Family historians researching in Poland and Ukraine have to deal with gaps in records that could make progress next to impossible. Thanks to genetic genealogy, we can bridge those gaps. Geographic clues from your matches might get you looking in the right direction. This session includes some DNA success stories, based on geography and backed by documented research. It also offers pointers on how to get more value from your tests.
Comments (52)
Great webinar! What encouraged me to listen to the whole thing was a photo with a plaque of the village of Sojkówek, because it's my grandmother's place of origin. I heard a great story that convinced me to do an autosomal test.
Dave Obee has a voice that is easy to listen to and contains very interesting information.
Dave's work is awesome!
Dave re complexity of searching for family through Eastern Europe. I certainly agree. I've been working on my family genealogy since 1980s, starting with talking with the oldest relatives & writing down everything, then giving my mom a notebook to write down everything she knew. Ancestors were from Poland, Ukraine, Prussia; changing borders causes confusion in records according to who rules in history. I've used My Heritage about 2 years; relative in Ukraine found me when I put in my grandfather's name.
I have none of my own ancestry within today's area of discussion, but I find the story of the ethnic Germans who migrated eastwards and thence to North and South America fascinating. The speaker is always excellent to follow and he covers his methods of research thoroughly and in the most interesting way.
While the DNA and relationships shown didn't involve people of the Jewish faith, I'm hoping that some of the methods used may be applicable to Jewish families as my husband is Jewish and all of his great-grandparents immigrated to the US (New York City) from Eastern Europe (areas in Poland or Ukraine today) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some of those locations unfortunately have no surviving Jewish records.
Dave Obee's insights are highly valuable for serious genealogical researchers. He his very much appreciated!
Great information for tracking using DNA. He presented ideas that I never thought of or heard about. I need to go back and see again and check a couple of his tree charts. There were names listed that maybe familiar or maybe just common names.