About Me
About Myself
My name is Zvika Oren. I am a “second generation” son of Holocaust survivor parents who were born in Hungary and survived World War II. They were teenagers during the war, and afterwards, they immigrated to Israel and started a family.
I was born in 1968. I grew up in Givatayim, Israel in a family where my parents said almost nothing about their family history and their past.
There were no stories about their childhood in Hungary, or about growing up during the Holocaust.
They revealed almost nothing about their early life in Israel. Perhaps, they were unable to talk about it.
In addition, we did not have any other relatives in Israel, other than our step grandmother.
How did it all start?
Even as a child, I was very curious about the roots and experiences of my parents’ years living in Europe. However, I was only able to satisfy my curiosity a little after my parents passed away.
Fortunately, over time, the digital tools for investigating family roots improved.
Through root research, I was able to discover a detailed genealogy of my family that goes back six generations in Hungary.
I even found living relatives, and a close personal bond was formed between us, even though we did not know each other before.
What do I bring to the genealogical research?
As a high-tech professional for more than 30 years, I bring the benefits of technological knowledge, recognizing and understanding the variety of tools on the market and how to best utilize them for research purposes.
I also commemorate the memory of my late parents every year as part of the “Memory in the Living Room” project – through their life stories, which I discovered in my personal genealogy research.
In addition, I was trained as a “memory messenger” Of Rabbi Krieger in Kfar Haroeh.
My parents’ silence about their lives during the Holocaust is what motivates me to fulfill my vision of telling their stories and helping others know more about their own families. My hope is to spare them from experiencing the void of family history that I experienced.
As a graduate of the Computer School of the Israeli Defense Forces and a high-tech professional who worked at a global Hi-Tech company for over twenty years, I have extensive technological knowledge in various fields, as well as experience working with different nationalities from different regions of the world. I have an in-depth understanding of how to best combine my professional experience with the various tools available for genealogy research purposes.
General genealogy research experience
Over the years, I have gained knowledge and experience in various areas of genealogy research: searching records, deciphering documents and tombstones, conducting personal interviews, discovering pedigrees, contacting relatives and people with relevant knowledge, collecting findings and organizing them, transferring documents and photos to digital media (including making backup copies), as well as the production of a family book (Hebrew or English) based on the information collected.
As part of the genealogy research and family tree construction process, I collect data and search for additional data and information in digital sources: Yad Vashem databases, databases, search engines, tombstone locators, various archives, immigration records, documents regarding name changes, and more. I have conversations and interviews with people for the purpose of genealogy research. Once I have finished collecting this data, I compile the relevant family research. All in all, in the goal is to discover family roots, collect pertinent documents and photos, and to preserve this information in the construction of a family tree.
Volunteering in genealogy projects
As part of my activities, I have volunteered for a number of genealogical projects that involved writing and collecting information. I participated in various projects such as:
· Recording civil records (Jewish records regarding births, deaths and marriages) from Miskolc, Hungary for the Jewishgen organization,
· Compiling lists of victims of the First World War for the GenTeam project,
· Deciphering and translating the wording of gravestones from cemeteries in the area Sub Carpathia (Ukraine), and more.
I have served as a website manager and member of the Association for the Study of Family Roots in Israel – ILM for about three years, with the goal of advancing their research in Israel and Hungary.
I am also an active member of forums and various social media groups on genealogy in Israel, Hungary, Germany, the United States, and other countries.
Surnames from my family that I have researched:
SEBŐK KOHN FREISINGER FÜLÖP VARGA WEISZ FRIEDMANN and others
Surnames of my wife’s family that I have researched:
GROSS HUNDERT SCHWARTZ NEUMAN and other
