MyHeritage Announces Podcast: Blast from My Past

 

We are thrilled to announce that we are launching our first-ever podcast, Blast From My Past. The podcast will feature the incredible true stories of people whose lives were changed by what they discovered through MyHeritage about their family’s pasts — whether it was a close relative they never knew existed, the key to unlocking an old family mystery, or a newfound connection to a long-forgotten legacy.

Click here to follow or subscribe to Blast From My Past

Since our foundation, MyHeritage has been privileged to play a key role in many breathtaking and deeply moving stories. We see it as a duty and an honor to share these inspiring stories with you, and we have been doing so through various platforms, including this blog, our social channels, the international media, and video. Now, we are so excited to utilize a new medium for sharing these stories: the podcast. It’s our first foray into the world of podcasting, and in complete alignment with our company philosophy — it’s all about our users.

The debut episode, “The Secret of Ereikoussa,” tells the story of Yvette Corporan, a bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning producer who set out on a quest to confirm the extraordinary story her grandmother told her: that the Greek Island community where she grew up conspired to hide a Jewish family right under the noses of their Nazi occupiers.

Listeners will follow along as Yvette digs for clues, and, with the assistance of MyHeritage CEO Gilad Japhet, makes discoveries beyond what she had ever imagined.

Some of the stories we have lined up for this season include:

• A journey to the world’s most far-flung locations to preserve the endangered legacies of remote tribes
• A project to reunite adoptees around the world with their birth families through free DNA testing results in a number of touching reunions
• A soldier who earned an Iron Cross for his service on the German side in WWI, only to be driven out of Germany by the Nazis and earn a Silver Star fighting for the Allies in WWII
• A pair of sisters, abandoned as babies at the same train station in South Korea and adopted to families on opposite ends of the globe, who discover each other through DNA testing
• A pair of Colombian half-brothers, adopted in different countries, who found each other through DNA testing — but whose discoveries didn’t stop there

With audio production by award-winning agency Listen, Blast From My Past is presented in first-person narrative format with no host, giving center stage to the protagonists. Each episode will focus on a story, or a series of stories surrounding a common theme, and will run for a maximum of 30 minutes. The first season will include eight episodes, to be released once every two weeks — and we intend for it to be the first of many.

Blast From My Past is now available for streaming and download on all major podcast platforms — and of course, it’s entirely free.

How to follow and listen

• Click here to follow and listen on Spotify.
• Click here to follow and listen on Apple.
• Tap here on your mobile device to follow and listen from your favorite podcast app.
• You can also follow and listen on your web browser by clicking here.

Giveaway alert! 

We’ll be choosing 3 of our podcast followers to win a MyHeritage Complete Plan, our ultimate family history package which includes unlimited family tree size, access to over 16 billion historical records, priority customer support, and much, much more.

To enter, just comment below that you’re following the podcast on one of our podcast streaming platforms. We’ll notify the winners on Sunday, March 13, 2022. Good luck! 

Our best stories come straight from our users, so please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and ideas with us at blastfrommypast@myheritage.com.

MyHeritage Adds 269M Filae Tree Profiles AND Announces Free DNA Upload Offer

  MyHeritage has made two exciting announcements today — and stay tuned, because there are more coming soon ;-)

The first announcement is that they have just added 269 million family tree profile records from Filae to MyHeritage.  If you have French roots, you will almost certainly find some family members in this collection. This addition comes alongside the 8 million other historical records we added from France and Norway since the beginning of 2022. Please read more here.

The second announcement is that they'll be running a special offer for uploading DNA kits to MyHeritage. From tomorrow, March 1–8, 2022, people who have taken a DNA test with other services will be able to upload their DNA to MyHeritage and enjoy all our advanced DNA features for free — including Ethnicity Estimates, Chromosome Browser, Theory of Family Relativity™️, and more. If you tested with another DNA service and haven’t uploaded your DNA to MyHeritage yet, there’s never been a better time! Visit myheritage.com/dna/upload to get started.

All About the 1950 U.S. Census from the National Archives and Records Administration

Genealogists have been waiting for the release of the 1950 U.S. Federal Census and, after 72 years, the wait will end on 1 April 2022 when the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) opens the records to the public. 

The Genealogy Guys Podcast, episode #402 (http://genealogyguys.com/the-genealogy-guys-podcast-402), includes a detailed discussion of what's coming and when. Of particular importance is that an every-name index has been created using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and it will be available on Day One.

Here are two important NARA resource links to help you learn more:

• 1950 Census Fact Sheet (NARA) - https://www.archives.gov/press/press-kits/1950-census-fact-sheet
• 1950 Census Records Page at NARA - https://www.archives.gov/research/census/1950
• Lots of excellent resource links are presented

In addition, NARA will be presenting free webinars on the subject beginning on 2 March 2022. See the schedule at https://www.archives.gov/calendar/genealogy-series/2022. 

Listen to the Genealogy Guys Podcasts for ongoing coverage of what's happening with the 1950 Census at NARA and at the commercial online genealogical sites.

MyHeritage Adds 28 Collections of Jewish Historical Records

 Just announced by MyHeritage!

We are pleased to announce the publication of 5.8 million records from 28 historical record collections of Jewish historical records. The collections span the 18th–21st centuries and contain vital records such as birth, marriage, death, as well as tax, voter, immigration, and obituary records, from Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Germany, Hungary, the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, and more. These records are invaluable for anyone researching their European Jewish heritage.

The release of these records — made possible thanks to MyHeritage’s collaboration with the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust and its affiliate, JewishGen, a leading website for Jewish genealogy — constitutes the first installment of a licensing agreement that will ultimately make almost all the JewishGen records accessible on MyHeritage. Future installments will include important Jewish historical record collections from North Africa, the Middle East, North America and more European collections.

These collections further expand MyHeritage’s extensive resources for Jewish genealogy.  Through its member base of one million users in Israel, MyHeritage is home to the world’s largest collection of Jewish family trees and is the only major commercial genealogy company to support Hebrew. Furthermore, MyHeritage’s collections of global historical records include millions of records that are valuable to individuals researching Jewish heritage, such as passenger and immigration lists that document the wave of Jews seeking refuge in North America, South America, and Israel after their communities were devastated by the Holocaust.

The records in these collections will now benefit from MyHeritage’s powerful matching technologies, which automatically match historical records with the 83 million family trees on MyHeritage, as well as MyHeritage’s powerful Global Name Translation Technology™. Until now, JewishGen records were available to search and view in English only. With the MyHeritage versions of these collections, international users can search and view these collections in other languages, such as Hebrew, Russian, or Greek, with the names translated into their native languages. The application of MyHeritage’s cutting-edge technology to the genealogical resources offered by JewishGen will open new doors to those seeking information on their Jewish roots.

Read the details of each of the collections and link to the collections in the MyHeritage blog at https://blog.myheritage.com/2022/02/myheritage-adds-28-collections-of-jewish-historical-records/.

Summary

We are proud to be significantly expanding the Jewish genealogy resources available on MyHeritage, offering collections that span the breadth of Jewish communities around the world. These collections provide rich insights into the lives of Jews from the 18th through the 21st century, including the Holocaust, and will help millions of people around the world learn more about their Jewish roots.

Searching the collections on MyHeritage is free. To view these records or to save records to your family tree, you’ll need a Data or Complete plan. 

If you have a family tree on MyHeritage, our Record Matching technology will notify you automatically if records from the collections match your relatives. You’ll then be able to review the record and decide if you’d like to add the new information to your tree.

Collection	Description	Number of Records	Link to Search

MyHeritage Makes Marriage Records Access Free February 13-20, 2022

 In honor of Valentine’s Day, MyHeritage is offering FREE access to all marriage records for a limited time, from February 13–20! That is free access to all 600 million marriage records on MyHeritage.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

National Institute for Dementia Education Recognizes Photo Reminiscence Therapy (pRT) Research Project

Vivid-Pix is one of the sponsors for the Genealogy Guys Podcast, and it is actively involved in work associated with the use of photographs as a means of improving the cognitive skills and quality of life in dementia patients. 

Anyone interviewing relatives as part of their genealogy research knows that using photos can trigger memories and encourage communication. 

This press release is just the first of what you will be hearing about this remarkable work. The Genealogy Guys are excited about this project. Stay tuned to our podcast for more information to come.

Celebrate Black History Month

 The Genealogy Guys celebrate the contributions of 

African ancestors to the culture of the world!