About the Talk:
At the tail end of the Third Wave of immigration to the United States, American Jews, alien and established, were asked to return and join the fratricide in Europe. Many had family in the Czar’s army, which they emigrated to escape, while others had kin proudly serving with the Central Powers (Germany and Austro-Hungary). Jews in America were also fighting stereotypes and discrimination at home.
The variety of responses will be examined in the context of the WW1 era. The illustrated talk will illuminate the era as well as demonstrate techniques and resources for documenting an ancestor’s military service and exploring the genealogically rich cases against slackers (draft dodgers) and “enemy aliens."
About the Speaker:
Jordan Auslander is a former transportation planner, and now a New York based genealogical researcher, lecturer and expert witness. Jordan has pursued cases across the United States, Europe and Israel; translated, created and published an index to vital records in the Slovak State Archive system, Genealogical Gazetteer of the Kingdom of Hungary, and articles including the history and documentation of US participants in WWI.
His history BA first applied in title search, real estate and background contracted for various literary projects; Jordan got into genealogy, like everyone else -- too late. Interest in family history grew while stuck with sorting through bales of material his paternal grandmother accumulated. He joined the Jewish Genealogical Society in 1988 serving on its board 1994-96; he is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and The New York Genealogical & Biographical Society.
He applied his theatrical writing and acting pretensions as “Heir Jordan, Extreme Genealogist” Telly award winner for RootsTelevision.com and the ‘reliably inappropriate’ host of IAJGS conference Gameshow Night.