My friend, Josh Grayson, recently started working on a large and very exciting project on the Prague Old Jewish Cemetery in the Czech Republic. This project is particularly important because while documentation for Jewish families in most of Europe only goes back to the 19th century, the documents on the Prague Jewish Cemetery contain information on individuals as far back as 1437. In total, there are 13,415 surviving tombstones. Prague Jews took surnames as early as the 15th century while Jews almost everywhere else in Europe waited until the early 19th century to do so. As a result, this project will allow the construction of family trees stretching back hundreds of years earlier than those of most other Jewish communities.
Josh’s ability to read old Hebrew script, along with modern technology, allows him to decipher what the rest of us would just justifiably give up on. His Prague Jewish Cemetery – Working on a HIstoric Treasure goes into detail about this amazing untaking.
Josh has written 2 parts of what will be a 3-part blog article about the project at his Lost Roots Family History Blog site, outlining some of the reasons for his excitement as well as the many challenges he has faced. I found the project to be interesting and am sharing the links with my readers.
Prague Jewish Cemetery – Working on a HIstoric Treasure
I plan to post another short blog about the project when Josh posts the 3rd planned article about the project in October.
