Barbara Krasner | History Writer

I have been fascinated with Jewish history since my Hebrew school days at Congregation B’nai Israel in Kearny, New Jersey. I earned extra credit by reading additional history books in Mar Derman’s fourth grade class.

I began tracing my family’s history in 1989 after the birth of my son and was thankful that I’d studied German and Russian in high school and college. I was also glad I knew the Hebrew alphabet and could understand Yiddish based on that and my knowledge of German. But the deeper I dug for my roots, the more I wanted to know who my ancestors were as people. And their stories began to inspire the stories I wrote.

Children:

BABAGANEWZ
“Miracles.” (Nisan [March] 2002)
“Rescue at Entebbe.” (Iyar [April] 2002)
“Searching for Mt. Sinai.” (Sivan [May] 2002)
“Tears and Testimony: Survivors of the Holocaust Speak Out.” (Tevet [December] 2002)
“Going Wild.” (Shevat [January] 2003)
“Freedom Ride.” (Adar One [February] 2003)
“Aboard the Exodus: Setting Sail for Freedom’s Shore.” (Iyar [April] 2004)
“Spotlight on Gershom Mendes Seixas.” (Special Supplement)
“Dear Heartsey.” (Special Supplement)
“Prairie Dogs Weren’t Kosher.” (Special Supplement)
“News ‘n Views: The Beth Elohim Controversy.” (Special Supplement)
“Life in a Sweatshop.” (Special Supplement)

HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN
“Make Your Own Noisemaker: Celebrating Purim.” (March 2006)

Special project management/​editorial assignment work for Behrman House, including lesson plan manuals and other curriculum materials

Adults:

ANCESTRY
“Beginning Jewish Research.” (March/​April 2003)

AVOTAYNU: THE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF JEWISH GENEALOGY
“The Fate of Our Files.” (Spring 1999)
“Breaking New Ground: Jewish Records Indexing – Poland Project.” (Spring 2001)

B’NAI B’RITH INTERNATIONAL JEWISH MONTHLY
“Going the Distance.” (November/​December 2000)

DOROT (Journal of the Jewish Genealogical Society of New York)
“The Power of Collaboration: A Three-way Success Story.” (Spring 2002)
“Book Review: Climbing Your Family Tree by Ira Wolfman.” (Fall/​Winter 2002)

FAMILY CHRONICLE
“Discovering Your Jewish Ancestors.” (July/​August 2001) Book excerpt.

HERITAGE QUEST (Contributing Editor on Jewish Genealogy, January 1999 – December 2003; Contributing Editor, January 2004 – Present)
“Fishing for Ancestors? Cast a Wide Net.” (January/​February 1999)
“Finding Your Jewish Family in Nineteenth Century Poland.” (March/​April 1999; errata corrected and reprinted May/​June 1999)
“Russian Revision Lists.” (July/​August 1999)
“Surname by Decree.” (September/​October 1999)
“Surname Surfing on the Web.” (November/​December 1999)
“Hunting for Your Eastern European Vital Records.” (January/​February 2000)
“Colonial Jewish Families.” (March/​April 2000)
“Researching Your Jewish Medical Family History.” (May/​June 2000)
“Locating Your Jewish Immigrant Ancestors.” (July/​August 2000)
“Sephardic Research.” (September/​October 2000)
“Jewish Cemetery Research.” (November/​December 2000; errata corrected and reprinted January/​February 2001)
“Calling All Landsmen! Town-based Research in Jewish Genealogy.” (March/​April 2001)
“Holocaust Research.” (May/​June 2001)
“The Center for Jewish History: Candy Store for the Jewish Genealogist.” (July/​August 2001)
“Going on a Treasure Hunt.” (September/​October 2001)
“World War II Diaspora.” (November/​December 2001)
“Handling Those Sensitive Skeletons.” (January/​February 2002)
“Finding Your Jewish Ancestors in the Ellis Island Database.” (January/​February 2002)
“Jews in Eastern European Censuses.” (March/​April 2002)
“Going Back to the Shtetl.” (May/​June 2002)
“Finding Your Past through Postcards.” (July/​August 2002)
“Serendipity in Jewish Genealogy.” (September/​October 2002)
“Researching Your Jewish Tough Guy.” (November/​December 2002)
“Researching Jews in Military Service: Russia, Poland, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.” (January/​February 2003)
“Network Your Way to Success with the JewishGen Family Finder.” (March/​April 2003)
“Where in the World? Using Maps to Find Your Ancestors.” (May/​June 2003)
“Jewish Newspapers.” (July/​August 2003)
“10 Essential Books for the Jewish Genealogist.” (September/​October 2003)
“Mining Russian and Polish Business Directories.” (January/​February 2004)
“Morse's Code: The Making of the Ellis Island Database.” (June 2004)

HISTORY MAGAZINE
“A New World Exodus: The 23 Unwanted Pilgrims.” (August/​September 2009)

Newspapers

“Ashkenazim Seen to Get Blood Disorder.” Forward, August 28, 1998.
“Waldheim Cemetery Provides Links to Genetic Research.” JUF News 29, no. 5 (May 1999).

Books

Discovering Your Jewish Ancestors. North Salt Lake, Utah: Heritage Quest, June 2001.

Short Stories

"The Guardian," Jewishfiction.net, February 2011