Bessarabian German Migration

Quick links:  Other parts of Russia, North America, South America, Germany, miscellaneous lists, main Bessarabia research page

As the population grew and farmland became scarce, Bessarabian Germans migrated to other parts of Russia, North America, and South America beginning around the 1870s. Those Germans still living in Bessarabia in 1940 were resettled to Germany (after a couple years in Poland) after WWII.

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Other parts of Russia

Bessarabian Germans migrated to other parts of Russia, especially including Crimea, Dobrudscha, the Caucasus, and other areas. Immigration to Dobrudscha began as early as the 1840s. Migration to Crimea began in the 1860s. 

 

Crimea

• List of Bessarabians who died in Crimea

• List of Bessarabian settlers who had children in Crimea

• Crimea Regional Interest Group (Crimea RIG)

• Crimea Clearing House projects (includes St. Pete records)

• Allen Konrad's Korner has info on Crimea

• List of villages in Crimean parishes

Dobrudscha

Many Bessarabian Germans (and other Germans in the Black Sea area) migrated to Dobrudscha.

• Resources for researching Germans in Dobrudscha

Caucasus

• Caucasus Clearing House projects

• Allen Konrad's Korner has info on the Caucasus area

• Elli's Korner has info on the Caucasus (see DAI films)

Other areas of Russia

• Clearing House projects include some other areas of Russia

• Allen Konrad's Korner includes info on Bukovina and various other parts of Russia

• Kherson, Ekaterinoslav, Taurida Regional Interest Group (KET RIG)

• Bukovina Koblenz records (by head of household surname)

• Eisenau, Bukovina map index

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North America

Bessarabian Germans began to immigrate to Canada & the U.S. in about the 1880s, drawn by the Homestead Act in the U.S. & the Dominion Lands Act in Canada.

 

History & Background:

• Timeline of Bessarabian Germans to North America

• "How to Become a Citizen of the United States" official pamphlet published 1939

• Examples of a Parochialschein (Parish Certificate) created in Russia when a family emigrated
  Wilhelm Wahl & Anna Wenzel; Christian Wahl & Rosina Schaible
  From the Dale Wahl Collection

Resources:

• Area projects at the Clearing House

• Clearing House Cemetery Project

• Clearing House Ships' Lists Project

• Town history book indexes

• Surname to Source (Town history books) list - shows surnames and the town they were in

• Allen Konrad's Korner has resources for several North Dakota counties

• Marilyn Holzwarth's Korner has a list of Bessarabian families who migrated to Cheyenne County, Kansas

• "The Settlement" in Bethune, Colorado

• Indexes and links to indexes for U.S. censuses

• U.S. counties settled by German-Russians

• Find U.S. vital records

• Find Canadian vital records

• Tip on searching for ancestors in Hamburg (while awaiting their ship)

Research assistance & "how to's":

• GRHS Area Coordinators (ACs) provide assistance with research in North America

• Using Homestead Records in Your Search, originally published in the Heritage Review

• An Overview of How To Do Research in Canada, originally published in the June 2009 Heritage Review

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South America

• Researching in South America - Genealogy Tips article from the Heritage Review

• Allen Konrad's Korner has info on South America

• List of Bessarabians who went to Brazil

• German genealogy in Argentina

• German genealogy in Brazil

• German genealogy in Paraguay

• Subscribe to a listserv for Germans in South America

 

Germany

These links focus on finding your family members who came to Germany after the 1940 Resettlement (Umsiedlung) from Bessarabia. See the Family Origins page to research your family in Germany before they came to Bessarabia.

• The Bessarabien Verein in Stuttgart publishes a monthly newspaper, the Mitteilungsblatt, and sponsors many meetings and activities for Bessarabian Germans in Germany.

• The Kirchlicher Suchdienst is a service for locating relatives in Germany. See the article "Finding Lost Cousins" in the Sept. 2008 issue of the Heritage Review.

• Deutsche Telekom online directory (see bottom right of page)

Miscellaneous lists of emigrants from Bessarabia

• Emigration of Alt Posttal families, from history written in 1923 for the 100th anniversary of the village