European Emigrant
Heritage
Heritage
Our Work
We are an inheritance genealogy company that specializes in researching deceased persons with Soviet Bloc heritage. Bloc countries were Communist until 1990 and are shown in pink and red:
We are an inheritance genealogy company that specializes in researching deceased persons with Soviet Bloc heritage. Bloc countries were Communist until 1990 and are shown in pink and red:
Example: A Lithuanian Case
Our research of the record property owner Philip LEOPOLD showed that he died thirty years ago, allegedly with no heirs. We commenced genealogical research and after some weeks we discovered that his original name was Pinya LEPAR and that he was not born in Poland as he claimed in his 1953 Russian citizenship application, but in Kriukai, Lithuania.
To identify his grandparents, European Emigrant Heritage (EEH) used a technique that Detective Colombo→ would have liked. We hired the entire class of a university history professor to locate and transcribe all tombstones bearing the paternal surname LEPAR and the maternal surname and their spelling variants.
These enthusiastic students walked hundreds of cemetery rows and transcribed 70+ stones, which eventually led to our finding children of deceased cousins. We obtained the property for them. Only one had ever heard of Pinya LEPAR aka Philip LEOPOLD.
These enthusiastic students walked hundreds of cemetery rows and transcribed 70+ stones, which eventually led to our finding children of deceased cousins. We obtained the property for them. Only one had ever heard of Pinya LEPAR aka Philip LEOPOLD.
RESEARCH PHOTOS
RESEARCH PHOTOS
Field research ↑ James and Volodya of EEH seek memories of past times in a Russian village. "What were the names of their children?" "Where were they moved to?"
Archives research ↑ Sniezhana of EEH examines records of Bulgarians imprisoned in Nazi labour camps.
Example: A Siberian Case
The property owner died in 1979 reportedly with no heirs. Our research discovered that his grandfather had a half brother named Grigoriy KORNEEV. The following letter by EEH describes our solution to the case:
Example: A Siberian Case
The property owner died in 1979 reportedly with no heirs. Our research discovered that his grandfather had a half brother named Grigoriy KORNEEV. The following letter by EEH describes our solution to the case:
...According to Vladimir Dahl’s magnum opus, Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, the definition of “selo” is “A place built and settled by peasants in which there is a church, and sometimes selo consists of many scattered derevnyas all belonging to one congregation and one church.”
The two villages Petroselki Derevnya and Molotychi Selo are only three miles apart (Our Proof #25). From the fact that all derevnyas had to belong to a selo so that its residents would have a church, and from Dahl’s above definitions, we conclude that Petroselki Derevnya belonged to Molotychi Selo. Thus Grigoriy could say he resided in either place...
...It is obvious that Grigoriy KORNEEV and Grigoriy ABALMASOV are the same man. Consider:
1.) Grigoriy KORNEEV and Grigoriy ABALMASOV are both shown in the above records having the same patronymic name, Kuzmin, meaning “son of Kuzma.” The given name “Kuzma” is now, and was in 19th Century Russia, a fairly rare name...
4.) Grigoriy Kuzmin KORNEEV and Grigoriy Kuzmin ABALMASOV both arrived in Siberia in 1896 (Proofs 16 and 17).
5.) Grigoriy Kuzmin KORNEEV and Grigoriy Kuzmin ABALMASOV then lived in the same tiny place, Belovodovskoye Settlement, Mariinsk Okrug, Tomsk Guberniya, Siberia (Proofs #30 & 31)...
6.) It would be an exceedingly unlikely coincidence if two different men with the names Grigoriy Kuzmin, from villages only 3 miles apart (Proof #25), travelled 2,026 miles (Proof #27), to the same tiny Belovodovskoye Settlement, both of them in 1896!...
Sincerely,
James Hannum, Director
European Emigrant Heritage
...It is obvious that Grigoriy KORNEEV and Grigoriy ABALMASOV are the same man. Consider:
1.) Grigoriy KORNEEV and Grigoriy ABALMASOV are both shown in the above records having the same patronymic name, Kuzmin, meaning “son of Kuzma.” The given name “Kuzma” is now, and was in 19th Century Russia, a fairly rare name...
4.) Grigoriy Kuzmin KORNEEV and Grigoriy Kuzmin ABALMASOV both arrived in Siberia in 1896 (Proofs 16 and 17).
5.) Grigoriy Kuzmin KORNEEV and Grigoriy Kuzmin ABALMASOV then lived in the same tiny place, Belovodovskoye Settlement, Mariinsk Okrug, Tomsk Guberniya, Siberia (Proofs #30 & 31)...
6.) It would be an exceedingly unlikely coincidence if two different men with the names Grigoriy Kuzmin, from villages only 3 miles apart (Proof #25), travelled 2,026 miles (Proof #27), to the same tiny Belovodovskoye Settlement, both of them in 1896!...
Sincerely,
James Hannum, Director
European Emigrant Heritage
HEIRSHIP PROOFS
Below are 3 of the 74 proofs EEH discovered and presented in the above case. These 74 proofs established all family tree links, from three generations above the deceased property owner down to his half second cousins twice removed heirs.
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DIVIDED FAMILIES
When family members become permanently divided it can appear that a member died with no heirs. Examples:
Forced Migration ↑
Throughout Josef Stalin's long dictatorship (1922-1953) he forcibly resettled millions of people from all over the Bloc, to random other locations in the Bloc, to break up communities and destroy national identities, which he feared would rebel.
A brother would be sent north, a sister south, and perhaps never hear from each other again. Some later died appearing to have no heirs.
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Throughout Josef Stalin's long dictatorship (1922-1953) he forcibly resettled millions of people from all over the Bloc, to random other locations in the Bloc, to break up communities and destroy national identities, which he feared would rebel.
A brother would be sent north, a sister south, and perhaps never hear from each other again. Some later died appearing to have no heirs.
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Gulags ↑
Under Stalin's rule, and then Brezhnev's rule (1960-82), many Bloc men were sent to these Siberian forced labour camps. This ended many marriages, estranged fathers from their children, and siblings from siblings.
A typical case: A daughter estranged at age 6 from her gulag father never knew that she had a half-brother. When she died in 2002 the officials and solicitors found no heirs. EEH found two half-nephews and obtained the estate for them.
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Under Stalin's rule, and then Brezhnev's rule (1960-82), many Bloc men were sent to these Siberian forced labour camps. This ended many marriages, estranged fathers from their children, and siblings from siblings.
A typical case: A daughter estranged at age 6 from her gulag father never knew that she had a half-brother. When she died in 2002 the officials and solicitors found no heirs. EEH found two half-nephews and obtained the estate for them.
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WW II
Most of the fighting in World War II was in the Bloc. Over 30 million Bloc citizens died from combat, bombing, starvation, and cold exposure. Millions became refugees and emigrants.
In one of EEH's cases a Ukrainian soldier was killed in WW II and his widow remarried and had no further contact with the soldier's family. The soldier's nephew died in 2015 with assets but reportedly no heirs.
EEH discovered that the soldier had a daughter and claimed for her as the next of kin of his nephew, her cousin.
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Most of the fighting in World War II was in the Bloc. Over 30 million Bloc citizens died from combat, bombing, starvation, and cold exposure. Millions became refugees and emigrants.
In one of EEH's cases a Ukrainian soldier was killed in WW II and his widow remarried and had no further contact with the soldier's family. The soldier's nephew died in 2015 with assets but reportedly no heirs.
EEH discovered that the soldier had a daughter and claimed for her as the next of kin of his nephew, her cousin.
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War Displacement
Many people with European heritage have family members whom they believe died in WW II. Yet many of these "war dead" survived, because they:
1.) Fled to neutral countries such as Switzerland and Sweden;
2.) Were evacuated by Stalin to east of Moscow, where Germany never reached;
3.) Survived working in German factories or forced labour camps;
4.) Hid on farms or in forests.
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Many people with European heritage have family members whom they believe died in WW II. Yet many of these "war dead" survived, because they:
1.) Fled to neutral countries such as Switzerland and Sweden;
2.) Were evacuated by Stalin to east of Moscow, where Germany never reached;
3.) Survived working in German factories or forced labour camps;
4.) Hid on farms or in forests.
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CONTACT EEH
Telephone
1 (202) 993-7050
Zoom
Let's see and hear each other. Include others in the conversation.
email
Please send all written communication to us by email. After 31 Dec 2022 all paper envelopes, FedEx, etc. will be returned to sender unopened, for photographing and emailing. Thank you for understanding that most of our work is done on the road. We need instant and portable data.
Our email address is [email protected]
Please send all written communication to us by email. After 31 Dec 2022 all paper envelopes, FedEx, etc. will be returned to sender unopened, for photographing and emailing. Thank you for understanding that most of our work is done on the road. We need instant and portable data.
Our email address is [email protected]
email
attachments
Please photo-graph all obituaries, old passports, marriage records, etc. and email to us.
attachments
Please photo-graph all obituaries, old passports, marriage records, etc. and email to us.
Shipping
Ship items that cannot be photographed, such as whole books and whole reels of microfilm, to 700 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC 20108. Email us the shipping or postal receipt. After 31 Dec 2022 all shipped items that can be photographed will be returned to sender unopened.
Ship items that cannot be photographed, such as whole books and whole reels of microfilm, to 700 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC 20108. Email us the shipping or postal receipt. After 31 Dec 2022 all shipped items that can be photographed will be returned to sender unopened.
Facebook
To read Facebook posts about EEH's cultural, historical, and genealogical research, see Facebook member James Hannum residing in Washington DC. We don't use Facebook Messenger.
To read Facebook posts about EEH's cultural, historical, and genealogical research, see Facebook member James Hannum residing in Washington DC. We don't use Facebook Messenger.
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