One question has popped up a few times: Why are so many of our relatives from Russia, when we consider ourselves Germans? The answer: they were ethnic Germans living in Russia as homesteaders. Aha!
Catherine the Great
So I learned a little history about my ancestors: At the invitation of Catherine the Great, a German native who assumed the Russian throne after her husband Peter's death, many Germans moved to the Volga region of Russia. These immigrants were invited to farm Russian land, but were allowed to maintain their ethnic identity and cultural traditions. A majority of my relatives settled near the village of Frank. Images of this village brought tears to my eyes -- the similarities between Frank and the community where they settled in the US (and where I grew up) where startling. Thankfully, most of them appear to have left the Volga region for the States prior to the atrocities experienced in that region in the early 20th Century.
Digging into my family history has proven more tedious and occasionally frustrating than I imagined -- why are there so many Conrads and Katharines? -- but the experience has been incredibly rewarding. It's really more than just digging into the past -- it's about exploring my own identity. These relatives, most of whom I've never even heard of, suddenly mean more to me than faceless names and dates in an online database. They are my people. Getting to know them, even so impersonally, is a supreme privilege. I am grateful that because of them, I exist. So thanks, all of you.
