After more than 10 years as District Coordinator of the Vilnius District Research Group, Joel Ratner has decided to retire from that position. Joel was one of the earliest DCs of LitvakSIG. His passion, dedication and devotion are the reason the Vilnius District is well represented in our All Lithuania Database.

Joel has not left us entirely: he remains Coordinator of the Vilnius Gubernia Vital Records Translation Project. His current passion is the translation of the vital records for the city of Vilnius, to which he dedicates much of his personal time.

We thank Joel for his many years as Vilnius District Research Group Coordinator. We're glad you will still be involved with the VRT project and look forward to our continuing work together.