Ich Bin Ein Berliner: Re-uniting Five Half-Siblings

During the coronavirus pandemic in July 2020 a woman in the United Kingdom asked for help in identifying her Jewish birthfather, who had been newly discovered via DNA. She could not imagine the story about to unfold. In the next three weeks, following the DNA trail and building family trees for each of eight significant DNA hits on three different websites, her ties to four half-siblings were identified, sharing a father but each with a different mother. Verifying the connections between the DNA matches and the half-sibling required using the JRI-Poland database to create family trees going back to the late 1700s. In the process the accuracy of the DNA-estimated family relationships could be compared with the true family relationships and the impact of any endogamy could be analyzed. In his talk “Ich Bin Ein Berliner: (Re)uniting five half-siblings from four different mothers,” Michael Tobias will present this incredible story and share insights.

This program is possible through the generous support of the William M. Lowenstein Genealogical Research Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation.