Subject Guide: Jewish Life Cycle

DP Camps in Germany 1945-1952 (RG 294.2) [Digitized]

This collection includes wedding invitations and burial announcements of individuals living in displaced persons camps in Germany in the years immediately following World War II. 

Henry Hochheimer marriage record book collection (P-74)

Collection contains a listing of 930 marriages performed between 1850-1900 by the Rev. Dr. Henry Hochheimer, rabbi of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation 1849-1859, and Oheb Israel Synagogue, 1859-1892 (emeritus, 1893-98). Listed marriages were performed in Baltimore, elsewhere in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Delaware, and Washington, D.C. It includes an alphabetical index arranged by groom's name, and a typescript transcript of information in the book.

Jacob Jacobson Collection 1660-1958 (AR 7002) [Digitized]

In the 1920's and 30's, Jacob Jacobson founded and amassed the Gesamtarchiv der deutschen Juden, the major archive of German-Jewish community records from the 17th-20th centuries. This collection comprises a small portion of these records, including birth, circumcision, marriage, and death/burial registers, predominantly from Berlin. This collection has been entirely digitized. 

Jewish Customs (Vilna Archives) Collection 1830's-1930's (RG 41) [Digitized]

Part of the YIVO Institute's pre-World War II effort to document Jewish religious life in Eastern Europe, this collection contains birth announcements, bar mitzvah speeches, marriage contracts and wedding invitations, divorce deeds, and photographs of various lifecycle events.

Maurice Shasha Papers 1900-2016 (ASF AR 77)

This collection documents three generations of an Iraqi Jewish family, including photographs, certificates, and films of their lifecycle events. 

Metz-Greene-Stone Family Papers, undated, 1910-2013 (P-587)

The collection documents three generations of the Metz, Greene, and Stone families of Flushing N.Y. and their involvement with the Flushing Jewish center and other Jewish communal work. The collection is a valuable resource to researchers studying suburban Jewish American families, specifically women's roles at home and in the community.

Pauline Herzog Confirmation Book and Photo Postcard (P-955)

This collection is comprised of a book and black and white photo postcard from the confirmation of Pauline Herzog which occurred on June 5, 1889.

Postcards and Greeting Cards 1910's-1960's (RG 122)

The collection consists of several thousand illustrated postcards and greeting cards, including invitations to bar mitzvahs and weddings. 

Queens Bet Din Gittin / Rabbi Faber Records (I-502)

This is a collection of the records of Rabbi Salamon Faber, Chair of the Queens Bet Din or Rabbinic Court, concerning the gittin (plural of get, Jewish religious divorces) that the Queens Bet Din granted between 1947 and 1992. These records include Rabbi’s Faber’s personal notes about the gittin, correspondence with the husband and wife and with any other concerned parties, copies of civil and religious marriage and divorce documents, divorce contracts signed by the husband, and copies of conversion certificates.

Records of the Ostrowo Jewish Community Council (RG 13) [Digitized]

The collection comprises a portion of the records of the Jewish community of Ostrów Wielkopolski, today in west-central Poland, in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. The records date mainly from 1834 to 1919, with a few materials from as early as 1822. The collection contains records pertaining to community members' naturalizations, marriages, and births.