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Season Greetings

  • Posted by rusgen
  • On December 24, 2020
  • 2020, 2021, Archive, Genealogy, greetings, history, library, Russia, Ukraine
Dear history lovers, both professional and amateurs! The very complicated 2020 year is reaching its end, and we are looking for 2021 to be as complicated as this one. The part of “new normal” is that archives and libraries close, regulations become more restrictive, delays longer, and other small and big things which makes our […]
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Searching for a German in Colonial Africa

  • Posted by rusgen
  • On December 22, 2020
  • 20th century, Africa, Brazzaville, Colonial, Congo, Genealogy, Historical
Colonial Africa research turned out to be the complicated thing. I really feel myself as an archeologist unearthing the very scarce evidence of the civilization which is lond dead and disappeared. First, I should start with the small historical background. The pre-1880 Africa was really not very well researched. Those “white spots” on maps were […]
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Kirill Chashchin’s Genealogy lectures on Youtube

  • Posted by rusgen
  • On August 14, 2020
  • 1974, Birth Certificate, communist party, identity document, passport, Soviet
If you could comprehend oral Russian, you may wish to listen to Kirill Chashchin’s three lectures on the Soviet identification documents and their use in the genealogical research. They are available at: Soviet Passports: https://youtu.be/GKucPZR8TAQ Soviet Birth Certificates: https://youtu.be/Tvz4dDx2hZc Soviet Communist Party identification documents: https://youtu.be/Q6bp1_nW0fU We could consult you on the various aspects of those […]
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Slow recovery started

  • Posted by rusgen
  • On June 27, 2020
  • covid, Kiev, Research, RGADA, Russia
A few archives in our neck of the wood has reopened for business. Some closed back (like Kiev Regional). Many archives (although not all) re-started the process of answering e-mailed and paper queries. Everybody says that due to the high backlog the time to answer “could be extended”… Not surprisingly, considering their 3-months forced vacations. […]
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Imagine yourself living in 1938 North China

  • Posted by rusgen
  • On April 30, 2020
  • 1939, anketa, brem, China, harbin, immigrants, Manchu, questionnaire, Russia
To be able to get out of town (Harbin), you need to be registered with the BREM, Bureau on the affairs of Russian Emigrants in Manjuria. And you need to fill in the very detailed questionnaire. Below is the translation of what they asked the resident. 9 pages. Some questions might seem unfamiliar for the […]
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Tyuremnoe Delo

  • Posted by rusgen
  • On November 24, 2018
  • 1939, books, Gulag, history, prison, Soviet, top secret
Current reading: top-secret 1939 book titled “Тюремное дело”, the manual on all aspects of running a prison, substantial part of the Soviet GULAG system. The book describes just about everything — from the types of locks on doors on solitary confinement, to the toys to be given to children born in prisons… Did your ancestors […]
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Recent document

  • Posted by rusgen
  • On November 19, 2018
1830s copy of the 1713 document in the nobility case, found during the recent visit to the Russian State Historical Archive (St Petersbourg, Russia). It was customary to provide the tree to the noblest available ancestor to get privileges. Need to find something similar? Just ask us!
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ITS Bad Arolsen research

  • Posted by rusgen
  • On November 1, 2018
We will be performing the on-site research at the International Tracing Service archives in Bad Arolsen, Germany next week. If you have any relatives imprisonned or displaced during or shortly after WW2 — this is the best place to try to trace them. Call us now to get the special price on this very effective […]
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Medal Strips

  • Posted by rusgen
  • On October 23, 2018
Have you ever seen something like that on photos of your ancestors? This could be important lead in otherwise dead end search. This is medal strips, used instead of large decorations on everyday uniform. As of today, you could theoretically spot approximately 10,000 in todays Russian-speaking land. This could be an important lead in your […]
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Sample old record

  • Posted by rusgen
  • On October 9, 2018
  This is a plain old 1905 marriage record in the currently Polish city of Bialystok. Although it is now Poland, the records before 1918 were kept in Russian language. We can read records on all European languages. Need help with some strange handwriting? Feel something elusive is in the old unreadable handwriting? Let us […]
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