In the interests of getting some _other_ discussion going, I'd like to talk a bit about family history.

Mostly the delight in having gone on a trip in Europe to see some of the places where my families are from.

I was expecting that I'd go to various cities, snap some pictures with signs saying the place name, maybe take some pictures of old buildings, and call it a success.

So the first place I went, I did just that. It's a small place in Germany, and I headed to what's possibly the only church (I'm not double checking that; but it's small) in the particular area. And it's a church that's been around since well before my great great grandpa was there.

So, pictures, etc.. But then I looked in the graveyard, and found some examples of people with the old family name. And it's a rare-enough name that it's fairly likely that they're distant relatives.

But then later I found out that my great great grandfather was not only aware of the church's existence, he was baptized at that church.

I was happy with that success, but then went to a couple different areas in Denmark.

And, to cut a long story short, did something similar -- find the church local to the small area, and look at grave sites.

And, in Denmark, I found the grave sites of 2 or 3 of my great great great grandparents (all but one of the great great great grandparents from Denmark).

Which, with Europe being a place where grave sites are generally rented rather than owned, seems rather amazing.

And I say "2 or 3" because there's no reasonable doubt on two of them, but the 3rd one, while of the proper age and area, is someone with a name that's common enough that I'm not completely certain.

So, yeah, other than taking a trip to Norway, I don't really have enough family history to go looking for signs of other ancestors, and maybe I'll make that trip eventually.

But it was really neat to find the levels of connections I did.

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On Thu Sep 22 22:23:00 2022, Adept wrote to All <=-

But it was really neat to find the levels of connections I did.

That's cool. My wife has been really into her family history, although we can't afford to travel, she's been able to find groups online that help out, I think she had someone in scotland do some research for her, and other places.

Andrew

=== TitanMail/freebsd v1.1.6

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On 22 Sep 2022 at 10:23p, Adept pondered and said...

But it was really neat to find the levels of connections I did.

wow that's cool that could connect with so many members of the family tree :)

I have done some of this but not to the extent you have.

I probably know more about my fathers side than my mums but she's also done quite a bit of research so we're not exactly starting from scratch.

Doing this sort of thing seems to be something that comes and goes for me in terms of interest but when I am focused on it you tend to go down the rabbit hole a bit :)

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

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But it was really neat to find the levels of connections I did.

That's cool. My wife has been really into her family history, although
we can't afford to travel, she's been able to find groups online that
help out, I think she had someone in scotland do some research for her, and other places.

On that "afford to travel" bit, while I'm lucky enough to be in significantly better financial condition than I was previously, living a few hundred kilometers from the border with Denmark made it a _lot_ easier to just go places for family history things.

But, yeah, I'm glad your wife has found connections on the research. I'm still hoping that I'll get some assistance from various people who have info I don't.

And at least my immediate family has also found it interesting, since I'm finding various bits about their history, too. I kind of wonder about further-flung relatives, but I'm not especially in contact with most of them. And I'm sure they have their own interests, regardless.

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I have done some of this but not to the extent you have.

Oh, I think it wasn't too much work on my part -- it was partially an excuse for finding particular places to go on a longer vacation. "It's three weeks, but don't really want to have long travel somewhere or have to get on a plane, what places of interest are nearby?", and then there was a fair amount of dumb luck involved.

Doing this sort of thing seems to be something that comes and goes for
me in terms of interest but when I am focused on it you tend to go down the rabbit hole a bit :)

Neat!

I can't say I've especially caught the genealogy bug in the past, and it seems like something that could turn into a full-time hobby, if not careful, and, well, clearly there are already many full-time hobbies in our lives.

But it's still fun to connect the dots.

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But it was really neat to find the levels of connections I did.

Fascinating story! Super cool to figure out all these details.

Half of my family is basic white Euro mutt lineage with a strong Ukranian influence. The other half of me is nomadic Ashkenazi Jew.

I was raised by the Catholic/Ukranian side and they thought it was funny to call me jewboy growing up, and making fun of the other half of my family. They really spewed a lot of hatred.

Anyway the Catholic side of my family, as you may imagine, is one I have very little to do with these days, and intend to keep it that way :) It's fine, though, they're all dirtbags and half of them have been in and out of prison for whatever reason.

Our Jewish last name is fairly rare and we traced some of our family's footsteps throughout parts of Europe...mainly Bavaria, northern Italy, Austria. Sadly we did find out that two of our relatives were killed in Auschwitz, and we were able to see their names there. Very sad.

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*** Quoting apam from a message to Adept ***

That's cool. My wife has been really into her family history,
although we can't afford to travel, she's been able to find groups
online that help out, I think she had someone in scotland do some
research for her, and other places.

I was on a family history kick not too long ago and was fortunate to be able to sit with all four of my grandparents to get started.

Both of my great-grandfathers were "Barnardo Boys" which were children sent from the UK to Canada to work on farms.

"Between 1869 and the late 1930s, more than 100,000 children were sent to Canada from Great Britain by philanthropic organizations like Dr.
Barnardo's"

"Farmers paid a fee, and the children worked as indentured servants, until they came of age. Some were treated well, taken in as members of the family; many were seen as "little workers"; others were abused. The children were supposed to go to school, but this often depended on the farmer's needs and harvest season."

https://bbs.lc/wA7d5


Jay

... I tried calling the tinnitus hotline, it just kept ringing

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*** Quoting Adept from a message to Avon ***

I can't say I've especially caught the genealogy bug in the past, and
it seems like something that could turn into a full-time hobby, if
not careful, and, well,clearly there are already many full-time
hobbies in our lives.

A friend of mine's mother is/was REALLY into genealogy, she had computer software installed on the family's home PC to generate a family tree and
store all kinds of information, kind of like ancestry.ca but just on your own PC.

She even had gravestone "rubbings" she did herself framed on the wall of various ancestors (and others rolled up in cardboard tubes).

Probably a little more than I'll ever get into it, but you're right in that some people really do fall down the rabbit hole.


Jay

... Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough

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Austria. Sadly we did find out that two of our relatives were killed in Auschwitz, and we were able to see their names there. Very sad.

That bit seems especially rough, but is also a fascinating connection. I imagine it brought the reality of the situation a bit closer to home.

Half of my family is basic white Euro mutt lineage with a strong Ukranian influence. The other half of me is nomadic Ashkenazi Jew.

The rest of your story was also an interesting read, and seems like an interesting adventure to have gone on.

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That bit seems especially rough, but is also a fascinating connection. I imagine it brought the reality of the situation a bit closer to home.

Indeed, it was a very interesting thing to find out. I imagined a random aunt or uncle in my family being in Auschwitz as it was a pretty relevant analogue, and it was heartbreaking to think about. Naturally it's heartbreaking for anyone but it did make the entire event feel a bit more 'real' if that makes sense.

The rest of your story was also an interesting read, and seems like an interesting adventure to have gone on.

Thanks! I'm a bit history nerd in general so learning my own history was fascinating as well. The euro-mutt side of my family isn't a side that i communicate with but nevertheless I may try to go down that path at some point just to understand. *shrug*

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Adept wrote to All <=-

But it was really neat to find the levels of connections I did.

That's a great story, thanks for sharing!


-+- Brightening your day. -Bex <3

... My... my wi-, my wife, Bunny? Do you see a wedding ring on my finger? Does t
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Hello Adept!

** On Thursday 22.09.22 - 22:23, Adept wrote to All:

In the interests of getting some _other_ discussion going, I'd like to
talk a bit about family history.

[...]

But it was really neat to find the levels of connections I did.

In a way it is sad to learn of these past connections, cuz
noone is around to fill in the gaps or expound on details.

The best and meaningful connections are the ones we can make
with living relatives.

I recently discovered this site and uncovered a trove of
documents related to my parents, their siblings, and my
grandparents as they navigated the WW2 environment.

https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/

English = https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en


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Indeed, it was a very interesting thing to find out. I imagined a random aunt or uncle in my family being in Auschwitz as it was a pretty
relevant analogue, and it was heartbreaking to think about. Naturally

Yeah, little bit different when, "yes, this person was related to me, and they were murdered because of being related to people like me".

Thanks! I'm a bit history nerd in general so learning my own history was fascinating as well. The euro-mutt side of my family isn't a side that i communicate with but nevertheless I may try to go down that path at some point just to understand. *shrug*

Yeah, I feel pretty similarly. I don't have a whole lot of contact with _either_ side of my family, and I imagine if I knew the people I was finding out about, I'd probably have _serious_ disagreements.

But all I know is that they're related to me, and thus it's a connection to a time and place that I had limited connection to otherwise.

And that last bit was interesting, as it was the difference between a place being a random place of no particular import, and a place being a fairly random place of no particular import, but was actually integral, in a very limited way, in a variety of things directly involving me.

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In a way it is sad to learn of these past connections, cuz
noone is around to fill in the gaps or expound on details.

Yeah, I did get that thought, from time to time, that it'd be nice to talk to various people, but unfortunately they're all dead.

I think I especially felt that way with any connections further back than great great great grandparents, as, while I'm able to find some hint of that generation, going back further seems... hard.

But I suppose it's really just that, eventually the info runs out, or gets too unclear, unless you're royalty or something.

The best and meaningful connections are the ones we can make
with living relatives.

Yeah. Or, really, friends. As much as I'm enjoying learning about my family history, I'm way more likely to spend time and energy on strengthening bonds with people I'm close to for other reasons.

Especially at this point, where all of my closer relatives are at least an ocean away physically, and in many cases are just in a different space than I am.

But, eh, if I make a website of family history stuff, I'll try and get the word out to relatives who might find it of interest.

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