Currently accepting clients for...

• DNA
• Family History Research
• Speaking / Presenting
• Writing /Publishing
• Other Speciality

Do you have European Jews in your family?

Yonah Paley has more than a decade of experience in genealogy. Through hard work, learning, and a strong knowledge of record-finding, he has managed to trace multiple lines back to the 1700s and excels at piecing together descendants and lost branches of families that were split up through emigration waves of the 1880s-1920s, as well as the Holocaust.

He specializes in researching Jews of Eastern Europe and the Baltic states and has localized specialties in parts of:

• Lithuania/Latvia
• Galicia (portions of modern-day Ukraine, Poland)
• Slovakia/Hungary
• Belarus
• The USA

And much, much more!
 

The tools he uses to trace families include (but are not limited to):

• Vital records, censuses, war documents
• Ship manifests and naturalization records
• Hebrew gravestones (Matzevot) and a strong knowledge of Jewish naming practices
• DNA, including NPE (non-paternity events), triangulation, family groupings, and name changes
• Holocaust records, including pages of testimony, transport records, and refugee documents

 

He is also the host of the "Genealogy is Fun" educational YouTube channel and former host of the "Jewish Genealogy" podcast.

Every family and every project is unique. Yonah focuses on solving one question at a time, using systematic and organized research methods. He combines hard documents and circumstantial evidence to piece together families that would otherwise have remained splintered from the ravages of history.

If you want high-quality research done on your family, have a mystery you've been dying to solve, or want to learn more about what became of your relatives, feel free to send Yonah an email inquiry. He'd love to hear from you!

Geographic Specialities

• New York City
• Eastern Europe
• Philadelphia
• New Jersey

Testimonials

• In the early 1900s - after the Russian Revolution - my great-grandfather was orphaned and his sister went on a ship to America. He never saw her again. This woman tried to reach out in adulthood, but my great-grandfather was unable to reply with the KGB watching. Yonah managed to find her in the Ellis Island records, which has given us a new lead to find our long-lost family! We tried for years but couldn't find when he did in just a few days. Would highly recommend to anybody looking to solve old family mysteries!" - Lisa B

 

• "I used Mr. Yonah Paley to research my GG Grandparent's DNA in Germany and Switzerland in the early 1800's. His knowledge and professionalism were second to none. I am totally satisfied and will use him again." - Charles J

 

• "I have spent many decades trying to find the ship manifest for our grandmother (who never wanted to talk about that journey), who came over from Eastern Europe in the early 1900s. We had the time frame, we had the ship's name - we were told she and her 3 sisters were traveling alone. I literally have looked anywhere possible online: Library of Congress, National Archives and even at Ellis Island. In less than a week, Yonah had found not only their manifest, which was beyond my wildest dreams, but also given name (first and last- I never would have been able to trace that!) and connections to the whole other side of the family no one ever knew. Well, I couldn't stop there. I gave him our Mom's side of the family - and what we thought would be a simpler, not surprising genealogy trail. Yonah found out our other grandmother was born with a completely different first/last name and came over from Russia as a baby. I am not sure SHE even knew that! His findings were all fascinating and we have loved sharing with cousins and family all around the world. Yonah's perseverance, talents, and professionalism are above and beyond what I had hoped for to find our roots. I only wish I had another side of the family to research!" - Penny B

Publications/Media

• Host of the "Genealogy is Fun" YouTube channel
• Host of the former "Jewish Genealogy Podcast"

Lectures
"Jewish Gravestones and the Internet: A Researcher’s Guide to New York City" given at the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society - 1/24/23

Research Time Periods

• 21st Century
• 20th Century
• 19th Century
• 18th Century

Languages
English (fluent), Hebrew (ability to read gravestones and basic written text)