Stumpp Book Quirks Strike Again

 Ukraine  Comments Off on Stumpp Book Quirks Strike Again
Feb 052023
 
Stumpp Book Quirks Strike Again

You find the darndest things in the Stumpp book.[1] It’s a classic and almost beloved reference work for those researching their German ancestors who settled in the Russian Empire. It’s also infuriating for its gaps and sometimes just plain wrong information. And then other times, it’s…well…quirky. Lists of Odessa City Germans When Glueckstal researcher Tom […Read more]

Pandemic Perspective

 Ukraine  Comments Off on Pandemic Perspective
Apr 012020
 
Pandemic Perspective

I’m an explorer. Whether it’s traveling to explore ancestral towns, traveling to explore new places with friends and family, checking out new hiking trails in the mountains, or simply trying a new restaurant in my neighborhood, my life is all about being out and about. So being in lockdown for weeks, with no known end […Read more]

The C in DACA stands for children

 Dakotas  Comments Off on The C in DACA stands for children
Sep 062017
 
The C in DACA stands for children

My Grandma Lydia was just 4 years old when her parents brought her to the U.S., an immigrant from what was then the Russian empire. She was pretty lucky compared to today’s Dreamers. Laws about entry were a lot vaguer, no passports required. Germans from Russia were often sneered at as “Rooshians,” but she lived […Read more]

Nov 172015
 
Strudels for Dummies

I don’t usually post recipes, but since there was so much interest in yesterday’s post about my baking powder dilemma and so many people desperately searching for this recipe, so here goes. Now, I’m not calling you a dummy, but I certainly was when I first tried to make it. My mom didn’t really use recipes and […Read more]

Oct 102014
 
Travels to Ukraine: Then and Now

My constant bubbling-over-with-excitement descriptions of my upcoming trip to Ukraine may be trying the patience of my friends and work colleagues. What a contrast to my first trip in 2001, when I wasn’t even really interested in traveling to this country. I loved the history and genealogy of my German ancestors who had been born […Read more]

Oct 072014
 
Who Am I?

As I’ve become obsessed with the news from Ukraine, first the Maidan revolution and now Russia’s invasion, I’ve found I can turn almost any conversation with any group of people into a discussion about Ukraine and its politics. And so I’m often asked, “Are you Ukrainian?” The correct answer would seem to be no. No, […Read more]

Mar 062012
 
...and a Night in Teplitz

The hospitality was bounteous, if not terribly personalized. A short visit with the mayor and his wife, then they handed us over to the guesthouse where we’d be staying that night. As with every Ukrainian meal, plates of food covered every square inch of the table’s surface. But the guesthouse owner hovered over us like […Read more]

A Day in Benkendorf…

 Ancestral towns, Ukraine  Comments Off on A Day in Benkendorf…
Mar 032012
 
A Day in Benkendorf...

The stout, kerchiefed woman took one look at the Americans appearing in her village and whisked herself away from the group gathering around our van. It couldn’t be something we’d said, because we hadn’t said a word. At least, not one she would have understood. The four of us stood by as Serge our interpreter […Read more]

Apr 172010
 
Karmanova aka Neudorf, Glueckstal

My Schott ancestors left the town of Osthofen, Germany, about 1809, heading east toward a better life in Russia. I don’t know why they left this pleasant town in a wine-growing area near the Rhine River, accepting Tsar Alexander’s invitation to German settlers. Great-great-great-grandfather Philipp Jakob Schott was a tailor, so it wouldn’t seem likely a hunger […Read more]