Obtaining Ancestral Records

Seeking Ancestral Records?

Procuring records of your ancestors, their villages or other info is a goal for most German Russians interested in or actively searching for family history.

But how does one get these records or information?

First, depending on your experience and knowledge of various contacts, purchasing records can be extremely expensive.  Some record sellers will sell only a name or a single sheet of records, while others will sell an entire set of records.  Be sure you know exactly what you are purchasing.

Depending on the size of the file or records and from whom they are purchased will determine the cost to you or your group.  A sample of costs is as follows:

• A larger record or file consisting of 300-500 pages will cost $3,000-$5000
• A small record consisting of 100 or fewer pages will cost $400-$700

Additionally, costs may vary if a translator must be paid.  Working with our committee we will attempt to find volunteer translators, but this is not always possible. It is best to plan on having some funds for translation.

AHSGR publishing group does have a small group of translators, mainly for German, but a few Russian translators are also available. The costs associated with translations range from a per line charge, a per page or the entire project cost.  The larger the record the more costly the translation.

So how do you obtain records with the assistance of AHSGR publishing committee?

First, contact the committee BEFORE contacting any agent in Russia, Germany or elsewhere. Working through the small publishing group we will be able to get you the best price for records and help you identify a possible translator.  If funds have been donated for your specific village, we will purchase through AHSGR with the current funds available for that village.  If no funds are currently available you must have a plan to pay for purchasing records and if necessary, paying for a translator.

All requests to the committee to purchase village records are placed in “first come first serve” priority.  Once your request is submitted to the committee, we will provide you or your group cost estimates including translation and to the best of our ability a possible timeline for completion of the translated records.

Interested in obtaining records?  Contact the small publishing group at AHSGR by sending your request to Kevin Rupp and Dodie Rotherham via email below.

Email Kevin Rupp

Email Dodie Rotherham