The New York Times has an interesting story about one American's search for his roots in Lithuania. Quoting from the article:
It was in one such cafe that Regina Kopilevich sat across from me last Thursday and asked the question I had been waiting a lifetime to hear. Placing her hand atop the pile of papers in front of her and opening her clear blue eyes extra wide, she leaned forward and said, in slightly accented English, “Would you like to know your name?”
It seems that Matt Gross' family name was not Gross after all. In this article, he describes the search for his ancestors, performed by a professional researcher. He also describes the records, kept by the Russian government that controlled the region in the 19th century, detailing births, deaths and marriages in the Jewish community.
You can read this interesting story written by Matt Gross at: http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/16/tracing-family-roots-in-vilnius/?em&ex=1216440000&en=32f45be6203e912c&ei=5087%0A
NOTE: The New York Times often leaves stories visible only for a few days, then moves them to the (for-pay) archives. The story is open and free as I write these words but that may change in the near future.
My thanks to Dave McDonald for telling me about this story.
