I was moved deeply by Lisa's story, as much because of how bitter-sweet this story is as how it related to my own search. I started my family tree several years ago and have been seriously stuck only two generations back.
The problem is that the Holocaust cut a huge hole in our (Jewish) family history. Both sets of my grand-parents perished in the camps and with them the family history. Moreover, because of systemic anti-semitism in Eastern Europe BEFORE the war, so few records exist. My father, for example used his mother's last name, because Jewish marriage was not recognized in Northern-Transalvaynia. Even then, I don't know the true spelling of names. Short of going to Eastern Europe with a translator, there is almost no way for me to learn things like my great-grandparents names - let alone my earlier ancestors.
Does anyone have an answer to this problem?