A New Beginning: The Launch of the Association for Central European Jewish History and Genealogy

Now that the Jewish holidays are behind us, and the living hostages were finally returned. and after months of behind-the-scenes work, I’m thrilled to finally share some truly exciting news. Together with an inspiring group of colleagues and friends, we’ve established a new international organization: the Association for Central European Jewish History and Genealogy (CEJHG).

The Logo of the CEJHG

Symbolically, after a long wait, CEJHG was officially added to the Austrian Registry of Associations on the first day of the Jewish year 5786 - a perfect time to begin something new. Our mission is simple but ambitious: to bring together historians, genealogists, and enthusiasts from around the world to explore and preserve the Jewish past across the former Habsburg Empire and its successor states through multidisciplinary cooperation.

Through collaboration and shared knowledge, we aim to make Jewish history and genealogy more connected, accessible, and interdisciplinary than ever before. Whether through new databases, collaborative projects, or global networking opportunities, we want CEJHG to become a hub for those passionate about uncovering stories that have shaped Jewish life in Central Europe.

In addition to the general importance of collecting reliable information and making it accessible as a multi-purpose database benefitting historical and genealogical research, it seems obvious to me that the creation of such databases also helps identifying and documenting the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, their family history and relations, and in doing so - help combatting antisemitism and Holocaust denial, which unfortunately is of increasing importance in the current period.

I’m deeply honored to serve as the association’s General Secretary and Secretary of its board, alongside a remarkable founding board:

• E. Randol Schoenberg (Chairperson) – the lawyer and genealogist known from ‘Woman in Gold’ (where Rian Raynolds played him) and the genealogical documentary ‘Fioretta’. Schoenberg serves as Board member at JewishGen and is the Director of its Austria-Czech Research Division.

• Marie-Theres Arnbom (Deputy Chairperson) – historian, author, and curator focused on Austrian Jewish cultural history

• Michael Laurence Miller (Deputy Chairperson) – Associate Professor in the Nationalism Studies program at Central European University and Academic Director of its Jewish Studies program, expert on Hungarian Jewry

• Georg Gaugusch (Treasurer) – Austrian historian and genealogist, author of the acclaimed Wer einmal war series. Vice President of the Heraldisch-Genealogische Gesellschaft “Adler”.

If these topics interest you - you are more than invited to join us, from anywhere in the world!

And if you are connected to a research institute, academic institution, organization or association with common interests and databases that can be connected and develop new research tools together - we would love to hear from you and forge partnerships and collaborations.

Read more on our website: https://cejhg.org/en/

And follow us on the various social networks: Facebook> Instagram> LinkedIn> Threads>

Youtube>

And this is just the beginning.

Our first major project is already underway: the international conference “Parallel Paths, Shared Past: Bridging Genealogy and Jewish History in Research of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire”, organized in partnership with the Jewish Studies Program at Central European University (CEU). It will take place in Vienna on May 4–6, 2026 and will explore the rich intersection between genealogy and history in the Central European Jewish context.

Our Call for Papers is now open - so if you’re working in these fields, you're invited to submit your proposal before November 15, 2025.

If you know someone who might be interested – please Share!

This project means a great deal to me personally. It’s a chance to bring people together across borders and disciplines, to explore our shared past and strengthen our collective memory.

Here’s to new beginnings and to a bright future for Jewish genealogy and history in Central Europe.

Mattan Segev-Frank, Historian, Genealogist & Storyteller at Mattan Segev-Frank’s Genealogy Jungle General Secretary of CEJHG