BIALYGen

Bialystok Region Jewish Genealogy Group

We welcome you to and thank you for your interest in the BIALYGen, the Bialystok Region Jewish Genealogy Group.

The primary function of BIALYGen is to facilitate cooperation and discussion amongst Jewish researchers interested in the Białystok region of Poland. This includes the city of Białystok and nearby towns and villages currently in Poland that were formerly in Grodno Gubernia when these towns were under Russian rule.

BIALYGen was formed on July 23, 2003, when 40 researchers met at The 23rd International Conference on Jewish Genealogy in Washington, DC, USA and committed to the following objectives:

1. Sharing research and experiences
2. Commemorating our Ancestors and their lives
3. Cooperating on projects of value to all researchers

To this end, the goal of this website is to share information and data amongst Jewish genealogists interested in the Bialystok region and to provide the most up-to-date inventory of information about our ancestors lives and the Jewish history of the region where they lived from the 16th Century. 

This website starts with the basic information:    

• How to contact BIALYGen

• How to participate 

• Finding out What's New?

• Exchanging ideas via our Discussion Forum

• Finding your town or village, the town coordinator for you town, and the type of information available for your town

• Finding links to other useful websites 

And then provides more details on available resources and those provided by our members under the following categories: 

• Archival Records -- Records available for BIALYGen towns in Archives worldwide

• Articles & Features -- Contributed articles about life in and the history of the BIALYGen region

• Cemeteries -- Information and photos for Cemeteries in the BIALYGen region and Landsmanschaft plots in countries to which our ancestors immigrated

• Databases -- BIALYGen and external databases of interest to researchers

• Holocaust -- Information and links to information about the Holocaust in the BIALYGen region

• Maps -- Maps and links to maps of the BIALYGen region

• Photo Album -- Contributed photos of family, towns, events, and travel in the BIALYGen region

• Publications -- Bibliography of books and other publications, including short synopsis where available

• Research Projects -- BIALYGen sponsored research projects

• Translation Projects -- BIALYGen sponsored translation projects

• Yizkor Books -- Information and links to information about Yizkor Books for BIALYGen towns

The specific goals of BIALYGen as determined on July 23, 2003 are:

1. Gain access to Jewish records in the National Historical Archives of Belarus in Grodno, create an inventory, and create useful indices.
2. Translate and index vital records not yet indexed by JRI-Poland.
3. Acquire and index non-vital Jewish records available at the Bialystok branch of the Polish State Archives and other sources, e.g. Business directories, old newspapers.
4. Acquire maps and photos from NARA and other sources for shtetlach in BIALYGen region.
5. Acquire and index records of the Bialystok Hebrew Gymnasium.
6. Search repositories in Israel for records applicable to the BIALYGen region and index those records.
7. Indexing of Cemeteries in Poland and in other countries where Landsmanschaften burial plots exist.

Our effort to bring together all the available information for the Bialystok region depends first on the substantial efforts of others who have worked diligently to find, catalogue, translate, and place on the web the historic evidence for the BIALYGen region. This includes JRI-Poland, JewishGen, Belarus SIG, Ada Holtzman and her cohorts in the Zchor.org website, Tilford Bartman's Zabludow website, Andrew Blumberg's Bielsk Podlaski website and others.

The success of BIALYGen depends on all researchers with an interest in this area. More needs to be done. Please contribute your expertise, your time, and your funds to help us all succeed. Click on the buttons Research Projects, Participate, Towns, and Translations for more information. Or, contact Mark Halpern, BIALYGen Coordinator or Sidney Zabludoff, BIALYGen Research Coordinator about how you can help.

Photo of Bialystok Great Synagogue courtesy of Tomasz Wisniewski

This research group, its mailing list, and this website are hosted by JewishGen, Inc. at no cost by JewishGen, Inc., the Home of Jewish Genealogy. If you have been aided in your research by this site and wish to further our mission of preserving our history for future generations, your JewishGen-erosity is greatly appreciated.

Copyright © 2004-2006 BialyGen, Mark Halpern, Coordinator, All rights reserved.

Last Updated on 16 April 2006.