Histories and Mysteries

HOURS

Reading Room
Mon-Thurs: 9:30am-4:30pm

Genealogy Institute
Mon: 9:30am-4:30pm
Tue-Fri: By appointment only

Free Exhibit Spaces
Sun–Thurs: 9:30am–7:30pm
Fri: 9:30am-3:30pm
Sat: Closed

Ruth's Bookstore
Sun–Thurs: 10:30am-6:30pm
Fri: 10:30am-4:00pm

Make sure to check our holiday closures prior to visiting.

Please note: The Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute will be closed on Tuesday, December 2 from 12:00-2:00pm. The Reading Room and Genealogy Institute will be closed December 8-10. We are sorry for any inconvenience.

Last entry to the Center for Jewish History Exhibitions, Reading Room, and the Genealogy Institute is 1 hour before closing. The last call to page items in the Reading Room and Genealogy Institute is 3pm.

Images courtesy of the Leo Baeck Institute

The Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute at the Center for Jewish History is proud to launch Histories and Mysteries, a new initiative dedicated to solving Holocaust-era mysteries through crowdsourced genealogy, expert research, and community-driven investigations.

Developed in partnership with the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), Histories and Mysteries will explore unanswered questions from the Holocaust. The project aims to reconnect families, identify individuals in photographs, and uncover hidden details in archival records in an effort to restore connections that may have been lost for generations.

Cases will be shared online, taking audiences on an investigative journey and inviting the public to participate by submitting personal mysteries, sharing materials, and contributing to the search for answers.

Please fill out the form below to tell us about your family mystery, or if you would like to submit a video, please email us at gi@cjh.org.

Tell Us About Your Inquiry

First name *

Last name *

Email (please check your entry) *

Phone Number *

City *

State

Country *

What is your primary research question? *

Are you researching your own family or on behalf of someone else? *

Are you (or the person you're researching on behalf of) a: *

Please provide as much detail as possible about the individual(s) you are researching including name, maiden name (if applicable), date and place of birth, date and place of death, as well as any detail that you can provide about the individual's parents. *

Please tell us any other information that you have about the individual you are researching, such as marriages, children, siblings, employment, education, immigration, experiences during World War II, etc.

Do you have any of the following materials related to your family history?

Family Tree (If online, please provide the link in the notes field below.)

Naturalization Papers

Survivor Testimony

Photographs

Vital Records (birth/marriage/death certificates)

Other

Additional notes or questions for the genealogist

I understand that my submission may be chosen to be featured on social media as part of Histories and Mysteries. I will be given a formal consent form to sign, if my submission is selected.