, from
Tennessee, USA.
- GERMANY
INVADES UKRAINE (July, 1941)
- THE
"GULAG" (MAGADAN)
- HISTORICAL
ANTECEDENTS FROM BERDICHEV
- THE
POGROMS IN UKRAINE IN 1919
- SHOLEM SCHWARZBARD
- JEWISH
ARTIFICERS IN BERDICHEV
- MARK
DERBAREMDIKER (a lively narration)
- IN SEARCH OF BERDYCHIV (by Stuart Allen)
- WWII IN IMAGES (Be patient!, large file, click on the map to advance / after download of the file press <SHIFT+F5>)
- TANKS INVADING BERDICHEV DURING WWII
- PAGES OF "HOLODOMOR"
- JEWS OF UKRAINE (1919-1920)
- JEWISH COMMUNITY OF UKRAINE (1921-1929)
- JEWS IN RUSSIA - A SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS
- A DARK LIE THROUGH THE AGES
- SELF-DEFENSE
- A BRIEF HISTORY OF ANTISEMITISM IN UKRAINE
- MAJOR ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS IN UKRAINE (2005-2007)
- THE ZHITOMIR-BERDICHEV (WWII)
- POGROMS IN UKRAINE (Be patient!, large file in "pdf", requires the ADOBE ACROBAT READER,
if you want to install the programme go to www.adobe.com)
- BERDICHEV - THE JEWISH CAPITAL OF UKRAINE
- BERDICHEV (BETH HATEFUTSOTH) (in
"pdf", requires the ADOBE ACROBAT READER, if you want to install
the programme go to www.adobe.com)
- HISTORY OF BERDICHEV (In Russian)
- THE GALVESTON MOVEMENT
- BERDYCHIV'S RELIGIOUS HISTORY
- UKRAINIAN FAMINE
- JEWISH HEROES IN THE SOVIET UNION DURING WWII (Be patient!, large file, after download of the file press <SHIFT+F5>)
- ZHITOMIR - BERDICHEV
- LONELY SOLDIER'S TOMB IN BERDICHEV
- BERDICHEVLIAN HISTORICAL COMMENTS
- POGROMS (From Kishinev to Bialystok)
- BERDICHEV HISTORICAL REPORT
- RAILWAY STATION IN BERDICHEV. RARE PHOTOS OF THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
- HISTORY OF THE SHTETEL BERDICHEV
RABBI LEVI YTZHAK
"The Berdichever
Rabbi"
STORIES
ABOUT THE RABBI
HOLOCAUST
- Holocaust
in Berdichev
- Holocaust
victims at Berdichev
- Photos
Taken During the Holocaust in Berdichev
- The Ruthless Truth
- Why
always us?
- List
of Jewish Soldiers during WWII fighting in ex-URSS
- Map
of einsatzgruppen in Eastern Europe
- Distortion
of the truth
- The
Bones of Berdichev
- Pages
of Testimony
- Babi
Yar-I
- Babi
Yar -II (in
"pdf", requires the ADOBE ACROBAT READER, if you want to install
the programme go to www.adobe.com)
- Babi
Yar - III
- Babi
Yar - IV
- We
should never forget
- Holocaust Victims in the Soviet Union
- Remembering through Art
- Priest uncovering beginnings of Final Solution
- Holocaust never more
- Auschwitz - 60 years (Courtesy: haaretz.com) (Be patient!, large file, after download of the file press <SHIFT+F5>)
- We Cannot Let It Ever Happen Again
- Notwithstanding the Holocaust....
- A Priest Methodically Reveals Ukrainian Jew's Fate
- The Unknown Black Book
- Yom Hashoa
- New looks at the fields of death for Jews
- The Untold Stories
- The Auschwitz Album (Courtesy: Yad Vashem) (Be patient!, large file, after download of the file press <SHIFT+F5>)
- May anybody deny the Holocaust?
- List of Jewish Victims from Berdichev
- Annihilation of the Jews in Berdichev
- Survivors of Berdichev
- Witnesses of the Holocaust in Berdichev
- Righteous among the Nations
- September 1939 - April 1945 (Be patient!, large file, after download of the file press <SHIFT+F5>)
- Entering in Auschwitz (Be patient!, large file, after download of the file press <SHIFT+F5>)
- Historical Document of Germany (1939-1940) (Be patient!, large file, after download of the file press <SHIFT+F5>)
- The Murder of Jews in Berdichev
- Holocaust Memorial of Berdichev in Israel
- 1940's Judaica Anti-semitic Restaurant / Business Sign
- Holocaust Memorials along the World (Be patient!, large file, after download of the file, according to your operational system, click on "READ ONLY", afterwards press <SHIFT+F5>)
- The Holocaust began with his Signature
- Soldier, 92, breaks silence over Auschwitz heroics
- The Spielberg Archive - Holocaust and WWII
- Memorial of the Vanished Community of Berdichev (Israel)
- The Bones of Berdichev - June 2009
- Father Patrick Desbois
- The Forgotten December
- Treblinka - 2010 (Be patient!, large file, after download of the file press <SHIFT+F5>)
- WWII - The Holocaust
- A Remenbrance for the Victims of the Holocaust
- Never Again
- Historic Photos at the End of the Holocaust
- Auschwitz, 70 Years After The Liberation Of The Concentration Camp
- The battle of Berlin
- UK - Archives (in
"pdf", requires the ADOBE ACROBAT READER, if you want to install
the programme go to www.adobe.com)
- 'You're Not My First Enemy': In Long-Lost Jewish Songs Of WWII, Pain And Defiance
MAPS
BERDICHEV
TODAY
OTHER REFERENCES
CURIOSITIES
PHOTOGRAPHS
VIDEOS
Videos of Berdichev
Courtesy: Grigory (Grysha,) my Berdichever guide
For the following videos, in case you have a blocking "pop-up" resource, disable it
before clicking the video
- Railway Station and Memorial of WWII
- Industry "Progress" and other Memorials
- Hotel "Druzhba"
- Pedagogical Institute in Berdichev
- Chapel where Balzac married Mme. Hanska and old buildings
- A visit to the Jewish cemetery
- The Market
- The Synagogue, Rabbi Shlomo Breuer, the building of the Old Synagogue and Memorial of the Holocaust
- The Faculty of Medicine and other classical buildings
- Beer produced in Berdichev
- The River Gnylopyat, The Carmelite Monastery, and The Fortress
- Memorial of the Holocaust during WWII
- Aerial view of Berdichev
- Berdichev-1
- Berdichev-2
- Berdichev-3
- Berdichev-4
- Berdichev-5
- Berdichev-6
- Berdichev-7
- Berdichev-8
- Old Berdichev
Other videos
For the following videos, in case you have a blocking "pop-up" resource, disable it
before clicking the video
| This is the Trailer of the upcoming documentary & exhibition created by the Berlin artist Thomas Wernicke in co- operation with the German composer/musician Michael "Roosty" Schmerschneider & the Ukraine interpreter Elisaveta Belayevskaya. The film & exhibition shows the crime of the german death squads in the ukraine by the example of the city Berditschew. All Protagonist are directly survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust. The un- commercial Film & exhibition starting the worldwide tour in the second half of 2008 |
Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council, speaks about the importance of commemorating the Jews who perished during the Holocaust. Rav Lau, himself a child survivor of Buchenwald, powerfully calls upon Jews across the world, to join efforts to recover the names of each individual Shoah victim by filling out Pages of Testimony in their memory and submitting them to Yad Vashem. Search for information or submit names of people you know of who perished during the Shoah on Yad Vashem's Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names.
http://bit.ly/Zpo3I |
| The Nikleshburg Rebbe recently visited the city of Berdichev where he led a Tish at the local Chabad shul, with Rebbe Moshe Thaler. |
- Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau
- 6,000,000: Story of an Auschwitz Survivor
- Nazi Concentration Camps
- Bernhard Frank
- Surviving Stalin's Gulag
- An Extraordinary Story
- The First Jewish Broadcast on Nazi Soil - 1944
- The Grandfather she Never Knew
- Man's Last Letter to his Family |
Desperate Note
Otto Simmonds, a German-born Jewish physician who lived with his family in France, dashed off this desperate note to his wife and daughter from inside a railcar bound for Auschwitz in August 1942. “Fifty of us in one car!!” he wrote, his last words to his family. “Be brave and courageous. I’ll be the same.” A railway worker discovered the letter in a tattered envelope on a train track and, intent that it reach the Simmonds family, added his own heartfelt message, placed it in a new envelope, and mailed it to Otto’s wife.
Translation:
Right:
My dears, On the way to Poland!!! Nothing helped. Tried everything. Allegedly it’s going to Metz. Fifty of us in one car!! Be brave and courageous. I’ll be the same. Stripped of everything in Drancy. Kisses, Otto
Left:
Dear Madam, Having found this letter on the rails after one of the Jews who passed through and seeing that the envelope was in a sad state, I allowed myself to make a new one and hope that this letter will reach you. With my apologies, Madam, I hope that you will be pleased and happy nonetheless. A Railway Worker |
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The Trotskys, the Bronsteins and the Kievskys:
A Search for Identity in Russian-Jewish History
Speaker: Boris Kievsky
Growing up being called a Jew by Russians, a Russian by Americans and not quite fitting in with any of them, Ukrainian-born actor/filmmaker, Boris Kievsky, grew up with a confused sense of identity. Five years ago, in a desire to better understand who he was, Boris began to ask questions about his family history. What he discovered led him on a journey that took him back to the former Soviet Union and to the history of the Jewish participation in creating the Soviet Union, in which his grandfather played a role. Starting with the old saying “it’s the Trotskys who make the revolutions, and the Bronsteins who pay the price,” and knowing that his own family did both, through interviews, research and first-hand observations, investigates why there were so many Jewish revolutionaries (“Trotskys”), what price all of the Russian-Empire Jews (“Bronsteins”) paid, and where that leaves us as a people today.
Boris Kievsky was born in Cherkassy, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and came to the United States at the age of six. An award-winning writer and director, he earned BFA and Post-Graduate degrees in theatre before moving to New York, where he performed in, as well as produced and directed several theatrical productions. Upon moving to Los Angeles, Boris made the switch to film and television. As an actor, Boris has appeared on numerous TV shows and all levels of film from shorts to studio releases, often playing some variation of a Russian mobster, much to his Jewish mother’s dismay. |
This film spoken in Russian covers a topic that previously suppressed, in the film tells of a Jewish partisan movement in Europe, how it originated and how you live, and how the Jews dealt with not only the Nazis, but also local residents.
On this page you can see all the following episodes |
- Jewish Partisans-2
- Jewish Partisans-3
- Jewish Partisans-4
- The Auschwitz Album
- Night and Fog (Alain Resnais)
- Berdichev Liberation in WWII (in Russian)
- "Shoah" told through shadows (text in Spanish)
- History about the "Nazist" Soviet Union 1/9
- History about the "Nazist" Soviet Union 2/9
- History about the "Nazist" Soviet Union 3/9
- History about the "Nazist" Soviet Union 4/9
- History about the "Nazist" Soviet Union 5/9
- History about the "Nazist" Soviet Union 6/9
- History about the "Nazist" Soviet Union 7/9
- History about the "Nazist" Soviet Union 8/9
- History about the "Nazist" Soviet Union 9/9
- The Holocaust Begins in Berdichev-Ukraine
- Holocaust Survivor Testimony: Mikhail Yablochnik, part 1/4
- Holocaust Survivor Testimony: Mikhail Yablochnik, part 2/4
- Holocaust Survivor Testimony: Mikhail Yablochnik, part 3/4
- Holocaust Survivor Testimony: Mikhail Yablochnik, part 4/4
- Holocaust Survivor Testimony: Raisa Galperina, part 1/2
- Holocaust Survivor Testimony: Raisa Galperina, part 2/2
- Holocaust Survivor Testimony: Genya Burmenko, part 1/3
- Holocaust Survivor Testimony: Genya Burmenko, part 2/3
- Holocaust Survivor Testimony: Genya Burmenko, part 3/3
- Testimony of Klavdia Lepa about the mass murder of the Jews from Berdichev in Ukraine
- Video about Holodomor (1932/1933)
- Interviews referred to people born in Berdichev
- The Holocaust Begins in Berdichev, Ukraine
- Jewish Holocaust in Berdichev
- Execution of Jews in Berdichev
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LINKS
| http://www.ancestorseekers.com/ |
Based in Salt Lake City, Ancestors Seekers has welcomed hundreds of visitors from throughout the US and Canada to provide help from professional researchers at the Family History Library. |
| http://www.ancestry.com/ |
Genealogy, Family Trees and Family History Records online |
| http://www.archives.gov.ua/Eng/Archives/#Berdychiv |
The network of State archives under the State Committee on Archives of Ukraine includes some 680 institutions. |
| http://www.jewishanswers.org/ |
Enter your questions. |
| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berdychiv |
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki |
The Ukrainian version of Wikipedia |
| http://berdicheva.net/ |
Excellent site in Russian |
| https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/berdichev/berdichev1.html |
ShtetLinks is a project of JewishGen, Inc., which aims to provide a place where anyone with an interest in a place where Jews have lived to commemorate that place. |
| http://isurvived.org/Frameset4References-2/-Ghettos.html |
Ghettoization of European Jewry |
| http://www.homeadvisor.com/article.show.History-at-Home-A-Guide-to-Genealogy.17370.html |
Indicated by Brittney Barnes |
| http://householdquotes.co.uk/ultimate-genealogy-guide/ |
Tool for tracing ancestors |
| http://www.veritasprep.com/genealogy-resources-by-veritas-prep/ |
Indicated by Olivia Barnes |
| http://backgroundchecks.org/public-records/the-genealogy-resource-guide |
Indicated by Debbie Reynolds |
https://familysearch.org/blog/en/simple-steps-preserve-precious-family-memories/ |
This site is a helping tool for preserving documents |
| https://www.consumeraffairs.com/health/ancestry-dna-testing/ |
ConsumerAffairs recently created reviewing DNA testing and ancestry websites. The guide features verified reviews of companies that offer DNA analysis testing and genealogy records and resources. It's a great tool for people who want to learn more about their family history through DNA testing. |
| https://libertycruise.nyc/packages/history-of-ellis-island |
Indicated by Becca Riggs |
| https://yahadmap.org/#village/berdychiv-berdichev-barditchev-zhytomyr-ukraine.12 |
Father Desbois, a French priest, who is looking for the witnesses of the Nazis crimes committed against the Jews throughout Eastern Europe. With this project we want to give the possibly to all users to see through the Google maps the locations of the sites which have been identified by Yahad so far and to provide complementary information about the research findings: such as English subtitled short clips, excerpts from the Soviet, German and Polish archives, photographs from the prewar period and nowadays. |
| https://honestproductreviews.com/best-dna-test-for-ancestry/ |
A research guide on the Best DNA Tests For Ancestry (courtesy of Mae Richards) |
| https://www.genealogyexplained.com/basics/genealogical-proof-standard/ |
Thanks to Marc McDermott, genealogists have nowadays
a pretty neat flowchart illustration that shows how to apply the concepts of the GPS to sound genealogical research. |
| http://www.homeadviceguide.com/english-family-history-genealogy/ |
Julia Cai (Elementary School Teacher) offers this tool in order to help genealogy research.
|
https://www.truepeoplesearch.com/find/content-a-genealogists-guide-to-tracing-people-from-our-past |
Avery and Allison, both new young researchers offer these tools for our readers |
| https://www.thehubpost.com/a-genealogy-guide/ |
Genealogy Research Strategiesindicated by James Cali |
| https://www.publicrecordsreviews.com/education-center/genealogy-research |
Genealogy Research Strategies indicated by James Cali |
| https://thednatests.com/best-dna-tests/ |
5 DNA Tests & 5 Different Results | In Search of the Most Accurate DNA Test |
| https://knowyourdna.com/reviews/living-dna-ancestry-test-review/ |
Living DNA claims to have the first truly international test kit, attributing your DNA ancestry to over 80 distinct global regions. Unlike other modern ancestry tests that may only provide an indication of where you’re from, Living DNA is specific enough to differentiate from 21 different regions of the British Isles. |
| https://homeownercosts.co.uk/ancestry-genealogy-family-guide/ |
Genealogy & Ancestry Guide – Finding Your Family History |
| https://homesage.co.uk/genealogy-guide/ |
How to get started with genealogy |
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