Tips & Tricks to Tracking Your German Russia Ancestors...Tip # 9 LEAVE A TRAIL

Every journey comes to an end.  And, we have finally reached our last Tip for Tracking our German Russian Ancestors. While is it last, it clearly is not least, as you can follow all of previous tips and tricks, but if you pass on number nine, your accomplishments could be for nought. It's critical to Leave a Trail.

I originally gave the "Tips & Tricks" presentation at the Gilbert Regional Library on January 12, 2019.  Posting each tip and trick on my blog is one of the ways I like to leave a trail.

Yet, there are as many ways of Leaving A Trail as there are of doing genealogical research.  And, that's what makes it so fun because you can choose the way you want to Leave a Trail.  Here are just a few options:

• Write your Memoir or write a a memoir for a family member
• Gather family recipes and publish Cookbooks
• Write a Family History Book
• Use Oral or written Storytelling to share your history
• Write articles for publication in the AHSGR Journal or GRHS Heritage Review
• Create an online family tree or website
• Set periodic goals for yourself to contribute to the history
• What ways would you add to this list?  Let me know, would love to hear your creative thoughts...

One factor to consider when leaving a trail is, how organized is your research?  Will others know what it is?  Or, does it look like something ready for the dumpster?

Remember during Tip # 2 Choose Your Path we discussed using a Research Log. If it doesn't sound familiar, step back to Tip # 2  to determine how you can have on-going, organized success by documenting your progress.  With an up to date log, others will know where your research stopped, what needs to be done next, and which items need citations and documentation.

One of the biggest decisions you need to make is when Leaving a Trail is, who can you trust to carry on your research and family history?

This is quite a personal decision, and your choice should be considered carefully over time.  

Here are some questions to ponder as you make your decisions:

• Is there a family member who will carry on the research? 
• Who would best continue the story?
• Who can you trust to carry on the family history?
• And, if there is not a family member who shares your passion to follow through on your research, are there any others who will?
• Would a donation to an association, to a village coordinator or to a designated family member or friend suit your wishes?
• What if something changes for your designated genealogical heir? What is the back up plan?

It's important to be thoughtful about all options, discuss your intentions with your family and get their input. When you have made your decision, share your plans with family and leave written directions in your estate plan.

Keep in mind the famous words of Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame who wrote, "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?" While we all enjoy the genealogical journey, it offers great satisfaction to know that the investigation and your story goes on.

So, as I close the tips and tricks blog series, you might wonder, which of the nine tips is the most important? While you may find that one tip or another is more important during different phases of your research, not any one of these tips is more important than another. All are important to keep in mind as you research your family, from:

• Starting with You,
• To Choosing Your Path, 
• To Documenting all of Your Sources, Sources, Sources
• To Keeping Calm and Learning the History,
• To Connecting with Community,
• To Locating Villages and Ancestral Towns on Maps, 
• To Learning a New Language along the way, 
• So when you do Travel you can converse with at least the basics, 
• And Leave a Trail of Your Family’s History for All Time.

Thank you for joining me on my genealogical journey. Hope to see you in Lincoln, Nebraska this summer.  

©2019 Anna Dalhaimer Bartkowski

Tips & Tricks to Tracking Your German Russia Ancestors...Tip # 8 TRAVEL HAS ITS OWN UNIQUE REWARDS..Continued

Travel is so powerful, it requires at least three posts to try to cover the bare basics. Last update I promised details on the second trip to Argentina. My quest to find relatives included connecting with Black Sea Germans from Russia. My second travel group was a small one made up of Tim Geiger, Carmen Gill and Lori Gill. We explored Buenos Aires, La Pampa and Mendoza during the visit.  I connected with Lutheran Germans from Russia in Buenos Aires and attended a lecture by Prof. Dr. René Krüger and learned more about how my Lutheran relatives lives in Argentina. (By the way, if you have not already registered for the 50th International Convention of AHSGR Our Golden Jubilee, you need to do so today.  My Argentine friends, Germán  Sack and Fabian Schlutheis, will be there).

Tim Geiger, Kevin Schultheis, Germán Sack, Fabian Schultheis, Anna Bartkowski, Lori Gill, Carmen Gill

We were welcomed to La Pampa by Elio Krank and Roxana Appelhanz, a couple who met at the Congreso I attended during the first visit!  We also saw the Gareis house in La Pampa, and created more connections along the way.  

Elio Krank, Roxana Appelhanz, Carmen Gill, Tim Geiger, Lori Gill, Anna Bartkowski

My most recent trip was the closest direct connection to my family.  After a 115 year separation, the descendants of Nikolaus Herrmann were re-united in Germany. Herrmann, an original settler of Mariental, was from Stadtbredimus near Remich in present day Luxembourg. 

When my grandmother left Mariental in 1913, she knew she would not see her parents again.  Her siblings?  Well, she wrote letters to her sister, Klara, but a reunion never occurred. I researched the family but did not discover that the Herrmann line survived World War II, Siberia, and all of their moves since 1941.

Not until my cousin Wladimir Herrman contacted me, did I realize the extent of their survival.  And, the Herrmanns welcomed me and my sister and brother-in-law with open arms, their hospitality, warmth and home-cooked meals went well beyond any reunion I could have imagined.

I could go on and go on, but I would like to make two key points which are further evidence that travel has its own unique rewards. 

First, Wladimir was the ultimate host, driving us to our ancestral villages as we looked for more clues about our ancestors. 

There is nothing to compare with the feeling than standing with your cousin at the church tower in Stadtbredimus where your ancestors attended services and were married so many, many years ago. 

Second, in addition to the new family connections, you never know what you will find, including a gold mine of new family information.  In my case, Wladimir compiled everything he researched into a book written in German and Russian, with every bit of historical evidence of our family.  The pictures, the people and the information are irreplaceable.  

While the books and pictures are invaluable, the memories of meeting  my family, safe in Germany, is priceless.  Isn't it time you considered making travel a part of your family research?