Assuming you write materials and you’d like to get protection and/or keep some credit for your work, here are a few thoughts. (Note: do not confuse this Blog posting with any manner of legal advice.) Firstly, you ought to decide if you really want your materials to be shared and/or protected.  No matter what you do, remember that anything placed on the web is subject to being copied and reused. Having said that, protection and ‘legal’ sharing of your materials really need not be an all or nothing proposition.  You can, if you are so inclined, offer your writings or other creative content to the world with varying degrees of…

Everyone claims an ethnicity. Me, too. So far as I  know, my sister and I form a rather distinct, maybe even a unique, ethnic group.  Yep, we are Prussian-Quebecois. We like to think of ourselves a being fairly unique and special.  After all our parents said we were special, and they wouldn’t lie. Would they? The really sad thing is it looks like our ethnic group is about to die out.  Today, we are both approaching 60 and in our youth we demonstrated immensely poor ethnic planning skills when it came to choosing our spouses.  Neither of us remained within our ethnic group! My sister chose an Irish-German guy; and…

As I have mentioned before, it never ceases to surprise me how much Winnie the Pooh knows about life, genealogy included. I searched and found the following quotes and they just seemed to be very insightful. I hope you find them so as well. “Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming down-stairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it.” — Winnie the Pooh “Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best…

It surprises me how much Winnie the Pooh knows about genealogy. I came across the following quotes and they just seemed to be very insightful. I hope you find them so as well. Before beginning a Hunt, it is wise to ask someone what you are looking for before you begin looking for it. Winnie the Pooh Pooh’s Little Instruction Book It’s always useful to know where a friend-and-relation is, whether you want him or whether you don’t. Winnie the Pooh Rabbit, Pooh’s Little Instruction Book A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference. Winnie the Pooh Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh Some people care too much,…

Unfortunately when people are expelled from areas, civility is not always, or perhaps even generally, the rule. Such was the case in Poland.  The Polish Communist government was eager to lay claim to its newly obtained German lands and expel all Germans not simply from the lands but also from memory and history. Over time however even this changes, as is noted in my earlier posting about the Zeyer Cemetery. However as the following story from Fred Rump relates, it was not always that way. “I actually found some cemeteries hidden in a forest and all overgrown out in the rural parts of East Prussia and there are some WW1…

Finding a lost family connection can be daunting, exhilarating and exasperating.  The human need for connection to family and community is strong.  And, the desire to find lost family members can become nearly all consuming. In order to succeed in this search, here are 5 pointers might be helpful (especially if you are new to genealogy). Find as many family member names are you can, even those that are a vague part of your personal or family recollection are useful. Identify places or place names.  It is best if they are ‘close’ to accurate but even inaccurate places names can provide guidance and pointers. Dates, creating a list of dates…