I am looking for information on ancestors of Ferdinand Jennerich and Henriette Jaekel who lived in Gerbin, Pommern, Preussen in the early to mid 1800's. They had 11 children of which 8 migrated to the United States. The other three died as infants. The names of the childred were Mathilde Friederike Concordia, Wilhelm, Emilie Wilhelmine Charlotte, Beata Augustine Caroline, Henriette Auguste, Julius Heinrich Hermann, Alwine Henriette Johanne, Hulda Therese Elizabeth, Wilhelmine Emilie Ottilie, Ida Henriette Louise, and Albert H. The eight that came to the United States established homes in Minnesota with the exception of Ida who lived in Chicago, Illinois. Wilhelm was my great-great grandfather. Any information would be appreciated. ________________________________________________________________________ Check out AOL.com today. Breaking news, video search, pictures, email and IM. All on demand. Always Free.

This is kind of a tough one. Did this couple die in Nevada? Perhaps the first thing to do is get the death certificates and obituaries, to see if there is information there. I have been looking in the Minnesota Death certificate index, located at www.mnhs.org<http://www.mnhs.org/> and I actually do see both an Emma Shannon and Patrick Shannon dying in St. Louis County (where Duluth is) in 1938 and 1944. But it is not possible to see how old these people are from the online index, nor origin. I had played with the online census a little, and had also seen some Shannons from Penn. in St. Louis County, but not a Patrick. Minnesota has a birth index from 1900-1916 (same site), but there are a lot of problems -- a lot of the babies are not named at the time the birth is filed, or are just baby. It would really help to have some parents' names. There are NUMEROUS Kochs in Minnesota, German is actually the largest immigrant group. Of course, there are German-Bohemians, too, not as many as other German groups. Linda ----- Original Message ----- From: Aida Kraus<mailto:akibb1@verizon.net> To: GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com<mailto:GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 1:49 PM Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Shannon-Koch This is a shot into the dark, but perhaps there is some help out there. I am looking for Emma Mae Koch (*1910-1918) who married Patrick Shannon from Pittsburg, PA, somewhen and somewhere in Minnesota between 1934 and 1936. If anyone out there has a Koch family that would show Emma Mae as a relative, we then could find a lead to that family. With the surname of Koch it is obvious that Emma Mae came from a German family, and perhaps from a German Bohemian family. If you could lead us to some village names that we could check out, it would be greatly appreciated. I am doing this for a friend and neighbor of mine who was adopted as an infant, and she has no papers but her actual birth certificate from Ely, Nevada, when her parents were "out West" and suffered great difficulties. An older child died, and she herself was adopted. Any suggestions will be appreciated by Sandra Branch, a retired teacher and newbee family researcher. Aida ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== Forgotten how to UNSUBSCRIBE? Visit http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/mailinglist/mailinglist.html<http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/mailinglist/mailinglist.html>

Great help, Linda! Sandra will now "get her feet wet" in a very addictive hobby! Ha! Don't we all know it! I have never seen anyone having so little to go on and it will be very instructive how far we can go with as little as we have! Thanks for your very prompt reply! Aida ------------------------------ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Linda Therkelsen" <lindatherkela@msn.com> To: <GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 1:48 PM Subject: Re: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Shannon-Koch > This is kind of a tough one. Did this couple die in Nevada? Perhaps the > first thing to do is get the death certificates and obituaries, to see if > there is information there. I have been looking in the Minnesota Death > certificate index, located at www.mnhs.org<http://www.mnhs.org/> > and I actually do see both an Emma Shannon and Patrick Shannon dying in > St. Louis County (where Duluth is) in 1938 and 1944. But it is not > possible to see how old these people are from the online index, nor > origin. I had played with the online census a little, and had also seen > some Shannons from Penn. in St. Louis County, but not a Patrick. > Minnesota has a birth index from 1900-1916 (same site), but there are a > lot of problems -- a lot of the babies are not named at the time the birth > is filed, or are just baby. It would really help to have some parents' > names. There are NUMEROUS Kochs in Minnesota, German is actually the > largest immigrant group. Of course, there are German-Bohemians, too, not > as many as other German groups. > Linda > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Aida Kraus<mailto:akibb1@verizon.net> > To: GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com<mailto:GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 1:49 PM > Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Shannon-Koch > > > This is a shot into the dark, but perhaps there is some help out there. > I am looking for Emma Mae Koch (*1910-1918) who married Patrick Shannon > from Pittsburg, PA, somewhen and somewhere in Minnesota between 1934 and > 1936. If anyone out there has a Koch family that would show Emma Mae as a > relative, we then could find a lead to that family. With the surname of > Koch it is obvious that Emma Mae came from a German family, and perhaps > from a German Bohemian family. If you could lead us to some village names > that we could check out, it would be greatly appreciated. > I am doing this for a friend and neighbor of mine who was adopted as > an infant, and she has no papers but her actual birth certificate from > Ely, Nevada, when her parents were "out West" and suffered great > difficulties. An older child died, and she herself was adopted. > Any suggestions will be appreciated by Sandra Branch, a retired > teacher and newbee family researcher. > Aida > > > ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== > Forgotten how to UNSUBSCRIBE? > Visit > http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/mailinglist/mailinglist.html<http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/mailinglist/mailinglist.html> > > > > ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== > Visit the German-Bohemian Heritage Society Web Page! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ >

In a message dated 6/9/2006 10:47:54 AM Mountain Standard Time, eileen.souza@mindspring.com writes: Does anyone know which site is the largest in the world? I see references to Worldconnect.com in the Rootsweb Revies (there was one in today's issue). If you don't read your Rootsweb Review, you should know that there is often valuable information there and each issue should at least be scanned for items of interest. Todays reference includes "take a look at your own family tree on WorldConnect " That prompted a search with some of the following hits: WorldConnect Project -- Connecting the World One GEDCOM at Time Submit Your Family Tree To WorldConnect Start Here · Also, go here to update or correct your existing Family Tree · FAQs and HELP ... http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/ RootsWeb.com Home Page Family Trees (WorldConnect) WorldConnect Project Main Page · Search Family Trees · Submit Your Family Tree · Edit Your Family Tree. Mailing Lists ... http://www.rootsweb.com/ guyfisher.com » Blog Archive » WorldConnect Family Tree The Fisher Family Tree at RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project has sprouted a bunch of new branches. I just uploaded the first major update to the tree since I ... http://guyfisher.com/archives/2005/11/worldconnect/ Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Descendan... He married ANN STRICKLAND (Source: TITLE, http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb. com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=elainehendricks.). ... http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/l ... se-M-Lawrence/GENE30-0012.html

I always thought that www.geneanet.com was the largest. I found a possible "missing link" to my French ancestry. Frank -----Original Message----- From: Eileen Souza [mailto:eileen.souza@mindspring.com] Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 12:47 PM To: GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com Subject: RE: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Genealogy database website under construction Thank you for this link, Karen. I look forward to searching their content when the site is complete. They seem to be touting themselves as the second largest geneology site in the world. Does anyone know which site is the largest in the world? Eileen Souza Eldersburg, MD 21784 -----Original Message----- From: KarenHob@aol.com [mailto:KarenHob@aol.com] Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 12:21 PM To: GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Genealogy database website under construction A website under construction is worth bookmarking for your research notebook. All that seems to be up right now is a home page but it looks like it may be an important site when it becomes operational -- they say that should happen in July. They plan to be a central clearing house for genealogical databases. I suspect they may have plans to offer free service in the beginning and service by subscription after that. They intend to include access to genealogical news, histories including culture and traditions, and some instruction. They are teamed with Provo Labs to use their new search engine which is supposed to be much faster than other search engines now available. Check out this website, and then visit it again from time to time to learn what they have added. http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/ If you cannot get there by using the URL above do a search with: World vital records Look for a hit with the URL above and click on that one. Also look at the other hits you get with that search. There are a number of interesting ones. Search with Google or Yahoo and there may be an option to translate German sites among the hits. Karen ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== Visit the German-Bohemian Heritage Society Web Page! http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== Would you like to see messages that were posted before you joined the list? To search the archives, go to: http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=GERMAN-BOHEMIAN -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.8.3/359 - Release Date: 6/8/2006 -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.8.3/359 - Release Date: 6/8/2006 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.8.3/359 - Release Date: 6/8/2006

Thank you for this link, Karen. I look forward to searching their content when the site is complete. They seem to be touting themselves as the second largest geneology site in the world. Does anyone know which site is the largest in the world? Eileen Souza Eldersburg, MD 21784 -----Original Message----- From: KarenHob@aol.com [mailto:KarenHob@aol.com] Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 12:21 PM To: GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Genealogy database website under construction A website under construction is worth bookmarking for your research notebook. All that seems to be up right now is a home page but it looks like it may be an important site when it becomes operational -- they say that should happen in July. They plan to be a central clearing house for genealogical databases. I suspect they may have plans to offer free service in the beginning and service by subscription after that. They intend to include access to genealogical news, histories including culture and traditions, and some instruction. They are teamed with Provo Labs to use their new search engine which is supposed to be much faster than other search engines now available. Check out this website, and then visit it again from time to time to learn what they have added. http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/ If you cannot get there by using the URL above do a search with: World vital records Look for a hit with the URL above and click on that one. Also look at the other hits you get with that search. There are a number of interesting ones. Search with Google or Yahoo and there may be an option to translate German sites among the hits. Karen ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== Visit the German-Bohemian Heritage Society Web Page! http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/

Land Patents maps and surnames connected with them are published by Arphax Publishing of Oklahoma. There is a list of the books they have published to date by state at their website. http://www.arphax.com/ I have used some old land maps from Sibley and Nicollet counties to find where my ancestral farms were located -- in some cases the land is still occupied by cousins. Older and newer maps as well as lists of land owners of given parcels from county archives have helped to track what happened after the deaths of original settlers. I did not see Sibley or Nicollet counties listed among the books available for Minnesota at present and hope that they are forthcoming. I did an Internet search with: West Newton Township and got some interesting hits that included a detailed profile -- information about cemeteries and other data that is valuable for reasearch. The same search with Severance Township found a detailed profile with a satellite photo of the township. Search with the name of an ancestral township -- there may be good information out there. Some states may not have used townships within counties -- for example in PA there are "Burroughs". County websites should include the necessary information to choose search words for those states. Also search with the ancestral county name. County historical societies, recorder's office websites, cemetery lists and other research helps. Karen

A website under construction is worth bookmarking for your research notebook. All that seems to be up right now is a home page but it looks like it may be an important site when it becomes operational -- they say that should happen in July. They plan to be a central clearing house for genealogical databases. I suspect they may have plans to offer free service in the beginning and service by subscription after that. They intend to include access to genealogical news, histories including culture and traditions, and some instruction. They are teamed with Provo Labs to use their new search engine which is supposed to be much faster than other search engines now available. Check out this website, and then visit it again from time to time to learn what they have added. http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/ If you cannot get there by using the URL above do a search with: World vital records Look for a hit with the URL above and click on that one. Also look at the other hits you get with that search. There are a number of interesting ones. Search with Google or Yahoo and there may be an option to translate German sites among the hits. Karen

This is a shot into the dark, but perhaps there is some help out there. I am looking for Emma Mae Koch (*1910-1918) who married Patrick Shannon from Pittsburg, PA, somewhen and somewhere in Minnesota between 1934 and 1936. If anyone out there has a Koch family that would show Emma Mae as a relative, we then could find a lead to that family. With the surname of Koch it is obvious that Emma Mae came from a German family, and perhaps from a German Bohemian family. If you could lead us to some village names that we could check out, it would be greatly appreciated. I am doing this for a friend and neighbor of mine who was adopted as an infant, and she has no papers but her actual birth certificate from Ely, Nevada, when her parents were "out West" and suffered great difficulties. An older child died, and she herself was adopted. Any suggestions will be appreciated by Sandra Branch, a retired teacher and newbee family researcher. Aida

Please change my e-mail address to JCH7830@swbell.net. Thanks. Marian Stadler Honeycutt

This Email did not come back to me as list mail so I am sending it a second time. I apologize if it duplicates something you have already received. Karen ----------------- Local, country and district archives around Germany have documents associated with refugees expelled from CZ in 1945ß46. The LDS has a lot of them on film. Some titles are Aus- und Einwanderungen, 19. Jahrhundert Schweinfurt (Bayern). Auswanderungsamt Aus- und Einwanderungen, 1800-1947 Freising (Bayern). Landratsamt There are also large Heimat libraries that may be able to help find those resources in Germany. There is one at Nurnberg and one in Wurttemberg. Search the Internet with Bibliothek im Haus der Heimat and HAUS DER HEIMAT DES LANDES BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG in STUTTGART The librarians generally speak English. Ask them where to locate the local lists of German refugees from CR in 1945-46. The various Heimat societies also have their own databases of the surnames from the specific area that concerns them, where the surnames were found in the old Heimat and where the descendants of those expelled now live in Germany. There are links to many Heimat society websites at the Sudetendeuteshen Landsmannschaft web page at: http://www.sudeten.de/bas/index_a.htm Each site has a Kontact link or an Edress somewhere on the home page or other pages (like at the very bottom of a page). Explore each button on the left of the site home page until you come up with the contact information. Remember to write simple inquiries about what data is available...no compound sentences. Karen

RESEARCH ACADEMY IN SALT LAKE CITY Sunday 22 October, 2006 to Saturday 28 October 2006. NOTE: Register before JUNE 30th for a chance to win free accomodation for one week at the Plaza Hotel in Salt Lake City! This one week research trip is excellent for those who want either (or both) 'in-classroom instruction' in German, English, American or General Methodolgoy or guided research in the Family History Center's Library with faculty available for consultation. This could help you tremendously break through your brick walls! For more details including costs go to: www.genealogicalstudies.com click on INFORMATION, click on FIELD TRIPS or call 1-800-580-0165.

Richard Eastman has published notices of conferences during the coming months at: http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2006/06/upcoming_events.html Some events that may be of interest to list members include: July 15 - Whitewater, Wisconsin: The German Interest Group - Wisconsin is sponsoring a German genealogical workshop, "3 R's of German Research: Reading, 'Riting & Records." The speaker will be Kory Meyerink from Salt Lake City, UT. For a registration brochure and fees, check the society web page at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~wigig/index.html *July 16-22 - Washington DC: The National Institute on Genealogical Research (N.I.G.R.) is an intensive program focusing on federal records of genealogical value. It features on-site examination of records at the National Archives, where the program is held. Core presentations on census, military, land, immigration, cartographic, African American, and Native American records are complemented by study of lesser-used records. The 2006 class is full. Add your name to the mail list to receive information and an application for next year's program. For more information see the institute's Web site at http://www.rootsweb.com/~natgenin August 4-6 - Winnipeg, Manitoba: The Federation of East European Family History Societies will co-sponsor a conference with the East European Genealogical Society. The conference will provide instruction on how trace your ancestry in central and eastern Europe including most of the countries from Germany to Russia. Details are available at: http://www.eegsociety.org/Conference2006.aspx August 16-20 - Lincoln, Nebraska: The American Historical Society of Germans from Russia will hold its annual convention. Details are available from ahsgr@ahsgr.org Sept. 29 & 30 - Pittsburgh, PA: The Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society and the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania have reached an agreement to hold a state-wide genealogical conference in Pittsburgh on September 29 and 30. This event, the first state-wide genealogical seminar held in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, will undoubtedly draw considerable numbers of family historians to Pittsburgh because Pennsylvania is a genealogically significant state. Watch the Societies' websites for information: http://www.wpgs.org and http://www.genpa.org September 30 - Coon Rapids, Minnesota: The annual Minneapolis area genealogical conference, "Searching for Your Family History," will feature five sessions and twenty-five classes. The variety of subjects covered is aimed at the general research audience and appropriate for all expertise levels. A computer lab will be open and supported throughout the day, and a variety of vendors will share their expertise. For further information go to http://www.irishgenealogical.org/events.html

Aida Thanks for the great tips and help. I wish I had had this help 12 years ago. I bought a program and kept almost everything on computer only. When our server crashed I was lost. Everything was gone. There was one good thing that happened in this experience. Sharing my research with FTM allowed me to go to them and they emailed me an older copy of my family tree that I had shared online with there world family files. Today I am going to work on a binder of everything I have. Or at least start it. Terrie -----Original Message----- From: Aida Kraus [mailto:akibb1@verizon.net] Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2006 2:57 PM To: GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] how to get started A personal email to me made me aware that there are a lot of newcomers on the List who are just starting out with their family history and need to get "organized." Here is a quick outline how to go about it following your personal logic. There will be a time where "the genealogy bug" will be biting you, and you will realize that you are on the path of an educational adventure. To organize your research volume: 1. Check files you may have inherited from your parents or grandparents, see if you can find documents or letters. If you cannot read the letters, have them translated, they will give you clues. If you find a document, whatever it is, THAT will be your first "lead document" and it will lead you to more information like a detective. 2. As soon as you have a locality, find the geographic location, find maps, read the history of the land and the area where these villages or towns are located. Make copies of everything pertaining to the area and file it in a 3 ring binder, it will grow. 3. Keep all obits, pictures, postcards, letters, etc. in page protectors so they don't deteriorate and are easy to file in the 3-ring binder, and don't forget to write on the back of the pictures the name of the people and the place where the picture was taken, perhaps you can calculate the year if not given. 4. File your information by family name.....your fathers and mothers and their ancestors so that you have a logical subdivision. In front of your 3 ring binder make a sheet with all surnames you have found, and update it frequently as new maiden names are revealed. A pedigree chart is of immense help here! 5. When you read church registers on microfilm and when you find a record of your ancestors you will be so excited that you will ask for a copy but forget to jot down the village name, church name, Register and Page number. THATS A BIG MISTAKE!! Be sure that you write the following information on the back of each microfilm copy : town, country, date, Register Tome, because on the register page itself you will only find the page and entry number. VERY IMPORTANT! Only with such a notation is the entry legal. 6. And finally, when you have "quite a collection" of your ancestral base documents, you can either invest in a family genealogy computer program - in that case be sure that it converts to the GED format! - or you can go back to the LDS Family Research office and purchase their Personal Ancestral File disk ($5.00) and attend one of their instruction classes how to database your information. Once you have deposited this information at the Archives at Salt Lake City, they will be there for all eternity and for all your descendants! At present they have 23 Million entries and chances are that your earlier ancestry will meet up with someone's research converging with your own family and then you can share information! It is just good manners to offer your information in exchange. Remember, they are relatives! 7. You will also need a file for website "Links"... which come up on this List quite frequently as people are sharing their finds. It saves you a lot of time when you need to work on a particular subject or area. Have a file in "my documents" on your computer to where you post these website Links immediately with a brief description of the subject. You will keep going back to those forever and again!!! 8. File all lead documents in a 3-ring binder in a fireproof receptacle for posterity. Aida ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== Visit the German-Bohemian Heritage Society Web Page! http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/

AIda, Could you please send the web site address again? THANKS JACK

Many genealogical societies publish research resources and FAQ for getting started at their websites. The two most helpful for German-Bohemians may be the German Bohemian Heritage Society (GBHS) and Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International (CGSI) websites. Explore those sites carefully and be prepared to print out a number of pages for a research notebook. Find those sites with a search using: GBHS or CGSI. A wonderful resource is Cyndi's list at: http://www.cyndislist.com/beginner.htm There are also online lessons (free) at some websites like' http://genealogy.about.com/cs/beginnerlessons/ Each site will have a lot of the same suggestions but many of them will have one or two suggestions the others do not include. When researching German-Bohemians it is very important to statt with some history of Bohemia when it was one of the Crownlands of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and later dual monarchy (after 1868). Data can be confusing when the history behind the times that produced the data is not known. Uhderstand the relationships between Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia and how it changed over time. Get good maps showing your ancestral area during the period when your immigrant ancestors lived there -- not newest maps. Learn to use a Gazetteer as well as historical atlases of Bohemia or of Czechoslovakia. The German Research Companion by Shirley Riemer is a very good resource because it covers Germany as well as Austria. German-Bohemian vital records are in archives of the Czech Republic. The oldest will be in Latin, records of the 19th century are often in German and the later 19th C. and 20th C. are often in Czech Since German-Bohemians were expelled from CZ in 1945-46 and most of them ended up in Germany, there is important data in those archives regarding families of our distant cousins who are now living there. The VSFF is a group dedicated to genealogy of these families. They have an extensive website that is often cited on this mailing list. http://www.genealogienetz.de/index_en.html The pages for the German-Bohemia, also known as Sudetenland, staart at http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/SUD/sudet_en.html Some of this website is in German, only, but the contact information for a "Betreuer" (coordinator or leader) for a certain area or the names of parishes and the years for which parish registers are available are the same in any language. The expelled Germans also formed Heimat societies and organized museums and archives of their own that deal with the families who lived in their particular area and the culture and tradition of their homeland. Their publications and websites are valuable research tools. Many of us frown at websites in foreign languages and just quit them rather than study them. Without willingness to start to pick up elementary German genealogy vocabulary from websites devoted to that or from lookups in one's own German-English dictionary it can be difficult to make progress. Dealing with sites in Czech language can also be a problem but there is help from many mailing lists when it is requested. Start to keep a vocabulary notebook right away. Google and Yahoo also offer optional translations of pages in German. Use one of them as a search engine and the hits will show brackets with [translate this page] that will translate the website when you click on that phrase. A great help can be the publications -- quarterly newsletter and yearbook -- of the CGSI and the Heimatbrief of the GBHS. The CGSI will cover specific research document types in detail in some of their publications. while the GBHS publishes more information about the culture and traditions of the German-bohemians. To subscrbe to the GBHS and CGSI newsletters, visit their websites and follow the instructions there. Find out if there is a genealogy section in your public library and explore the resources there. Learn if they have classes. Go to the LDS website: familysearch.org Explore that website thoroughly and then explore their library catalog for films dealing with Austria Bohemia or Austria Moravia . Searchs will default to Bohmen and Mahren -- the German names of those lands -- because virtually all of the films are in German. About knowing your history: Understand that when Czechoslovakia became a nation in 1918 Bohemia and Moravia ceased to exist as Austrian provinces under the Bohemian crown and the LDS library began a new catalog for Czechoslovakia without any cross-reference to Bohemia / Moravia./ Austrian Silesia. They are not cross-referenced to Bohemia or Moravia. Likewise when the Czech Republic and Slovakia became separate nations around 1993 there was another separation of data in the catalog without cross-reference to Czechoslovakia, Bohemia or Moravia. So it is necessary to use Bohmen, Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic to find everything they have. Karen

Linda's letter triggered a memory!!! I know for a fact that the German Red Cross has access to all of these lists. They locate fallen soldiers, people that were transported, lost children, refugees and displaced person. Here is their web-address and they have an online people search form, just click on the English version. DRK-Suchdienst München DRK-Suchdienst München. Zentrale Auskunfts- und Dokumentationsstelle. Suchantrag online. German Red Cross Tracing Service. Tracing request online. Croix Rouge Allemande. Service de Recherches. Demande de recherche en ligne. www.drk-suchdienst.org Aida ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: "Linda Therkelsen" <lindatherkela@msn.com> To: <GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2006 10:05 AM Subject: Re: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Boehmerwald - transport lists >I know that lists exist, but am not sure where all are kept. I did trace a >relative who had sent a letter after expulsion to my great-grandmother in >America (who had actually died in 1941). Although some of my great-aunts >did not know the significance and could not read German, one had kept a >scrap of paper with the address on it, for a town in Germany. I wrote to >the town mayor's office, and they did report that the relative was on the >transport list, had never married, lived with a certain family, her >occupation, and date of death. So the town held a transport list, at least >for those transported to that town. This must have also had some recording >of where they placed people, since German families had to take in those >expelled. > > Also, many from a village in the Boehmerwald would end up in another > village or town in Germany, but not uniformly so. > Linda > > > ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== > Forgotten how to UNSUBSCRIBE? > Visit http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/mailinglist/mailinglist.html >

In a message dated 6/4/2006 11:06:55 AM Mountain Standard Time, lindatherkela@msn.com writes: So the town held a transport list, at least for those transported to that town Local, country and district archives around Germanz have documents associated with refugees expelled from CZ in 1945ß46. The LDS has some of them on film... Some titles are Aus- und Einwanderungen, 19. Jahrhundert Schweinfurt (Bayern). Auswanderungsamt Aus- und Einwanderungen, 1800-1947 Freising (Bayern). Landratsamt There are also Heimat libraries that may be able to help find those resources in Germany. There is one at Nurnberg and one in Wurttemberg. Search the Internet with Bibliothek im Haus der Heimat and HAUS DER HEIMAT DES LANDES BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG in STUTTGART The librarians generally speak English. Ask them where to locate the local lists of German refugees from CR in 1945-46. Karen

thank you so much for this email........it will be kept among my family geneology records. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Aida Kraus" <akibb1@verizon.net> To: <GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2006 10:42 AM Subject: Re: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Boehmerwald I doubt it that there are lists of person that went with the Americans to West Germany. Americans knew what was coming and took anyone with them who wanted to leave. Those German Bohemians having some ties to the Nazi Regime left on their own and took the chance to hop on the American trucks. But here it must be explained here that German citizens were unable to continue their profession under the Hitler regime (like as a doctor, lawyer, industrialist or businessman) if you did not belong to the NSDAP, the Nazi Party. All of these party members on the transport trucks of the Americans were handed over at the border to the courts where they were put into "Denazification" camps. They enjoyed there very decent treatment and three full meals a day with classes during the day....and for us Non-Members this seemed like a "cushy existence." The rest of us stayed at home, we had nothing to fear, we just waited that the "old republic" would establish itself again. Or so we thought...... There must be deportation lists of all Germans in the Czech archives, because everyone expelled went through a local camp and name lists were checked off as the people were put into transports. This process happened after most of the people had been thrown out of their house and fleeced for their valuables. Most of our people found shelter with neighbors or friends, who in turn were also booted out of their homes and many of us saw these cruel displacements more than once. The nicest homes were appropriated first in quite a horrible manner (spare me the details!), then the next best category was selected for a convenient location, the least desirable places were left to the last. Into these abandoned garrets the remaining German population huddled together, but there was no chance for invisibility, because every German had to wear a white arm band when going out of the house. You never knew when they "grabbed" you. Eventually, all of us were chased into camps and sorted out for transports to either East or West Germany. The expulsion was pretty much completed in 1947, the year the Czech people voted for a Communist Regime with a sweeping majority. What was left in the Czech Republic of our German Bohemians were either mixed marriages with Czechs, or anti-fascist Germans, or those very few that had belonged to the Communist Party before Hitler's occupation. Then new transports - for these remaining people who had been loyal to the Czech Republic - were formed. But these were transported to slave labor - oh horror! - into the Interior of the Czech Republic .... and promptly forgotten. It would have been better, had they been expelled. It was my father and his friend, a Czech Police Director who helped these scattered people. Our friend searched for our family in all the expulsion transport records - and this is why I know that they exist - and found us as slave laborers in the Interior. He and my father worked together in making lists of Germans on these farms to be rescued. At that time, Czechoslovakia no longer supported the expulsion, because they had realized that mass transporting German people from their ancestral homeland had left a horrible void very visible in the countryside and it was quite near a collapse of their entire economy, because the industrial section of the Czech Republic is mainly in the area of the Sudetenland. The interior of the Czech Republic is mostly agricultural. What followed in the years to come, was just a "real mess!" Only 800,000 Czechs were taking over an area from where 3 Million Germans had been expelled and that mistake was all to obvious in 1948. I was able to remain in my homeland until December1948, so I have seen the "aftermath" and it was not pretty: it was a decaying vacuum. Then, the Czech government made it very difficult for anyone to leave. German people had to pay for their release and their transport to Germany, they were "held" rather than "expelled," but what was left of our group was only a sad remainder. In other words who was still there were those old loyal Republicans badly abused by the Country they supported. There was no reason any longer to remain in a homeland that was highjacked by Communists and slowly it dawned even on the Czech people that all this was a bad mistake. As we were able to gather information into what corners of the Czech landscape our people had been scattered, my father and his Czech friend (a Police Director loyal to the old Republic) tried desperately to find them and rescue them. The news traveled steadily by word of mouth, one person knew where another could be found. When we had a few together, I typed transport lists in the office of my father's friend Velitel Zlatohlavek at Maierhöfen near Karlsbad......... and I would say, that the Czech Republic must have these lists in some archives somewhere!???!!! After that, many like-minded Czechs followed their German brethren in escaping from the Communist regime, and in most of the cases they had to establish German connections to be able to leave to West Germany. Many of our German Bohemian people had to go before the German courts to vouchsafe the character of their Czech friends or families in order that they were accepted in Germany. A crazier scenario could not be contrived. There is another later chapter to this. After the Prague Spring another exodus started to West Germany from the Czech Republic, when mostly "mixed marriage couples" were granted a leave for Germany, that is, if they could bring proof of their family's connection to West Germany. Between 1965-1968 another group, mostly of Czech ethnicity, escaped their Communist country. It is a tragedy among all our Bohemian people, German and Czech alike! And this tragedy for so many million of people was contrived with a fewbold signatures on a document in Yalta and Potsdam by politicians who let their hatred rule over their conscience. May future politicians learn from this! Aida --------------------------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: "Veda Anderson" <anderv@cyberlodge.com> To: <GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2006 7:09 AM Subject: Re: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Boehmerwald > does anyone know if there is a list of surnames availa ble of those who > were displaced by the allies. Germans moved to Germany?????????????? > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Aida Kraus" <akibb1@verizon.net> > To: <GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Saturday, June 03, 2006 10:35 AM > Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Boehmerwald > > >> For anyone who wishes to look at some of the farms in the Boehmerwald, >> (Bohemian forest, Sumava) >> here is a link where you can see how some of the larger farms (Gutshof) >> looked when the German owners lived there and what they found when they >> came back to visit... Go to this link, it is one available in English. >> Those of you who are from the Egerland, these larger farms had the same >> architecture there and the tenant families lived there sometimes for >> centuries with the owners. >> On this page, there are also a few village names given and names >> mentioned, just in case it would fit into your family. Forgive the >> bitterness on this page, but a person robbed of their ancestral home >> becomes "homeless" until the next generation plants their own roots into >> a new homeland, wherever the wind of fate has scattered them since the >> expulsion between 1945-1948, after WW2. German Bohemians lived for >> centuries on their farms and each generation built on this inheritance >> and "made it prettier" than it was before, this was their pride. Ours >> was not a "moving or wandering" society, but a very earthbound one, and >> the expulsion has impacted very harshly on these families. >> Aida >> http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jschopper/englisch.htm >> >> >> ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== >> Would you like to see messages that were posted before you joined the >> list? To browse the archives, go to: >> http://archiver.rootsweb.com/GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L/ >> >> > > > ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== > Forgotten how to UNSUBSCRIBE? > Visit http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/mailinglist/mailinglist.html > ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== Visit the German-Bohemian Heritage Society Web Page! http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/

A personal email to me made me aware that there are a lot of newcomers on the List who are just starting out with their family history and need to get "organized." Here is a quick outline how to go about it following your personal logic. There will be a time where "the genealogy bug" will be biting you, and you will realize that you are on the path of an educational adventure. To organize your research volume: 1. Check files you may have inherited from your parents or grandparents, see if you can find documents or letters. If you cannot read the letters, have them translated, they will give you clues. If you find a document, whatever it is, THAT will be your first "lead document" and it will lead you to more information like a detective. 2. As soon as you have a locality, find the geographic location, find maps, read the history of the land and the area where these villages or towns are located. Make copies of everything pertaining to the area and file it in a 3 ring binder, it will grow. 3. Keep all obits, pictures, postcards, letters, etc. in page protectors so they don't deteriorate and are easy to file in the 3-ring binder, and don't forget to write on the back of the pictures the name of the people and the place where the picture was taken, perhaps you can calculate the year if not given. 4. File your information by family name.....your fathers and mothers and their ancestors so that you have a logical subdivision. In front of your 3 ring binder make a sheet with all surnames you have found, and update it frequently as new maiden names are revealed. A pedigree chart is of immense help here! 5. When you read church registers on microfilm and when you find a record of your ancestors you will be so excited that you will ask for a copy but forget to jot down the village name, church name, Register and Page number. THATS A BIG MISTAKE!! Be sure that you write the following information on the back of each microfilm copy : town, country, date, Register Tome, because on the register page itself you will only find the page and entry number. VERY IMPORTANT! Only with such a notation is the entry legal. 6. And finally, when you have "quite a collection" of your ancestral base documents, you can either invest in a family genealogy computer program - in that case be sure that it converts to the GED format! - or you can go back to the LDS Family Research office and purchase their Personal Ancestral File disk ($5.00) and attend one of their instruction classes how to database your information. Once you have deposited this information at the Archives at Salt Lake City, they will be there for all eternity and for all your descendants! At present they have 23 Million entries and chances are that your earlier ancestry will meet up with someone's research converging with your own family and then you can share information! It is just good manners to offer your information in exchange. Remember, they are relatives! 7. You will also need a file for website "Links"... which come up on this List quite frequently as people are sharing their finds. It saves you a lot of time when you need to work on a particular subject or area. Have a file in "my documents" on your computer to where you post these website Links immediately with a brief description of the subject. You will keep going back to those forever and again!!! 8. File all lead documents in a 3-ring binder in a fireproof receptacle for posterity. Aida