My Unexpected Success using JRI-Poland’s Legacy  “Fuzziest” Search Option

I’ve been a JRI-Poland.org user since 1998 which was when I discovered this new thing called the internet. And it changed my genealogy research forever. The JRI-Poland website is where, after 30 years of hoping, that my Warsaw born grandfather’s birth registration finally appeared thanks to the work of Hadassah Lipsius and many others. This one birth document opened the floodgates to adding generations of ancestors and connecting with living cousins in Warsaw, Moscow and Haifa. And as always, just when I think I am done, JRI-Poland pulls me back in to discover more treasures.

One of my 128 great grandparents is Fajwel Frayman from Piaski Luterskie. I discovered his name at least 10 years ago while reading his son’s marriage record. However, Fajwel himself proved to be elusive. I could not find any of his life events if my life depended on it. I tried every spelling: Frejman, Frajman, Freiman, Fraiman, Freyman, Frayman to no avail. No birth, no marriage, and no death record for Fajwel Frayman in the JRI-Poland indexes.

Every so often, I come back to names in my tree – my brick walls – and try to research them all over again, with a fresh new perspective if you will.  For one, new information might have been added, as became the case for my Warsaw grandfather. Or I read documents again in case I missed something as was the case with one of my fourth great grandmother whose Hantower family name I eventually deciphered. Or frankly because I decide to revisit how I search on JRI-Poland. Truth is, I take it for granted. I believe that I am a pro at searching after all these years, right? Right! Well, perhaps let’s take that down a peg or two. 

And so it was with Fajwel Frayman that I was determined to try again. No new database information, no new reading discovery. No, it was time to search the data anew. 

My usual go-to search tools are “phonetic” search and “exact” search using asterisks. These have proven to be the most effective ways of finding names for me. However, these had failed with Fajwel. And so it was time to use the “fuzziest” search option.

Please read how to use fuzzy, fuzzier, fuzziest search types, the explanations are fairly good. The only thing I don’t get is how the algorithm decides what letter(s) or parts of a name to replace, to add on, to change. I don’t understand it and I never know what to expect. And it does not matter because the algorithm’s perspective is so far removed from mine that it complements my research and I welcome that.

When I typed “Frayman” and chose “fuzziest” in the search type drop down menu, I got what I asked for, results I never expected.  And the reward generated great happiness.

Somehow the “fuzziest” search on “Frayman” added letters and revealed index entries for the last name “Frejmener” and variant spellings of this family name. 

My first reaction? How come I never thought of that before? After all, my Szlos name started out as Szloser, so it shouldn’t have been a huge leap for me to add “er” to Frayman, but it never occurred to me at all.

And so here it was. There was Feiwel Freimanner and Feiwel Frejmaner showing up in the Piaski Luterskie indexes. My ancestor had been there all along. Not only did I finally find him, I got his parents, grandparents and great grandparents. Seventh, eighth and ninth generations, and another new family name to add to my tree. Unbelievable. That “fuzziest” search option, that last item in the drop down menu, crumbled my brick wall in a matter of seconds. That is a very powerful search tool.

Buoyed with confidence, I tried it on the Hantower side of my family tree. The “fuzziest” search revealed an unexpected spelling: ANTOBA. I could have dismissed this name as aberrant but I took a look at the results and documents. And yes, 100% legitimate names for members of my Hantower family (Hantober is also another spelling in documents and newspaper stories.) With Antoba, I added new names and connections with names already on my tree were revealed. That would never have happened without “fuzziest” search.

So If I learned anything, please stay curious, your family tree is a living tree, it is subject to change with new information and JRI-Poland has so much to offer. You think you are done and you figured it all out? Are you sure? Give that “fuzziest” menu search option a try. 

And please don’t stop there. I am a dues paying member of JRI-Poland. I have donated and asked others to contribute as well. And I volunteer as the Lubartow town leader. Support this one truly unique association. JRI-Poland’s leaders are all volunteers, they work hard, they use the funds to hire researchers and translators, and to maintain the database, the lifeline to our ancestral families. Be a member, renew your membership, and donate, you will feel really good about being a part of Jewish Records Indexing – Poland.

Olivier Szlos

I welcome your emails: https://www.jri-poland.org/town/lubartow/