There was a time when Eastern Europe was mostly under the control of Prussia, Russia & Austria-Hungary. I know that there were Germans that moved into enclaves in Austria-Hungary, as well as Germans who moved into the Russian Empire at the invitation of Catherine the Great. Bobbi ----- Original Message ----- From: "juliasgenes" To: <germany-passenger-lists@rootsweb.com> Sent: 04 April, 2011 3:56 PM Subject: Re: [G-P-L] "commonality of names" EWERT > I never heard about Russians controlling things - I just know that my > aunts were adamant that of course my GM was German because my GF would > NEVER have married a Pole. Meanwhile, I have some slight evidence that her > name might have been something like OBAROWSKY. That doesn't sound German > to me, but of course, I'm no expert.