On-line forum for Germans from Russia Researchers

Hello all,

I am an adoptee, but I did find my birth family 25 years ago. I don't have a lot of information on my birth family except out to my first level grandparents, and what I have been able to glean from their obituaries. My Grandmother Dorothy Mae (nee Hoffert) was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1918, to a Peter Hoffert and Dorothy Badge.

That is where things have stood for a long time (due in large part to my own apathy) however, my wife and I decided to take 23andme tests a month or two ago. When I got my results back, it said I had a 2nd cousin once removed with a very Russian sounding name. That was close enough to spur a new round of inquiries, and I soon found that this Peter Hoffert was, as my Grandmother referred to him, an "Odessa German". I have further heard from the daughter of my 2nd cousin once removed (my 3rd cousin) that she is ethnic German (and were subjected to Stalinist banishment from Ukraine to far east Siberia in 1942), although my mom's 2nd cousin's maiden name is not Hoffert but Stefan... But by my math, there was a common Hoffert ancestor.

So I am now looking for Black Sea German Hofferts, who are linked by marriage to a Stefan family, who I am guessing were also Black Sea Germans, but who stayed put... Did not migrate back out before the Bolshevik revolution. I am also eager to learn what I can about their *pre* Russian lives... when and from where did they leave Germany?

I think both Hoffert and Stefan names are represented on this site. So Hello!

Hello Brian,
I checked my Galizien (Austrian Empire) records to see if your Hofferts stopped in Galizien on their way to Odessa as my ancestors did but I got no hits.
I then checked the "Our Roots" website at http://ourroots.ca/index.aspx. It is a great free archive Canadian local histories. Here is what I found:

http://ourroots.ca/toc.aspx?id=8645&amp ... 023fa74c18

This is the book "History of Odessa : to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the advent of Odessa's first settlers, and the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Holy Family Parish, Odessa, Saskatchewan, Canada, 1901-1954". If you look at page 11 of that book you will see a "Melchior Hoffert 60 with two children" was one of the original settlers of that town in 1903. Also, On page 23, there is a mention of a "Steve Hoffert, Livery" business in town. Could this be the "Odessa" your grandmother was referring to? If so then the "Holy Family Parish" church: should have records of births, deaths and marriages. You can contact them directly at "Holy Family Church, 2nd Ave, Odessa, SK" as I did with my Gauer's at Trinity Lutheran Church in Winnipeg. Local parish records are a great resource for information about families.
Good Luck!

_________________
Regards, Murray
BlackSeaGR Forum co-Administrator
Gauer Family Website

Murray, that is incredibly helpful!

Thanks!

Murray, that is incredibly helpful!

Thanks!