Beth Radom Museum

Kehilalinks: A Virtual Jewish Community   
Submitted by: Susan Weinberg

One of the many features offered by Jewishgen.org, the Jewish genealogy website, is something called a Kehilalink. A Kehilalink is a virtual community for the descendants of Jews who once lived in a particular town. Volunteers adopt a community and build the site out to include a broad range of information  Not all towns have a Kehilalink, but we are fortunate that Radom has one that contains considerable information for those who are interested in exploring their family history.

I created the Radom site in 2010 and continue to manage it today. My interest in Radom was sparked by the fact that my grandfather came from there. I have done extensive research on Radom and frequently include what I find in the site.  So, what can you find there?

Let’s take a quick look. Most of us begin with an interest in finding out if our family names are cited in the town. If you click on Names in the gray bar at the top you will go to the Names page with listings by names. In the names index on the first line, you will see a listing of names with links to family histories, the cemetery, pictures, ads and the school.  Clicking on one of the names on the left and it will take you to other families that share that name. If you go back to the Names tab you will find additional lists that include immigration records, synagogue members from the late 1800s, patronymic names and the last names that they took in 1823, surnames listed in Books of Residents, 1902 property owners and telephone books. You will also find direct links to ads from 1929-1932 and the Jewish school.

Click on the link for Family Histories at the top.  There are many books containing family histories that began in Radom. Often the author allowed for the site to provide the first chapter which spoke of their Radom history. There are also interviews with Radom family members.

On the Pictures tab you will find pictures that families have provided and their relationship to the subjects of the picture. One woman discovered a picture of her grandmother posted by a relative she had not yet met. At the top of the page you will find collections of pictures on different themes. One of the most interesting is a film that was done of Radom in 1937, just five years before many were deported. It became the source material for my artwork on Radom. Stills from the film capture the sense of a city in transition as elders wore traditional garb and their children wore what would have been quite contemporary at the time. We later learned that the film was done on the occasion of several family weddings.

You may find a family member through the Cemetery tab. While most of the cemetery was destroyed, some tombstones did survive, either partially or intact. Some tombstones were hidden in a warehouse. When they were discovered, the Israelis and the Poles worked together to mount them in a wall called a lapidarium. Transcriptions are on the site and many have found family members within them.

The Holocaust tab examines the history of the Holocaust in Radom and links to Yitzkor books for both Radom and area towns.  There you can also find the Book of Radom which is in English.

Perhaps you are planning to travel to Radom and are curious about Jewish sites. You will find that information under Radom Today along with pictures of those sites today. The route called the Trace was created in 2017 by the city and the Resursa (the Arts and Culture Center).          

Considerable information can be found on the Links page which recaps records which once appeared in the Kielce-Radom journal, now available on-line. There you can find a 1930 and 1932 business directory which just might have your family’s business address.

The Archives page explores how to use the archives, a topic which is changing as the Polish archives put more records on-line. One of the most useful links on this page is to the identity papers which Jews of Radom had to complete in 1941. Many of them have photos, often the only photo we may have of family who died in the Holocaust. The Archive page will also connect you to the Polish library and its contents for those researching Jewish history in Radom.

There is much more within these pages and more to be added if I can find assistance in translating Polish and Russian. Last year I did research in the Radom Archives and copied many lists of the Jewish community from the 1800s. You can read more about my discoveries here. One of my most exciting discoveries was a Book of Residents dated 1827. While I’ve recorded the names, it also provides information on the town they came from prior to 1827 as well as other details of their life.  If you would like to assist in a Polish or Russian translation project for Radom records, please contact me at susan@studio409art.com.