Jewish Orphans and Orphanages: Difference between revisions
(New page: Orphans are children who were either parentless or homeless because the parents were dead or could not care for their children. While many cities had Jewish orphanages, not all Jewish chil...) |
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Orphans are children who were either parentless or homeless because the parents were dead or could not care for their children. While many cities had Jewish orphanages, not all Jewish children were placed in these orphanages. Some went to orphanages run by city, county, or state governments or to private or nonsectarian orphanages. The records of many orphanages have been lost, especially those destroyed during the Holocaust. | Orphans are children who were either parentless or homeless because the parents were dead or could not care for their children. While many cities had Jewish orphanages, not all Jewish children were placed in these orphanages. Some went to orphanages run by city, county, or state governments or to private or nonsectarian orphanages. The records of many orphanages have been lost, especially those destroyed during the Holocaust. | ||
To find orphanage records, first determine what orphanages existed in the areas your ancestors lived in at the time they lived there. Local histories and directories often contain this information. Once you locate the orphanage, determine if records survive. If the orphanage is still operating, it would likely have records. If it no longer exists, records may be in local, state, or national archives or libraries. | |||
Revision as of 11:29, 19 February 2009
Orphans are children who were either parentless or homeless because the parents were dead or could not care for their children. While many cities had Jewish orphanages, not all Jewish children were placed in these orphanages. Some went to orphanages run by city, county, or state governments or to private or nonsectarian orphanages. The records of many orphanages have been lost, especially those destroyed during the Holocaust.
To find orphanage records, first determine what orphanages existed in the areas your ancestors lived in at the time they lived there. Local histories and directories often contain this information. Once you locate the orphanage, determine if records survive. If the orphanage is still operating, it would likely have records. If it no longer exists, records may be in local, state, or national archives or libraries.