Presenter: Dr. Ann Braaten Ann Braaten is an associate professor in the Apparel, Retail Merchandising and Design program at North Dakota State University Emily Reynolds Historic Costume Collection at NDSU, an archive of over 5000 clothing and textile items that reflect the history of the region, the history of fashion and international dress.  The collection … Continued

Presenter: Dr. Tatjana Schell Born to a Volga German family, Katrin Schell, Tatjana's mother, spent her early childhood in the 1950s-1960s in the region of Omsk in western Siberia where her parents and their respective families had been brought to following the deportation from their native village of Seewald on the Volga River. Growing up … Continued

January – Ann Stewart, “REMNANTS: A Family’s Escape from Stalin’s Russia and the Child They Left Behind” Presentation: When I was in third grade, my grandfather told me he had been imprisoned. “Lubyanka,” he whispered as if I knew what that meant. “In Russia.” I was horrified, wondering what my grandfather had done to be … Continued

February – Howard Foote and LaDonna Hunt, “Chapters in Action: Restoration of an abandoned cemetery in Oklahoma” Presentation: In the fall of 2017, the Oklahoma chapter took on the restoration of the abandoned Mennonite Brethren Cemetery, a few miles north, of Eakly, OK. Their initial findings indicated that there were many issues that needed to … Continued

March – Brenda Smith, “An Uneasy Neighbor: Parsing a prison record to discover ‘Trapper Frank Weber’” Presentation: Franz "Shorty" Weber was a Polish German immigrant to the USA in 1902. By 1913 he had followed railway building to northern British Columbia where he tried farming before finding his solitary future as a fur trapper. Starting … Continued

April – Lena Wolf, “A graphic novel ‘May the Universe be Your Home!’ about the fate of German families in the Soviet Union” Presentation: In her presentation Lena will show the coloured pages from her upcoming graphic novel, which hopefully will be available by the end of 2023. Those of you fortunate to attend the … Continued

May – Dr. Eric J. Schmaltz, “Our Memories Build Our Future: Germans from Russia Still on the Move in the 21st Century” Presentation: This presentation is based on the banquet talk given at the 2022 AHSGR International Convention held in Lincoln, Nebraska.   It reflects on the group’s history, including “The Double Stigma” as Germans and … Continued

June – Dr. Mila Koretnikov, “Tracing Our Volga-German Heritage: A Comparative Look at Tours to Ancestral Village in Germany and Russia” Presentation: In 2016-2019 the Volga German Tour group – Dr. Mila Koretnikov, Sergey Koretnikov and Dr. Brent Mai, took approximately 250 people from the USA, Canada, and Argentina on tours to the Volga German … Continued

August – Marilyn Murray, “Ukraine and Russia – a Family at War updates” Presentation: Marilyn (Reh) Murray will share updates regarding the Ukraine/Russian war.  She has a Murray Method International Center in Ukraine and also one in Russia so is in constant contact with her colleagues/friends in both countries.  She will share their personal responses … Continued

September – Dr. Hans-Christian Petersen, “Dr. Karl Stumpp (1896-1962)” Presentation: Dr. Hans-Christian Peterson presents a special presentation about Dr. Karl Stumpp (1896-1962). Remembered posthumously as the “patriarch of the Germans from Russia,” Stumpp is perhaps the most influential person of transnational Russia German diaspora activism and belonged to the ‘grand old men’ of the German … Continued

October – Maggie Hein, “Is This Really My Ancestor?” Presentation: Are you using genealogy web sites to research your Germans from Russia ancestors?  Is your family tree online?  The big genealogy web sites (Ancestry, Family Search, My Heritage) can be wonderful tools for locating records and making connections to your ancestors.  They can also offer … Continued

The Murray Method Treffen Tuesday; March 26, 2024 Marilyn (Reh) Murray Marilyn will share a background history and an audio-visual explanation of the Murray Method. This method is described as an effective approach to becoming a Healthy Balanced Person - physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. It is a guideline for living and provides a clear … Continued

A German from Russia Dreams of Karakul Sheep:  C. C. Young and His Return to Russia Richard Sallet, in the foreword to his book, Russian-German Settlements in the United States, notes "two important advances which the American people owe to Russian-German initiative.” The first was Bernhard Warkentin's introduction of Turkey wheat on his farm in … Continued

Ron Baesler Struck Down but not Destroyed: The Story of Rudolf Heupel, a German-Russian Immigrant Ron Baesler is a farm boy, physicist, pastor, missionary, seminary professor, gardener, grandfather, father and husband. He was born and raised on a farm in New Leipzig, North Dakota. He graduated from UND and his first call was as pastor at Peace … Continued

For the June 2024 Tuesday Treffen meeting, you will have a unique opportunity to meet Adam Schell, a 96-year-old Volga German man born in the village of Seewald. His life experience has been shaped by the history of all Germans from Russia in the Soviet Union in the 20th century. Born as a fifth child … Continued

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Treasures from the AHSGR Archives AHSGR Archivist Karen Keehr shares some of the amazing, unique German Russian treasures housed in the AHSGR Archives and Museum Collections. From heart wrenching letters from Russia to beautiful old maps, enjoy a virtual tour behind the scenes at the AHSGR Heritage Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. Karen will also talk … Continued

Schön and Sheyn –The Beautiful Harmony Between German-Russian and Russian Jewish Homesteaders  In 1938, the Andrews Sisters’ Bei mir bist du schön (To Me You’re Beautiful) was a big radio hit. Though many believed it was a German song, it was a song written in Yiddish, a language spoken by Eastern European Jews. The record company … Continued

A Quest for Relatives in Kazakhstan Several years ago I discovered a village in northern Kazakhstan named Karamyshevka that was started in 1906 by Germans. Karamyshevka was also the Russian name of Bauer, the village in the Volga region that was home to my German Russian relatives. I suspected residents of Karamyshevka in the Volga … Continued

The January and February presentations will be a 2-part sequential exploration of DNA Match Analysis in combination with Volga German migration patterns.  The focus will be on Volga Colony DNA research, but the concepts are transferrable to all other areas of German genetic genealogical research. The January session will start with a brief overview of … Continued

Note: Due to personal genealogical data being shared, this presentation will not be recorded. A brief review of January DNA problem solving concepts will be followed by illustrations of the deep underlying connections between Volga German groups that are often hard to visualize. The value of incorporating Volga German migration patterns into DNA Match Analysis … Continued

Migrations and Mobilities in Post-Soviet Eurasia The collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a new political and economic map of Eurasia also brought new migration dynamics to the entire region, even allowing the conceptualization of a new global model - the Eurasian Migration System. In this presentation, we will talk about the … Continued