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!

Wurttemberg, Russia and Deifel

I was just reading in my book, Germanic Genealogy: A Guide to Worldwide Sources and Migration Patterns about the Germans in Russia. One thing that would be most interesting to me is to establish a link between some Deifels from the Volga region of Russia to the Deifels to which we are related in Germany. According to my aunt Diane's research, many of the ancestors of "our" Deifels are from the Wurttemburg region of Germany. What I just read is that many of the Germans who left Germany for the Volga region came from the WURTTEMBERG area! This is BIG news and something that I will investigate this spring or summer. I cannot recall, but for some reason I thought I saw that that there was a couple of Deifels in US immigration records, but their origin was in Russia. If that is the case, they may be related to us AND their descendants are in the US!!

Deifel: My mother's side of the family

A whole lot of genealogical research has already been completed by my aunt Diane, but my mother -who on occasion seems quite interested in the genealogy- asked that I create a page for her side of the family. So, here are the names for which she is most interested:

Deifel and Teufel
Stuerner
Gehrmann
Heizelmann
Entenmann

Contact me if you are doing research on these names and maybe we can establish a link and exchange information.