Researching our German Ancestors in Galicia

Tips and Techniques for Research into our Galizien Germans

A series of 16 tip pages for the research, Family Search research, Researching family in Germany, Emigration from Germany to Galicia, Researching family in Galicia, Emigration to America and Emigration back to Germany are all found on these pages.

Sharing our Heritage (SOH): Family surnames

GGD has been collecting surnames and village names of Galician Germans since its founding. The link above takes you to our family surname database page..

Sharing our Heritage: GEDCOMS

Members have submitted detailed family trees which other members can view and print via a powerful database program.

GGD 1939 Resettlement Records database

In 1939 Poland was divided between Germany and the Soviet Union as a result of the Ribbentrop-Molotov agreement. One of the terms of this agreement was that German ethnics were to be relocated from the Russian area to the German area.

This database, created by the GGD, is a partial extraction of the records kept of these relocations, known as the Einwandererzentralstelle (literally Immigration Center) records, abbreviated to EWZ.  Also available are corrections and additions to the information provided by Galician researchers.

Mennonitische Namen/Mennonite Names

This contains a database of Mennonites in Galicia as well as several resources for Mennonite research.  

History of Galicia

GGD has a collection of articles and references to help you understand the Galizien Germans and their history.

Books about Galizien Germans 

Books with information about Galizien Germans and their villages.

Culture, Remembrance & Recipes

Member's personal pages, cemetery restoration projects, family stories, music, and wonderful recipes for now! 
Further material to be developed about our heritage, culture and traditions.