genealogist

Rachel S. Silverman

A lifelong family historian, Rachel began researching her own Eastern European heritage when she was still a young teen. Today, Rachel has over 20 years under her belt as a dedicated genealogical researcher. She specializes in Jewish genealogy in North America, the former Russian Pale of Settlement, Congress Poland, the Austrian Empire (Galicia), and regions encompassing the former German Empire. These areas include modern-day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany.

An expert in the use of online and technological resources, Rachel's advanced computer skills open up an entire universe of records and indexes, which is steadily expanding as municipalities across the globe digitize their archival holdings.

Rachel’s passion for languages and Jewish history led her to refine her skills in reading and interpreting Hebrew headstones and Yiddish signatures, among other intricacies unique to Jewish genealogy. Through her training as a classical singer (in a former life), Rachel has formally studied multiple languages, including German, Czech, French, Spanish, and Latin, which she puts to good use as a professional researcher.

As a specialist in Jewish genealogy, Rachel has been featured in the New York Times and as a special guest on Genealogy Adventures Live. She appeared on New York’s WNYW Fox 5, speaking with legendary anchor Ernie Anastos about Holocaust-related collections on Ancestry.com. In addition to her client work, Rachel offers short, fun lectures on the basics of Jewish genealogical research, documenting one's research for posterity, and preserving family photos and documents for future generations. Her extensive writing on Jewish genealogical research can be found on Trace.com.

Since 2017, Rachel has had the distinct honor of serving as Senior Genealogist for Operation Benjamin, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the memories of American-Jewish soldiers who, for various reasons, were buried under markers incorrectly representing their religion and heritage at American military cemeteries all over the world. Operation Benjamin’s ultimate mission is to work alongside families and the federal government to correct these historical mistakes. In 2021, she presented Operation Benjamin’s work on JewishGen Talks: Researching Jewish Families in America, and since then has given Zoom presentations to multiple Jewish genealogical societies.

Rachel is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and the Jewish Genealogical Society of New York, and holds a Bachelor's Degree (Magna cum Laude) from New York University. She lives in lower Manhattan.

I read your report to my parents and some of my children, and we all really enjoyed it—stirring up many memories of grandparents and great grandparents. My daughters especially enjoyed hearing some of the old stories. - R.G.