German-Jewish SIG (GerSIG) Seminar

Overview

You are invited to book your place at our second seminar for those who have German-Jewish ancestors.
The seminar will take place on Sunday May 31, 2026 via Zoom at:09:30 - 16:00 in New York (EST)14:30 - 21:00 in the United Kingdom (GMT)16:30 - 23:00 in Israel06:30 - 1:00 in Los Angeles (PST)
Each talk is 45 minutes long followed by 15 minutes for questions and answers. There will be a 15 minute break after sessions 1, 2 and 4, and a 45 minute break after session 3.
If you can't join at the scheduled time of the talks, all associated handouts and recordings of four of the talks will be made available to all registrants for one month following the seminar.
Fee: $20. We have made this a paid-for event so that we can remunerate our guest speakers.
To reserve your place please book using the following link: https://tixoom.app/gersigseminar/cCnYM5Xgcucc

Seminar Schedule

09:30 EST / 14:30 UK / 16:30 Israel

The History of Cologne's Jewish Citizens and their Persecution during the Nazi-era

Speaker: Dr Birte Klarzyk

Over the past four decades, the City of Cologne's NS-Documentation Centre (NS-DOK) has done extensive research on the history of Cologne's Jewish citizens and their persecution by the Nazi-regime. A core topic being biographical research and family histories, its staff has not only gathered information from various sources and archives, but also made contact with many survivors from Cologne and their families. In my presentation I will give an insight into the research activities and discuss how these can help descendants of Cologne's Jewish former residents trace their family history as well as show some examples from the NS-DOK's large collection of mainly personal records and artefacts pertaining to Jewish families such as letters, diaries and photo albums and speak about recent projects like a web-app jointly developed by the NS-DOK and the Jewish Museum MiQua offering different walks to sites relevant for Cologne's Jewish history in the 20th century.

10:45 EST / 15:45 UK / 17:45 Israel

The Central Archives for Research on the History of Jews in Germany (Zentralarchiv zur Erforschung der Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland): Sources for Genealogical Research

Speaker: Dr Jens Hoppe

After a brief overview of the Central Archives’ history since its foundation in Heidelberg in 1987, Dr. Hoppe will explain how to access their record groups. Unfortunately, numerous access restrictions do exist. Then, Dr. Hoppe will present some of the archive’s key collections for genealogical research. Finally, Dr. Hoppe will say a few words about the archive’s current work and plans for the future.

12:00 EST / 17:00 UK / 19:00 Israel

Jewish Cattle Traders in the German Countryside, 1919–1939

Speaker: Dr Stefanie Fischer

In her book Jewish Cattle Traders in the German Countryside, 1919–1939: Economic Trust and Antisemitic Violence, Stefanie Fischer explores the social and economic networks in which this group operated and the informal but durable bonds between Jewish cattle traders and farmers that not even incessant Nazi attacks could break. Stefanie Fischer challenges the longstanding cliché of the shady Jewish cattle dealer by combining approaches from social history, economic history, and sociology. By focusing on trust and social connections, Fischer exposes the myriad inconsistencies that riddled the process of expelling the Jews from Nazi Germany.

13:00 EST / 18:00 UK / 20:00 Israel

45-minute Break

13:45 EST / 18:345 UK / 20:45 Israel

Solving Your German-Jewish Family History Research Queries

Speakers: Alex Calzareth and Jeanette Rosenberg OBE

Attendees are welcome to email German-Jewish genealogical questions to Jeanette and Alex and we will do our best to answer them after our three speakers have spoken. Please email questions by May 15, 2026.

15:00 EST / 21:00 UK / 23:00 Israel

Attendee Networking Sessions (Optional)

Speaker Biographies

Dr. Birte Klarzyk

Birte Klarzyk studied history and archaeology at the University of Cologne and has worked as a researcher for Jewish history at the City of Cologne's NS-Documentation Centre since 2018. As part of her work, she has been in touch with numerous descendants of Jewish families from Cologne helping them to research into their family history and find traces of their ancestors. Besides, she has been involved in different (research) projects on Jewish life in Cologne during the 1930s and 40s and also regularly gives presentations or chairs discussions on these topics.

Dr. Jens Hoppe

Dr. Jens Hoppe was born in Brunswick (Germany) in 1970 and studied history, political science and European ethnology at the universities of Regensburg and Münster (Westfalia). In 2001, he received a PhD for his thesis on "Jewish History and Culture in Museums. Non-Jewish Museology of Judaica in Germany" between 1850 and 1989 (an abstract can be found here: https://academic.oup.com/leobaeck/article/49/1/257/994700 ). For the next 24 years I worked for a major Jewish organisation in Frankfurt on the Main and have been in charge of the Central Archives since 2025.

Dr. Stefanie Fischer

Stefanie Fischer is a historian of Jewish History and Holocaust History, with particular interests in gender history, economic history, and the history of antisemitism. She is the author of Jewish Cattle Traders in the German Countryside, 1919-1939. Economic Trust and Antisemitic Violence (Indiana University Press, 2024), and co-author of Oberbrechen. A German Village Confronts its Nazi Past (Oxford University Press, 2025). She also serves as co-editor-in-chief of the Journal Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook (Oxford University Press, since 2024). Her new co-edited volume Sex Work and Jewish History is under contract with Rutgers University Press (scheduled for 2027).

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