Map Update — Southwest Krai

Overdue on a few additions to the provinces of the former Southwest Krai, I decided to do some clean up at the same time. 

The Southwest Krai was a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until Poland was partitioned in the late 1700s. Today the former region crosses the Ukrainian oblasts of Cherkasy, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Rivne, Vinnytsia, Volyn, Zhytomyr with a small number in Odesa and Mykolaiv and in Transnistria, Moldova.

One update is returning to the historical spelling of “Kiev” for the ancestral province. That was the spelling then. The current is “Kyiv” and is used in the current name of the city and of the oblast in Ukraine. The content of this project is being presented as historical documentation to aid in the understanding of the history of German from Russia when they lived in Russia. This means using historical place names and spellings. 

The other update that accounts for so many colonies being touched this time is shortening the Ukrainian and Russian Wikipedia URLs. 

For details on what colonies have been added or updated, see the Change Log. The Sources have also been updated with the addition of the very interesting “Polish Tactical Map of Western Ukraine 1924-1939” from EtoMesto. I will need to spend more time with it when I have a moment. 

The following maps have been updated: 

Kiev Province

Podolia Province

Volhynia Province

Southwest Krai

Germans from Russia Settlement Locations (big map)

Map updates will be on hold for a couple of months as I get ready for convention season this summer. I will be presenting virtually at AHSGR and FEEFHS. 

More to come. 

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Last updated 21 April 2025

Treffen Tuesday: Storytelling Through Objects

I am presenting at the next Treffen Tuesday on April 29th.

This presentation will explore storytelling through the “eyes” of the treasured objects our Germans from Russia ancestors brought with them and left behind for their descendants. Part show-and-tell. Part how-to. Part what-if.

Treffen Tuesday is a free Zoom event hosted by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia the last Tuesday of every month. Register here to join in.

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Last updated 8 April 2025

AHSGR 2025 Convention

The American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR) has posted its 2025 convention program and registration link.

“Preserving Our Heritage” is the theme. Instead of concurrent speakers for each time slot to pick and choose from, attendees will attend panels of speakers on the subjects of Germany, Russia, or America, followed by a roundtable discussion among the attendees and speakers. 

I will be presenting as a part of the Russia panel. This will be my fourth time presenting at the AHSGR convention. 

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Last updated 2 April 2025

Mapping German Migrations to Siberia

Given that I have fielded several questions in the last few weeks about Germans in Siberia, particularly about those around Omsk and in Northern Kazakhstan, I thought I would share two maps that might help understand the path they took during those voluntary migrations.

I have written about railway maps before, including a timeline between 1835 and 1904, when the Trans-Siberian line was completed. This particular line facilitated migration or resettlement east by Germans when land in Western Siberia was opened. The Trans-Sib stretched from Moscow to Vladivostok, connecting European Russia to the Russian Far East. Moscow, being a rail hub, connected to western Russia, again making it easy for migration. The Trans-Sib reached Omsk, part of the Akmola province at the time, in the late 1890s. It was around Omsk that heavy settlement occurred. 

This map section shows the stops on the “Great Siberian Railway” c. 1903. 
Source: Library of Congress
Podrobnai︠a︡ karta Velikago Sibirskago zheli︠e︡zno-dorozhnago puti ot Varshavy do Vladivostoka, Khabarobska i Port-Artura : s oboznachenīem vsi︠e︡kh stant︠s︡īĭ, razstoi︠a︡nīi︠a︡ mezhdu nimi i okrestnosteĭ do 200 verst : sostavleno po ofit︠s︡ialʹnym dannym. 
[Detailed map of the Great Siberian Railway from Warsaw to Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and Port Arthur: with designation of all stations, distances between them and their surroundings up to 200 miles: compiled according to official data]

This map shows the same are with pins on the known German settlements in the area. Omsk in under the pile of pins circled in red.  

The Great Siberian Railway above map from 1903 is extremely long and narrow map. It includes railway lines from Warsaw to Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and Port Arthur in the Russian Far East. It includes the area surrounding the rail lines up to 200 miles, so it is kind of interesting to see what cropped up along the railway. Like in the U.S. and Canada, being alongside or close to a railway stop meant being able to move goods and people easily. 

Railway lines continued to expand through WWII, so it is important to use a period map when trying to trace the probable route of an ancestor’s migration in the late 1800s into the early 1900s. You may have to use multiple maps, especially if your ancestors were migrating from South Russia to Siberia. Those in the Volga region simply had to find their way to Samara to catch the train to Omsk. You can find several maps in the collection Maps: Russian Railroads (1867-1950) that you may find helpful. 

The map below was recently added to the Russian Railroads map collection. It details the railway and other communication routes of Asiatic Russia and was published in 1901. It is particularly useful for Volga Germans as the northwest corner (far upper left) contains the cities of Saratov and Samara and also Astrakhan on the Caspian Sea. 

Karta puteĭ soobshchenīi︠a︡ Azīatskoĭ Rossīi 
[Map of Communications Routes of Asian Russia]
Source: Library of Congress

This map has a lot of information on it. It includes railway lines open to traffic, junctions (stops), distances between stops, postal roads, major trade roads, telegraph lines, passenger steamship routes, locks, canals, ports, mountains, swamps and sand. Below are the map keys with translations.

Railways

Waterways

Roads and Borders

If you have something specific that you are looking with regards to railway migrations, feel free to contact me. 

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Related Posts and Sources:

1. Detailed map of the Great Siberian Railway from Warsaw to Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and Port Arthur: with designation of all stations, distances between them and their surroundings up to 200 miles: compiled according to official data [Podrobnai︠a︡ karta Velikago Sibirskago zheli︠e︡zno-dorozhnago puti ot Varshavy do Vladivostoka, Khabarobska i Port-Artura : s oboznachenīem vsi︠e︡kh stant︠s︡īĭ, razstoi︠a︡nīi︠a︡ mezhdu nimi i okrestnosteĭ do 200 verst : sostavleno po ofit︠s︡ialʹnym dannym]. Library of Congress
2. Farewell Forever Kleinliebental (posted 15 October 2023)
3. Map of Communications Routes of Asian Russia [Karta puteĭ soobshchenīi︠a︡ Azīatskoĭ Rossīi]. Library of Congress
4. Maps: Russian Railroads (1867-1950) (created 8 November 2019)
5. Russian Railroad Maps 1877-1912 (posted 14 March 2021)

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Last updated 5 March 2025

NARA Funding at Risk

Funding for the U.S. National Archive and Records Administration (NARA) is at risk. 

You have likely benefited from NARA if you have seen your ancestor’s passenger manifest, naturalization papers, homestead case file, military records, census records, and anything extracted from the Captured German Records collection from WWII (EWZ records, village files, the war documents on Odessa3, etc.). All of these records are housed at the National Archive. Some have been digitized and are part of collections outside of the government. Researchers in the U.S. have been extracting information about Germans from Russia from records at the National Archive since at least the 1960s. 

On March 14th, funding for NARA and the rest of the U.S. government through the current Continuing Resolution (CR) runs out. NARA is a thorn on the current administration’s side due to stolen documents by the former and now current president, and NARA, who is this nation’s record keeper, wanting them back. When they got some of the documents back but not all of them, they persisted. Since revenge is the point of the current administration (their words, not mine), it is reasonable to expect funding for NARA to be slashed and/or the department’s staff to be drastically reduced, illegally. 

However, I attended a webinar given by the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) this afternoon regarding how to effectively engage with legislators to support NARA funding and access at the very least at its current levels.

If you live in the U.S. and want to help advocate for the funding of our National Archive, the timing is crucial. Reach out to your congressional representatives today and let them know your thoughts. 

FundNARA.com is a website that will help walk you through how to find your representatives and senators, and how to contact them via phone or sending them a message through their websites. 

This is what I sent to my Congresscritters. I used some language from FundNARA and included something personal. I had to shorten my original message since once of my representatives only allowed a 2000 character message. Feel free to use this language or some variation of it. 

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As a genealogist, historian, and your constituent, I’m writing to remind you that all Americans deserve the opportunity to access, study and utilize the documents held by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

Congress must fund NARA at the current level. It provides core government functions necessary to preserve, protect, and make accessible records from all three branches of the federal government. 

People utilize NARA’s holdings daily to learn about their families’ experiences. My area of research are the Germans from Russia, the ethnic Germans who lived in Imperial and Soviet Russia. Many of these Germans immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1800s to early 1900s. They became U.S. citizens, registered for the draft during WWI, and went back to Europe and fought against their brothers; the records of their citizenship and their military service are in NARA. They were homesteaders who populated land that no other Americans wanted, and turned it into America’s breadbasket. NARA holds those homestead case files. When I lived near D.C., I made numerous trips to NARA to research my ancestors’ land claims. There is nothing like sitting in the research room and unfolding the documents containing the evidence of your immigrant ancestor’s hopes and dreams, seeing their declaration of intent to become a citizen, renouncing the Tsar of Russia, and tracing their signature from 1886 with your fingers. The connection to the past is palpable.

NARA has faced decades of near-stagnant funding, preventing the agency from keeping pace with the growth of archival holdings and the government’s transition to digital records. I’m calling on you to provide $427.3 million in funding for NARA to preserve America’s history and make records accessible now and into the future.

With all the intentional chaos of this administration, I know that genealogy seems unimportant in comparison to the life and liberty that is clearly at stake for so many people in our country. But these records cannot advocate for themselves, so I’m advocating for them. 

Sandy Schilling Payne

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Last updated 12 March 2025

FEEFHS 2025 Conference

The Foundation for East European Family History Studies (FEEFHS) has posted its 2025 conference program and early-bird registration links. 

From the FEEFHS News: “Join experts on genealogical research in Germany, Poland, Russia, and the countries of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire for a virtual conference on August 6-8, 2025! The conference will feature four concurrent classes during each time slot, and all attendees will have access to the recordings of all sessions through the end of the year. Additional topics will include DNA, Jewish research, Germans from Russia, and more.”

I will be presenting again this year, my third year at FEEFHS. 

The early-bird registration runs from March 02–July 06, 2025. If you register now, you will get an automatic RootsTech discount. The program lists 68 classes at this point. 

And finally not overlapping with any other conference this year and being 100% virtual, I am looking forward not only to presenting but also attending this virtual conference in whole this time. Hope you to see you there. 

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Last updated 11 March 2025

Russo-Ukrainian Frontline Updated

Yesterday, we passed the three-year mark of Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, an escalation of the of Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014. I have updated the frontline on the Black Sea Region and South Russia maps. It is there so that you can see where it is in the context of our past.

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Last updated 25 February 2025

Remembering the German Settlements in Ukraine 2025

Remembering the German settlements in Ukraine. Between 1766 and 1944, Germans lived in over 3,000 places within the borders of Ukraine today, in both urban and rural settlements, in the former imperial empires of Austria, Hungary and Russia. These places—whether they still exist or not, whether their names are the same or not—remain in the hearts of the descendants as one our ancestral homelands.

Slava Ukraini!
🇺🇦🌻

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Markosowka, Kuban, North Caucasus

1902 map of the Kuban Region with Markosowka marked and circled.

I finally found a map that has the colony name “Markosowka” on it. 

It is not exactly where Russian-German sources describe it to be, either. Those sources, which probably all stem from the work of Karl Stumpp, state there were two colonies, Gross-Markosowka and Klein-Markosowka. However, contemporary sources from 1906, 1909 and 1910 with lists of German colonies, and now a period map published in 1902 indicate there was only one colony called Markosowka. Even most family trees do not use Gross- or Klein- for their Markosowka ancestors’ entries. Stumpp and those who echoed him appear to be incorrect on this. 

Given this new evidence,  I have removed the estimated locations for Gross-Markosowka and Klein-Markosowka and added Markosowka to the map with cross referenced the names and a link to this post. 

While this post may only interest a few researchers with Bessarabian roots, the sources might be of interest to a wider audience. Feel free to skip the analysis below and go to the sources at the end. 

• • •

Every time someone asks me about Gross-Markosowka or Klein-Markosowka (est. 1870/71) in the North Caucasus region, I go off to look for any new maps that might have these two daughter colonies on them by name. You see, up to this point, the only map that had the names is Karl Stumpp’s “Karte der deutschen Siedlungen im Nord u. Südkaukasus” [Map of the German Settlements in the North and South Caucasus]. And it is not one of his better maps.

Section of the Karl Stumpp “Karte der deutschen Siedlungen im Nord u. Südkaukasus”
[Map of the German Settlements in the North and South Caucasus]

The two lines you can barely make out on the top to the left (west) of the railway line (the heavy black and white line going from Kropotkin to Armavir) is Gross-Markosowka. The two lines to the left (east) of the railway line below were Klein-Markosowka. The crosses in parenthesis (+) at the end means that they were no longer there by the time the map was published in 1960.

And below is what was written about these places from two published sources. There are some contradictions between them and the map above, but for the most part they are in sync.

From Немцы России Населенные Пункты И Места Поселения Энциклопедический Словарь [Germans of Russia Populations and Locations Encyclopedic Dictionary] (2006): 

GROSS-MARKOZOVKA [ГРОСС-МАРКОЗОВКА] (Markozovka), until 1917 – Kuban region, Labinsk (Zakubansky) department; in the soviet period – Krasnodar region, Gulkevichsky/Kropotkinsky district. Lutheran village on leased land, founded in 1871. Situated 40 km northwest of Armavir. Founders from the Eigenfeld [Bessarabia —SSP] village. Lutheran parish Pyatigorsk. Land 1,551 dessiatines. The heirs of the owner Markozov did not wish to sell the leased land, and in 1910 many residents left the village, buying land near the Kuma River. Residents: 536/529 German (1897), 150 (1925).

KLEIN-MARKOZOVKA [КЛЕЙН-МАРКОЗОВКА] (Markozovo), until 1917 – Kuban region, Labinsk (Zakubansky) department; in the Soviet period – Krasnodar region, Kropotkinsky/Armavir (Novo-Kubansky) district. Lutheran village on leased land, founded in 1871. Situated 25 km northwest of Armavir. Named after the landowner Markozov. Founders from the Eigenfeld [Bessarabia —SSP] community. Lutheran parish Pyatigorsk. Land 500 dessiatines. Pop.: 507/455 German (1897), 200 (1925).

From German-Russian Handbook: A Reference Book for Russian German and German Russian History and Culture with Place Name Listings of Former German Settlement Areas (2010):

Groß-Markosovka, Caucasus, Armavir, Krapotkin. #E 2. Founded by Bessarabian families on leased land in 1870. Evangelical; parish: Pyatigorsk. As Markosovs’ heirs did not want to sell the land, residents left in 1910 and bought land on the Kuma River. Acreage: 35 farms. Population: 150 in 1926. Ceased to exist after 1918. Also see Groß-Markosowka; Gross-Markosovka; Gross-Markosowka; Markosovka, Groß-; Markosowka, Groß-; Markosovka, Gross-; Markosowka, Gross-.

Klein-Markozovka, Caucasus, Armavir, Krapotkin. #E 2. Founded in 1870 on leased land by families from the Volga. Evangelical. Approximately 40 farms. Population: 200 in 1926. Ceased to exist after 1918. Also see Klein-Markosowka; Markosowka, Klein-; Markozovka, Klein-. 

A little side history and a connection to German-Russian Mennonites: Vasily Ivanovich Markozov (1838-1908) was a Russian infantry general in the Caucasian War (1817-64 and the Khiva campaign of 1873. The result of the former was the annexation of the North Caucasus into the Russian Empire, opening more migration land for the Germans in Russia. Makes sense that he would have estate lands in the North Caucasus. The latter was a military expedition of Russian troops with the goal of conquering the Khiva Khanate. The outcome was that Khiva became a protectorate of the Russian empire between 1873 and 1917, and it was during this time that two Mennonite colonies were established in Khiva in 1884 as a part of the Great Mennonite Trek to Central Asia. You can find the colonies on the Russian Turkestan map and read more about the area in a previous post.

Although they are listed as two colonies, family trees rarely distinguish between the two. Gross is used more than Klein when recording the place name, but most often there is no prefix at all, with just plain Markosowka used, like on this newly found map. Where the place names originated as they were added to the trees (family lore? parish records? someone else’s tree?) is undetermined in most cases with no sources listed to verify an origin. The few EWZ files for people from this colony also note just Markosowka, and those have birth dates back into the late 1800s, so not soviet era. 

At this point, I wondered just how many Markosowkas were there? Three: Markosowka, Gross-Markosowka, and Klein-Markosowka? Two: Gross-Markosowka (aka Markosowka) and Klein-Markosowka? Or was there one Markosowka, the one that appears on the map from 1902?

Searching my ever-growing digital collection of “stuff” on my laptop for every-which way to spell the name of the colony, I came up back with three important files: digital copies of the Neuer Haus- und Landwirtschaftskalender für deutsche Ansiedler im südlichen Russland, or the New Domestic and Agricultural Calendar for German Settlers in Southern Russia for the years 1906, 1909, and 1910. I think of these as the farmer’s almanac of South Russia. Markosowka showed up in these as a German colony in the Kuban region. Markosowka. Not Gross-Markosowka. Not Klein-Markosowka. Just Markosowka. These coupled with the map from 1902 confirmed that there was indeed just one.

Page 55, image 64 from Neuer Haus- und Landwirtschaftskalender für deutsche Ansiedler im südlichen Russland. 1906

The image above shows the name Markosowka in the Kuban-Gebiet. The names listed to the right of the colony name are a. the community elder (Phillipp Göhring), b. his assistant (David Flegel), and c. the municipal clerk (Johannes Bender). Population 600. Founded 1874. 1600 desyatina of land. 

Page 72, image 81 from Neuer Haus- und Landwirtschaftskalender für deutsche Ansiedler im südlichen Russland. 1906 

The image here shows the Evangelical Lutheran congregations in the Caucasus. Markosowka was a part of a branch of the Ekaterinodar-Novorossiysk parish. Johannes Bender was the German school teacher. It was a requirement to have a Russian school teacher at this time, but there wasn’t one assigned, nor were there any helpers. There were 132 students.

Markosowka was listed as a part of the Pyatigorsk parish in the German-Russian Handbook and other sources. FamilySearch has no records for Pyatigorsk and only Armenian Catholic records for Ekaterinodar (Krasnodar today).

The Black Sea German Research (BSGR) database contains names with birth places that contain the word Markosowka, Markosovka or Markozov and death places that contain the word Markosowka or Markosovka (none for Markozov). These fit the years of known habitation, roughly 1868-1910. 

The text extracts of GEDCOMs that used to be on the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia’s (AHSGR) website several years ago have references to Markosowka/Markosovka. Some may be duplicates of the BSGR data. 

Searching Ancestry.com for just the place name Markosowka or Markosovka came back with ship manifests, social security applications, obituaries from ASHGR and newspaper clippings from Newspapers.com. Most of them noted the place of birth or last residence as Markosowka. The surnames were all the same as those in the BSGR database. 

Below is a summary of the data that is/was publically available. It is far from a full analysis of Markosowaka, but it gives a general idea of the diaspora of this one daughter colony. 

Known Surnames — Babitzke, Beierle, Bender, Borth, Bossert, Diede, Fischer, Flagel, Flato [Flatho], Flegel, Gebhardt, Gehring, Göhring, Guenther, Haecker, Hartfelder, Hasert, Hein, Hirschkorn, Isaak, Janke, Klauss, Kleim, Knodel, Kroll, Kruse, Kurtz, Lang, Littau, Mann, Manske, Mittelstaedt, Mueller, Pahl, Patzer, Plischke, Pries, Rauser, Ruff, Scheffelmeier, Schelske, Schmidt, Schulz, Sommerfeld, Stern, Trautwein, Wagner, Werner, Widmer, Wittchen, and Wonnenberg.  

Known Places of Origin — Markosowka was a daughter colonies, so it was a place of migration from other colonies. Places of origin here include birthplaces for those who died in Markosowka.

Bessarabia: Borodino, Brienne, Eigenfeld, Gnadental, Josefsdorf, Katzbach, Klöstitz, Kulm, Leipzig, Lichtental, Tarutino, and Wittenberg. 

Saratov: Huck

Luisental was also listed in a database entry as “Luisental, Bessarabia,” but I do not know this place in Bessarabia. The only Luisental I am aware of is part of the Bergtal settlement near Mariupol.  

Known Places of Immigration/Migration/Repatriation/Deportation — These are final destinations from ship manifests, places lived and died from published obituaries, and death places (modern countries) for those who were born in Markosowka as they are noted in family trees from BSGR and AHSGR. 

          Argentina - no specific place noted

          Canada 
                Alberta: Medicine Hat

Caspian Sea - According to the notes in the tree, this person was accused of being a kulak in 1933 and sentence to 6 years in Pyatigorsk, where he was malnourished and released in 1937. He was then taken again, and with others “forced to walk plank into the Caspian Sea.”

           Germany
                Neuss
                Neustadt (Bavaria)
                Palatinate (Pfalz) region
                Schossin
                Schleswig
                Wittenburg

          Iran
                Duruk

          Kazakhstan
                Batpak Collective (?)
                Collective Farm (no specific place given)
                Frunze (not sure which one)
                Karaganda
                Pavlodar area
                Pokrovka
                Semipalatinsk
                Uljanovka (not sure which)

          Russia
                Chelyabinsk (labor camp)
                Dagestan - Chasavjurt, Machatschkala
                Krasnodar Krai - Gulkevichi 
                Omsk - Luzino (shot in the labor army)
                Stavropol - Marienbrunn, Mineralne Wodje
                Siberia - no specific place given                
                Sverdlovsk Oblast
                USSR labor camp - no specific place given

          United States
                California - East Palo Alto, Jackson, Lodi, Sacramento
                Idaho - Aberdeen, American Falls, Pocatello, Rupert
                Kansas - Galva, Hutchinson, Kingman, Moundridge, Pretty Prairie
                Missouri - Columbia, Knob Noster
                Nebraska - Naper, Plainview
                Oklahoma - Shattuck
                Oregon - Cottage Grove, Hillsboro
                Montana - Watkins
                North Dakota - Bismarck, Ellendale, Kulm, Jamestown, Monango, Mott, Wishek
                South Dakota - Dallas, Rapid City, Tripp, Winner
                Washington - Cashmere, Chelan, Spokane

            Uzbekistan 
                Tashkent

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Sources:

1. American Historical Society of Germans from Russia
2. Black Sea German Research
3. German-Russian Handbook: A Reference Book for Russian German and German Russian History and Culture with Place Name Listings of Former German Settlement Areas (2010)
4. Немцы России Населенные Пункты И Места Поселения Энциклопедический Словарь [Germans of Russia Populations and Locations Encyclopedic Dictionary] (2006)
5. Idaho, U.S., Obituary Collection, 1868-2013 via Ancestry.com
6. “Karte der deutschen Siedlungen im Nord u. Südkaukasus” [Map of the German Settlements in the North and South Caucasus], Karl Stumpp, 1960. 
7. “Карта Кубанской области...” [Map of the Kuban region and the adjacent Black Sea province and part of the Sukhumi district. Compiled by the active member of the Kuban regional statistical committee N.S. Ivanenkov, assistant to the manager of the Kuban regional drawing office. The map was drawn from November 10, 1900 to August 20, 1902. Scale 1:420000 (1 cm = 4.2 km or 10 versts per inch)], Ivanenkov, 1902. EtoMesto. 
8. Markosowka, Kuban photo album (images from this post)
9. Neuer Haus- und Landwirtschaftskalender für deutsche Ansiedler im südlichen Russland. 1906 [New Domestic and Agricultural Calendar for German Settlers in Southern Russia, 1906]
10. Neuer Haus- und Landwirtschaftskalender für deutsche Ansiedler im südlichen Russland. 1909 [New Domestic and Agricultural Calendar for German Settlers in Southern Russia, 1909]
11. Neuer Haus- und Landwirtschaftskalender für deutsche Ansiedler im südlichen Russland. 1910 [New Domestic and Agricultural Calendar for German Settlers in Southern Russia, 1910]
12. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 via Ancestry.com
13. Texas, U.S., Arriving and Departing Passenger and Crew Lists, 1893-1963 via Ancestry.com
14. U.S., American Historical Society of Germans from Russia Obituaries, 1899-2012 via Ancestry.com
15. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 via Ancestry.com

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Last updated 20 February 2025

The Gulf of My Patience

Today Google changed the name on Google Maps, but they made the change across the board to comply with a U.S. presidential executive order, not just for those viewing it from the U.S. as they indicated they would.
Way to obey in advance, Google. 
*sigh*

You know...in the before fore time...when maps were on paper and sometimes there were responsible, clear-minded if not still power-hungry adults in charge of countries...at this mythical time, there was no instant gratification/pacification when it came to changing place names to make one’s empire look bigger. It took a time to survey the land, to record the data, to update it, to draw it, to get it published, and to get it out to whomever needed it, be it to get in good with royalty, or to navigate to the neighbor country and invade it. 

The fact is, no one really even noticed in the latter part of the before fore time, like 30+ years ago, not that long ago. If you were old enough to drive then, you probably did not notice changes on paper maps because you were probably not buying a new atlas or maps that often, or even looking at maps at all. You might get atlas if you were going somewhere new, or driving across country and wanted to be prepared. With advent and maturation of online maps on the internet, particularly through the 2000s, this has all changed.

In Scientific American on January 28th, Innisfree McKinnon, Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, explains how place names on maps are decided and how this is an outlier. McKinnon writes: “The gulf is not within the territorial U.S. On the coast, the first 12 miles from shore are considered part of that country, but outside of that is international waters. The Board of Geographic Names could change the name to Gulf of America on official U.S. maps, but there is no international board in charge of place names. Each country decides what to call places. And there is no official way for the U.S. to make other countries change the name” other than asking other countries to do so or possibly imposing sanctions.

Cartographers have long used maps to gain favor and strengthen relations between kingdoms and empires. I suppose this is along the same lines. but it is no less disappointing. In Imperial Russia, maps and atlases from the time of Peter the Great were issued as a form of flattery to the emperor and empresses reigning at the time. Maybe maps were kind of an Hallmark greeting card. AI generated image below by Gemini. The map image is pretty bad, but you get the sentiment.

Dear Russia, 

Another part of the Ottoman Empire! How many is it now? Before long you’ll have a whole baseball team! Here is a map of your new empire. Look how big it is! We hope you’ll be very happy.  

Love, France 

Even Gemini could not generate an image for what happened today, so let’s just imagine the note inside the greeting card: 

Dear President of the USA,

Congratulations on your conquest in name only of a body of water that you still do not own. We took our last bit liberty and changed the name for everyone who uses our maps and will claim we cannot change it just for your subjects. Hence, everyone is now your subject! Here is a map of your new empire. Look how big it is! We hope you’ll be very happy.  

Love, Google

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Giving Ground for a House Called Tomorrow

With all the chaos going on in the world, my own country now included, genealogy has simply felt unimportant in the past few months. 

I document the past in the present, the places where our German ancestors lived in the Russian Empire, where they both struggled and flourished, where they left on their own when they could, if they could. 

This is my thing. This is what I do. I admit it may be the smallest and least noticeable part of genealogy, but I still do it. 

In part, this project is to keep the ancestral names of our villages alive and attached to current place names and GPS coordinates, even if nothing remains. To give ground to the stories we tell about our ancestors and to be able to say “This is where my ancestor’s house was,” even if it no longer stands. “These are the fields that they farmed,” even if the fields have long been left fallow or are destroyed by recent war. “This is where their church was, where they were baptized, confirmed and married,” even if all that is left are desecrated ruins. “This is where the cemetery was and where they are buried,” even if all that remains are the lilacs planted long ago, which still bloom every spring. 

I will continue to do what I do even though I cannot help but hear the echoes of the past, history not repeating exactly but rhyming, and certainly giving me pause. 

This poem arrived in my email this morning, and it was just what I needed. It is by Alberto Ríos, the first Poet Laureate for the state of Arizona, where I live now. For those who read this in languages other than English, I hope it translates well.

A House Called Tomorrow

You are not fifteen, or twelve, or seventeen—
You are a hundred wild centuries

And fifteen, bringing with you
In every breath and in every step

Everyone who has come before you,
All the yous that you have been,

The mothers of your mother,
The fathers of your father.

If someone in your family tree was trouble,
A hundred were not:

The bad do not win—not finally,
No matter how loud they are.

We simply would not be here
If that were so.

You are made, fundamentally, from the good.
With this knowledge, you never march alone.

You are the breaking news of the century.
You are the good who has come forward

Through it all, even if so many days
Feel otherwise. But think:

When you as a child learned to speak,
It’s not that you didn’t know words—

It’s that, from the centuries, you knew so many,
And it’s hard to choose the words that will be your own.

From those centuries we human beings bring with us
The simple solutions and songs,

The river bridges and star charts and song harmonies
All in service to a simple idea:

That we can make a house called tomorrow.
What we bring, finally, into the new day, every day,

Is ourselves. And that’s all we need
To start. That’s everything we require to keep going.

Look back only for as long as you must,
Then go forward into the history you will make.

Be good, then better. Write books. Cure disease.
Make us proud. Make yourself proud.

And those who came before you? When you hear thunder,
Hear it as their applause.


Copyright © 2018 by Alberto Ríos.
Source:  Poets.org

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Last updated 11 March 2025

MyHeritage Suspends Service in Russia

MyHeritage users from Russia will no longer be able to use the service as of 1 February 2025 when the company suspends service to the entire country. 

Per Russian law, MyHeritage must delete accounts and data, including DNA tests. This means if you have any DNA matches with those Russian MyHeritage users, you will no longer be able to see or research your matches. 

Ground News, an aggregator of news stories from multiple sources, has a number of articles about it, including some from Russian media outlets. Researcher Vera Miller outlines in her blog, Find Lost Russian & Ukrainian Family, steps to take between now and then. 

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Last updated 11 March 2025

Map Update — De-Russification of Ukrainian Place Names

A cup of tea, three mandarins, a few leftover Christmas cookies, and whole bunch of map updates this afternoon. All of relate to the former German colonies in Ukraine today. Here’s the rundown:

1. De-Russified place name changes
2. Fürstenland Colony update
3. A few new places
4. Odessa to Odesa update for current place names
5. Russo-Ukrainian War frontline
6. Father William C. Sherman Photograph Collection (NDSU GRHC) 

In total, 933 places were updated. If you want to see the full list, search the map for 20250110 (this is the last update date) to see the full list. The Sources page has also been updated. 

Place Name Changes
The primary reason for the update was the toponym or place name changes that went into effect in Ukraine on 19 September 2024. Numerous place and district name changes were proposed to de-colonize or de-Russsify names that were still in place from the Soviet Russian era that no longer reflected Ukraine’s present or future, or did not comply with Ukrainian language standards. Among these changes were some of the former German colonies. Some of the original names of the German colonies were replaced, while other German names returned with their Ukrainian spellings. The old names have been moved to the “Other Names and Spellings” field for each colony.

If interested, you can view the list in English or Ukrainian on Wikipedia. The English version does not have links to village pages. The Ukrainian version does, including coordinates, which I used to verify I had the right places. 

Within the modern oblasts or regions listed below are listed the German ancestral place name (colony name with the enclave or former province) followed by the current place name and oblast. In some instances, the old name is still on Google Maps along with the new one. 

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast  

1. Nowo-Moskowa (Ekaterinoslav), now Samar, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine 

Donetsk Oblast

1. Elisabethdorf (Mariupol enclave), now Nova Karakuba.
   
2. Grüntal (Mariupol enclave), now Hrintal. Ukrainian spelling of the German colony name was restored. 

Kharkiv Oblast

1. Kostyantynohrad (Poltava), now Berestyn.

Kherson Oblast

1. Dornburg (Taurida), now Dornburg. Original German name restored.
2. Eigental & Schöntal (Kronau enclave), now Olzhyne. 
3. Judendorf (Jewish Agricultural enclave), now Stiike.
   
4. Neu-Landau (Kronau enclave), now Nezlamne.

Odesa Oblast 

1. Alt-Posttal (Bessarabia), now Yaroslavove.
2. Bairamtscha (Bessarabia), now Bairamcha. Original name restored.
3. Beresina (Bessarabia), now Soborne.
4. Borodino (Bessarabia), now Budzhak. 
5. Milliardowka (Kutschurgan enclave), now Miliardivka
6. Neu-Paris (Bessarabia), now Novyi Paryzh. Original name restored. 
7. Neu-Tarutino (Bessarabia), now Novodolynske. 
8. Stern (Kutschurgan), now Svitanok
9. Tarutino (Bessarabia), now Bessarabske.
10. Wittenberg (Bessarabia), now Prykordonne. 
11. In March 2024, Hoffnungsfeld (Bessarabia) in Odesa was to be renamed Champagne. However, the French Embassy objected to this—France is very protective of this particular name—and the decision was reversed. It still stands as Nadezhdivka.  

Rivne Oblast

1. Moskowschtschizna (Volhynia), now Shchaslyve.

Volyn Oblast

1. Podgorodno (Volhynia), now Pidhorodnie. 

Zaporizhia Oblast

1. Rosenfeld (Ekaterinoslav), now Adrianivka.   
2. Petershagen (Molotschna), now Petershahen. German name restored. 
3. Kleinwerder (Mariupol), now Malyi Verder. Ukrainian spelling of the original German name.  

Zhytomyr Oblast

1. Krassnaja Rechka Kolonie (Volhynia), now Hranitne.

Few New Places

As I find or am told about new places, I try to update the maps manually. But sometimes they pile up. This was a small pile from some indexing I have been doing of deportation locations. The indexing will no doubt bring more places to light, and I will write about it more as things progress. I also just got a list of khutors to look for that came from church records in the Beresan enclave around Christina. Those should be ready for next month’s update. 

Fürstenland Colony Update

The Mennonite Fürstenland Colony locations have been updated. Thanks to Brent Wiebe over at Trails of the Past for that update. 

Odessa to Odesa

The spelling of Odesa oblast has been updated for current place names. This was long overdue. 

Russo-Ukrainian War Frontline
Updates have been made to those former colonies that are in Russian-occupied territory at this point in the Russo-Ukrainian war. I’ve been updating the notes of each colony since early in the war. To the Black Sea Region and South Russia maps, I have added a frontline so that you can see where it is in the context of our past. I cannot update this daily as some sites do, but I will updated it monthly if anything changes. 

Father William C. Sherman Photograph Collection (NDSU GRHC) 

Digital Horizons has digitized color slides of a few Ukrainian villages from what appears to be late 1995. These are a part of the Father William C. Sherman Photograph Collection from North Dakota State University’s Germans from Russia Heritage Collection. You may be familiar with the 1970s Germans from Russia homesteads Father Sherman photographed in North Dakota. 

As more of the German villages in Ukraine get scanned and added to Digital Horizons, I will add links under each village in the Sources and Further Reading. These were taken right after Ukraine’s independence and certainly have historical value as perhaps the first snapshot in time after the fall of the U.S.S.R.

Search the map for “Father William C. Sherman” to get a list of places with these photos, or skip the map and view the collection on Digital Horizons. There are links for each place back to the map. 

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Related Posts:

1. Map Refresh: A Living Document (posted 6 January 2018)
2. Map Refresh: Place Name Changes in Ukraine (posted 26 January 2018)

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Last updated 12 March 2025