with Lee Jaffe

Between 1880 and 1914, more than 2 million Jews left Eastern Europe – most from the Russia's Pale of Settlement, most heading to the United States – one of the largest mass-migrations in modern history.  While a lot has been recorded about the conditions that drove them to leave and their remarkable success in their new home, the journey leaving the Pale is less well-known.  What did it take?  How did they plan their departure and choose their route?  What was needed to leave Russia?  How did they travel to the steamship ports and how did they purchase their passage across the Atlantic?  

Lee Jaffe began researching his family history more than 30 years ago, building a family tree that has uncovered forgotten stories and reunited missing branches.  Recently uncovering documents and records tracing his grandmother's journey from a shtetl in Russian Empire Ukraine in 1905, he began researching the conditions emigrants faced on their way out of the Pale.  Lee will share his research, from discovering his own family's journey, to what he was able to learn about the intricate and sophisticated systems which enabled – and sometimes hindered – our ancestors on their way to a better life, concluding with tips about researching your family's story.