JGSGB Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

Our society  has created local Special Interest Groups (SIG) similar to the international SIGs hosted on the JewishGen website. The goal is to help members of our society, who are interested in a particular region or topic, advance their research by exchanging information and sharing resources.

JGSGB SIG
JGSGB SIG Meeting

SIG meetings are usually part of our monthly Sunday-afternoon programs. Our email announcements of upcoming programs provide details on exactly when each SIG will meet. You may contact the coordinator of a SIG in which you are interested to ask to be added to that SIG’s email list for notifications. Their contact information is listed below. For more details about an individual SIG, please click on the name of the SIG.

Belarus SIG

The Belarus Special Interest Group (SIG) is comprised of JGSGB members who wish to explore their Jewish roots in the current country of Belarus. Our objective is to enhance the research capabilities of our members by examining topics of interest in depth, providing assistance to each other, and identifying and utilizing reference sources to the fullest. If you are interested in joining the local JGSGB Belarus SIG, please contact belarus@jgsgb.org

Galicia SIG

This SIG is for members of the JGSGB with roots in the region known as Galicia, which today consists of areas in southeastern Poland and southwestern Ukraine that were part of the Austria-Hungary empire before World War I.  If you are interested in joining the local JGSGB Galicia SIG, please contact galicia@jgsgb.org.

Germany SIG

This SIG is for members of JGSGB with Jewish roots in the regions of Europe that united to form the first German state in 1871, including Alsace-Lorraine, Baden, Bavaria, Hanover, Hesse, Hesse-Nassau, Hohenzollern, Holstein, Mecklenburg, Oldenburg, Posen, the Rhine Province, Saxony, Schleswig, Westphalia, and Wurttemburg. If you are interested in joining the local JGSGB German SIG, please contact germany@jgsgb.org.

Litvak SIG

The Litvak SIG is for members of the JGSGB with roots in present day Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. If you are interested in joining the local JGSGB Litvak SIG, please contact litvak@jgsgb.org.

Poland SIG

This group is for members of JGSGB who wish to explore their Jewish roots in the region of modern day Poland. If you are interested in joining the local Poland JGSGB SIG, please e-mail poland@jgsgb.org.

Sephardic SIG

The Sephardic Special Interest Group (SIG) is for members of the JGSGB with Jewish roots in the Spain and Portugal. This includes members of our Society who are Ashkenazi and have Sephardi roots in Spain and Portugal, but does not include the broader Sephardi definition of non-Ashkenazim who have roots only in the Middle East. If you are interested in joining our local Sephardic SIG, please e-mail sephardic@jgsgb.org.

Ukraine SIG

This group is for members of the JGSGB with interests in the lands that were included in these nine Russian Empire gubernii (provinces): Volhynia (Volyn), Kiev, Chernigov, Poltava, Podolia, Kharkov, Kherson (contains Odessa), Yekaterinoslav and  Taurida (Crimea). If you are interested in joining the local JGSGB Ukraine SIG, please contact ukraine@jgsgb.org


To request a Zoom meeting, please use this Zoom Request Form.

If you are interested in creating a SIG for another area or subject, please contact SIG Chair, lerner@jgsgb.org