That's it.

Until and unless other resources become available, whether electronic or from interested individuals, my research will be ending. There are some people who have professed an interest in this topic, but they have not maintained and shared their research and/or communication. I do want to be clear that some of their information was very helpful! I've chased every lead that appeared and was financially reasonable to pursue. If I had unlimited funds, I'd hire people to do a whole lot more research and translate documents for me. I'd cajole people with my last name in Latvia and Germany to take a DNA test to see if they are related.

I have had some success. I've found, confirmed and established some relationships with people as a result of my research. I've accessed archives and found out some interesting and some very sad things about relatives. Most of my (male) ancestors in Latvia were skilled artisans (tradesmen) such as millers, smiths, or merchants. I have at least one mayor of a medium sized city as well as another who was a city council member. I had one relative who was a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union and actually survived long enough to be released, while I had another who was sent to a Nazi concentration camp and perished. I have another relative who was forced into military service for the Nazis and did not survive, but there is no record that I've found and survives about him, his service or his death. I have a ancestor who was a medical doctor and died in Russia. I (very likely) have a relative who was Stalin's maid/housekeeper, but sadly, "disappeared", according to Stalin's daughter, during one of his purges. I've learned that there is no evidence that even hints at the distant Swedish heritage that my grandmother suggested nor of any royal line or linkage to a "Polish Baron" that my grandfather had suggested. Again, while the men in my paternal ancestral line were skilled as far back as my research goes (until the early 1800s), there was never any indication of royalty. While I have been quite pleased with the knowledge I've gained from the research, I'm also filled with envy of people who are fortunate enough to be able to research their family heritage in a bunch of easily accessible records that go back centuries!

I've learned that most people don't really give a shit about genealogy. Oh, and I'm a distant relative of a local weatherman. :-)

Some of my unresolved questions:

1. Why was Kurschinsky changed to Truschinsky and why was it not merely by one person, but also for adult (close) relatives?
2. In what role did my grandfather serve while under Nazi occupation in Latvia?
3. Where was Alma Gunther born and to whom? Do adoption records still exist?
4. What is the maiden name of Heinrich Wigert's wife, Anna?
5. Which "Trusinskis" who are in Latvia are related to me?
   
6. Where is the link between the Odessa Deifels and my Deifels from Wurtemburg?
7. Is there any relationship between "von Truschinsky" and "Truschinsky"?
8. From where did August Till come when he moved to northern Latvia in the early 1800s?
9. Are there any Trusinskys in Russia?
10. Is the "Truschinski" found in a google book search related in some way?
11. To what extent do internal passports and emigration records exist/survive in Latvia?
    

If anyone wants to share information, feel free to contact me here or on facebook. If you're researching your family history, good luck and have fun!

Going to examine records tomorrow

I am going to the Oakdale LDS to examine some records that had arrived. They involve the Truschinskys and possible Tills -the two families of greatest interest to me on my father's side. One record is for deaths from 1918-1920 and may have my great granduncle's death record. The particular reason I say "may" is because the notes I have from my father say that he may have died from "Sibia on train" -whatever that means. The "big" insight or information that I seek from this record -besides the date and cause of death for Alexander Friedrich Eduard Truschinsky- is his birth location. I need more information to better track down that line of the family tree.

The other records, I believe, are all for marriages from Jakobs Kirche from 1912-1938. I expect some surprises in those records.

I am done with school for the summer after this Friday. I will get a chance next week to peruse the records at my leisure. Also, I will have to order some more records before I leave for Europe. Something I will order soon will be records from the German Embassy in Riga (pre-WWII). They have passport applications and if so many individuals fled Latvia for Germany in the years prior to WWII, they may have been required to demonstrate German heritage and also to get a passport. That elusive link may be very important for finding a living "Till" in German to whom we are related. There is no information indicating a migration or any Truschinskys from Latvia other than my grandfather one of his sisters, Leontine, who went to Australia. The challenge for that family will be in establishing a link backwards to the time in which they migrated TO Latvia from Prussia or Germany.

Trusinskis

I know I had promised more information, but I have been working on fixing a computer for many hours over the recent days. (I still haven't been told those records I am waiting for from the LDS have arrived yet...)

Anyway, I do have some good news from today. Someone did a google search for "Trusinskis" and found this site! I am hoping that they know and/or are related to a Trusinskis in Latvia. The search did originate in Latvia, so maybe I will be lucky.

If you are that person, post a message on how to contact you!