TWO New WWII-Related Databases

Last week I wrote about a "hidden" database on Ancestry along with tips to search it, since it didn't have a typical Ancestry search page.  Well, it turns out that it wasn't hidden, it just wasn't ready for release, but Vera discovered it too soon!  And there are actually two new databases, and Vera and I only wrote about one of them.

So what are these databases and what could you find?

My Grandparents Coming to America!

New WWII Database--And A Cousin Who Survived!

Last week, Vera Miller posted about a new database, "Europe, Registration of Foreigners and German Persecutees, 1939-1947" which is on Ancestry but not easily searchable.  (Vera often posts about data sets to trace family from Ukraine and Russia; if you're not already following her blog, you should!).  Despite Ancestry setting up this data set in a way that doesn't allow you to search that database directly, I figured out a creative query workaround; I'll detail that below.  But first, here's one thing I found on a relative of mine to give you an idea of the kinds of discoveries you could make:

Lasar Rutner Survived!

Duplicate Birth Records - Different Names, Different Information, Same Person

Eastern Europe has had multiple border changes, including in the 20th century.  And that can impact how records on your ancestors were recorded.  It can also mean that vital records you find aren't original and could have information that differs from that on the original.

When my Rutner family was first recorded living in what's now Kolodne, Ukraine, they weren't anywhere near an international border.  They were in the middle of Hungary, in the province/megye of Máramaros.  But then World War I happened, and Kolodne ended up in the newly-created Czechoslovakia, right on the border with Romania.  Close cousins who used to just live a few villages away now lived in another country.  One branch of the Rutners lived in what was had been Pálosremete, Hungary, but which became (and still is) Remeţi, Romania.

I had some vital records from Remeţi, which I always thought were a bit odd.  Although they were recording births from the late 1800s & early 1900s, when the town was solidly part of Hungary, they were recorded in Romanian.  One such birth record registered the birth of an Iloni Ruttner, a second cousin four times removed, and I added Iloni to my tree.

Birth Record of Iloni Rutner, Remeţi, 1902

IAJGS 2019 - Four Talks and a SIG Meeting

We're three weeks out from IAJGS2019, which will be held in Cleveland this year (quite a difference from last year in Warsaw!)  I'll be pretty busy while there, presenting four separate times plus leading a SIG meeting.  And if you're trying to figure out how to find your family in the numerous Russian Empire records that are coming online or how to use DNA to find your family, hopefully I'll see you at one of my talks!  Here are some of the details of my presentations:

Presenting at OGS a Few Years Ago

Connecting the Farkas Line, Maybe

I recently wrote about how a DNA connection to my cousin John's mother helped us to find the connection--but that the large shared segments on the X chromosome implied that there had to be another connection.  Well, I have a new theory that might trace my Farkas line further back.  But it's still very much a theory.

Ita Farkas, Death Record, 1914

Concentration Camp Death Certificates

Did you know that in the 1950s, death certificates were issued for many (not all, by any means) of those who were killed in concentration camps?  I have found several for my relatives.  And many are searchable.

Death Certificate for Salamon Fuchs; Buchenwald; 1945

When Theories Are Wrong

Sometimes naming patterns can suggest a relationship, and you can theorize how someone is connected into your family.  But sometimes those assumptions are wrong.

More than two years ago, I wrote about Ukraine's Books of Sorrow, in which various districts of Ukraine attempted to list those killed during World War II.  (If you didn't read that post and you have relatives from what is now Ukraine, it's worth checking out the post.)  In that post, I mentioned that there was a Smil-Mozesh Ruttner (born August 14, 1928) from the town of Tyachiv who was listed as having been killed in the war.  Since my great-great grandfather Shmuel Moshe Rutner had died in nearby Kolodne in the previous month, I theorized that this Smil-Mozesh was the child of one of my great grandmother's brothers--possibly one who I hadn't yet discovered.