The family story of Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg, known better by her stage name of Jane Seymour, is an emotional rollercoaster of a ride. Her Father’s family are Jewish while her mother was a Dutch Protestant who had endured being in a Second World War Japanese concentration camp.
The television episode followed Jane as she discovered more about her two great-aunts, Michaela and Jadwiga who had experienced the horrors of Poland under Nazi occupation.
TheGenealogist website, meanwhile, has discovered that Jane's paternal grandfather, Leon Frankenberg, had come to Britain after his family had fled persecution in Eastern Europe. He was the lucky one as he established his own business and became a respected member of his local synagogue community as recorded in the London Jewish Seatholder's records now searchable on TheGenealogist.
Read full article on TheGenealogist site and discover more about Jane Seymour's family history.
This Sunday, 7th July 2013, sees the first 'Jewish Family History Fair' in Elstree, Hertfordshire, hosted by The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain.
You can learn more about Jewish history and genealogy from expert speakers, including Mark Bayley, Head of Online Content at TheGenealogist.co.uk
There's also an 'Ask the Expert' session and there will be exhibitors of leading software and recording materials for keen genealogists to browse.
The Fair is open from 10am to 6pm at the De Vere Village Urban Resort Hotel and there's more details from their website.
TheGenealogist has another new set of records now available to view online in a very busy week. Available to all levels of subscriber, the new records detail the records of Jews who fell or were wounded in the Great War or were decorated for bravery.
Looking at people such as Captain Robert Gee who was wounded several times but still performed heroic actions, Sergeant Issy Smith, Private Leonard Keysor and Lieutenant Frank Alexander de Pass, these are just some of the 2,500 men who can be found on the new record sets which further add to the military records available on TheGenealogist.
Captain Robert Gee, Victoria Cross winner for outstanding bravery
With details on how and where they served, it is a fascinating set of records of great interest to those with Jewish ancestry or for those with an interest in the First World War. There's more details available on TheGenealogist.
To search these records, select "Roll of Honour Records" on the search view, or find them under the military section of the master search on the website.
