I can't believe I'm only coming across this thread now... better late than never...
I spent a few years in my teens researching my family tree and was able to go back all the way to the Maharal on one side (which Geni then has a tree all the way back to creation), and a nice number of generations on the others. On my paternal side I got stuck after 7 generations and have not been able to go back any further. All we have is a first name and the town he lived in during his later years as Rav- no last name (mid 1700s) which makes things nearly impossible.
Geni (back then) and MyHeritage were both very useful in my research. What I found most helpful for holocaust era research was the USHMM in DC. I met with a researcher (funded by USHMM so no fees) there who opened a file for each of my 8 grandparents that lived through the war, and within a few months he had sent over a treasure trove of information. Deportation records, camp records, DP records, and immigration records, as well as eyewitness accounts. I also visited Yad Vashem in my quest but they were not helpful. This goes back almost 10 years now so things might be very different (and many institutions have digitized their files for the public to peruse).
I also found Yizkor books helpful to track spelling variations that might have been used in a particular town/region.
