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Miriam Weiner, CG® Emeritus – You are Invited to a Meeting with the KGB
November 10, 2024 @ 2:00 pm EST
at Weston Public Library (Hybrid Meeting*)
*In Person and via Zoom
This presentation is free, but registration is required. In-person attendance is limited to 100.
REGISTER
The Massachusetts Genealogical Council (M.O.R.E) will present the Shirley M. Barnes Record Access Award to Miriam Weiner in recognition of her pioneering efforts to open access to archival records in Poland, Ukraine, and throughout the former Soviet Union beginning in the 1990s.
JGSGB is a co-sponsor of this event.
Miriam Weiner has been described as “The Genealogist Who Lifted the Archival Iron Curtain.” She will highlight some of the memorable experiences during her 30-year journey through the archives of Eastern Europe. The title, “You are Invited to a Meeting with the KGB“, refers to an intriguing anecdote that captures the tenuous political times in which she began her work. She will also relate several other anecdotes that were unexpected and sometimes a bit frightening.
This free event is a rare opportunity to hear her speak and see her present a tour of her website.
Miriam’s work and her website Routes to Roots Foundation (https://www.rtrfoundation.org) were ground-breaking in acquiring, digitizing and making archival records free and accessible to all. Her efforts continue to benefit all amateur and professional Jewish genealogists.
Registration is required to attend either in person or virtually. For more information and to register, see the M.O.R.E website.
About the Presenter
Miriam Weiner is an internationally known author, lecturer, syndicated columnist, tour guide and journalist and currently serves as the president of the Routes to Roots Foundation. Through her pioneering efforts in Poland and the former Soviet Union, she created a town-by-town inventory of archive documents in official cooperation with the archives in Poland, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus and Lithuania. The searchable database can be found on the website of the Routes to Roots Foundation (https://www.rtrfoundation.org), along with an image database, surname database, map database & numerous articles by archivists and local historians in Eastern European towns. In 1991, “The Jewish Week” in New York referred to Miriam as “The genealogist who lifted the archival iron curtain” and in 1998, “The Forward” referred to her as “The Indiana Jones of pre-war Polish Jewry.”