When: Friday, June 7, 2024 from 12:30 to 2:30 pm PDT

Zoom Registration required: https://tinyurl.com/3748pjb9    

Topic:  Is this the End? Taking Your German Brick Walls Down Piece by Piece 
What do you need to look for once you have reached your brick wall? What is available and how do you find it? Leam how to think like a German and understand how to assess the needs of your German research to get the most out of it, from both sides of the ocean. You will understand how a typical German lived and made decisions. A case study will show you step by step how to overcome a typical brick wall.

Presenter:   Luana M. Darby, AG®

Luana M. Darby, AG® is a professional genealogist, author, and consultant. She has a bachelor’s degree in Family History and Genealogy from Brigham Young University and a master’s in library and information science from San Jose State University. Luana has been actively involved in the genealogical field for over thirty-five years. She specializes in Palatine German, US Canadian, and Western European research and forensic genealogical research for probate firms. She frequently travels to Europe for genealogical research onsite in archives and repositories and is a frequent lecturer at local and national conferences and institutes. Luana has served as past president and director of the Utah Genealogical Association, on the Association of Professional Genealogists board, and as a director of the Genealogical Speakers Guild. 
She is currently a board member of ICAPGen and the Utah State Society of DAR as state registrar. She also served as the chair for the NGS 2020 Virtual Family History conference and is a past online adjunct faculty member of the Family History department at BYU-Idaho. Luana M. Darby is accredited for research in the United States Midwest region.

More information: Visitors are always welcome. Our website is https://egsgermangroup.wordpress.com/   

The German Interest Group

of The Eastside GenealogicalSociety (EGS)meeting

When: Friday, May 3, 2024 from 12:30 to 2:30 pm PDT

Zoom Registration required: https://tinyurl.com/mrwca3bd

(This presentation will not be recorded.)

Topic:  National-Socialism – “Euthanasia” and family research
During the Nazi era, people were transferred from hospitals and homes for the disabled to various institutions in the German Reich and in the annexed territories and murdered there. This took place in 2 phases.
Based on the speaker’s own relative, it is possible to follow his path in today’s Poland and the Pomeranian institutions until he was murdered in Meseritz (today Międzyrzecz) in Brandenburg. There will be an overview of the history surrounding the forced sterilization of mentally ill and disabled people and their murder (“euthanasia”).

Presenter:   Inga Guttzeit

Inga Guttzeit, is a Citizen Scientist and Genealogist residing in Lübeck, Germany. She has been doing genealogical research for more than 20 years. She is a volunteer on several projects such as “Transkribus for Hanse-Documents” where she is helping to train the Transkribus AI Software platform, building the “Hanse-Recess Model” enabling better transcriptions of handwritten and printed documents of the Hanseatic League. Inga is a member of the “Working group for research into Nazi-“euthanasia” and forced sterilization” ( www.ak-ns-euthanasie.de ) which was founded in 1983 and she is a member of the group “Researching Lübeck 20th Century”. She has spoken several times in person and online about genealogy and Euthanasia. In June 2023, she began working on a remembrance book (Gedenkbuch) for victims of National Socialist-“Euthanasia” who were born in, deported from, or lived in Lübeck. Inga’s areas of research are Silesia, East Prussia, Thuringia (South), Schleswig-Holstein (near Kiel) and the Salzburg Protestant Expulsion. 

More information: Visitors are always welcome. Our website is https://egsgermangroup.wordpress.com/

When: Friday, April 5, 2024 from 12:30 to 2:30 pm PDT

Zoom Registration required:  http://tinyurl.com/mrz2hzw3

Topic: “Germanic Genealogy on Facebook: Prussia, Austro-Hungary, Russia, Denmark, Swiss & more!”   

This Facebook group was established to provide a forum for those that had ancestors from ANY region where German was, or is, spoken to include Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, etc… and all the areas where those Germanic people emigrated to around the world.  The group is entirely a volunteer-based group, although we have many professional genealogists that are members and donate their time as they are able.

We cover a variety of topics in the group:

·         Genealogy/Family Tree Building

·         Geography of the regions

·         History of the regions including immigration/emigration

·         Cultures/Traditions from the regions

·         Record searching and sources

·         Languages of the regions & translations of records, postcards, letters – mostly German, but also Polish, Russian, Danish, Latin

·         DNA Matching via GEDmatch Ancestor Projects

Presenter:  Laura Kaatz

Laura Kaatz is a semi-retired international business development exec and an avid hobby genealogist who started on genealogy in 1990.  She has traveled extensively throughout Europe for business & pleasure (including genealogy-focused trips) and has a special interest in the former Prussian provinces now in Poland where her husband’s ancestry is from – including Brandenburg, Pommern, Posen & West Prussia.  She and her partners (Native Germans & Americans) who are admins for the Facebook group belong to many other Germanic Facebook groups, but they felt there was a need to cover multiple geographies due to migration of Germanic people and unknown “German” locations for those doing genealogical research.

More information: Visitors are always welcome. Our website is https://egsgermangroup.wordpress.com/    

The German Interest Group

of The Eastside Genealogical Society (EGS)meeting

When: Friday, February 2, 2024 from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm PT

Note: This meeting begins 2 hours earlier than normal.

Zoom Registration required: https://tinyurl.com/2kt7v52h

Topic: “Practical Advice for Family Research in Pomerania – tips and tricks to find what you are looking for –“

Learn how to find where your ancestors lived, which records have survived and where to find them both in archives and online.

This seminar will cover the tools provided via the website of the Pommerscher Greif and how they will lead you to sources in various archives and demonstrate what and where to find on the internet or how to contact organizations holding the original records.

The focus of the presentation will be on (Protestant) church books and civil registers and explain the organizational structures of the Protestant church and the civil administration in Pomerania until 1945.

Presenter:  Dr. Klaus-D. Kohrt

Dr. Kohrt was born and raised in Flensburg, Germany. He received his high school diploma in Great Britain and was a temporary soldier in the German Navy. After studying mathematics and computer science in Kiel, Germany, he worked at Siemens for 25 years in Munich. An avid traveler, he worked abroad both in the U.S. and the U.K.

Residing in Eckernförde, Germany since 2009, he has been an active family researcher for 14 years. He is an active member of the following organizations:

• Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft Genealogischer Verbände e.V. (DAGV) – vice president

• Pommerscher Greif e.V. – past president and current contact person for the district of Greifenberg

• Schleswig-Holsteinische Familienforschung e.V. (SHFam) – president

• Heimatgemeinschaft Eckernförde – initiator/organizer of the family research working group – “IGeFF”

• Association for Computer Genealogy (CompGen)

More information: Visitors are always welcome. Our website is https://egsgermangroup.wordpress.com/

The German Interest Group of the Eastside Genealogical Society

When: Friday, January 5, 2024 from 12:30 to 2:30 pm PT

Zoom Registration required:  https://tinyurl.com/5en2nsy5      

Topic: The Best Websites for German Genealogy

Discover which are the best web sites for German genealogy and research!

Presenter:  Dan Jungclas

With 35 plus years of experience, Dan began his genealogical journey at the young age of 26. Dan, quite an accomplished speaker, is an International Speaker and has spoken for the International German Genealogy Partnership (IGGP). Dan’s expertise offers incredible insight through comprehensive exploration, research & preservation. Knowledgeable of more than just the basics of genealogy, Dan is familiar with vital records (birth, marriage, and death), census records, church records, land records, tax records, emigration records, immigration records, & naturalization records. Dan specializes in a number of areas related to but not limited to Germany, Germanic Areas, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio; Northern Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan and other areas of the USA as well as the National Archives (NARA), the Great Lakes, the Midwest, the US Civil War, WWI, WWII and German Genealogy.

More information: Visitors are always welcome. Our website is https://egsgermangroup.wordpress.com/    

When: Friday, November 3, 2023 from 12:30 to 2:30 pm PT

Zoom Registration required:  https://tinyurl.com/2kzh8yd2   

Topic: German Guilds and their Records: A possibility for filling gaps when church records are missing

In this lecture, we learn about the history, structure, and purpose of guilds.  Then, we look at some of the many record types that guilds created and how they can be of use to the researcher, especially when church records are missing and how these records can fill those gaps. Some discussion of occupations will also be given.

Presenter:  Fritz Juengling, Ph.D., AG^®

Doctor Juengling received his Master’s and Doctorate in Germanic Philology with minors in both English and Linguistics from the University of Minnesota. He is an Accredited Genealogist® for Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden through ICAPGen, and certified by the Verband deutschsprachiger Berufsgenealogen. He is a German, Dutch, and Scandinavian Research Consultant at the FamilySearch Library.

More information: Visitors are always welcome.

Our website is https://egsgermangroup.wordpress.com/    

The German Interest Group

of The Eastside Genealogical Society (EGS)meeting

When: Friday, October 6, 2023 from 12:30 to 2:30 pm PDT

Zoom Registration required: https://tinyurl.com/39jrfwve

Topic: The ABCs of the Old German Script

Starting from the beginning—the alphabet—dive into how to decipher individual letters of the old German script. Learn how to use that knowledge to decipher key genealogical terms, based on context and expected record content, to start you on your own road to discovering the hidden treasures in your German-language records.

Presenter:  Charlotte Noelle Champenois, AG®

Charlotte Noelle Champenois, AG®, originally from Allerød, Denmark, and a long-time resident of Utah, is accredited in Germany Northwest, Denmark, Sweden, and Austria and has a BA in genealogy from Brigham Young University. She is a German Research Specialist at the FamilySearch Library, where she helps guests with research and translation.

More information: Visitors are always welcome. Our website is https://egsgermangroup.wordpress.com/

When: Friday, September 8, 2023 from 12:30 to 2:30 pm PDT

Note: This is the second Friday of the month

Zoom Registration required:  https://tinyurl.com/p323wpt4

Topic: “Wanting to travel to German archives? Hold up! Finesse and Know how Required!”

Come and learn how to:

–          Establish a prioritized research objective(s) list

–          Leverage online archival finding aids to maximize your research time in physical archives

–          Assess physical finding aids

–          Anticipate key record types, and what they are

–          Understand archival etiquette

–          Getting help with gathered data

Presenter:  Annette Unrau

As a native German from Hamburg, Annette takes immense interest in German genealogy, emigration, consulting others in discovering their heritage.  She is currently completing her final course in social media marketing to wrap up her BS in professional studies with an emphasis on family history from Brigham Young University Idaho. Annette worked as a German research consultant at the Family History Library, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Last summer Annette conducted extensive research in German archives, while completing her Germans from Russia Studies Certificate from Northern State University. She is working towards research hours for ICAPGen accreditation in the Germany Northwest Region.

More information: Visitors are always welcome. Our website is https://egsgermangroup.wordpress.com/