Hi Wendy, I just finished reading "The Vanished Kingdom...Travels Through the History of Prussia," by James Charles Roy. It is an overview of the history of Prussia starting in 1275. I have a ggf, Frederick Rahde, and a ggm, Wilhelmina Kamischke Rahde, from West Prussia and I am trying to locate their places of birth. All I have are their dob and West Prussia as a location. They emigrated in 1883 from Hamburg to New York on a ship called (or at least it looks like) "Suevia." That entry is found in "Germans to America." We are planning a trip to Germany and Poland in Octoer to visit my ancestoral homelands and I am still trying to locate their birthplaces. My next move is to locate their immigration and naturalization papers. Good luck, Kay List Ruckle --------------------------------- Get your own web address. Have a HUGE year through Yahoo! Small Business.

Kay....if your immigrant ancestor was buried from a church & you know where...ask them to check the church register...it may give the place of his birth.....that's how I found my grandmother. J

Kay Ruckle wrote that she had just finished reading James Charles Roy's "The Vanished Kingdom; Travels Through the History of Prussia." Kay, I too recently read Roy's "The Vanished Kingdom..." I was severely disappointed by his anti-Polish bias, including a picture of a "drunken Pole" (perhaps not the exact photo caption) and the like. It borders on being an anti-Polish polemic. He seems to be pre-occupied with the notion of how unworthy the Poles are to be in control of what was Prussia. I guess I expected too much from the book. I had just finished Alfred de Zayas' "A Terrible Revenge," and expected better than I got from Roy. Even though I am a trained historian of Russia and Eastern Europe, it is only in the last three years, when I have been investigating my family's genealogy, that I have firmly grasped the frequent, consummate ugliness of nationality and ethnicity - and their equally frequent confusion with one another - in Eastern Europe. De Zeyas makes a poignant plea, something to the effect that we should not expect neighbors to love one another, but at least not to hate one another. Alas, that is too much to ask of human beings even in this millennium. I regret if some feel I have politicized this very helpful listserv, but I could not let the reference to Roy's book go without remarking on my view of his work. Karl von Loewe

Dear Mr. von Loewe, Does the book you mentioned below deal with the revolution in 1849; mentioning any names of those imprisoned? My gggrandfather was Johann Ludwig Arndt, a doctor and minister. He was the secretary of a revolutionary group and therefore imprisoned by the royality at the time. He escaped & fled to America,however his wife died-possibly killed- during his 15 months of imprisonment. He had 2 sons, Max who apparently died at a young age, and Hugo Richard who later came to America. Would it be worth my while to read the book by James Roy then? Thank you for any information you care to pass along! Cheryl RWidener@APK.Net > Kay Ruckle wrote that she had just finished reading James Charles Roy's > "The Vanished Kingdom; Travels Through the History of Prussia." > > Kay, I too recently read Roy's "The Vanished Kingdom..." I was severely > disappointed by his anti-Polish bias, including a picture of a "drunken > Pole" (perhaps not the exact photo caption) and the like. It borders on > being an anti-Polish polemic. He seems to be pre-occupied with the notion > of how unworthy the Poles are to be in control of what was Prussia. I > guess I expected too much from the book. I had just finished Alfred de > Zayas' "A Terrible Revenge," and expected better than I got from Roy. > Even though I am a trained historian of Russia and Eastern Europe, it is > only in the last three years, when I have been investigating my family's > genealogy, that I have firmly grasped the frequent, consummate ugliness of > nationality and ethnicity - and their equally frequent confusion with one > another - in Eastern Europe. > > De Zeyas makes a poignant plea, something to the effect that we should not > expect neighbors to love one another, but at least not to hate one > another. Alas, that is too much to ask of human beings even in this > millennium. > > I regret if some feel I have politicized this very helpful listserv, but I > could not let the reference to Roy's book go without remarking on my view > of his work. > > Karl von Loewe > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > PRUSSIA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Karl, Thank you for your comments. I will look for "A Terrible Revenge," and do some additional reading. I also have "Iron Kingdom, The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947," by Christopher Clark. I haven't started on it yet. Are you familiar with this book? I would be interested in your perspective. Kay List Ruckle Karl von Loewe <Karl@karlvonloewe.com> wrote: Kay Ruckle wrote that she had just finished reading James Charles Roy's "The Vanished Kingdom; Travels Through the History of Prussia." Kay, I too recently read Roy's "The Vanished Kingdom..." I was severely disappointed by his anti-Polish bias, including a picture of a "drunken Pole" (perhaps not the exact photo caption) and the like. It borders on being an anti-Polish polemic. He seems to be pre-occupied with the notion of how unworthy the Poles are to be in control of what was Prussia. I guess I expected too much from the book. I had just finished Alfred de Zayas' "A Terrible Revenge," and expected better than I got from Roy. Even though I am a trained historian of Russia and Eastern Europe, it is only in the last three years, when I have been investigating my family's genealogy, that I have firmly grasped the frequent, consummate ugliness of nationality and ethnicity - and their equally frequent confusion with one another - in Eastern Europe. De Zeyas makes a poignant plea, something to the effect that we should not expect neighbors to love one another, but at least not to hate one another. Alas, that is too much to ask of human beings even in this millennium. I regret if some feel I have politicized this very helpful listserv, but I could not let the reference to Roy's book go without remarking on my view of his work. Karl von Loewe ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PRUSSIA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message --------------------------------- Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell? Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.