Sunday, October 6, 2024 from 10:00am to 1:00pm
Beth Olem Cemetery is scheduled to be open on Sunday, October 6, 2024, from 10AM to 1PM.
Beth Olem is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Michigan, with graves dating from the 1880s through World War I. It is located on the grounds of the GM Poletown plant in Hamtramck, Michigan, between Smith and Clay Streets. Visitors are allowed only two times per year, around Rosh Hashanah and Passover.
More information about Beth Olem can be found at the following sites:
- A peek inside Beth Olem, the cemetery that was swallowed by a GM plant (Model D Media)
- Hidden cemetery only remnant of Poletown community (jweekly.com)
- Photos on Flickr
- Beth Olem Cemetery on FindAGrave.com
Call Clover Hill Park Cemetery for additional information: 248-723-8884.
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Linda D. Twersky, M.S.Ed., is a writer and graphic designer whose career focus has been on information design, technical documentation, training manuals, and marketing collateral in both educational and corporate settings. With this non-fiction book, she turns her skills and attention to a first-person account of her family’s dramatic experiences prior to and during World War II. She lives in Florida with her family which includes two feline editors and part-time literary critics.
Joel Weintraub,PhD, a New Yorker by birth, is an emeritus Biology Professor at California State University, Fullerton. He became interested in genealogy over 20 years ago and volunteered for 9 years at the National Archives in southern California. Joel helped produce location tools for 1900 through 1950 federal censuses, and the NY State censuses for NYC (1905, 1915, 1925) for the Steve Morse “One-Step” website. He has published articles since retiring on the U.S. census and the 72-year rule, the name change belief and finding difficult passenger records at Ellis Island, searching NYC census records with the problems of NYC geography, and a revision of the biography of naturalist Adolphus Heermann. He has a YouTube channel with his genealogy and field biology talks at 
Adina Newman, EdD, is the owner of 
Do you know where your name comes from? Were did your ancestors live in Poland? Are you stuck with your research? Smash through your genealogical walls with Kamila Mazurek. 
Pittsburgh-born, living in Israel since 1973. My personal research includes single-surname research in Galicia (formerly Austria, now Ukraine) as well as my families from Slovakia, Poland, Belarus, Hungary and later in the US, UK and Israel. From there I developed skills relating to more general Jewish genealogy, including Holocaust research. 
Although we would all appreciate the opportunity to personally interview our deceased ancestors, we have to learn to settle for what’s available. When our ancestors died, others created a host of records, which those of us in subsequent generations can use to further our research. This program is designed to assist in that process by suggesting where to find and how to use them. Learn to locate records of your deceased ancestors and follow the leads contained in those records.
At the end of 2012, Ken Bravo retired as a partner in the Cleveland based law firm of Ulmer & Berne LLP after a 45-year legal career, which included 12 years with the United States Department of Justice prosecuting major fraud and organized crime cases. After he left the government in 1979, Ken’s career in private practice focused on business litigation, securities arbitration and the defense of white-collar criminal matters.
Karen S. Franklin, Director of Family Research for the Leo Baeck Institute in New York City, is a past Co-Chair of the Board of Governors of JewishGen. A past president of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies and chair of the Council of American Jewish Museums, she is currently a vice-chair of the Memorial Museums committee of ICOM (International Council of Museums). She serves on the Advisory Board of the European Shoah Legacy Institute and was awarded the 2012 ICOM-US Service Citation. The citation is the highest honor of ICOM-US. Ms. Franklin is a juror for the Obermayer German Jewish History Award.
Diane M. Freilich, JD is a duly licensed attorney in the State of Michigan since 1972. In 1997 she became active in family research, finding family members throughout the United States, United Kingdom and all the way to Zimbabwe. 
Sunday, March 29, 2015
A tale of two journeys…
Take a journey into the past with Judy Sima as she tells stories of her mother, Elsa Mosbach, including the compelling account of her encounter with the Gestapo on Kristallnacht, her escape from Germany during World War II and adjustment to her new life in America.
A longtime member of JGSMI, Gayle tirelessly dedicated nearly 20 years as our Librarian, and was a regular speaker at the IAJGS International Conferences on Jewish Genealogy. There seemed to be little she didn’t know about, and she was always ready to offer her knowledge and research assistance. She had a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Wayne State University, and later joined a PhD program at the University of Chicago. She spent an academic year in India, absorbing the myriad cultures and languages of that nation. In 2010, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She fought bravely and never lost her upbeat outlook and sharp wit. She died in December 2012, at age 69.
A professional genealogist and the founder of JGSMI, Betty served as our first President and Editor of the newsletter, and continues to serve as a Board member. A formal social worker and counselor, she received BA and MSW degrees from Wayne State University and the University of Wisconsin, respectively. She has lectured, written and taught Jewish genealogy for over 20 years. She has visited Israel (at least 27 times), Poland, Russia, Hungary, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Great Britain, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, France, and the Czech Republic in search of Jewish records. An early childhood interest in China led her to an in-depth study of Jewish communities in China. After three journeys to China, she became a member of the Sino-Judiac Institute and attended their first conference at Harvard. She has been a frequent speaker at IAJGS conferences, and with her late husband Morris (z”l) have long sponsored the Morris (z”l) and Betty Starkman Annual Genealogy Lecture and Election of Officers, our annual meeting.
Sholem Rabinovitch was 15 years old when he wrote his first book, a Jewish version of Robinson Crusoe. He became one of the founders of modern Yiddish literature, the man behind “Tevye” and the author of some of the most memorable stories about life in the shtetl.
We all have ancestors came from somewhere outside of the United States. The difficulty is often determining exactly where that somewhere is. Often records such as Census records indicate only a country and family lore frequently identifies only a geographic area. Many of these ancestors who were part of the immigrants who came to the United States were naturalized. If that naturalization occurred after 1906, the process created records that contain a wealth of information. 
With author and JGSMI member Richard Jaeger
Irwin Cohen will entertain and delight as he reveals little-known facts of Jewish history, from his latest book, Jewish History in the time of Baseballs Jews: Life on Both Sides of the Ocean:
Elise Friedman is a professional genealogist, specializing in Jewish genealogy, genetic genealogy, and technology. She has given lectures and workshops at a variety of venues, from local genealogy and community meetings to international Jewish genealogy conferences. She has researched her own family history for more than 10 years, and has roots in Belarus, Russia, Poland and Ukraine (formerly Galicia).
Who are the Jews? A race? A people? Both Jews and gentiles have tried to pinpoint a collective Jewish identity through physical anthropology and genetics.
However, in 1942 his life entered a path that would change him forever. This is when he was drafted into WWII. Brenner went into the 410th Infantry regiment of the 103rd Division. He won a medal for Expert with the M1 rifle. Later he was transferred to the 2nd Battalion medical detachment. It was also during Basic Training that he received his United States Citizenship.
