I Interrupt This Series of Posts Due to an Important Announcement

Posted on December 21, 2020 by suwalkigermans

I have been waiting for several weeks to be able to share this amazing website that has been going on behind the scenes. I am proud to be a part of this effort. I have written about my experience with the former Facebook Group Germans from Wilkowischken and will be writing an updated post in 2021.

Contact: Owen M. McCafferty II

E-Mail: owen@germansfromlithuania.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Germans from Lithuania Name Index Now Online

The Board of Directors of the International Association of Germans from Lithuania (IAGL) is pleased to announce that the IAGL online searchable name database is now online. This free database provides researchers access to original church and civil records pertaining to ethnic Germans  living in the Suwałki Gubernia in the former Russian Empire, today southwestern Lithuania. 

The IAGL is a not-for-profit corporation established as a genealogical resource to provide online access to records pertaining to the former German minority in the area, known as Germans from Lithuania, (Deutsche aus Litauen.) The IAGL also aims to document the culture and history of this ethnic minority and to provide ways to connect the descendants of the Deutsche aus Litauen with other researchers and the greater community. 

The website contains tens of thousands of transcribed names of the earliest available records from southwestern Lithuanian cities including Kalwaria [Kalvarija], Kybarten [Kybartai], Mariampol [Marijampolė], Wilkowischken [Vilkaviškis] Wirballen [Virbalis] and Wischtiten [Vištytis] up to Lithuania’s first independence in the 20th century.

“The IGAL will expand the database to include surrounding locations with the help of volunteer transcribers,” explained Owen McCafferty II, founder and President

(Geschäftsführer) of IAGL. “In addition to the database, the IAGL plans to provide research guidance to family historians and genealogists, accept articles for publication, and offer additional resources to members.” 

For more information, visit https://www.germansfromlithuania.org/.

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About suwalkigermans

I started family research in 1993. My first two books focused on my maternal grandparents. Both families came from Kreis Rosenberg, West Prussia, to Big Rapids, Michigan. I left the Spurgats from Wylkowiszki in the Russian Empire as the third book because of the difficult and challenging research it required. After I published the book in 2010, I wondered what to do next. I thought I might try to share some of my research with others and maybe at the same time, by going digital, someone would find me. When you read the comments, you will see that happened. The best part of all this is helping others.
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