Genealogy Gems PREMIUM is here!

Over the last year I’ve been developing the Genealogy Gems Podcast into the kind of show that I would want to listen to as an avid family historian. And I hope therefore I have created something that pleases you.

As you can imagine, creating the show, videos and website has become more than a full time job. I’ve been searching for the right method to deliver all of this information to you that will enable me to sustain the podcast well into the future. Well, it’s here: The Genealogy Gems Premium Membership…

With one low yearly subscription fee you will help to ensure that I can keep delivering the Genealogy Gems Podcast and all of the gems you’ve come to enjoy. Production of the free podcasts will be slowed down now that I have over 45 available. However, as a Premium subscriber you will have access to two brand new members-only podcast episodes, as well as new videos each and every month. These will not be available anywhere else, even iTunes. They will be available ONLY to premium members.

In addition to the Premium Podcasts and Videos, you’ll get great BONUS features:

Genealogy Gems Message Board Forum
Behind the Scenes with Lisa
Genealogy Gems Interactive Crossword Puzzles
…and you asked for it and now you’ve got it: The COMPLETE Genealogy Gems Newsletter Archive Library

For much less than the price of a gallon of gas a month, you can get all of these gems! And the premium area of the website has NO outside advertising! This became particularly important to me because of the recent bogus genealogy websites that have been popping up. In the past I, like so many websites, have included Google ads to try to help cover costs. But we website owners don't have any control over which Google ads appear. Since they are genealogy related, that means we could potentially host ads for these bogus sites on our websites. I'm not willing to take that chance, and have removed all Google ads from the Genealogy Gems website, and they will not appear in the PREMIUM area. (I hope all genealogy related websites and blogs hosting Google ads will take a serious look at this problem and how they may be unknowingly passing along ads to visitors for these bogus sites.)

If you enjoy the show and have found that it has added value to your research, then I know you will be thrilled with the Premium Membership.

Be sure and listen to Episode 46 ASAP. First, I know you’ll enjoy my guest, Paula Sassi, Certified Graphologist, who is going to give us a peek into our ancestor’s personalities that will amaze you! Next I’ll be announcing Genealogy Gems Premium Membership. Finally, I’ll be announcing two exciting offers.

1) FOR NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS ONLY: 20% off the annual Premium Membership valid through May 31, 2008. (To subscribe and get the coupon code, send an email with your name, state and that you heard about the offer on this blog)

2) Every new member will be entered for a chance to win a FREE handwriting analysis of one of their ancestors by Paula Sassi, CG (valued at $100. Drawing held May 15, 2008)

It’s going to be an exciting year that you won’t want to miss! Sign up now to become a premium member of Genealogy Gems Premium and be sure to enter your Coupon Code to get your 20% discount.

Thank you for listening, and I look forward to talking with you at the Members Message Board Forum!
Lisa Louise Cooke

Here’s what one listener had to say about the Genealogy Gems Podcast…
“This is, by far, my favorite podcast on iTunes. Listening to Lisa Louise Cooke makes my ancestors much more than a name, set of dates, and a face in sepia tone. The many innovative tips she has shared which has helped to break down several of my “brick walls!” (Review in iTunes)

NARA's guide to Records of Mauthausen Concentration Camp

The National Archives announced today that it has published a new guide to Records of Mauthausen Concentration Camp, including World War II and Postwar Records.

The guide, compiled by staff archivist Amy Schmidt and intern Gudrun Loehrer, identifies and describes records from 19 record groups preserved at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland.

From the NARA press release:
"The records were developed through wartime intelligence and reconnaissance, captured during the camp's liberation, and generated through postwar military investigations and tribunals. They include textual, photographic, motion picture, and cartographic records, spanning the period 1938-1960. The 367-page reference information paper (RIP 115) is available free from the Research Support Staff at the National Archives at College Park. To obtain a copy, please call 1-866-272-6272 or 1-800-234-8861.

Mauthausen was an SS-operated "Category III" death camp designed to hold "heavily accused" prisoners and "asocial prisoners, those who can hardly be corrected." The volume provides detailed description of records that document both the nature of the Mauthausen complex as a network of about 50 sub camps and the operation of the camps, including forced labor, transport of inmates, and methods of execution. The opening section describes Original Mauthausen records and special collections, and another identifies at length the records of the U.S. Army war crimes trials in Dachau, Germany, 1945-1948. Appendices provide a list of Mauthausen defendants by case; a catalogue of Mauthausen materials at the International Tracing Service in Bad Arolsen, Germany; and an address list of other international repositories holding Mauthausen-related records. These records are an invaluable source of information for Holocaust historians."

More info:
Holocaust-era records and research at the National Archives .

Online Holocaust-Era Assets: A Finding Aid to Records at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland.

Information on Holocaust-related microfilm publications