Thoughts

  • Thoughts

    Banned Books…

    If you are opposed to banning and/or burning books, here are some Internet sources which provide insight into unbanning, as well as, access to books that have been banned by restrictive communities. Books for All: “The New York Public Library stands by the right to read freely.” Books Unbanned: “Brooklyn Public Library is adding our voice to those fighting for the rights of teens nationwide to read what they like, discover themselves, and form their own opinions. Inspired by the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Statement, BPL’s Books Unbanned initiative is a response to an increasingly coordinated and effective effort to remove books tackling a wide range of topics…

  • Education,  Europe,  Tips & Opinions,  WW2

    WW2 American Nazism

    German American Federation/Bund Quoting the US National Archives: “The German American Bund was an unincorporated voluntary national association established on March 29, 1936, to spread the philosophy of National Socialism and to carry out Adolph Hitler’s program insofar as it affected the United States. The leadership of the Bund attempted to meld Nazi racial theories with American patriotic values. Headquartered in New York, the Bund was a nationwide organization having three departments and approximately seventy local chapters throughout the United States, as well as numerous organizations which were directly or indirectly affiliated with it.” The FBI investigated the Bund’s relationship to the Nazi Party of Germany. The FBI records release…

  • Education,  Europe,  Study Aids,  Tips & Opinions

    British (UK) Nazism

    Quoting from: Martin Pugh https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199594788.013.0027 Pages: 489–506 Published: 18 September 2012 Traditionally, fascism in Britain has been seen in fairly narrow terms as a phenomenon of the 1930s associated with Sir Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists (BUF). This approach to the subject made it easy to account for the fortunes of fascism as a movement essentially marginal to British society and thus of limited significance. The Union Movement that Mosley founded in 1948 campaigned for imperial control of Africa, a united Europe, and an end to coloured immigration. But this did not amount to a full fascist programme; the movement found itself caught halfway between the conventional…

  • Thiensdorf Mennonite Church- Source Wikiwand
    German Genealogy Pointers,  Mennonites,  Search Tricks & Tips

    Researching Mennonite Regions of Damals Preußen (former Prussia)

    For those who research the Mennonite areas of what was once Westpreußen (West Prussia) and Ostpreußen (East Prussia), you know it can be very frustrating. For numerous years I have performed these searches in what can be best described as: the best way I knew how! Recently due to a client opportunity, I decided to establish a more thorough, exhaustive, and rigorous approach to conducting my Mennonite research. Do not confuse this approach with being easy, simple, or highly automated. It is, rather, much more disciplined and focused. To begin with, I use three major Genealogical Resources for obtaining Mennonite source material(s). I have listed them below in order of…

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  • German Genealogy Pointers,  ManyRoads,  Mennonites

    Researching the Eastern European German Diaspora (Tutorial)

    ManyRoads is pleased to provide this free Eastern European Diaspora “self-help” to individuals researching those regions. Hopefully, you will find the materials below to be of interest and assistive. By way of introduction, this ‘tutorial’ focuses on the populations of Germans in Eastern Europe which reached more than 18 million people scattered in former German communities. Their settlement area was roughly bounded by the Oder-Neisse River (West), the Ural Mountains (in the East), the Baltic Sea (in the North) to Turkey (in the South). Be advised, this tutorial only covers research in the former German Eastern European settlement regions (described above). The Americas, Australia, New Zealand, etc. are not covered.…

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  • Newsboy Club
    ManyRoads,  Tips & Opinions

    Somewhere new to research…

    A tutorial /case study Often, when I read/ hear of people being stuck in their research, it seems rather than being ‘stuck’ they are actually experiencing a lack of resources to further their research.  To help researchers find new “fields” to hunt, I thought a small example/ discussion/ verily a “case study” might prove useful and instructive. Obviously, this “tutorial”, only provides a limited ‘focus’. Hopefully, the clues here will provide readers a better sense of the types of resources available for research.  Hopefully this will empower you and increase your probability of success. This brief “case study” assumes the following: A need for expanded research information in the US/…

  • World Map of Y-DNA Haplogroups
    Thoughts

    Ethnicity, Race, DNA

    I have been wanting to get on this soapbox for a while. Which soapbox you might ask. Well, let’s talk a bit about Ethnicity, Race & DNA. I see more confusion in this ‘arena’ than almost any topic within family history. It seems almost everywhere I go, I read about people wanting to be part of one ‘ethnic’ group, and frequently trying to avoid being in another. People want to identify with what they consider a ‘good’ grouping and/ or dislike some other group. As an even sadder historical fact, people are willing to go so far as to destroy those they dislike or see as being amongst those ‘evil’…

  • Old Books
    ManyRoads,  Search Tricks & Tips

    Library Updates

    I am pleased to announce that ManyRoads now provides much easier access to our Free (no-cost) European resource source materials. Convenient links to the materials are not only accessible below in this document but also are available from our banner menu as European Libraries under the “Libraries” menu link. Our European Library currently contains some 1500 European Genealogical and Historical texts including the following historical/ genealogical research topics: Amish-Mennonite Austria-Hungary England Huguenots Jews of Europe Middle Ages Poland Prussia-Germany Roma & Sinti Scandinavia Switzerland Wales  

  • Thoughts

    The past…

    I smell the scents of my grandparents. I feel the movement and receive the warmth of my predecessors. I sense their movements around me and even feel the brush of their hands. I see their shadows and ‘understand’ their encouragement. It is strange how the past haunts me. Or rather I should say, it is strange how it envelopes me. It seems the past and shades of my past are everywhere in my life. Hardly a day goes by where I do not ‘hear’ the voices of my predecessors. They provide me with caring advice, consul, and criticism. They provide me sounding boards for my thoughts, ideas, and actions. They…

  • Douglas County Resources
    Tips & Opinions,  Tools

    Amazing and unexpected resources

    I suppose many of you, like me, live in Communities offering library services.  Also probably like me, you have not really thought of your local library when you are stumped for new affordable (meaning Free) Genealogy Research resources. Well this week while helping take care of my grandsons by watching riveting episodes of Disney Kids shows and web surfing, I stumbled upon a previously unvisited Douglas County Library webpage. By that I mean, I never had landed on that page before. You would think that a web link entitled Research might have ‘jumped out at me’ before, but it never did. Or if it did, I don’t remember having seen…

  • Deutsche Reichsgründung 1871
    German Genealogy Pointers,  Prussia

    Deutsche Verwaltungsgeschichte (German Administrative History) 1871-1990

    One of the Internet’s most valuable German research websites has been removed from service, Dr. Michael Rademacher’s: Deutsche Verwaltungsgeschichte von der Reichseinigung 1871 bis zur Wiedervereinigung 1990 (German administrative history from the Reich Agreement of 1871 to reunification in 1990). I do not know the reason for the site’s (and its related facebook site’s) removal; but I happen to have a copy of the original site (reconstructed from the Wayback Machine) and present it here in memory of its author: Dr. Michael Rademacher M.A.. I make no claim of ownership, nor do I acknowledge responsibility for the original site’s content. As per the original site: alle Rechte vorbehalten (all rights…

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  • World Map of Y-DNA Haplogroups
    Tips & Opinions

    DNA & Ethnicity- Who, me?

      Like most genealogists (and family historians): I am not a DNA expert, but am curious about my family history, and I want as many clues and facts as I can unearth. All in all, I guess that makes me pretty average. Although, I hesitate to emphasize my being normal. By way of providing some further background and context, I really do know quite a bit about my familys’ histories (awkward grammar alert). But, I continue to want to learn more. Like most of you, when I get stumped chasing previously obvious leads, I look for new information and data threads to pull. DNA clues have always seemed to offer…

  • BrickWall
    Tips & Opinions

    The Brickwall Checklist

    Have you really hit a brick wall, or are you simply research challenged? most recently revised: 24 Feb 2018 The trick, to answering the above, is in determining whether you are facing a ‘real’ brick wall. Quite simply a “real”  brick wall exists when there is no more information. Brick walls don’t exist simply because a researcher is stuck, confused, or otherwise unprepared to make the effort or incur the cost(s) to find data. A “real” brick wall exists when there is no data; not now, and perhaps, not ever. I can agree that my position might seem a “tad” harsh. However, I want to make a simple point; and,…

  • DNA orbit animated
    Technology & Tools

    Are you new to GEDmatch?

    If you are like many family genealogists and historians, you are likely involved in analyzing the potential of using DNA for your research. As you may have read, here or elsewhere, my wife and I have both ‘taken’ 23andme and AncestryDNA ‘tests’. We obtained some useful and interesting information; I even solved one small mystery using DNA. But for all that, I’d have to say the whole DNA thing seemed overblown and over valued to me. That is until now. This last week a friend strongly suggested I use GEDmatch. I dutifully downloaded one of my DNA test results (the one from AncestryDNA because it was newest and I only…

  • Online Archives Poland
    German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy

    Finding Online Records in Poland

    Are you researching the regions which are part of today’s Poland including: the lost Eastern German Provinces of West Prussia (Westpreußen), Pomerania (Pommern), Silesia (Schlesien), Posen and parts of the former province of East Prussia (Ostpreußen) the Kingdom of Prussia (Königreich Preußen) Poland Galicia If you are, you may know that that access to records across this large Central European region can be difficult to find. The following article (Blog posting) provides an excellent road map of where to hunt. The content format and material on the following material in this post is mirrored from  a posting on The Lost Shoebox. (I have mirrored the complete original posting so as not…

  • Matricula Online
    German Genealogy Pointers,  Search Tricks & Tips

    Matricula Online

    Just today, I stumbled across an excellent source for Free online “German” Church records. And to think, I thought I knew all the really best locations… The site is called Matricula Online. This site offers church registers (mostly containing birth, marriage and death records) from several “German or former German speaking regions in today’s European countries of Austria (with the most data), Germany, Serbia and Poland (around the former Breslau today Wrocław, Poland). It appears that Matricula has plans to expand, although I am not sure into which regions. To get an idea of their present coverage see the map (on the right) for more details on their current record…

  • Allenstein Ostpreußen, Hohenzollernstraße- source Reinhard Gebauer, Oberhausen
    German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy

    Allenstein (Ostpreußen) Records

      For those interested in, or researching the region(s) near, the former German/ Prussian city of Allenstein Ostpreußen – East Prussia (today the city is known as Olsztyn in Poland) numerous updates have taken place recently with respect to available pre-1945 records.  These involve most notably: Churches near the former German city of Allenstein (Ostpreußen) – the Polish city of Olsztyn today. Polish State Archive of Olsztyn ( Archiwum Państwowe w Olsztynie )- the records archive. The man whose leadership is key to bringing these records online is project team leader Bernhard Ostrzinski. Bernhard and his team of dedicated “researchers”  publish digital copies of records in the Olsztyn State Archive…

  • Reuben Gold Thwaites
    Education

    Early western (US) travels, 1748-1846

    If you are attempting to better understand what the United States may have looked like when your early European ancestors were moving westward, this set of texts can help you visualize and better understand those by-gone days. This collection is deemed to be among the best genealogical and historical works available. Title Early western travels, 1748-1846 : a series of annotated reprints of some of the best and rarest contemporary volumes of travel, descriptive of the aborigines and social and economic conditions in the middle and far West, during the period of early American settlement Contributor Names Thwaites, Reuben Gold, 1853-1913, ed. Created / Published Cleveland, Ohio : The Arthur H.…

  • Germans emigrate to America-1874
    Search Tricks & Tips

    Immigration

      If you have been researching your family’s genealogy for a while, I am pretty certain you have discovered that immigration documents are frequently scattered and difficult to locate. But that’s not the only problem, the quality and availability of any documentation is, also, quite variable: running the gamut from excellent to non-existent. Generally speaking, I personally, am not a “huge fan” of Passenger Lists and the like. In my experience, the materials I find are too often not worth the effort it took to track them down. Having said that though, I have to acknowledge that the occasional discovery can be truly amazing.  Quoting from FamilySearch.org (underlining added by me…): Passenger…

  • German Genealogy Pointers

    Mennonite, Hutterite, Amish Records Coming Online!

      If you are interested in Mennonite, Hutterite, Amish research, this announcement is very significant. Archion.de is in the process of providing online access to a significant body of Mennonite, Hutterite and Amish records. The Mennonite Research Center operated by the Mennonite Historical Society (Mennonitscher Geschichtsverein e.V.) offers remembrance and a memory storage of the Mennonites, Hutterites and Amish. It includes a library and an archive and plus an extensive collection of material concerning the history of the Anabaptist movement. It also stores original church books of some German, Ukrainian and Polish Mennonite communities. Note: Mennonite church books are often in poor condition. Because of the records fragility, on site…

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  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy

    East Prussia – Ostpreußen

    A Brief History (Background) East Prussia (Ostpreußen), a former province of Prussia and the 2. und 3. Deutsches Reichs (2nd & 3rd German Empires), was located in extreme Northeast Germany (existed prior to 1945; it was dissolved in 1945). The region of East Prussia has low rolling hills that are heavily wooded, and it is dotted by many lakes (especially in Ermland, Polish: Masuria) and drained by several rivers including the Nemen (Nieman). Its Baltic coast is deeply indented by the Vistula Lagoon (Frisches Haff) and by the Gulf of Kursh (Kurisches Haff). Historically, East Prussia was at the center of the development of historical Prussia. Up to the 16th…

  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy,  Services

    Finding Genealogy Data in Central & Eastern Europe

    Lately, I have received a significant number of inquiries regarding how to ‘best’ approach the conduct of German- Prussian- Polish- Shoah research. The questions I have received point to a number of common questions, without specifically re-stating the questions, I will detail their responses here: I understand that English-speakers want European Records written and searchable in English. However… I am obligated to point out that our European ancestors may have spoken and written in languages other than English; and so… their records will ‘most likely’ be in their native languages (or perhaps Latin, Hebrew). As for genealogy and/or data search functions, I personally do not totally trust or rely on…

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  • German Genealogy Pointers

    On-line Prussian, Ukrainian, Russian Mennonite Records

      West Prussian Property Records from Polish Archives The West Prussian Property Records are housed at Bethel College in Kansas. Please respect their rules & guidance when using the records. To quote from the Bethel College site: Why you might not be able to find someone in a property record for a specific village: Your ancestor was not a property owner. Note that by 1783 a large percentage of the Mennonite families in West Prussia were landless. This was one of the reasons for emigration to Russia. There are lists of Mennonite landowners for 1789 and 1824 (for Marienwerder region), as well as a list of those who acquired land between 1789 and 1798 and…

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  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy,  Search Tricks & Tips,  Shoah,  WW2

    Shoah Research (Holocaust) Resources

    For those conducting Shoah (Holocaust) research, you know how difficult good resources and information are to find. Recently I came across a number of ‘less well-known’ (to me) web sites that offer a wealth of source and context information.  Hopefully, these links will be of some use in your research efforts. Nazi holocaust documents found: 6,300 files discovered behind wall of Budapest apartment Many educators appreciate the value of using primary source materials in the classroom. The documents selected for this section provide many possibilities for classroom discussion or student activities. The Virginia Holocaust Museum BYU Harold B. Lee Library Shoah (Holocaust) Selected Digitized Documents Related to the Holocaust and…

  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy,  Prussia,  Search Tricks & Tips

    NEHGS Searchable German Duplicate Records

    Today, I received an email from one of our readers (Beth Golden).  Beth’s note provided the following information: German Church Book Duplicates (Online at American Ancestors- New England Historic Genealogical Society) Germany, Baden, Church Book Duplicates, 1810-1869 Germany, Prussia, Brandenburg and Posen, Church Book Duplicates, 1794-1874 These collections of church records for the territories of Baden, Brandenburg and Posen, Germany, were obtained from church book duplicates that were annually provided to the German state for use by civil authorities. If a particular region had only one religious institution, the clergy often recorded the births, marriages, and deaths of all local individuals regardless of religious affiliation. Microfilm numbers noted in the…

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  • Tips & Opinions

    The White Rose Society

    It has been some 73 years since the White Rose Society released six (6) anti-Nazi leaflets.  By the time these leaflets were released in 1942, Nazism and World War Two were growing and spreading rapidly.  Millions were dying. The White Rose Society leaflets contain articulate and powerful ideas and arguments.  Sadly, the audience to whom they were provided chose to ignore their message; and, the world paid a horrible price. Arguably the German government’s actions of September 2015 regarding the mass migrations toward Europe echo a response to those times when tolerance, understanding, and inclusion were minority opinions in Germany. The German government today is providing a strong counter-point to…

  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy,  Shoah,  WW2

    Shoah Research- Getting Started

      Are you embarking on Shoah (Holocaust) research?  Would you like a little coaching in this area of research? Although I can hardly claim to be a Shoah research expert, I am more than willing to share what I have learned. By way of providing some background, for the past nine months, or so, I have been helping folks attempt to unearth the stories behind their Jewish roots in Poland and Germany,  trying to discover ‘lost’ family records, and more.  It has been quite the adventure. Needless to say, the Shoah is an area of emotion, sadness, mystery, frustration, intrigue, and much more.  I thought that perhaps others might benefit…

  • Education

    Prussian-German Genealogy Workshop

    Do you have interest in attending a ‘distance’ Prussian-German Genealogy Working Group? By way of giving you some background, I currently hold a monthly Prussian-German Genealogy Workshop at my local Parker (Colorado) Family History Center (FHC). There are no charges for the current ‘in-person’ workshop(s). Recently, I received approval from my local FHC to host a remote session using their good offices. What I am attempting to assess is whether or not there are ‘potential attendees out there’ who are interested in adding a ‘distance’ workshop.  If there are, then I need to determine: whether I should blending ‘distance’ attendance with our current sessions, or simply create a new ‘remote’…

  • Tips & Opinions

    Special characters

    Do you struggle with your US keyboard in a vain attempt to type something in those “exotic tongues” such as: German French Norwegian Swedish Polish Do you find your ability to enter ß, ö, ä, ü, ø, etc. hampered?  Well, I have stumbled on a few options that might help you out.  Granted these work better with *nix based operating systems (Linux, Unix, Mac OS) than Windows but within these options you should be able to find, at least, one helpful approach/ tool. If you are seeking a “Desktop-wide’ solution, you can easily map a “compose” key to accomplish this function across your laptop/desktop (not all keyboards actually have one). …

  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy,  WW2

    Why are so many records missing?

    Why is it so hard to find genealogy information in the areas of Prussia, Poland, and Germany? Where did all the information go? Was the information moved to some safe place? I hear this type of question and discussion often. The answers to those questions are actually quite simple and brief; although achieving an appreciation and understanding of their response is often somewhat more elusive. Question: Where did all the information go? Answer: Much was destroyed or lost, never to be recovered. Question: Was the information moved to some safe place? Answer: The truth is there were few, if any safe places. Early ‘on the eve of destruction‘, many ‘crucial’ records/documents…

  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy,  Search Tricks & Tips

    Olsztyn/ Allenstein State Archives

    The Archiwum Państwowe w Olsztynie (State Archive in Olsztyn) are providing free access to genealogical records from many of the towns and villages of that area (formerly East Prussia).  These records are largely in German (as well as Polish) and are freely available as scanned images on the archive’s website. If your Polish is a little shaky, you may wish to access this page using Chrome (using Google Translate) or similar. The following link will take you to the archives: Archiwum Państwowe w Olsztynie Additionally, many of these same records (approximately 362,650) are available in a digitally searchable format courtesy of Bernhard Ostrzinski.  You may access his excellent work on the…

  • Search Tricks & Tips

    Using a Semantic Engine for Better Understanding

    Suppose, for a moment, that you had a problem for which you had little understanding. Something that just made you to quote Winnie the Pooh: “Think, think, think”; but, for which you had no good answer. Perhaps you have several “puzzlers” like that in mind already, but if you do not, imagine for a minute that you might want to better understand: why did Germans leave in the 1850s what was the economic situation in Galicia in 1870 how were Mennonites treated in Prussia during the 1850s Now let’s imagine, we could construct a tool that would analyze data from across the Internet and promptly provide us with information related…

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  • Search Tricks & Tips

    Genealogy: serendipity and good fortune

    Did you ever wonder where all those interesting family stories and anecdotes came from? Were you just a little bit curious about how some lucky folks have such interesting stories to tell about their ancestors? I believe that serendipity certainly plays a part in the evolution of the stories… but so does good fortune and perseverance.  Today, one of my RSS Feeds unearthed an article that provides a great example of why we should never throw our old stuff out… well maybe that is not quite right lesson.  But we all know that really interesting things can be uncovered in odd, hidden places.  As the late Paul Harvey would have said, here’s…

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  • books
    German Genealogy Pointers,  Search Tricks & Tips

    Oldenburger Adreßbücher online verfügbar

    For those researching Oldenburg what follows is some good news. (Remember to ready your Google Translate functions, if your reading of German is weak). Adressbuch Oldenburg, 1940 Nach einem Gespräch zwischen Dierk Feye und Mitgliedern des Vereins für Computergenealogie hatte der Vorstand im letzten Jahr beschlossen, sich an der Veröffentlichung von Oldenburger Adreßbüchern zu beteiligen. Dierk Feye hat dazu zwei Adreßbücher digitalisiert und sie dem Verein für Computergenealogie zur weiteren Bearbeitung zur Verfügung […] Click here to view original web page at www.familienkunde-oldenburg.de English: The 1940 Address Book from Oldenburg: after a conversation last year [2014] between Dierk Feye and members of the Association for Computer #genealogy of Board [Germany] it…

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  • Expulsion - Vertriebenen,  German Genealogy Pointers,  ManyRoads,  Polish Genealogy

    70 years on…

    As everyone most certainly knows, this year is 2015. 7 May 2015 marks the official surrender date of German forces, some 70 years ago.For those who focus on 1945 as the end of WW2 in Europe, it was.  Sadly, 1945 was not just an ending; it was also the beginning of the total destruction and removal of a ~600 year old way of life, a culture, and the homeland for millions of Eastern Germans.  In the years following 1945, some 12 to 14 million people were forcibly removed from their homes and expelled from the recently surrendered German Eastern provinces. To place these events into a reasonably balanced historical context,…

  • Tips & Opinions

    Understanding and perspective

      Obtaining good genealogical insight requires an open mind.  As in the old saying: “Minds are like parachutes – they only function when open.” Thomas Dewar Getting good genealogical data and information requires a lot of work.  But perhaps the most challenging work involves developing a relevant, contextually accurate, frame of reference to help find and interpret any data you might find. Based on what I see floating around the Internet, I worry that too many people ‘out there’ are attempting to gather data/ information about their family past without developing an adequate understanding of time, place, or circumstance. The questions/comments, I see, seem to indicate a preference to having…

  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Mennonites,  Polish Genealogy,  Prussia,  Search Tricks & Tips

    Researching “Lost” Eastern German Provinces

    Many people get confused when conducting searches for their Eastern German forebears; this is especially true if those forebears purport to have been from Prussia (Preussen), Pomerania (Pommern), Silesia (Schlesien). Note: I have written a detailed article on helping you determine whether or not your family was Prussian and if so, what type. It might not surprise you that I encounter a lot of people having trouble doing, or trying to do, ‘their’ Prussian research. Given I have fairly extensive research experience in those regions of Europe, I thought I’d put together a quick tutorial, or key, for identifying and finding clues to those Eastern German ancestors ‘of ours’ who…

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  • German Genealogy Pointers

    Old German Terms, Occupations, etc.

    Terms, occupations, and more change over time. If you are in the business of tracking down your German (Germanic) ancestors the following links may be of help to you.  These links include old terms for professions, diseases, occupations, and more. Many of these terms and abbreviations are not in common use today… so hopefully these lists will help ‘clear’ some confusion. A note of caution, many (most) of these linked pages are in German; put on your German language ‘hat’ or use Google Translate! If you have any links you would like added, please use our contact page to let me know. These links also appear on our links page…

  • Tips & Opinions

    What is an Ethnic Group?

    Lately, I have encountered a number of interesting discussions and comments regarding ethnicity.  People want to approach it from the aspect of Y-DNA testing; term meaning & definition; and more.  I thought that perhaps a brief discussion/ analysis of the subject might be helpful- for me if for no one else. Note: Actually this document is largely extracted and built from many other sources (because I am no authority on this topic). Hopefully my analysis and discussion will provide some useful food for thought and give some comfort in the imprecision associated with the use and application of Ethnicity as a concept, genealogically speaking. First let’s review a typical dictionary…

  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy,  WW1

    ICRC World War 1 Prisoner of War Database

    The International Committee of the Red Cross recently published a Free, online database of WW1 prisoners of war. The ICRC WW1 PoW Database contains some 5 million records and offers exceptional insights into the conditions and circumstances of the time, period and situation. Based on my testing of the ‘tool’, I think a few words of caution are in order: Be certain to read the instructions on How-to use the tool. (It might work in ‘unexpected’ ways; it did for me.) There is a nice tutorial (and it is easy to use). Often the print is faint; look closely at the records. Much of the text is in script; as…

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  • Deutscher-Volks-und-Kulturboden-1937
    German Genealogy Pointers

    German Genealogical Societies

    The following post provides a reasonably complete listing of German (meaning in Germany) Genealogical Societies and Groups. As I get and add new sites, this list will be ‘automagically’ updated. Note: Given the post- WW2 forcible expulsion of millions of Eastern Germans from former Eastern German lands and provinces, you may wish to examine Polish Genealogical Groups & Websites for pre- 1947 German forebears (N.B.: ManyRoads does not offer information on other Eastern Slavic or Baltic Societies) Familienkunde- Family Research (Links) Should you know of additional organizations we ought to included in our compendium, please contact me with the particulars and I will add them.

  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy

    Polish Genealogical Societies

    The following post provides a reasonably completelisting of Polish (meaning in Poland) Genealogical Societies and Groups. As I get and add new sites, this list will be ‘automagically’ updated. Note: Due to the forcible expulisons of Poles in both 1939 and post-1945, you may wish to examine areas in today’s Belarus & Ukraine for information.  Unfortunately, ManyRoads does not have much information on those regions. Should you know of additional organizations we ought to included in our compendium, please contact me with the particulars and I will add them.

  • Search Tricks & Tips

    Surname (Family Name) Discovery and Mapping

    revised & updated: 4 Dec. 2014 Are you hoping to identify and/ or discover where a family name or surname of yours may have originated? In the various facebook groups where I participate, I have recently noticed a “tsunami” of inquiries regarding this particular genealogical dilemma/ problem.  In order to provide a bit more robust guidance than that supported via a facebook discussion thread, I thought a blog post on ManyRoads might be helpful. Here are “summaries’ of the types of questions I have most recently noticed: Is [fill-in a name] spelled this way? What are variations for [fill-in a name]? Is [fill-in a name] a [fill-in the country group] name? I believe [fill-in a…

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  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Mennonites

    Might your family be descended from Prussian Mennonites?

      Do you believe you might be descended of “Prussian” Mennonites?  Are you unsure?  Is it worth a look? To get a good idea of who the Low German Mennonites were (and whether you might be descended of this group) please review the Family/ Surname list provided on MennoniteDNA. If you find one of your family names on that list then please “read on.” For those who research family in West & East Prussia (today the area is in Northeastern Poland) an important, but ‘not very well known’, set of genealogical source documents should be included in your search – West & East Prussian Mennonite church record books .  I…

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  • German Genealogy Pointers

    Using HADIS to search in Hesse

    If you are looking for family/ ancestors who may have lived in Hesse, HADIS (Hessisches Archiv-Dokumentations- und Informations-System) offers an outstanding and useful toolset. Since most people I  come into contact with are looking for genealogy related information and emigration, I will provide a brief explanation on conducting an emigration search. First, goto:  HADIS. Next, enter [Your Desired FamilyName] into the “Schnellsuche” box (menu bar on the left, near the bottom of the page).  Try the family name of Henss as an example. Wait for the search to return. When you see your search results, select the “Auswanderer-Nachweise” listed in the middle of the page to view Emigrants’  information.  …

  • German Genealogy Pointers,  Polish Genealogy

    German Illness/ Death Terms and Translations

    The following is a compiled listing of illnesses and causes of death gleaned from three primary sources. They are posted here in the hopes that they may aid family historians and genealogists in interpreting the conditions in which their ancestors lived and died. My role has merely been to find/ source the material make three small updates and then reformat the list into a pdf document which contains both type-written and German Sütterlin script.  Hopefully this will help you better recognize the script in source documents. German-Diseases 46.6 KB The credit for the translation work should go to Ann Rempel, Dora Epp, V. Lyle von Riesen, and Adalbert Goertz. This work…

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  • Active Research,  Henss,  Search Tricks & Tips

    Finding Wilhelm Henss

    To say that finding Wilhelm Henss (William Henss) was difficult is an understatement. It seems like his German home and family had been lost to the US Henss family from the very beginning. The why behind that fact remains a mystery. We will probably never know if William choose to keep his origins “quiet” or if at all happened just as a “matter of course”. To read the history of William and Katharine Henss as we have it documented, please read William & Katharine (Kämmer or Kemmer) Henss- a brief history. (Please be aware their “story” is being revised regularly now, as new data is evaluated and digested.) But as…

  • Polish Genealogy

    Polish Genealogy Sources

    Recently, I decided it was time to begin researching my Aunt Annette’s family.  For the record, my Aunt Annette was my grandfather’s second wife.  Although she is of no genetic relationship to me, 30 years after her death I remain emotionally linked to her. Anyway, her family line was from Poland. She married my grandfather in the 1940s and I met her first in the early 1960s.  So although I knew she was a nice woman who could hardly cook, none of that went very far in aiding my genealogy efforts on her behalf(which continue today). To begin my research, I had an awareness that her family was from Poland;…

  • Irina-translations
    Thoughts

    Exercising your brain

    For those of you who follow any/ some/ all of my adventures and misadventures I have something a bit different to share. My newest mental exercise… Like most everyone, I need to learn new languages. Also, like everyone I can make a thousand excuses about not learning a new language. I should note, although a language is new to me chances are pretty good the language has actually been around a while. I could say I have heard all the excuse and certainly there are probably too many reasons for me to list, nonetheless I’ll offer a few of my favorite language comments: I don’t have the time to learn…

  • German Genealogy Pointers

    Pommern Genealogy Research of Egon Giese

    A few weeks ago, Egon Giese contacted me to ask if I was willing to post his largely Pomeranian genealogy research (Pommern Ahnenforschung) on ManyRoads. Naturally I could not refuse his exceedingly generous offer. This posting is the official announcement of his research materials availability on ManyRoads. For those who would like access to Egon’s original emails and data submissions, you will find them in the ‘bottom’ section of this posting. Kreis Schlochau 1 Kreis Schlochau 2 Kreis Schlochau und Umgebung Kreis Neustettin Hinter Pommern Geburten und Taufen Wurchow Gross und Klein Kuedde, Kreis Neustettin Kreisen Bublitz, Neustettin, Rummelsburg Schlochau und Schlesien Westpreußen In the event that you are not…

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