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Is anyone here familiar with the Khazars? I am wondering if that is my ancestry. I am Jewish but don't have any Jewish looking features...I have light skin, blue eyes, not a large nose etc. I can trace my ancestry back to what is now known as Vinnitsa Ukraine. From what I understand the Khazars settled in this part of the world and later converted to Judiasm. This group is known for having light physical features. From everything I read it sounds like I am Khazarian but I don't know for sure.
The Khazars are TOTALLY fascinating!! They were originally a Turkic tribe, so your blue eyes wouldn't come from them, but maybe from Scandinavian heritage in Ukraine (or some other side of your family). Arthur Koestler wrote a very thorough book on the Khazars: "The Thirteenth Tribe: The Khazar Empire" something like that, see Amazon.
Genetic testing would help identify any Khazar roots you might have (it would probably show up as Asian), depending on whether it comes from the male or female line.
My blue eyes come from my grandma on my mothers side, her entire family had beautiful blue eyes. They were the ones from Vinnitsa, although all four of my grandparents were from Ukraine/Russia. My parents both had green eyes and didn't look Jewish. I'm wondering if my entire family could be Khazar (and yet had no knowledge of it).
I have read that Khazars were originally a Turkic tribe but they didn't have Turkic features, they had light skin and eyes. That's why I think I'm either Khazar or I have some European blood. I would be very interested in what genetic testing would show.
One of the first rules of genealogy is to start with yourself and work backwards. One doesn't start backwards and work forwards. So gather information about your parents and grandparents and start looking at census and vital records - birth, marriage, death.
Regarding features, a DNA autosomal test from 23 and Me or some other company can break down %s of Euro and Middle Eastern heritage. You may simply have only a small % of originally Jewish ancestors. That would be the case if you're a member of this group anyway, if as you say they converted and were not racially Semetic, but only culturally Jewish.
Follow the paper trail and you may find your ancestors originate from a different area of Europe altogether. Good luck.
If he's Khazar, his DNA wouldn't have Semitic markers, they'd have Asian markers (Turkic).
OP, I don't recall reading that the Khazars were blue-eyed and light-skinned, but I think it would be fun to check out the DNA test, anyway. You'd need to get a female relative to send in the test, though, to get the maternal line, the mtDNA. National Genographic does a test, you can look around online for others. You may have your features as a result of the combination of Slavic genes from one side of the family, and maybe there's a little Slavic in the maternal line as well. Anyway, it would result in light-eye dominance, which wouldn't rule out Turkic/Khazar markers.
Dear Friend: It is no wonder you are puzzled as the truth about the Khazars has been covered up for a thousand years. Unlike the American Indians, the Jews, the Mayans and the Minoans, the Khazars were not only the victims of genocide, even their memory was eradicated. I have spent the majority of my adult years tracing the Khazars and visiting their sites in Azerbaijan, Hungary, Belorus (from where my ancestors hail), Romania and Russia and come up with only a handful of Khazar survivors. Wish me luck as I wish you luck as well.
Edward Hirsch
Author, Khazar Eyes
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