Awards to JGS-Montreal Members

In recognition of an extraordinary database, available via the Internet, which recently reached a half-million entries and continues to grow. This database not only helps countless researchers but also demonstrates what can be accomplished through the cooperative energy of many volunteers and is an inspiration and model for databases covering other geographical areas. (more information)

In well-deserved recognition of his distinguished service and outstanding work in the cause of Jewish genealogical research. Stanley's negotiation skills and unselfish approach to capturing and sharing the indexing of the Jewish records of Poland have made this resource widely accessible for the benefit of all. He has added new dimensions to the field of Jewish genealogy through his creative melding of genealogical and genetic research techniques to identify relatives carrying the genetic disease, beta-thalessemia. As founder and president of JGS-Montreal, and as a writer and lecturer, he has encouraged and motivated countless people to research their Jewish ancestry. (more information)

In recognition for the extensive effort on the part of its officers and many volunteers in finding, analyzing and indexing the Jewish entries among the vital records of Quebec in the microfilms of the Drouin Genealogical Institute/L'Institut généalogique Drouin. The resulting database makes more than 75,000 entries for Jewish vital events available to researchers. The successful completion of this complex and time-consuming project demonstrates the exceptional dedication of JGS Montreal to the cause of Jewish genealogy. Stanley Diamond, Ruth Diamond and Alan Greenberg of JGS Montreal accepted the Outstanding Project Award. (more information)

JRI-Poland is recognized for providing since 1995 searchable on-line indices of Jewish records from current and former territories of Poland and for its recent ground breaking multi-year agreement with the Polish State Archives (PSA) in a massive effort to digitize all vital records in more than 30 regional archives. This initiative will dramatically expand access to records for family historians tracing their Jewish roots to Poland and make them freely available online. (more information)

His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, presented JRI-Poland Executive Director, Stanley Diamond (Montréal) with the Meritorious Service Medal (Civil Division) for his work in establishing and directing the Jewish Records Indexing - Poland project. (more information)

In recognition of his outstanding support of Jewish Genealogy in Canada, the IAJGS is honored to name Gary Perlman as the 2020 IAJGS Volunteer of the Year. Gary has submitted more than 60,000 records and photos to JewishGen's JOWBR project, updated more than 2,000 gravestone images on JOWBR from Montreal's Rack River Cemetery and 7000 records to better document broken, leaning, faded or Hebrew-only stones, made more than 10,000 corrections and additions to the Baron De Hirsch Cemetery's in-house data, photographed and documented Holocaust and War Casualty Memorials while adding Holocaust text to JOWBR records. In addition, Gary has linked supplemental genealogical information directly from JOWBR search results to the JGS-Montreal website and created the Jewish Genealogy Dashboard, a multi-source search engine, publicly available on the JGS Montreal website, enabling users to run a search across some 50 databases from a single webpage. Finally, Gary assisted the Documentation of Jewish Records Worldwide (Do]R) and is a member of the technical team providing expertise related to working with OCLC Online Computer Library Center in the development of WorldCat. (more information)