What is the best way to trace my ancestors in Brandenburg, Germany and Prev Wald

Question:

What is the best way to trace my ancestors in Brandenburg, Germany and Prev Waldimir Russia?

My ggf was born in Danzig, my ggm in Poland, their children in Prev Waldimir, Russia; Dornbraf Village, Waldimir, Russia; and Roschistsche Gori, Russia. How can I find more info on these places as well as Brandenburg (other great grandparents)?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: The most important site (but you really need the help of someone fluent in German to get maximum usage of it) is the Brandenburg-Prussian Secret Central Archives. Unlike the description of its name, it's not so secret anymore. There are hundreds of years of German/Prussian/Polish records in this site. One secret I learned long ago is to contact the high schools and community colleges in your area to see if any have German teachers who would be willing to give you a tutorial for a small fee and translate here and there as needed. My son's teacher charges $10/hour or $5/page.

http://www.gsta.spk-berlin.de/framesets/...

From there you're looking at Catholic and Lutheran records for your German/Prussian/Polish lines. Most church records for these areas are already under LDS control and available on film. The trick is that you need to know the town before you can order the film. You won't have the same luck in the East Prussian/Russian areas because they're generally Orthodox and those parishes don't keep the same records and are less likely to release them to researchers. You'll also find that if they were Evangelical, there are new privacy laws governing the release of their church records.

For concise, well-researched information see http://www.maxpages.com/poland/prussian_...

The Russian side is a little harder, but start with a series of records that were found at the Russian Consulate in Buffalo NY after the fall of Czarist Russia. These are emigration records of Russians who settled in America during that period and they've been indexed and published.

Also, you can check the http://www.castlegarden.org and http://www.ellisisland.org sites to see when they arrived and which port they left from in Russia or Germany. This becomes really important as you research because some of the ports' records still exist and are full of extremely helpful info. Others were lost and you have to look elsewhere.

Lastly, if any of your ancestors arrived after 1900, the VERY first place to go is the National Archives and Records Administration regional center covering the state where they lived when they filed for citizenship. From that center you want to get their Declaration of Intent and Naturalization Petition. These are full of wonderful information, particularly the names of all parents and siblings, the ship bringing them to the US and date of arrival, hometown back in the "old country", etc. If NARA doesn't have it, check that state's archives and the local courts. There were several places where one could apply, the issue is finding the records.

Hope this gives you a good start...