TORONTO — Poland’s embassy in Ottawa was recently the scene of a pivotal event in the effort to augment an important database on Polish Jews.
Poland’s ambassador to Canada, Zenon Kosiniak-Kamysz, centre, seen with Peter Jassem, right, and Stanley Diamond. [Ela Kinowska photo]
In a ceremony on Oct. 2, the Canadian representative of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Peter Jassem, and the executive director of the Jewish Records Indexing –Poland (JRI-Poland), Stanley Diamond, signed an agreement of co-operation.
Launched in 1995, JRI-Poland is said to be the largest fully searchable database of Jewish vital records accessible online, helping Jews around the world to trace their ancestral roots.
By Jassem’s estimate, JRI-Poland has indexed 4.5 million records.
Diamond said the accord links the websites of two organizations and aims to provide quick access to a broad range of information.
JRI-Poland was established by Diamond, a Montreal resident, in conjunction with Steven Zedeck of Nashua, New Hampshire, and Michael Tobias of Glasgow, Scotland.
JRI-Poland is composed of index entries from birth, marriage and death certificates in Poland from the 19th and early 20th century.
Though not containing actual documents, the database is a searchable index of original records.
Apart from the indices of vital records, the database includes information relating to more than 500 towns in current and former areas of Poland, census records, army draft lists, burials in cemeteries, Polish passports, ghetto deaths and legal announcements.
The ceremony was attended by Poland’s ambassador to Canada, Zenon Kosiniak-Kamysz, and his deputies, minister counsellor Jaroslaw Kurek and second secretary Maria Zdunowska.
In a speech, the ambassador promised to cultivate Polish-Jewish relations in Canada, promote better mutual understanding and foster knowledge about Polish Jews through cultural and educational events and exhibitions.
Also present were members of the Polish-Jewish Heritage Foundation of Canada, of which Jassem is the Toronto president, and representatives of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Ottawa and of Hillel, the Jewish students’ organization.
Jassem said the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, set to be built in Warsaw, will open in 2012.
In terms of importance, it will be comparable to Yad Vashem and the Holocaust Museum in Washington, he said.
