http://www.jewishgen.org

There you willl find among others:
* the JewishGen Family Finder - a site to search for others researching the same names or towns 

* Special Interest Groups (SIGs)- Groups that specialize in daily discussion, databases and exchange of information for specific geographic regions. There are presently more than twenty. Further there are certain groups that are interested in specific shtetls in Russia, Poland, the Ukraine. All messages exchanged by the SIGs and the Jewishgen Discussion Lists are archived, and can be retrieved on the site.

There is now a French-SIG, in English, to which you should suscribe as soon as possible !

If you are interested in Central or Eastern Europe, you will benefit from the FAQ's at www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/eefaq.html

     Throughout many countries in the world, but particularly in Eastern Europe, many civil registers have been microfilmed by the Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints). To learn if the records of the region or town in which you are interested has been filmed consult the site:

http://familysearch.org/search/searchcatalog.asp

In certain countries such as Poland, Germany in part, Hungary, your research will be facilitated by the fact that the Jewish records were maintained in separate registers for a long time.

If you discover that the region or locality in which you are interested has been filmed then you are able to go to the Family History center (FHL) nearest your home, and to request that the microfilm that you need be ordered for you [for a small fee]. When it arrives you are can begin to read it! A superficial knowledge of the language of the documents, at the least the important terms such as "birth",'"death", etc. is recommended. [The FHL usually has copies of documents to help with these terms.]

Consult the sites of other Jewish Genealogical Associations of the world. You will find the principals ones under the heading of LINKS on this site. See our heading GENEALOGY ON THE INTERNET for assistance in using these sites.

Of course, by joining the Cercle de Généalogie Juive you will be able to benefit from the mutual assistance of the other members and to participate, for example, in our special group, Eastern Europe, led by Basile GINGER, or also in a German group, led by Ernest KALLMANN (See MEETINGS). Another group for Eastern Europe, as well as one for the Ottoman Empire has opened in Marseille.