Registration is open for the 28th International Conference on Jewish Genealogy: Chicago August 17-22, 2008

Honolulu, HI – January 30, 2008.  The International Association of Jewish Genealogy (IAJGS) announces that registration is open for the 28th International Conference on Jewish Genealogy to be held in Chicago, August
17 – 22, 2008 at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile. The conference is co-hosted with the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois and the Illiana Jewish Genealogical Society.

“Early-bird” conference registration, through April 30, 2008, is $250 and $150 for a companion. Daily conference registration is also available. The special hotel rate for conference registrants is $199 per night plus tax (single or double), plus $30 per additional person. Conference registration and hotel registration can be completed at the conference website:
www.chicago2008.org

All those who register for both the conference and the hotel before Saturday, March 15, 2008 are automatically entered into a drawing for a free five-night stay, in a standard guest room, at the conference hotel during the conference. This generous prize is being donated by the Marriott Chicago Downtown Magnificent Mile. More details about the drawing can be found at www.chicago2008.org

This week long premier annual event for Jewish Genealogists will be filled with a tremendous array of sessions and presentations of interest to genealogists from beginners to those who are experienced researchers.

Among the many topics, one that is sure to fascinate many will be the latest information about the International Tracing Service (ITS). The opening up of the records from the ITS Archives at Bad Arolsen, Germany is a momentous event for Jewish genealogists. According to Gary Mokotoff, publisher of Avotaynu, who recently visited the Archives: “The records are truly exciting and a potential goldmine for family historians trying to find out the fate of family members caught up in the Holocaust.”  Conference attendees will learn about what can be found in the 26,000 meters of various types of records and in the alphabetically and phonetically arranged Central Name Index containing over 50 million reference cards for over 17.5 million people as well as where they can access the now digitized portions of the ITS collection.

For additional information, see the conference website at:
www.Chicago2008.org

The IAJGS is an organization of organizations, founded in the late 1980s, to provide a common voice for issues of significance to its members, to advance our genealogical avocation and to ensure there is an annual International Conference on Jewish Genealogy. Go to www.iajgs.org for more information.
Contact:
Anne Feder Lee, IAJGS President and Chicago 2008 co-chair
Telephone: 808-395-0115 (Honolulu, HI)
E-mail: [email protected]