The NDSU Libraries' Germans from Russia Heritage Collection is pleased to announce sponsorship of the 23rd Journey to the Homeland tour to Germany and Ukraine for May 15-25, 2019. The tour includes visits to Odessa and former German villages in Ukraine; Berlin and Stuttgart, Germany; and Alsace, France.
Travelers will have the unique opportunity to visit the villages of their German-Russian ancestors near Odessa, Ukraine. They will walk where their ancestors walked, and have their eyes opened to village life. Leading the tour will be Michael M. Miller, Germans from Russia Heritage Collection director, and Jeremy Kopp, the collection’s outreach and operations coordinator.
"It is so exciting to meet people who are passionate about their ancestral heritage and history; it makes the mission of the GRHC so much more important when people are involved,” Kopp said. “On the tour, we go to villages that tour members’ families lived in, walk the streets they walked and truly begin to understand how these experiences shaped their lives. It’s an incredible opportunity that is often life-changing for our tour members."
Glenn Schumacher, a 2018 tour participant, said, “Our trip to the homeland was a once-in-a-lifetime, memorable experience for me. It allowed me to walk the fields and roads of my great-grandparents. I also saw the churches where they were married and baptized and got a feel for what life was like for them around the turn of the 20th century. We had a great tour group who quickly bonded together with common heritage and a common goal of finding out about our ancestors. Along the way, we were able to visit with many interesting and friendly people, including some of our fellow Germans from Russia, who today reside in Germany. We even had the opportunity to spend time with one courageous woman who returned to her village in Selz, Ukraine. They all shared with us their amazing stories of perseverance and bravery despite their adverse circumstances. It all added up to an unforgettable trip.”
Registration for the tour opens onlineon Aug. 29 at noon.
For more information, contact Kopp at 701-231-6596 or jeremy.kopp@ndsu.edu.
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