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Presenter: Avrohom Krauss

Landsmanshaftn, plural of Landsmanshaft, were hometown immigrant societies founded by Ashkenazi Jews across the Eastern European diaspora. They were especially popular in the United States from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth century. Millions of poor, disoriented and uprooted Jews looked for familiarity and help navigating a new alien world. The landsmanshaft, be it a social club, synagogue, political organization or burial association, filled those needs. Townsfolk identified by their shtetl gathered under a common banner to form an extension of their ancestral home. Study of these people and institutions are indisputably an integral part of family history and hometown research. This presentation will acquaint the researcher with the activities and records of the landsmanshaft and demonstrate how to mine the rich resources available in physical and virtual repositories.