Treffen Tuesday
2023-01-31 08:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
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 put in jail. And did this mean we were Russians? Worse yet, Grandpa confessed, to escape, he and Grandma had left a child behind. That didn’t match anything I knew about these two beloved grandparents.
Years later, when I came home from my first year of college, my dad asked me to investigate and record his in-laws’ story, knowing it needed to be preserved for our family history. For the next forty years, I wrote and rewrote, gaining further knowledge through advances in technology and access to information, waiting for the right time to publish the unbelievable story of two German Mennonites from the Crimea. I would learn how everything came down to one critical winter in Moscow 1929 when the rest of the world was falling apart economically.
The presentation will include visuals (photos and documents), stories, and readings from the book.
Biography:
ANN MARIE STEWART is the Christy Award® winning author of Stars in the Grass, followed up by IPPY award winning Out of the Water, and an October 2022 release of All is Calm, All is Bright. The next book, the narrative non-fiction REMNANTS shares her grandparents’ escape from Russia in 1929.
Ann also authored Preparing My Heart for Advent, Preparing My Heart for Easter, and Preparing My Heart for Motherhood and writes the column “Ann’s Lovin’ Ewe” for The Country Register. Ann combines her experience in education, musical theatre, and film and television to dramatize her writing.

Treffen Tuesday
2023-02-28 17:30 - 18:30
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 be addressed, so they went to work. What they found was an enormous wealth of information and a lack of information about the people buried there. Initially the investigation uncovered 4 visible head stones and a memorial stone that had been erected in 1998 to take the place of all the missing grave markers. Many birth and death dates were missing, one birth date off by 30 years and much, much more.
Biographies:
Howard Foote
Howard grew up on a farm near the small town of Bessie, Oklahoma, a settlement of Germans from Russia from Ukraine. He was originally taught to speak German but as soon as he started Sunday school all classes were in English, and he completely forgot all his German except for a memorized short prayer.
Living in a Mennonite community he heard the low German Plautdietsch and decided to take German in college. He graduated with a degree in Mathematics and a minor in German from Tabor College. He became involved with the Central Oklahoma Chapter in 2006 and served as president of the chapter from 2013 – 2015. He is an avid researcher and is involved with the Facebook group of Mennonite Genealogy and History.
Ladonna Hunt
Ladonna was born and raised on a farm southwest of Corn, Oklahoma, a Mennonite Brethren community of Germans from Russia. Although born into a GR family she knew very little of her heritage except she learned that her grandfather had immigrated from Russia, the Ukraine area, when he was 2 years old.
LaDonna spent summers in the wheat field helping her father and after the harvest worked the land on a tractor preparing for the next harvest. She graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and became a schoolteacher.
She learned more about her heritage when she began working with Howard Foote, her second cousin. Her interest was piqued when she located the 100-year-old cemetery and learned so much more about her GR heritage – a heritage she loves to share with her family.
In the course of events, she also learned that her mother’s parents had come from Russia too, from the Frank area, and that her parents and her brother were members of the Central Oklahoma AHSGR.

Treffen Tuesday
2023-03-28 17:30 - 18:00
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 from Shorty’s 1940 prison admission form, Brenda L. Smith has discovered his journey across North America to his life on the trap line on the northeastern slopes of the Rockie Mountains.

Biography:
Brenda L. Smith is a Canadian historian and consultant with comprehensive in journalism, cultural trusteeship, and community development. She presents programs that teach family history research methodology. Brenda’s interest in historical research stems, in part, from her German grandparents’ origins in the Volga, and accounts of survival crossing North America, and achieving a new home in northeast British Cumbia. This spring Brenda will co-present Unlock Your Family Story: Writing and Publishing zyou Family History for Island Mountain Arts in Wells, BC.

Treffen Tuesday
2023-04-25 08:00 - 17:00
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 2022 Treffen Tuesday presentation will recall the story of the deportation and how Lena learned of her heritage. This is a continuation of that family history.
Attached below is a page from her graphic novel which depicts German speaking people leaving Russia for North-and South America. Lena’s family stayed behind in the Soviet Union and the graphic novel is their story.
Biography:
Lena Wolf was born in Latvia and grew up in Kazakhstan and later in Germany. Her parents are Germans from the Russian Empire.
Her grandparents along with her parents, who were very young, were deported from German-speaking villages in Ukraine to Kazakhstan in 1941. They were put into special settlements and had to live there until December 1955, 10 years after the end of WWII. They had no rights and were not allowed to leave the special settlements. Leaving their settlement resulted in severe punishment, up to execution.
Escaping the special settlement is exactly what Lena’s grandma Josephine did. Josephine wanted to go back to her village in Ukraine. She took her young son Adam with her, Lena’s father. They were arrested and Josephine was sentenced to 20 years of hard labor in the Gulag, Vorkuta, located 150 km north of the artic circle. Lena’s father was sent to a Ukrainian orphanage.
This is just one of the stories that made Lena want to write the graphic novel about the Germans from Russia, people who stayed behind in the Soviet Union. She wants the world to know what happened to our people.

Treffen Tuesday
2023-05-30 17:30 - 18:30
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 Russians during the two world wars and Cold War period, and its overcoming of occasional adversity in the new homelands. It also considers the group’s global success story in many fields of endeavor. It concludes about the ways in which the group has reached an inflection point, “coming full circle” at this time in its development, and reflects on where German from Russia descendants find themselves today.
Biography:
Eric J. Schmaltz earned a Ph.D. in History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2002. Since 2005, he has taught Modern European, American, and World History at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva and in 2019 began serving as Departmental Chair of Social Sciences. In 2014, he received the John Barton Distinguished Teaching and Service Award at his university and has been nominated for it on four other occasions. His research concentrates on Modern Germany and Modern Russia with an emphasis on ethnic and nationality issues, as well as German migration topics.
Over the past three decades, he has contributed a variety of articles and translations to AHSGR, GRHS, and the North Dakota State University Libraries in Fargo and has given frequent public talks both at home and abroad. His other articles and reviews have appeared in local newspapers, magazines, interdisciplinary journals, and major international edited volumes. From 2010 to 2020, he served as editor of the GRHS Heritage Review quarterly. Since 2008, he has served on the AHSGR Journal’s editorial board as well. He is also co-founder and co-director of the endowed Northwestern Oklahoma State University Institute for Citizenship Studies and since 2021 is the Donovan L. Reichenberger Endowed Chair in History.

Treffen Tuesday
2023-06-27 17:30 - 18:30
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 Colonies of their ancestors in Russia. Although they planned to expand the tours to Siberia, the current situation in Russia made it impossible to do so.
People continued to ask about future travel and the Volga German Tour group decided to take interested people to their ancestral homes, their German origin homes, in Germany. In 2022-2023 forty-four people visit their villages of origin in Germany.
Although Mila and her group thought that the tours would be very different from the tours to Russia, they were in for a surprise. What they found was that the trips to villages in Russia and Germany were more similar than expected.
Join us on June 27, at 2:30 pm as Dr. Mila Koretnikov shares the similarities and differences they found doing numerous tours to both Russia and Germany.
Biography:
Dr. Mila Koretnikov is a lecturer and coordinator of the Technical English program at the University of Applied Sciences in Karlsruhe, Germany, and a lecturer in intercultural communication at the Cooperative University of Baden-Wuerttemberg in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Dr. Koretnikov grew up in Saratov, Russia in a Volga-German family and holds degrees from Saratov State University. She did her post-doc study at the University of Wyoming and taught summer courses for K-12 teachers at Otero Junior College, La Junta, Colorado.
Mila Koretnikov has been doing research in Russian archives for more than 20 years helping hundreds of individuals from the USA, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, and Canada find information on their ancestors. In 2016-2019 together with Dr. Brent Mai she led tours to Volga-German ancestral villages in Russia and starting with 2022 – to Volga-German ancestral villages in Germany.
She has lived in Germany since 2006.

Treffen Tuesday
2023-08-29 08:00 - 17:00
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 regarding the current war crisis.
Photos and videos from her colleagues in Ukraine will be shown.
She also worked with a group of Ukrainian war refugees in Chicago recently and will share regarding that experience.
Biography:
Recognized internationally as an educator, theorist, author, and psychotherapist, Marilyn was a pioneer in the treatment of trauma, abuse and deprivation, and their correlation with addictions. She began creating and teaching her Murray Method theory and treatment modalities starting in 1983. She has taught her method for universities in the US and internationally with students from 40 countries.
From 2002 to 2018, she lived and worked nearly half-time in Russia where she presented her method to over 4,000 health professionals and clergy in the former USSR. She also has been a guest professor at major Russian universities including Moscow State University. There are Murray Method International Centers in Russia, Ukraine, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Her paternal grandparents were born in small villages near Saratov and immigrated to America. Unfortunately, their families who remained in Russia suffered greatly under the Stalinist terror and repression. Marilyn has visited her family villages numerous times and has a special love for this country. She also has cousins in Siberia and other parts of Russia.
She has been a life member of AHSGR since 1998 and has shared her knowledge of Russia at several AHSGR conventions.
www.murraymethod.com

Treffen Tuesday
2023-09-26 17:30 - 18:30
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 “Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland”.
Biography:
Hans-Christian Petersen is a research associate at the Federal Institute for Culture and History of the Germans in Eastern Europe and a lecturer at the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg (Germany). Together with Victor Dönninghaus (Lüneburg) and Jannis Panagiotidis (Vienna), he edited the volume Jenseits der ‘Volksgruppe’. Neue Perspektiven auf die Russlanddeutschen zwischen Russland, Deutschland und Amerika (De Gruyter, 2018). He is working on a critical biography of Karl Stumpp, the “patriarch” of the Russian Germans, and his völkisch legacy. Together with Jannis Panagiotidis (RECET ViennaI he is currently writing a monograph on the history and present of racism against East Europeans which will be published in 2024. Together with Aleksandra Lewicki (University of Sussex) they are also running a project on the discrimination of East Europeans on the German labor market.

Treffen Tuesday
2023-10-24 17:30 - 18:30
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 you misleading, unproven and false information. How do you sort out the good information from the bad? What is unique about Germans from Russia research that results in so little accurate data online?
In this presentation we will talk about how to assess the accuracy of the genealogy data you find online. We will discuss what records the big web sites have and more importantly what records they don’t have. We will talk about the reliability of different types of sources and how to steer clear of unproven data. The goal of this presentation is to give you the information you need to confidently use these web sites and accurately document your family history.
Biography:
Maggie Hein is a volunteer AHSGR Village Coordinator for the Volga German village of Frank. She is one of the administrators of the Volga Germans web site (www.volgagermans.org). Maggie’s genealogy research focuses on Germans who migrated to Russia in 1766 to settle in the lower Volga River region. She has used German church records to document hundreds of the German families who settled in Volga German Villages between 1763 and 1773, identifying previously unknown origin locations for many families. When she isn’t doing genealogy research, she is a tax accountant and co-owner of a CPA firm in the Chicago suburbs.

Treffen Tuesday
2024-03-26 17:30 - 19:00
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 and concise explanation for the consequences of difficult and painful experiences. The Murray Method enables wholeness beyond trauma, abuse, neglect, and addiction.
Since its inception in 1981, the Murray Method has been widely taught and employed internationally, especially in the former USSR. During this time, the main therapeutic emphasis dealt with moving beyond childhood trauma and also addressing present day issues such as relationship problems, addictions, financial difficulties and so forth.
However, with the arrival of the war in Ukraine, the Murray Method now has been effectively utilized by psychologists, therapists, and clergy (who were previously trained in the method) who now are working with war trauma victims. They are using the Murray Method in individual and group sessions held in person, and in online sessions with refugees throughout Ukraine and Europe. Murray Method videos in Ukrainian are also now available with a wide audience.
In response to the great need for more intensive therapy, the Murray Method War Trauma Rehabilitation Center was established in early 2023 and is located in a large, 4-story house on acreage in a suburb of Poltava, Ukraine. A two-week inpatient, intensive therapy program is provided here twice monthly at no cost for 25 war survivors. Approximately 700 women and men have received this special gift thus far.
A high percentage of Ukrainians suffer from PTSD. Almost everyone is grieving the loss of a family member and/or a close friend as a result of the war. Many have lost their homes and their possessions. It is a huge national tragedy, and the results will remain for generations. The Murray Method is helping reduce the long-term effects of this trauma.
The method also is being applied with survivors of the present war in Israel as well as persons impacted by recent school shootings in the States. (More detailed information regarding the Murray Method is available on the website: www.murraymethod.com )
MARILYN (Reh) MURRAY
Recognized internationally as an educator, theorist, author, and psychotherapist, Marilyn was a pioneer in the treatment of trauma, abuse and deprivation, and their correlation with addictions. She began creating and teaching her Murray Method theory and treatment modalities starting in 1983 including the widely used Trauma Egg and Circles of Intimacy. She has taught her method for universities in the US and internationally with students from 40 countries.
From 2002 to 2018, she lived and worked nearly half-time in Russia where she presented her method to over 4,000 health professionals and clergy in the former USSR. She also has been a guest professor at major Russian universities including Moscow State University. There are Murray Method International Centers in Russia, Ukraine, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Her paternal grandparents were born in small villages near Saratov and immigrated to America. Unfortunately, their families who remained in Russia suffered greatly under the Stalinist terror and repression. Marilyn has visited her family villages numerous times and has a special love for this country. She also has cousins in Siberia and other parts of Russia.
She has been a life member of AHSGR since 1998 and has shared her knowledge of Russia at several AHSGR conventions.
Register Here

Treffen Tuesday
2024-04-30 17:30 - 18:30
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 [Red] wheat on his farm in Kansas. The second was Carl C. Young (Jung)’s, travel “to Russian Turkestan to negotiate the first importation, to his Texas ranch, of Karakul sheep.”
This presentation will provide an overview of Carl Young’s amazing and unusual career. Dr. Charles Christian Young, a Bessarabian German from Neu-Elft imported the first Karakul sheep into the United States and established the breed in North America. His remarkable life story starts with his birth as Karl Jung in Bessarabia, his immigration to the U.S., his training as a medical doctor, his personal friendship with President Theodore Roosevelt, and his return to Russia, where the Tsar’s government assisted his procurement of Karakul sheep from local tribesmen in Central Asia. As a naturalized American citizen, Young traveled widely in Russia, wrote a book describing his travels, and lectured on the Chautauqua Circuit, including a lecture at Carnegie Hall in New York. Selections from his passport application files, articles written by Young in historic newspapers, and documents provided by the Young family will be used to illustrate this story of accomplishment and adventure, which is still largely unknown to the Germans from Russia community.
Allyn Brosz –Bio
Allyn Brosz is a South Dakota native with German-Russian ancestry in Bessarabia and the Glückstal colonies of the Tsarist Empire. He grew up on the farm homesteaded by his great grandfather, Adam Brosz. Allyn holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science, public administration, and public policy, and studied in Germany on a Fulbright grant. He retired from a civilian position at the U.S. Department of Defense in 2021. Allyn is a life member of AHSGR, the Germans from Russia Heritage Society (GRHS), and the Palatines to America Society, and serves on the steering committee of the Glueckstal Colonies Research Association and the GRHS editorial board. He has served on the AHSGR Board of Directors and has represented Germans from Russia societies on the U.S. National Archives committee for Russian American Genealogical Archival Research (RAGAS). He has published research articles and delivered presentations at GRHS and AHSGR conventions over the past 40 years.

Register on Zoom Here!

Treffen Tuesday
2024-05-28 17:30 - 18:30
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 Lutheran Church in Fargo.
His work has taken him from the high plains of the upper Midwest to the mountain villages of Madagascar, from the verdant lands of southern Brazil to the exquisite beaches of Puerto Rico, from the chilly climes of North Dakota to the Mediterranean climate of Southern California. Wherever he has gone, he has listened to stories, told stories, and written stories.
About the presentation:
His presentation is based on his book Struck Down but not Destroyed: The Story of Rudolf Heupel, a German-Russian Immigrant. It is the story of Ron’s maternal grandfather, a man who not only survived but thrived amid difficult times. It is an imaginative reconstruction of Rudolph’s life, based on historical research, his written documents, Ron’s encounters, and family memories. It is a story of how one man struggled to live out his faith in his home, community, and congregation.

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Treffen Tuesday
2024-06-25 09:30 - 10:30
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 of nine children to Pius and Anna Schell,
he has lived through the famine of the 1930s, the 1941 deportation of the Volga
Germans, and the consequent persecution and limitation of rights for all Soviet citizens
of German descent. After twenty-five years in western Siberia, he relocated his family to
his Volga German homeland in 1966 and lived in Frank, Russia until his emigration to
Germany at age 71 in the late 1990s. Despite the challenges, he never lost his humor
and positive attitude towards life.
In this presentation, Adam will talk about various topics related to his family’s history –
and their connection to America – and cultural aspects of German-Russian life, such as
typical foods, tradition of nicknames (Beinamen) given to families, and more.
During the meeting, he will be supported by his granddaughter Tanja Schell, who will
assist with translation for Adam and his audience. Dr. Tatjana “Tanja” Schell is a Lifetime
AHSGR member and has presented on various topics related to the history and culture
of the Volga Germans in Russia on numerous occasions, both at the AHSGR Annual
Convention and also to different chapters. She has also contributed to sharing the
history of her family in the following publications by the AHSGR Journal:
“Maria’s Story.” Journal of the AHSGR. Volume 29.4 (2006): 21-25.
“Celebrating Christmas 2006 in Frank, Russia.” Journal of the AHSGR. Volume 30.4
(2007): 16-18.
“Easter in Siberia.” By Katrin Schell, Journal of the AHSGR. Volume 36.4. (2013)
Register Here

Treffen Tuesday
2024-07-30 09:30 - 10:30 | Zoom
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Treffen Tuesday
2024-08-27 17:30 - 19:00
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 about the efforts to digitize our Archival Collection and how you can access them online. She will also talk about the process of donating items to AHSGR and how you can help preserve German Russian heritage for generations.
About the Speaker
Karen Keehr joined the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia in June 2022 with over 22 years of experience in the Archives field. She has specialized training in digital imaging and photograph preservation. One of her goals at AHSGR is to increase access to our unique German Russian collections through digital access and improved archival processing.
Originally from Minnesota, Karen has enjoyed studying and preserving Nebraska history for nearly 25 years. She did her undergraduate work at Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota and received her master’s degree in public history from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM in 2009. Karen was the Curator of Research at Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer in Grand Island, NE for nine years where she worked on two books of photographs, Grand Island and Hall County and Grand Island: the Julius Leschinsky Photographs. In June 2009, Karen became the Curator of Photographs and Head of Digital Imaging at the Nebraska State Historical Society (now known as History Nebraska). She has also proudly served on the Nebraska Museums Association board since 2000.
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Treffen Tuesday
2024-09-24 18:30 - 20:00
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 changed the spelling of the word “beautiful” from Yiddish (sheyn) to German (schön). This anecdote opens the door to examine the similarities, beyond language, which laid the foundation for the good relationships between the Germans and the Jews, living near Odessa at the turn of the 20th Century.
With an ample sprinkling of heartwarming stories from within and outside of Still (NDSU Press 2019), the book I co-wrote with my dad Kenneth Bender, we will explore the commonalities between these two immigrant groups. As their lives intertwined again in America, a beautiful harmony developed. Their intersecting history, as well as their individual histories, should be preserved.
About the Speaker
Rebecca E. Bender and her father Kenneth M. Bender are coauthors of Still, a biography/memoir of five generations of their Jewish family and their communities. Still is the 2019 Independent Press Award Winner (Judaism category) and the 2020 Midwest Book Award Gold Medal Winner (Religion/Philosophy category). Rebecca’s prose and poetry have appeared in The Journal of The American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, North Dakota Quarterly, The Jewish Veteran, the Forward, Australia’s Jewish Women of Words, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Northwest Blade, and Paper Brigade Daily (Jewish Book Council).
She has spoken about her family of North Dakota Jewish homesteading farmers at events sponsored by The Minnesota Historical Society, the North Dakota Historical Society, the South Dakota Historical Society, St. John’s University, the Upper Midwest Jewish Historical Society, the Homestead National Historical Park, and the Germans from Russia Heritage Society, among others. Copies of Still’s second printing (in paperback) are available through NDSUPress.org, library.ndsu.edu/grhc, Amazon.com, or can be ordered through any bookstore.
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Treffen Tuesday
2024-10-29 17:30 - 19:00
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 region started the village in Kazakhstan and wondered if my own relatives were involved.
A few years later a paper was published in the AHSGR journal by Araylym Mussagalieva and Roza Mussabekova, two scholars from the Eurasian National University who study German Russians in Kazakhstan. I contacted Araylym and suggested that if she ever went to Karamyshevka she might look for the name Bruch or Brug, my relatives. She responded, “I’m there now,” and sent me the names of half-a-dozen Bruchs from a 1920 census.
On a visit to Kazakhstan this past September two Kazakh friends offered to take me to Karamyshevka, Kazakhstan. I expected a simple visit. Then Araylym and Roza offered to come with us. Finally, a news crew from Kabar.tv, the national television network of Kazakhstan, thought it would make a good story and offered to come as well. I set off for Karamyshevka in a news van with my friends, two experts on German Russians in Kazakhstan, and a news reporter and videographer. My Treffen Tuesday presentation recalls this adventure.
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Treffen Tuesday
2025-01-28 17:00 - 18:30
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 key analytical concepts, beginning with understanding initial test results and then progressing to more intermediate and advanced DNA Match research skills. A short summary of the characteristics of the four major testing companies will be discussed to assist in the understanding of the company or companies’ resources that may best fit the tester.
Research techniques that are important in understanding DNA Match Analysis and the importance of matching segment detail used in a Chromosome Browser will be explored in detail. Examples of using Chromosome Mapping to help with match analysis back to distant great grandparents (3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.) will be illustrated.
The session will conclude with Case Study examples for distant match analysis through the Volga Colony and back into German Villages of Origin.
About the Speaker
Herb Femling has been doing family history research and German genealogy since the 1980s. As Volga German records started becoming more available in the 1990s he began extending his research into the German Villages of Origin. His German Parish Register research extends from the Northeastern to Central and Southern German Jurisdictions.
He has incorporated a strong interest in genetic genealogy over the last 10 years and has been actively utilizing advanced DNA analysis to break through brick walls where records are sparse. Recent presentations have been on DNA research incorporating database analysis. Presentations over the last 25 years to multiple organizations and groups in the Pacific Northwest have covered a variety of German research topics. He is a life member of AHSGR and other organizations.
Herb grew up on a farm in Vancouver, Washington which he still operates with his brother. The farm has been active in the family for over a century. His over thirty-year business career involved stints in several industries and spanned multiple functional areas across the entities.

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Treffen Tuesday
2025-02-25 17:00 - 18:30
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 and research will be explored.
A few case study examples incorporating German Origins matching and movements across multiple colonies and distant US connections will be reviewed. Discussion of matching opportunities resulting from the increasing number of connections that can be found with distant Volga Cousins returning from Russian Jurisdictions to Germany. And finally, some Success Stories across multiple services.
If time permits, a few examples that provide clues to the proverbial question that often comes up “How related are we?”
About the Speaker
Herb Femling has been doing family history research and German genealogy since the 1980s. As Volga German records started becoming more available in the 1990s he began extending his research into the German Villages of Origin. His German Parish Register research extends from the Northeastern to Central and Southern German Jurisdictions.
He has incorporated a strong interest in genetic genealogy over the last 10 years and has been actively utilizing advanced DNA analysis to break through brick walls where records are sparse. Recent presentations have been on DNA research incorporating database analysis. Presentations over the last 25 years to multiple organizations and groups in the Pacific Northwest have covered a variety of German research topics. He is a life member of AHSGR and other organizations.
Herb grew up on a farm in Vancouver, Washington which he still operates with his brother. The farm has been active in the family for over a century. His over thirty-year business career involved stints in several industries and spanned multiple functional areas across the entities.
Register here
After registering you should get a confirmation email from Zoom. Please contact us for assistance if you do not receive an email.

Treffen Tuesday
2025-03-25 17:30 - 18:30
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 flows and destinations that have characterized these last three decades in the post-Soviet space and also beyond it, from the return to their origins of several ethnic minorities (Germans, Greeks, Koreans,…) to the labor migrations that are today the daily routine of countries such as Moldova or Tajikistan – not forgetting the refugee flows that have unfortunately characterized the recent history of the region…
About the Speaker
António Eduardo Mendonça is a Portuguese senior anthropologist, researcher in the area of Post-Soviet Migrations at the IGOT-UL (Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning of the University of Lisbon); he also taught at Universities in Portugal and in Turkiye. He was the coordinator of the Organizing Committee of the International Conference Geopolitics, Migrations and Identities in Central Eurasia (Lisbon, January 2025). His current research project deals with Central Asian migrants in Portugal and in Western European Countries.

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Treffen Tuesday
2025-04-29 17:30 - 19:00
What They Carried: Storytelling Through Objects
A prayer book. A gold cross. A pair of socks. A sewing basket. A scrap of paper. This session 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.
About the Speaker

Sandy Schilling Payne is a descendant of Black Sea Germans on both sides of her family, Lutherans from the Glückstal colonies and Catholics from the Kutschurgan colonies. Her interest in genealogy began in 1994, and she has since researched her German origins into the modern-day countries of Germany, France, Switzerland, Poland, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Canada, and the United States. She is a part of the Black Sea German Research group, the webmaster for the Glückstal Colonies Research Association, and the author of the Germans from Russia Settlement Locations project.
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Treffen Tuesday
2025-05-27 17:30 - 19:00
Hattie Plum Williams
Hattie Plum Williams is well-known in German from Russia circles for the private 1914 census of Volga German neighborhoods in Lincoln, Nebraska and the subsequently published A Social Study of the Russian German in 1916. Her book, The Czar’s Germans, was published posthumously in 1975. Come learn more about this forward-thinking woman and the stories behind her research.

About the Speaker

Sheri Rohn Ertl is a former teacher and a current member of the AHSGR Board. She is chair of the Folklore Committee and hosts the quarterly Book Club, where she tells the stories behind the story; facilitates Writers’ Group to support anyone wanting to tell their family’s stories; and develops the monthly recipe cards.

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Treffen Tuesday
2025-06-24 17:30 - 19:00
The Story of Ludwig Schaaf
Presented by Wayne Garman
“I was the oldest and had to take care of everyone” – The Story of Ludwig Schaaf

The thirty-five year period between the Russian Revolution in 1917 and post-World War II imposed unimaginable suffering and horrors upon our German relatives who lived in the Soviet Union. This presentation is centered on the life of Ludwig Schaaf, who was born in the Ukraine SSR in 1931. The Soviet Union was subject to the absolute rule of Joseph Stalin at the time and Schaaf experienced this most difficult time period. This presentation will tell two parallel stories. One will discuss some of the pivotal historical events that affected the ethnic Germans living in the USSR from 1930 to 1952. The other details the remarkable story of how the Schaaf family survived these calamities.

Historical events discussed will include:

Collectivization & Purge of the Kulaks
Ukraine Holodomor famine
Stalin’s Great Purges
Nazi invasion of USSR
Flight West with retreating German armies
Repatriations after World War II
Displaced Persons Immigration

Schaaf’s story illustrates how ethnic Germans in the USSR coped with these events. His biography, written by Jillian Fortin, provides the basis for this presentation.

About the speaker

Wayne Garman grew up on a mixed farm southeast of the town of Allan, Saskatchewan, Canada, a predominantly Germans from Russia town near Saskatoon in central Saskatchewan. Both of his parents were descendants of Germans from Russia. His father’s family came from the villages of Elsass and Strassburg of the Kutschurgan region northwest of Odessa. His mother’s family is Mennonite, and came from the Chortitza region, northeast of the Black Sea, from the village of Neu Chortitza. History has always been one of Wayne’s interests. Upon semi‐retirement, he completed a Masters of History degree from Texas State University. Historical research and writing are his retirement career.

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Treffen Tuesday
2025-07-29 17:30 - 19:00, 2025-08-26 17:30 - 19:00

Treffen Tuesday, August 26th
2025-08-26 17:30 - 18:30
The War in Crimea, 1854-1855

Presented by Merv Weiss

The War in Crimea in 1854-1855 changed Russia; it changed Europe; and those changes would eventually affect the Germans in Russia very directly. The main thrust of this presentation is to link the aftermath of the War in Crimea to the reforms in Russia during the 1860s and 1870s, which gradually removed the special favored colonist status of the German farmers and tradesmen of South Russia.

About the speaker

Mervin Weiss was born, grew up, and has lived all his life on the Canadian Prairies. He is 100 percent ethnic German. His four grandparents were Germans who were born in the old Russian Empire, but came to Canada during the Homestead era on the Canadian Prairies. Even though almost everyone around him was German during his youth, Merv gradually lost his “German-ness”. Twenty-five years ago he became interested in his personal genealogy, which rekindled the realization that he is 100 percent ethnic German. Genealogy has spawned his deep interest in the story of the Germans from Russia, and has led to numerous trips to Ukraine and to Germany. Merv has written several published articles and given many public presentations.

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Treffen Tuesday
2025-09-30 17:30 - 19:00
DNA: The Family Tree Inside Us – An Introduction to Genetic Genealogy
Presented by Diane Bates

DNA holds a personal “family tree” within us, carrying the genetic blueprint passed down through generations. By studying our DNA, we can uncover ancestral connections, identify distant relatives, and gain insights into our ethnic heritage. This beginner-friendly presentation introduces the basics of using DNA for genealogy, showing how genetic testing can enhance and expand traditional family history research. Participants will learn about the different types of DNA tests, the meaning of centimorgans, and how DNA results can strengthen and enrich family history research. The presentation will also touch on the most popular online testing services available today. The session offers clear, accessible guidance to help anyone take the first steps in using DNA to enrich their own genealogical journey.

About the Speaker

Diane Bates is a founding member of Waypoint Investigative Genetic Genealogy, an organization that provides research services ranging from traditional family tree building to investigative support for law enforcement cases. She holds an M.A. in School Psychology and a Ph.D. in Applied Developmental Psychology. Her career has spanned diverse fields, including outcomes consulting, institutional research, program evaluation, e-commerce entrepreneurship, and costuming. Diane also serves on the Board of Directors for the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia.

Her path into Investigative Genetic Genealogy began when she successfully used DNA to identify the biological parents of an adopted family member. A graduate of the Ramapo College Investigative Genetic Genealogy program, Diane is passionate about helping individuals use DNA to explore their family history as well as advancing Investigative Genetic Genealogy to support law enforcement in bringing closure and justice to families.
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Treffen Tuesday
2025-10-28 17:30 - 19:00
German (and French and Danish) Church Records Online
Documenting your ancestors before they immigrated to Russia
You probably know where your ancestors settled in Russia and when they arrived there. What about where they lived before they moved to Russia? Have you wondered how to access records in Europe to research your ancestors? Church parish records are the main source for documentation of the births, marriages, and deaths of our ancestors. Many European archives have digitized their collections and made the images available online. Some of these websites are even free to use. This presentation will cover European websites including Matricula Online, Archion, Rigsarkivet, and French Departmental Archives, and American websites FamilySearch and Ancestry. Topics covered will include how to access and navigate each website and what records you can expect to find.

About the speaker
Maggie Hein is one of the AHSGR Village Coordinators for the village of Frank. Her ongoing research project is to identify the German and French origin locations of settlers in Frank and Kolb, and to publish the origin locations of settlers in other Volga German colonies whenever she happens to find them. When she isn’t doing genealogy research, she is a tax accountant and co-owner of a CPA firm in the Chicago suburbs. Maggie writes a blog about Volga German genealogy, which you can find at https://www.volgagermans.org/blog
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Storytelling Contest Finalist Presentation
2025-11-25 17:00 - 18:30 | Zoom
Storytelling is an important oral and written tradition that ensures the continuation and enhancement of Germans from Russia history and heritage among future generations.
AHSGR invites members and non-members to participate in the Annual Storytelling Contest to capture the Germans from Russia experience through storytelling. Writers can participate by submitting fiction or nonfiction stories, and poetry that explores the history, heritage, folklore, food, and culture of the Germans from Russia. Winning stories and poems will be presented on November 25, 2025 at the Storytelling Contest Finalists Treffen Tuesday presentation via Zoom. See rules and details below for more information.
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Treffen Tuesday
2026-01-27 17:30 - 18:30
“The Gates of Europe – The History of Ukraine from a Germans from Russia Perspective”
Presented by Wayne Garman
Ukraine is rich in natural resources, especially for agriculture. Over the centuries, these resources, along with Ukraine’s location, have made it an invasion target of neighboring empires. Ukraine’s history is one of much tragedy, sorrow and hardships. Our German ancestors who lived there were significantly affected by Ukrainian history.
This presentation will cover the time period from the late 1700s expansion of the Russian Empire into the Ukraine Steppe, and how invitations to farmers to settle this newly conquered area brought our ancestors to Ukraine from Germany. I will discuss the development of the German colonies in Ukraine and how changes in Russian policies motivated immigration to the New World. I will also show how changes brought about by World War I upended the lives of Germans in Ukraine, resulting in 30 years of horrors and the eventual elimination of the German presence in Ukraine.

About the Speaker
Wayne Garman grew up on a mixed farm southeast of the town of Allan, Saskatchewan, Canada, a predominantly Germans from Russia town near Saskatoon in central Saskatchewan. His father’s family came from the Kutschurgan colonies of Elsass and Strassburg. His mother’s family is Mennonite and came from the Chortitza region, northeast of the Black Sea, from the village of Neu Chortitza in the Baratov Colony. History has always been an interest, and upon semi-retirement, he completed a Master’s of History degree from Texas State University. Historical research and writing are his retirement career. Wayne has presented at a number of AHSGR & GRHS conventions in the past few years and has written articles for the AHSGR Journal.
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