Finding and Viewing EWZ Films
The Black Sea
German Database contains
index information for
many of the EWZ films
relevant to Black Sea
Germans (primarily the
EWZ 50 and EWZ 51
series). Unfortunately,
we do not have the
actual microfilms
containing the EWZ
documents in our
possession. These
particular microfilms
were purchased by
various people and made
available to us only to
create these indexes.
To view these
films and see the
detailed information
about your family, you
may be able to purchase
the microfilms or copies
of individual EWZ
documents from the
organizations listed
below. We recommend
making your request in
English, as it’s
unlikely that anyone at
these organizations will
be fluent in German or
Russian.
EWZ-50s
Mennonite
Historical Society of
British Columbia has
almost a full set of
EWZ-50 microfilms and
can provide copies of
individual EWZ records.
Contact
genealogy@mhsbc.com for
ordering and cost
information.
EWZ-51s
GRHS (Germans from
Russia Heritage Society)
has copies of about 15%
of the EWZ-51
microfilms, as well as
many EWZ-50s. They can
provide copies of EWZ
documents from these
microfilms. An advance
payment might be
required. These lists
will help you identify
which rolls they have:
EWZ-50
and
EWZ-51.
For EWZ-51s not at
GRHS, you must visit the
National Archives (NARA)
in College Park,
Maryland (near
Washington D.C.), or
hire a local researcher
to view the film for
you.
EWZ-57s and
EWZ-58s
EWZ-57s and 58s
can be viewed at NARA in
College Park. In
addition, they can be
viewed on microfilm at
the Family History
Library (FHL) in Salt
Lake City. They are not
available online or by
remote lookup request.
EWZ-57s are filed
loosely alphabetically
by surname. (Names with
similar pronunciation
are grouped together,
such as Diehl/Dill/Dyl.)
This
list
will help you identify
the NARA microfilm
number and corresponding
FHL microfilm number.
EWZ-58s are filed
numerically by EWZ
number. This
list
will help you identify
the NARA microfilm
number and corresponding
FHL microfilm number.
You can find your family
member’s EWZ number on
their EWZ-50, EWZ-51, or
EWZ-57.
Another option to
find the EWZ number is
to search Germany’s
Bundesarchiv catalog
using their
Invenio
system.
* Choose “Suche
ohne Anmeldung”
* Click the X on
the Welcome page
* Choose “Suche”
and then “Namenssuche”
* Enter the name
of the person you are
searching and click
“Suchen”
* Look for results
from “Sammlung Berlin
Document Center (BDC):
Personenbezogene
Unterlagen der
Einwandererzentralstelle
(EWZ)”
All EWZ Films
NARA sells copies
of all EWZ microfilms.
Costs must generally be
paid in advance. The
cost per roll is $125
(as of June 2022).
Contact NARA
here.
EWZs for non-Black
Sea Germans
If your family is
from Poland, the
Baltics, or other areas,
you may be interested in
the EWZ-52, EWZ-53, or
EWZ-54 series. These all
must be viewed at NARA.
For German families from
Poland, some EWZ-58s can
be viewed
online.
NARA has a
guide
for finding the
microfilm you need in
these series.