Norka a German colony in Russia                            Finding Family

Dear Folks,

A number of people have contacted me privately in regard to finding their relatives in Russia etc. or in Germany. In some cases their grandparents were the only people who made it out before World War I and so they have lost contact with an entire half of their extended family. Generally, extended family is very important to the Russian German family and I have a lot of empathy for people in this situation.

I know how to track people down. I have done it for several decades and have a lot of contacts in different places. However, this all takes a great deal of time and becomes a frustrating task when one is overloaded with work. If I was "over there", I would simply "ask around" and soon would be, in most cases, able to locate someone who knows something about the person/family from a certain village. My experience has been that the elderly ladies are the best source of information.

There is, however, a place in Germany which can help you in finding these relatives. It is the:

Heimatsortkartei/Kirchlicher Suchdienst (Homeland Registry/Church

Search Service, Rosenbergstrasse 50, 70176 Stuttgart, Germany - Tel:

01149 711 6368004; E-mail: suchdienst.HOK@t-online.de

This morning, I spoke with a lady in the office there. She told me that they also have people working in the building who speak English. Sometimes they are gone on vacation, but, in any case one can phone and usually find someone with whom you can speak if you can only speak English. They also have people who can read English. Most correspondence is sent out in German.

When searching for family, it is important to send as much information as possible; names, dates, places of origin etc.. Also, the reason for contacting the person is important. For instance, if you would like to have direct personal contact with the relatives then please state this. When a request is sent in, then you receive a response telling you how much the cost is for the search; I guess that they check to see if they have any information there first.

I hope that this information will help some of you in your search!

Horst W. Gutsche

Dear Folks,

I just spoke with a lady who works for Volk auf dem Weg, the monthly published by the Germans from Russia Society in Germany. If you are looking for relatives in Germany or in Russia, then you can put an add into the paper for free when the size measures 6 centimeters wide and 3 centimeters long.

If you have people for whom you are looking, you can send the information to me and I will translate it and forward it on to Volk auf dem Weg. I believe that the monthly has about 40,000 subscribers.

If you prefer to write directly to them, this is the address.

Volk auf dem Weg

Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland, e.V. Raitelsbergstrasse 49, 70188 Stuttgart, Germany

Tel.: 01149 711 16659 0

Fax: 01149 711 2 86 44 13

It think? that the e-mail address is: lmdr-ev@t-online.de

The journal costs 30 euros per year which is about 33-34 US dollars right now. I imagine that if you sent 35 US that would cover a subscription. It is in German.

Here is what typical adds look like:

The Maser family, Tel. 0911 8938294, is looking for Berta Beta, nee Schulz, born about 1924/25, who previously lived in Southern Kazakstan. She is the niece of Katherine Mai, nee Schulz, born 1911 in Freisental, area of Mariental, Volga

Pia Schill, Fercher Str. 8, 12629 Berlin, Tel.: 030-9982253, is looking for her cousin Walentin with his wife Emma Oster, who resided in Somolensk, Krasnodar, in 1990.

Who knew Karl Ungefug, born 1907, and his parents Heinrich and Emilie Ungefug? Did they all live in Unterwalden on the Volga before they were resettled to Kazakstan? Please forward information to daughter Ella Ungefug, Machnigstr. 5, 87700 Memmingen

Pastor Horst W. Gutsche

Box 4842, Barrhead

Alberta T7N 1A6

Tel. 780 674 3944

hgutsche@telusplanet.net