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Central State Archives of Ukraine in Lviv, 1991
Photo credit: Miriam Weiner
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Forty years ago, genealogy was typically described as a hobby for retired people who trudged from archive to archive and few Jews at that time were among them. Then a series of events occurred beginning with Alex Haleys Roots that mesmerized television audiences night after night. The thought of tracing ones ancestors back to the old country struck a chord in literally millions of people, whether it was back to Africa or the shtetls of Eastern Europe.
Hidden within the files of archives and libraries throughout the world are old pieces of paper testifying to the lives of our ancestors in the "old country." When the family historian discovers one of these documents, an aging piece of paper is transformed into a profound connection between past and future.
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