I would like to ask you: When you say "Find your German ancestor", do you mean finding them here in the U.S. or finding them in Germany or some other country? After three months, I finally got a reply from Szczecin (in Polish that I can't read, but know a couple who can help). My "German" relatives were from Pommern - Treptow an der Rega (approx. 6 miles from the Baltic Sea) My request was for the marriage record of my Grandparents. I am hoping that it will tell me where my Grandfather was from or where he was born because I cannot find any record of where he came from. I know of no relatives, although he had a sister who never came to America. I am hoping this letter will tell me that they have found a record (I believe they have because it tells me the full name of my Grandfather, which I never knew before (I only knew two names and this shows SIX!!!!)) and gives me the full name of my Grandmother, which is correct. If there is anyone in your group whose ancestors were from Pommern, there is a group from Wisconsin that travel there each year and stops in the vairous villages. My Grandparents always said they were from "Germany", but this part was returned to Poland by the Russians. Germany, of course had taken it over for as long as my family lived there, I guess, which was for centuries. (Although, why did Russia give it to Poland?) Thought this might interest you. JoAn Gauer

Hi JoAnn - In answer to your question, I will say that the flyers for this June Meeting/Seminar are ready and will be available on Saturday. Sabine has been working in the German Archives for about 15 years and hence she has experience in all areas of German research. Her lecture topics for EWGS will be what we felt would be the most help for the majority who are searching in Germany. 1 - How to Find that Elusive German Emigrant 2 - What is Where in the German Archives? 3 - German Research by Remote: How Do I Get These Records? 4 - German Sources Beyond the Church Records. She will also be having a question and answer session so you certainly could ask your questions. One of her many topics that she sometimes speaks about is the areas of Germany that were, are and now once again. Most of us, I think have similar problems in that area. My husband's father came from Estonia, had one sister who stayed there, and yet it is believed that he was German. With the 30 year wars, many were conscripted from all over Europe. His mother's family came from Hungary in an area that is now in Romania, which I would never have learned if I had not found them on the manifest list coming into America in 1921, and verifying that they were ethnic Hungarians. I think that title of the seminar describes what we all need to know - whether we find them in America or Germany eventually. I have so much German ancestry that I know I will be helped by all of those titles. Europe was "re-settled" (if you can call it that) by the three great powers in Yalta at the end of WW II, when Roosevelt was president, and they gave land to the various countries any which way they wanted too. Genealogists suffer from their decisions today. Thank you for the information you gave to the list, and I hope you will attend so that you will get answers to your questions. Bette